Can Microbes Clean Up Our Oily Mess?

<div>With an estimated 70 oil spills every day in the U.S. and tons of plastic garbage littering our oceans, humans could really use some help cleaning up. Scientific American editor David Biello explains how bacteria and other microbes slowly consume our mess. <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="https://youtu.be/a_HWlFzgQiM">Watch this video on YouTube</a>. More to explore: How Going with the Flow Helped Microbes Eat BP's Oil Spill (Scientific American) <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/01/09/how-going-with-the-flow-helped-microbes-eat-bps-oil-spill/?WT.mc_id=SA_sciamerican_meta">http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/01/09/how-going-with-the-flow-helped-microbes-...</a> Meet the Microbes Eating the Gulf Oil Spill [Slide Show] (Scientific American) <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gulf-oil-eating-microbes-slide-show&WT.mc_id=SA_sciamerican_meta">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gulf-oil-eating-microbes-slide-show&WT.mc_id=SA_sci...</a> Marine Microbes Digest Plastic (Nature news) <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110328/full/news.2011.191.html">http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110328/full/news.2011.191.html</a> -- WATCH more Instant Egghead: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="http://goo.gl/CkXwKj">http://goo.gl/CkXwKj</a> SUBSCRIBE to our channel: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="http://goo.gl/fmoXZ">http://goo.gl/fmoXZ</a> VISIT ScientificAmerican.com for the latest science news: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="http://goo.gl/lHq0CH">http://goo.gl/lHq0CH</a> -- Credits: Written & presented by David Biello Edited by Joss Fong Produced by Eric R. Olson</div>