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Featured news

03 Jun 2019

Edible insects? Lab-grown meat? The real future food is lab-grown insect meat

Lab-grown insect meat – fed on plants, and genetically modified for maximum growth, nutrition and flavor – could be a superior green alternative for high volume, nutritious food production. Image: Shutterstock. Cultured insect tissue could combine the planet-saving best of insect farming, GM livestock, labriculture and plant-based meat substitutes — by Matthew Prior, Frontiers science writer Livestock farming is destroying our planet. It is a major cause of land and water degradation, biodiversity loss – and of course, climate change. Several potential solutions have been proposed. Popular options are plant-based diets, insect farming, lab-grown meat and genetically modified animals. Which is best? All of these combined, say researchers at Tufts University. Writing in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, they explain why lab-grown insect meat – fed on plants, and genetically modified for maximum growth, nutrition and flavor – could be a superior green alternative for high volume, nutritious food production. Possibilities for Engineered Insect Tissue as a Food Source► Read original article► Download original article (pdf) Alternatives to conventional meat farming “Due to the environmental, public health and animal welfare concerns associated with our current livestock system, it is vital to develop more sustainable food production methods,” says lead author Natalie Rubio. […]

Environment

23 May 2019

How light from street lamps and trees influences the activity of urban bats

The team found that the response of bats to artificial light was intensified in areas with high tree cover. Credit: Christian Giese. A German study sheds new light on how exactly ultraviolet (UV) emitting and non-UV emitting street lamps influence the activity of bats in the Berlin metropolitan area, and whether tree cover might mitigate the effects of light pollution — by Forschungsverbund Berlin Artificial light is rightly considered a major social, cultural and economic achievement. Yet, artificial light at night is also said to pose a threat to biodiversity, especially affecting nocturnal species in metropolitan areas. It has become clear that the response by wildlife to artificial light at night might vary across species, seasons and lamp types.A study conducted by a team led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) sheds new light on how exactly ultraviolet (UV) emitting and non-UV emitting street lamps influence the activity of bats in the Berlin metropolitan area and whether tree cover might mitigate any effect of light pollution. The study is published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Tree Cover Mediates the Effect of Artificial Light on Urban Bats► Read original article► Download original article (pdf) Natural sunlight […]

Featured news

22 May 2019

How the devil ray got its horns

A new study shows that the manta ray’s distinctive hornlike cephalic lobes, rather than being separate appendages, have their origins as the foremost part of the animals’ fins, modified for a new purpose. Credit: Photo taken by Jackie Reid. Courtesy of the NOAA Image Library. New study by SF State biologists reveals the origins of a distinctive fish feature — by San Francisco State University If you ever find yourself staring down a manta ray, you’ll probably notice two things right away: the massive, flapping fins that produce the shark cousin’s 20-foot wingspan and the two fleshy growths curling out of its head that give it the nickname “devil ray.” A new San Francisco State University study shows that these two very different features have the same origin — a discovery that reflects an important lesson for understanding the diversity of life. “Small tweaks in early development can contribute to larger differences in how animals’ bodies are laid out,” explained San Francisco State Professor of Biology Karen Crow. How the Devil Ray Got Its Horns: The Evolution and Development of Cephalic Lobes in Myliobatid Stingrays (Batoidea: Myliobatidae)► Read original article► Download original article (pdf) For Crow and her graduate student John Swenson, […]