It turned out that laughing gas was being generated from 'Penguin's poop', and there are cases where researchers go crazy
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The lovely penguin is a popular animal in aquariums and zoos, but it is known to have a bad body odor due to its fish-based diet. Similarly, an analysis of penguin “feces”, which also emit a strong odor, revealed that the penguin feces generated laughing gas (nitrous oxide), which is used for anesthesia purposes in medical settings.
Combined effects of glacial retreat and penguin activity on soil greenhouse gas fluxes on South Georgia, sub-Antarctica-ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969719352477
Researchers go 'cuckoo' over Antarctic penguin poop | AFP.com
https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/researchers-go-cuckoo-over-antarctic-penguin-poop-doc-1rk2zq1
Researchers Accidentally Got High on Laughing Gas From Penguin Poop
https://gizmodo.com/researchers-accidentally-got-high-on-laughing-gas-from-1843481214
A team of Danish and Chinese researchers was investigating the effects of glacier retreat and associated consequent proliferation of the
The research team collected five soil samples from the region between the glacier and the coast and analyzed them in the laboratory. As a result, the soil collected from a location near the penguin colony contained a very high concentration of nitrous oxide. 'Penguin dung releases very high levels of nitrous oxide around colonies,' said Bo Elberling, a professor at the University of Copenhagen.
When nitrous oxide is released into the earth's atmosphere, it is decomposed by ultraviolet rays into nitric oxide , which has the effect of destroying the ozone layer. Researchers also say that nitric oxide has 300 times more greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide.
In addition, nitrous oxide is also used as a laughing gas for anesthesia, and the effect of penguin feces has spread to researchers investigating around the colony. 'The researchers surrounded by penguin dung have become' stupid ',' says Elberling. 'If you smell the dung for hours, some become completely stupid.' Begin to feel headaches. '
According to the research team, it is because penguin's feces themselves do not contain nitrous oxide, but krill and fish that penguins eat a lot contain high levels of nitrogen. The research team points out that when penguins dung, the nitrogen contained in the dung is released to the ground and converted to nitrous oxide by soil bacteria.
The set of results led the team to conclude that the approximately 300,000 colonies of Penguin penguin on South Georgia were hotspots for greenhouse gas emissions. 'The emission of nitrous oxide in this case is not enough to affect the global energy balance, but our work contributes to new knowledge of the impact of penguin colonies on the environment. And this is interesting given the growing colonies, ”said Professor Elberling.
by David Cook
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