Agriculture

Painting of four species of rat, including the Polynesian rat (right).

Rat Bones Reveal How Humans Transformed Their Island Environments

Rodent remains prove an ideal tool for investigating changes on three Polynesian island chains

Grape breeding PhD student Laise Moreira collects flower tissue for analyzing sex trait in grapevine as part of the VitisGen2 project at the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center in Excelsior, MN.

The Quest to Grow the First Great American Wine Grape

Genetics might be the key to creating vineyards that both resist disease and don’t taste like skunk

A very happy World Bee Day to you. Let's talk pollinators.

How to Protect Your Local Pollinators in Ten Easy Ways

As the first annual World Bee Day looms, insect and garden lovers are abuzz with excitement

Sixty-eight percent of meadow pipits have disappeared from the French countryside.

Pesticides Have Led to a ‘Catastrophic’ Decline in France’s Bird Populations

The chemicals have decimated the insects that birds rely on for food

How Do You Make Beer in Space?

Strap on your beer goggles and join us on a hops-fueled rocket ride

Human evolution is ongoing, and what we eat is a crucial part of the puzzle.

How Cheese, Wheat and Alcohol Shaped Human Evolution

Over time, diet causes dramatic changes to our anatomy, immune systems and maybe skin color

Inside the Colorado Vault That Keeps Your Favorite Foods From Going Extinct

From heirloom potatoes to honeybee sperm, this collection works to preserve our invaluable agricultural diversity

The latest donation to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is taken down into the frosty underground chamber for storage.

Global Seed Vault Gets Its Millionth Donation and a $13 Million Update

Built in 1998, the vault safeguards the world’s food storage in case of a global disaster

A Kenyan farmer using the fertilizer in his fields.

How Climate Change is Fueling Innovation in Kenya

A new generation of start ups are working to help farmers in a region that faces myriad challenges

This Book Is Bound in Lab-Grown Jellyfish Leather

<i>Clean Meat</i>, a history of cellular agriculture, is the first book with a lab-grown leather cover

The fruit that bursts with contradictions.

The Toxic Rise of the California Strawberry

Growing this popular fruit year-round has long relied on harmful chemicals. Is there another way?

Greek Yogurt Fuels Your Morning...And Your Plane?

Researchers have developed a method for turning yogurt whey into bio-oil, which could potentially be processed into biofuel for planes

ReGrained grains and bars

Would You Eat Food Made With "Trash"?

An increasing number of food companies are using food normally destined for the dumpster, and a new study shows eco-minded consumers don't mind a bit

The Enduring Romance of Mistletoe, a Parasite Named After Bird Poop

Nine things you should know about our favorite Christmas plant

A federal tea taster at work.

The FDA Used to Have People Whose Job Was to Taste Tea

Literally, that was it

Amazon may be coming to a garden near you.

Amazon Now Has a Patent For a “Garden Service”

The massive online retailer might recommend recipes and tools based on pictures of your plot

A medium-size passenger jet burns roughly 750 gallons of fuel per hour.

Can Sugarcane Fuel Airplanes?

Scientists have engineered sugarcane to increase its oil content, and they are developing renewable jet aircraft fuel from the oil

This is base of Neolithic jar being prepared for sampling for residue analysis.

Oldest Evidence of Wine Making Found in Georgia

The discovery of grape residues on pottery suggest Neolithic people had a taste for wine 8,000 years ago

Aerial view of the Amazon Rainforest near Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas.

Brazil Begins Effort to Plant 73 Million Trees in the Amazon

The experiment in reforestation involves spreading native seeds instead of planting saplings

The molds responsible for aflatoxins grow on a number of staple crops, including corn, peanuts, millet, wheat, cottonseed and tree nuts.

Could Video Gamers Make Our Food Supply Safer?

An effort to combat poisonous molds that contaminate crops is looking to tap the puzzle-solving skills of amateur gamers

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