It sounds like an Earthworm Jim storyline, but this is a cold fact: Cow farts are helping hasten global warming which will melt the polar ice caps and destroy human life as we know it. The cows may yet get the last laugh against corned beef -making humans.

The methane released when cows exorcise their unclean spirits actually contribute four percent to the total greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which traps heat in the planet and raises temperatures above normal levels. A change in a degree or two can disrupt most ecosystems. German scientist Dr. Winfried Drochner, however, is not about to let that happen.

Drochner and his team of animal nutrition experts have developed a pill the size of a human fist that can alter the bovine specie's digestive process in such a manner that the methane does not exit the cow as a fart, but stays in and boosts metabolism in the beast.

The pill dissolves in the first of the cow's four stomachs and stays there for about a month, slowly releasing components that influence the innards of the beast. In tests conducted by the team, they found out that the decrease in farts and increase in metabolism actually leads to a better and tastier yield of cow milk and meat.

The only thing the scientists are trying to figure out now is how to outsmart the cows in ingesting the huge pill. We also hope they develop one for humans. Think of the possibilities!