All posts tagged: breeding

513 humpback whales gather at massive Caribbean breeding ground

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is widely seen as a model success story for wildlife conservation. Prior to the 1986 global ban on commercial whaling, marine biologists estimated only around 10,000 of the marine animals still existed around the world. Today, more than 135,000 of them swim in Earth’s oceans. This steadily increasing population is a testament to both human environmental stewardship as well as the humpback whale’s own adaptability and intelligence. But even scientists aboard the superyacht-turned-research vessel M/Y Solace were surprised at the sheer number of whales during a recent excursion in the Caribbean. Speaking with Popular Science, the EYOS Expeditions team confirmed that Navidad Bank, a shallow underwater coral formation around 62 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic, is one of the world’s most densely populated humpback whale breeding grounds. EYOS Expeditions Discovers Humpback Whale Breeding Ground Near Dominican Republic’s Navidad Bank “This is an extraordinary testament to the power of long-term marine conservation,” …

Baywatch star Alexandra Paul arrested for breaking 30 beagles out of breeding facility

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Baywatch actor Alexandra Paul has been arrested for allegedly freeing 30 beagles from a controversial animal breeding facility. Paul, 62, was among 20 animal rights protesters taken into custody Sunday morning after police said a group of about 60 activists were caught on camera breaking into Ridglan Farms — a lab outside of Madison, Wisconsin, that has been known to breed beagles to be used in scientific research. The nineties icon, who played Lt. Stephanie Holden on the legendary lifeguard series from 1992 to 1997, remains in the Dane County Jail ahead of her arraignment as of Tuesday morning, according to online jail records. Activist group Direct Action Everywhere said they rescued 30 beagles from the alleged puppy mill, but noted that police took eight dogs away from the protesters. “We did what we believed was necessary to bring the dogs …

Innovative breeding blanket designs to advance fusion energy

Published by skeptic

KIT’s Fusion Programme is developing innovative breeding blanket designs and advanced materials for fusion energy, addressing the challenges of material selection and performance in extreme environments to facilitate the transition to safe and efficient fusion power. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Fusion Programme is navigating the complexities of extreme environments and utilising cutting-edge research to develop innovative breeding blanket designs and advanced materials essential for the successful implementation of fusion energy. KIT’s Fusion Programme drives the technological foundations for future fusion power plants by combining research excellence with system-level integration. It unites plant engineering, fuel cycle development, advanced materials, and plasma operation technologies within one coherent strategy. By leveraging unique infrastructures and strong cross-disciplinary expertise, KIT bridges fundamental research and industrial application. The programme supports the transition from experimental devices to safe, efficient, and industrially relevant fusion energy. At the same time, it trains the next generation of experts for research, industry, and regulatory bodies. How does KIT select materials for use in fusion? What properties are the most important, and what …

Panic as great white shark ‘breeding again’ in sea teeming with British tourists | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

Great white sharks may be breeding again in the Mediterranean, scientists believe, in an announcement likely to spook British tourists who flock there every summer. The revelation comes after a juvenile shark, measuring around 210cm and weighing 80–90kg, was accidentally caught off Spain’s eastern coast on April 20, 2023. The rare find prompted researchers to examine historical records from 1862 to 2023, with their results recently published in the open-access journal Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria. Once made infamous by Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, the species was thought to have vanished from the Mediterranean, apart from occasional visitors from other seas. Despite their fearsome reputation, Great Whites are often unfairly maligned, suffering from a “villain” narrative that does not match reality. While headlines often lean into sensationalism, the statistical likelihood of a shark encounter is extraordinarily low. In fact, you are significantly more likely to be struck by lightning or injured by a household appliance than to be bitten by a shark. Worldwide, unprovoked attacks have hit historic lows—with only 47 recorded globally in 2024—and in the …

Nuclear hog hybrids are breeding at breakneck speed in Japan

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. In the regions surrounding the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in northeast Japan, radioactive domestic pigs and wild boar are rapidly interbreeding. While far from the only recent incident of animal hybridization, the situation is presenting wildlife biologists with an unprecedented opportunity to examine the issue in real-time, as well as provide a template for studying the growing problem worldwide. In 2011, a 9.0 magnitude undersea earthquake in the Pacific Ocean rocked Japan. The earthquake and resulting tsunami decimated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant along the coast. The massive ecological catastrophe is guaranteed to reverberate for generations. An estimated 164,000 residents in the surrounding area were forced to evacuate within hours, with potentially thousands still displaced today. The animals left behind not only included pets, but domesticated pigs on local farmlands. Although considered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, containment efforts prevented a much deadlier outcome. Descendants of those escaped hogs are still roaming the overgrown fields and forests near …

Researchers find Antarctic penguin breeding is heating up sooner : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

FILE – Adelie penguins stand on a block of floating ice at Yalour Islands in Antarctica, Nov. 24, 2025. Mark Baker/AP hide caption toggle caption Mark Baker/AP WASHINGTON — Warming temperatures are forcing Antarctic penguins to breed earlier and that’s a big problem for two of the cute tuxedoed species that face extinction by the end of the century, a study said. With temperatures in the breeding ground increasing 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) from 2012 to 2022, three different penguin species are beginning their reproductive process about two weeks earlier than the decade before, according to a study in Tuesday’s Journal of Animal Ecology. And that sets up potential food problems for young chicks. “Penguins are changing the time at which they’re breeding at a record speed, faster than any other vertebrate,” said lead author Ignacio Juarez Martinez, a biologist at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. “And this is important because the time at which you breed needs to coincide with the time with most resources in the environment and this is …

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