Research

Reported

What We Still Don’t Get About Bees

"Bees have a richer behavior and life than we would have previously thought.”

Research•6 min read

Perspective

What This Mother Jones Story Got Wrong on Primate Testing

A recent Mother Jones story on the shortage of lab monkeys failed to ask questions about the ethics of animal testing.

Correction•3 min read

Feature

Veterinary Records Reveal Primate Research Centers’ Long History of Violence

Decades of welfare violations at the National Primate Research Centers have led many in the scientific community to question the purpose of experimenting on animals.

Research•14 min read

Perspective

What Happens to Lab Rats After Testing?

Most laboratory research that uses animals relies on mice and rats as test subjects. Learn more about how these animals are treated and what happens to them after the experiment…

Research•8 min read

Perspective

An End to Animal Testing Is Within Reach

With public knowledge of what happens inside animal experimentation facilities at an all-time high, the cruel practice may finally be on its way out.

Research•9 min read

Perspective

Food Upcycling’s Untapped Potential

One-third of food produced around the world ends up in garbage cans and landfills. Advocates point to a simple solution: reusing food instead of throwing it away.

Research•6 min read

Perspective

First Carbon Offsets. Now, Animal Testing Offsets?

Can paying for an animal testing-free future make people feel better about getting vaccinated? Jessica Scott-Reid explores the novel new concept of animal testing offsets.

Research•5 min read

Perspective

This New Bill Could Phase Out Animal Testing for Good

The Humane Research and Testing Act of 2021 address the growing need to replace animals in research. The bill also calls for the acceptance of "valid and reliable" alternative testing…

Research•4 min read

Reported

Thousands of Cicada-Lovers Emerge to Document Brood X

Cicadas are far from America’s most beloved insect. But this year, thousands of people have joined in a one-of-a-kind research effort to better understand these gentle creatures.

Research•7 min read

Explainer

What Animals Can Teach Us About the World We Share

So much of our lives are oriented towards other humans instead of animals. But learning these facts about animals may help you better understand the world we share.

Research•12 min read

Feature

How Airlines Enable Animal Suffering

A long-tailed macaque is flying through the air. Sadly, he is not leaping between trees. Like so many others, he is in the cargo hold of an airplane on his…

Research•6 min read

Perspective

The Tale of Two Lab Kittens: The One We Saved, the One We Didn’t, and Why It’s Historic

The U.S government is spending millions of taxpayer dollars on wasteful cat experiments. When will we close this shameful chapter of American history? White Coat Waste Project investigates.

Research•4 min read

Perspective

The Food System on Mars: Humanity’s Do-Over?

Mars gives us a chance to start over and leave many of Earth's worst practices behind. While it sounds far-fetched, life on the red planet will almost certainly be free…

Research•5 min read

Perspective

Growing Human Cells in Monkey Embryos Is Problematic — But Not for the Reasons People Think

The main problem lies in the similarities with conventional animal use: Humans are once again planning to create sentient beings so that we can exploit them for our own benefit.

Research•4 min read

Perspective

Next in Line: The Emotional Trauma We Inflict on Farmed Animals

Award-winning investigative photographer Amy Jones discusses her role in bridging the divide between humans and the emotional violence we inflict on farmed animals.

Research•5 min read

Analysis

Our Food Systems Are Complicated. Food Data Doesn’t Have to Be.

Researchers made a “Google Maps” for global food systems. Could it help us tackle food’s thorniest problems?

Research•6 min read

Perspective

Future of Food: How It’s Changing and Why That’s Important

The future of food is unpredictable, but the prognosis isn’t all bad. People are adaptable, and change isn’t always a bad thing.

Research•9 min read

Perspective

Marshall BioResources Is a Factory Farm Like You’ve Never Seen Before

Inside Marshall BioResources, thousands of beagles are bred for laboratories across the U.S. It's big money for Marshall, with many labs paying more than $1,000 per dog.

Research•5 min read

Reported

Human-Cat Relationships Are Complex—Here’s Why

Modern-day cat ownership raises ethical questions with no neat answers. As long as humans continue to keep cats as companions, we should make every effort to enrich their lives as…

Research•7 min read

Perspective

Stolen from the Wild: The Use and Abuse of Mauritian Monkeys for Research

Renowned primate expert Dr. Jane Goodall has joined the chorus of people urging the Mauritian government to end the international trade of research monkeys.

Research•6 min read

Feature

Researchers Have a New Test Subject: The Octopus

The use of cephalopods in laboratory research is on the rise, with several labs in the U.S. raising octopuses for their own use and as a supply for researchers around…

Research•4 min read

Perspective

Can We Stop “Alienating” Octopuses?

Octopuses look extraterrestrial but are not alien in any way, shape, or form. We need to be mindful that referring to octopuses as “alien” may be facilitating their exploitation.

Research•7 min read

Reported

Testing Our Luck: Will Animal Research Give Us a COVID-19 Vaccine?

The pandemic has created an immediate need to produce a safe vaccine—a process that researchers say can take upwards of 20 years. Is animal testing slowing us down?

Research•10 min read

Reported

In Veg-Friendly India, Meat Consumption Is on the Rise

Since 2006, Indians have witnessed a major shift in the national diet: from vegetarian to one that contains more meat. But as diets continue to change, so will the climate.

Research•4 min read

Perspective

The Animals We Often Overlook

In our news coverage, we often focus our attention on the welfare of companion animals and traditional farmed animals like cows, pigs, and chickens, but millions of other animals need…

Research•11 min read

Perspective

COVID-19 Exposing Flawed Moral Framework Behind Animal Testing

We talk about the "new normal" to describe life after COVID-19, but perhaps biomedical research itself may also be ready for a new normal, one that excludes needless animal suffering.

Research•6 min read

Perspective

The Sac Rack: Death’s Waiting Room for Animals in Labs

Former undercover investigator Lindsay Oliver shares her harrowing experience euthanizing animals at research labs. "The gas was turned on and then we sat, waiting for them to perish."

Research•3 min read

Perspective

Mass Killing of Lab Animals During Pandemic Calls into Question Necessity and Cost of Animal Models

When researchers needed fast results for a possible COVID-19 vaccine, they skipped over testing the new drug on animals first. If the tests were "extraneous," why experiment on animals to…

Research•5 min read

Perspective

Other Animals Are Not Humans’ Sacrificial Fall Guys

Using lab animals to solve human-made problems amounts to more of the same hubris that spawned the COVID-19 pandemic in the first place.

Research•3 min read

Reported

Smells Like Trouble: Do Pets Feel Our Stress?

Studies suggest that dogs—and perhaps other companion animals—take on human emotions as their own. The connection implies that human self-care and companion animals' health are closely intertwined.

Research•3 min read

Conversations

“The Best Way to Change the World Is to Understand It”: Faunalytics Is Using Research to Drive Change for Animals

Sentient Media spoke with Faunalytics’ Research Director Jo Anderson and Content Director Karol Orzechowski about how the organization is encouraging societal change through research and education.

Research•8 min read

Perspective

Book Review: Why You Eat What You Eat by Rachel Herz

There’s are reasons behind what we eat, whether it’s how much sugar we eat or why we feel so much better eating plants.

Research•5 min read

Reported

Report: Half the Country Is Against Genetically Engineered Animal Testing

According to the PEW Research Center, half of Americans support genetically engineered animal testing, while the other half oppose it. Despite this split, many companies are getting ahead of the…

Research•5 min read

Perspective

Read This Book: Unsavory Truth

Yet another gem of food science from Marion Nestle—author of Food Politics and What to Eat—Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat (Basic 2018) explores…

Research•1 min read

Perspective

Read This Book: The Tangled Tree

All history books should start like The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life (Simon & Schuster 2019). David Quammen’s groundbreaking work sweeps across reams of real, scientific data…

Research•1 min read

Perspective

Read This Book: How to Be a Good Creature

Do you ever think about how to be a good citizen of the world? It’s a big question, and not always a fun one to answer. Sometimes it’s easier to…

Research•1 min read

Perspective

Read This Book: The Revolutionary Genius of Plants

Plants are good for us. Of the species we’ve discovered so far, 31,000 can be used for something other than photosynthesis and 18,000 of those have practical, medical applications. Stefano…

Climate•1 min read

Reported

Wait… Bees Can Count?

For centuries, animals’ capacity for human-like behavior went unnoticed. But animals are smarter than we think. Sharks like jazz and bees understand the number zero. Some of the most abstract…

Research•2 min read

Perspective

Read This Book: The Secret Life of Cows

Did you know that cows can express social preferences? For some people, that’s as easy as saying cows have spots. But most of us have to think twice. Rosamund Young…

Research•1 min read