Insect Farming Is Booming. But Is It Cruel?
More than a trillion insects are raised each year as high-protein, low-carbon animal feed, but the practice might have an ethical blind spot......»»
Updating California’s grid for EVs may cost up to $20 billion
Charging electric vehicles at home will exceed most power lines' capacity. Enlarge (credit: boonchai wedmakawand) California's electric grid, with its massive solar production and booming battery installations, is alread.....»»
Illinois residents encouraged to destroy the eggs of invasive insects to slow spread
While Chicagoans were alarmed to learn the spotted lanternfly had been found in Illinois last year, experts say spring is the time to take action against that insect—as well as another damaging invasive species that has made far more inroads and go.....»»
High-speed imaging and AI help us understand how insect wings work
Too many muscles working too fast had made understanding insect flight challenging. Enlarge / A time-lapse showing how an insect's wing adopts very specific positions during flight. (credit: Florian Muijres, Dickinson Lab).....»»
A leader in US seaweed farming preaches, teaches and builds a wider network
Bren Smith and his GreenWave organization are helping lay the foundations for a generation of seaweed-growing farmers in the United States, while working to build a network of producers and buyers......»»
"Harvesting data": Latin American AI startups transform farming
For centuries, farmers used almanacs to try to understand and predict weather patterns......»»
How insects control their wings: The mysterious mechanics of insect flight
Many of us would love the superpower to fly, and for good reason: Flight offers a crucial evolutionary advantage. Flying enables an animal to travel large distances quickly, in search of food and new habitats, while expending far less energy than wal.....»»
Out on dry land: Water shortage threatens species in Ruaha National Park in Tanzania
Climate change is not the only cause of arid landscapes. A research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has investigated the consequences of increased water abstraction for agriculture and livestock farming f.....»»
Evolution"s recipe book: How "copy paste" errors led to insect flight, octopus camouflage and human cognition
Seven hundred million years ago, a remarkable creature emerged for the first time. Though it may not have been much to look at by today's standards, the animal had a front and a back, a top and a bottom. This was a groundbreaking adaptation at the ti.....»»
Review: Sony brings booming bass, ANC, and wear detection to new ULT Wear headphones
Sony is taking the wraps off its today with the reveal of the new ULT collection. The new ULT Wear headphones do far more than just simplify the naming scheme, with some booming bass, reliable ANC, and other frills like wear detection and Spatial Au.....»»
Yellow-eyed grasses may have more insect visitors than previously thought
Scientists previously believed that a family of flowering plants called yellow-eyed grasses didn't attract many insect visitors, but the recent discovery of a fungus that hijacks the plant and forms fungal "pseudoflowers" has researchers rethinking t.....»»
Research finds dairy farmers receptive to methane-reducing seaweed feed
New England's dairy industry continues to evolve in response to significant market challenges that include a decreased demand for milk and higher production and land costs. However, there is also ongoing evidence that organic dairy farming can provid.....»»
Pork labeling schemes "not helpful" in making informed buying choices, say researchers
Researchers have evaluated different types of pig farming—including woodland, organic, free range, RSPCA assured, and Red Tractor certified, to assess each systems' impact across four areas: land use (representing biodiversity loss), greenhouse gas.....»»
Oxidant pollutant ozone removes mating barriers between fly species, study finds
Insect pheromones are odor molecules used for chemical communication within a species. Sex pheromones play a crucial role in the mating of many insects. Species-specific odors attract males and females of the same species. At the same time, they main.....»»
Single-crop farming has potential to harm bees, study finds
Mass-blooming, monoculture crop fields don't seem to reduce the microbial diversity in a bee's gut, University of Oregon researchers have found in a study of sunflower farms, but they do amplify the spread of infectious parasites......»»
Climate change has positive and negative effects on invasive mountain pine beetles
Climate change is hampering mountain pine beetle reproduction but also appears to slightly benefit the invasive insect in other ways, new University of Alberta research shows......»»
Turning camels into cows: Megafarms are being set up to produce camel milk on industrial scales
The camel may be the next cow. An animal that once grazed and browsed over huge distances is increasingly being enclosed in vast Middle Eastern dairy farms, where thousands of camels are milked by machine. This is the model of sedentary farming that.....»»
How insect blood stops bleeding fast
Their blood equivalent, hemolymph, forms a viscoelastic fluid that covers wounds. Enlarge (credit: Weber) What if human blood turned into a sort of rubbery slime that can bounce back into a wound and stop it from bleedin.....»»
Two sex pheromone receptors for sexual communication found in the American cockroach
Sex pheromones are vital in facilitating the chemical communication that underpins insect courtship and mating behavior. Among female American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana), two key volatile sex pheromone components, periplanone-A (PA) and peri.....»»
Propelling atomically layered magnets toward green computers
Globally, computation is booming at an unprecedented rate, fueled by the boons of artificial intelligence. With this, the staggering energy demand of the world's computing infrastructure has become a major concern, and the development of computing de.....»»
Rusty-patched bumblebee"s struggle for survival found in its genes
A team of researchers has uncovered alarming trends in the first range-wide genetic study of an endangered bee species. The study, led by Colorado State University and published in the Journal of Insect Science, will inform conservation and recovery.....»»