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Agriculture

Cool Finds

Egyptian Papyrus Reveals This Old Wives’ Tale Is Very Old Indeed

The “Wheat and Barley” pregnancy test described in a recently translated medical text has been practiced for thousands of years

Emmer wheat

New Research

Sequencing of Wheat Genome Could Lead to a Breadier Future

It took 200 scientists 13 years to finally figure out the complex genome of the important grain

A butcher in Meizhou, China

Will China’s Growing Appetite for Meat Undermine Its Efforts to Fight Climate Change?

The country consumes 28 percent of the world’s meat—twice as much as the United States. And that figure is only set to increase.

Luisa Moreno, born to a wealthy Guatemalan family, struck out on her own at a young age, eager to alter the world around her for the better.

Guatemalan Immigrant Luisa Moreno Was Expelled From the U.S. for Her Groundbreaking Labor Activism

The little-known story of an early champion of workers’ rights receives new recognition

A male bee releasing its seminal fluid at the USDA bee lab in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The male does not survive the process.

Is the Key to Saving Pollinators … Honey Bee Semen?

In the hopes of preserving their genetic diversity, entomologists are collecting and freezing this valuable fluid

Archaeologists unearthed the 14,400-year-old breadcrumbs while excavating a pair of stone fireplaces in northeast Jordan

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Evidence of Bread Baked Before Advent of Agriculture

The bread, which was found in northeast Jordan, dates back about 14,400 years and likely resembled modern-day wraps

Emirates Flight Catering and Crop One Holdings announced plans this week for what would be the world’s largest vertical farm, to be based in Dubai. This is another one of Crop One’s vertical farms, which don’t use pesticides and are more water-efficient than their soil counterparts.

Dubai Will Be Home To the World’s Biggest Vertical Farm

An indoor megafarm might be the best way for the United Arab Emirates—a country that imports an estimated 85 percent of its food—to attempt to feed itself

The remains of this medieval castle at Castell Llwyn Gwinau, Tregaron, were almost completely plowed over, but they show clearly under parched conditions.

A Heat Wave is Revealing Centuries-Old Sites in Wales

Hot, dry weather creates perfect conditions for crop marks to form above historic settlements

The Pickup Truck’s Transformation From Humble Workhorse to Fancy Toy

From ‘rusty rattletraps’ to ‘big black jacked-up’ rides, the vehicles symbolize blue-collar identity while flaunting bourgeois prosperity

Say hello to SMAP

This NASA Satellite Can Map the Planet’s Soil Moisture Content In Just Three Days

The speedy collection of this data will help with crop management and flood prediction

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

New Research

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

Future of Conservation

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

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

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