breeding

Insect ranchers pour $5 million into world’s first large-scale genetic breeding facility | Science

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For centuries, farmers have bred livestock and crops for desirable traits such as faster growth, better taste, and resistance to disease. Now, a new kind of rancher is following in their footsteps: mealworm breeders. Last week, France-based Ÿnsect announced it will spend nearly $5 million on the world’s first large-scale initiative to use state-of-the-art genetics … Read more

Birds Use Earth’s Magnetic Field For ‘Stop Signs’ When They Migrate

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Thanks to a combination of sensing the Earth’s magnetic field through vision and an in-built compass that allows them to orient themselves according to magnetic intensity, migratory birds don’t have much trouble finding their way.   Those biological gadgets, known as magnetoreception, allow birds to not only know which direction to head in on their first outbound migration but … Read more

60 Million Fish Nests in Antarctica Found in Single Largest Breeding Colony to Date

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Scientists onboard an icebreaker in Antarctica were blown away when they spied a trove of 60 million icefish nests dotting the floor of the Weddell Sea. The bonanza of nurseries – each guarded by a ghostly looking parent – represents the largest known breeding colony of fish.   Autun Purser of the Alfred Wegener Institute was on the … Read more

News at a glance: Warmest oceans yet, a pig-to-human heart transplant, and the world’s largest breeding colony of fish | Science

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ECOLOGY Huge icefish colony found Scientists aboard an Antarctic research cruise have discovered the most extensive breeding colony of fish anywhere. In February 2021, while towing video cameras and other instruments close to the sea floor in the Weddell Sea, the RV Polarstern came upon thousands of 75-centimeter-wide nests, each occupied by a single adult … Read more

World’s largest fish breeding grounds found under the Antarctic ice | Science

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The most extensive and densely populated breeding colony of fish anywhere lurks deep underneath the ice of the Weddell Sea, scientists aboard an Antarctic research cruise have discovered. The 240 square kilometers of regularly spaced icefish nests, east of the Antarctic Peninsula, has astonished marine ecologists. “We had no idea that it would be just … Read more

Fairywrens: Australian birds can nest out of breeding season to boost numbers

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Purple-crowned fairywrens are more flexible in their breeding behaviour than we thought, which has helped the bird population to grow in one wildlife sanctuary in Western Australia Life 5 January 2022 By Chen Ly Purple-crowned fairywrens in the Northern Territory, Australia Wayne Lawler/Australian Wildlife Conservancy For the second year in a row, researchers have spotted … Read more