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New research led by the University of Kent has found that people fail to recognise the role of factory farming in causing infectious diseases.
The study published by
Appetite demonstrates that people blame wild animal trade or lack of government preparation for epidemic outbreaks as opposed to animal agriculture and global meat consumption.
Scientists forewarned about the imminence of global pandemics such as Covid-19, but humankind failed to circumvent its arrival. They had been warning for decades about the risks of intensive farming practices for public health. The scale of production and overcrowded conditions on factory farms make it easy for viruses to migrate and spread. Furthermore, the common practice of feeding antibiotics to farmed animals promotes antimicrobial resistance, threatens public health.
Credit: Oxford Brookes University
How primates get from A to B gives vital information about their cognitive evolution, say researchers in a new study looking at the travel paths of animals in the wild. Using data from 164 wild primate populations, the global survey examines the mental abilities that primates, including ourselves, use to know where and when to travel in the most efficient way.
A birds eye view
Co-author Miguel de Guinea, expert in Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University commented: Imagine looking down on a huge outdoor market from high in the sky, perhaps from a drone hovering quietly above. The people below move in different ways. Some wander haphazardly among the stalls: they are learning what s available but are clearly not busy. Others take bee-line routes across the market to a destination they obviously wanted to reach, then, after buying what they need, head back in much the same way.
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IMAGE: Using a newly developed pig brain atlas, University of Illinois researchers show no major differences in pig brain development between pigs in artificial rearing environments vs. sow rearing. The discovery. view more
Credit: Lauren D. Quinn, University of Illinois
URBANA, Ill. - Before humans can benefit from new drug therapies and nutritional additives, scientists test their safety and efficacy in animals, typically mice and rats. But, as much as they ve done for biomedical research, rodents aren t always the best research model for studies on neonatal brain development and nutrition. That s where pigs can play an important role.
University of Illinois researchers say the domestic pig is ideal for these studies because their brain size, rate of development, and digestive system are excellent analogues for human newborns.
Between 2018 and 2020, 1,4 million EU citizens signed the petition End the Cage Age , with the aim of ending cage housing for farm animals in Europe. In response to this citizens initiative, the European Parliament requested a study by Utrecht University researchers on the possibilities to end cage housing. On 13 April, the scientists will present their report End the Cage Age - Looking for Alternatives to the European Parliament.
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IMAGE: New study reveals: fireflies produce strong ultrasonic sounds that might deter bats, potentially serving as a kind of musical armor against these predators. view more
Credit: BRANDON ALMS
A new study at Tel Aviv University reveals a possible defense mechanism developed by fireflies for protection against bats that might prey on them. According to the study, fireflies produce strong ultrasonic sounds - soundwaves that the human ear, and more importantly the fireflies themselves, cannot detect. The researchers hypothesize that these sounds are meant for the ears of bats, keeping them away from the poisonous fireflies, and thereby serving as a kind of musical armor . The study was led by Prof. Yossi Yovel, Head of the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and a member of the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Zoology at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences. It was conducted in collaboration with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technolog