Natural Sciences

Diagram of Grado ship relic

How a Ship Full of Fish Helped Recreate an Ancient Fish Sauce

A 2,000-year-old shipwreck held ceramic vessels full of fish sauce, as well as a giant tank for transporting live fish

Fish Sauce, Ketchup and the Rewilding of Our Food

Fermented fish sauce has been a culinary staple since at least the 7th century B.C. What makes this seemingly disgusting condiment so popular?

Blueberry endocarp

Fruits and Vegetables Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Microscopy artist Robert Rock Belliveau says, "I couldn't believe the things I found on the things we eat every day"

Let's Kiss.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Food and Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)

What is the term for a "euphoric sensation upon eating amazingly delicious food"

Charles McIlvaine, Pioneer of American Mycophagy

"I take no man's word for the qualities of a toadstool," said the man who took it upon himself to sample more than 600 species

An abstract image of an egg

Where Jet Engines, Football Fans and Eggs Collide

Does the noise in a Super Bowl stadium create enough power to fry up a dozen eggs?

None

Frito Pie and the Chip Technology that Changed the World

As we approach one of the biggest snack days of the year, meet the "Tom Edison of snack food" who brought us the "Anglo corn chip"

terra cibus no. 4: fortune cookie

A Closer Look at What You Eat

A photographer uses a scanning electron microscope to zoom in on everyday foods—and makes art

A biologist with a salmon tracking device

What Does Home Smell Like?

Salmon's powerful, ingrained sense of smell allows them to return to the exact stream of their birth for spawning.

Consider food—and food-themed gifts—this holiday season.

Last Minute Food-Themed Gift Ideas

Food, jewelry, toys and books for those hard-to-shop-for people on your gift list

The foamy head of a Ramos gin fizz

Raise a Glass to Cocktail Science

Harvard scientists examine the science behind mixology and may help you build a better cocktail

Burning fat

Cooking May Have Driven Human Evolution

Why have humans and our ancestors been cooking for all this time? A first-of-its-kind study suggests cooked food gives the body a "pick-me-up"

Water crystallizes into ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time, but not always.

At What Temperature Does Water Freeze?

The answer is far more complicated than it first appears—water doesn't always turn to ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit

Nobody wants to eat a dry turkey.

Why Does Meat Dry Out During Cooking?

These artifacts are thought to have been offerings from the earliest farming communities that lived in this area. Chemical analysis of charred food residues preserved inside a number of vessels shows they were used for processing freshwater fish, which supplemented their fledgling agricultural economy.

Ancient Pots Show How Humans Adopted Farming

The switch from hunting and gathering to farming was revolutionary—but was it fast or slow?

Why decant wines?

Is Decanting Wine Worth Doing?

Does the practice really improve the taste or is it just a wine snob's affectation?

Brown rice

Five Nobel Laureates Who Made Food History

These five Nobelists have made food safer or more available, or increased our knowledge of it

As long as you're careful not to spill, the computer can get you a great culinary education.

An Online Food Education

Sharpen your cooking skills, get a culinary degree, learn to write about food or feed your inner geek with these courses

Scientists recently discovered the wild yeast that came to be used to brew lager beer.

Big Brew-ha-ha: Scientists Discover Lager’s Wild Yeast

Beer, a cornerstone of human civilization, owes its alcohol and flavor to yeast; one important variety made a long trans-Atlantic journey

Dried chili pepper wreath

Benevolent Maize and Ogre-Fart Chilis: Food Origin Myths

According to the Peruvian Yanesha people, plants originally had human forms that went through either "sublime" or "grotesque" transformations

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