Stop burping out greenhouse gases!

Oregano is known for its ability to balance bacteria in the gut and is to be fed to cattle to test the effects in a four-year trial by Danish researchers.

Cows produce vast quantities of greenhouse gas methane that they burp as they chew the cud. Feeding cows oregano could stop them burping and help save the planet by cutting emissions by a quarter, a new study has found.

The animals produce huge amounts of the greenhouse gas methane — between 70kg to 120kg every year, which is released as they chew the cud.

The gas is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide and along with sheep and goats, agriculture contributes to around 4.5 per cent of all the UK greenhouse gas emissions.

Researchers from Aarhus University in cooperation with Organic Denmark, suggested the herb

‘oregano’ was a natural tool for reducing methane production in the rumen.

And if trials are successful, it could be used by conventional dairy farmers too, while reassuring consumers their milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt was produced in the most environmentally friendly way.

A four-year experiment will test the effects of adding differing amounts of oregano to feed.

Dog learns reading

This incredible dog has become an inspiration to primary school children — by learning how to read.

Fernie, a two year-old chocolate Labrador, was introduced to classes at Winford Primary School near Bristol as part of a national scheme to give children motivation and confidence.

And since starting at the school, Fernie has learned a few things himself — including recognising certain flashcards. Owner and headmaster Nik Gardner, says Fernie can read the words ‘sit’, ‘down’, ‘roll over’ and ‘spin’.

A video shared online shows, when Mr Gardner silently holds up one of the four written commands, Fernie correctly responds to the written word. Even animal behaviourists are unsure as to how Fernie has learned to ‘read’.

Rosie Barclay, from the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors, said: “It’s hard to say exactly how Fernie is doing it. Dogs are great at picking up tiny cues from us that predict that we will act in a certain way. If Fernie is taking cues from his owner, he may not be able to ‘read’ if someone else showed him the cards and the owner was out of the room.

“But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if he’s not really reading, the children are gaining a great deal of motivation by having him around.”

Entire class learn sign language to communicate with deaf friend

Six-year-old Zejd Coralic from Sarajevo, Bosnia, is deaf. Last year his mother decided to send Zejd to a normal school but he was left unhappy because no one at school knew any sign language.

A local teacher, Sanela Ljumanovic, tried to help him using her own tricks and signs to communicate but realised it just wasn’t enough. So she decided to teach Zejd’s entire class sign-language so they could all communicate together.

Three months on, the first-grade students at Osman Nakas primary school have all mastered the basics of sign language.

Zejd’s self-esteem has also boosted since the sign language classes started. Zejd’s classmates love learning the language so much, they’ve even started teaching it their parents at home.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 2nd, 2015