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Food Science

Miracle fruit, or Synsepalum dulcificum, grows on bushy trees native to West Africa.

Can This Berry Solve Both Obesity and World Hunger?

At a playful café in Chicago, chef Homaro Cantu is experimenting with miracle fruit, a West African berry that makes everything a little sweeter

Probably not a picky eater.

Why Are You a Picky Eater? Blame Genes, Brains and Breast Milk

The complicated science behind picky eating is giving experts plenty of food for thought

The world's favorite edible bird.

Anthropocene

Chinese Chickens May Have Been Domesticated 10,000 Years Ago

Bones found in ancient farming sites are lending insight into the origins of our favorite fowl

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New Research

Physicists Explain Why Coffee Is More Prone to Spills Than Beer

It all comes down to the foam

We’re Running Out of Chocolate

We’re eating so much chocolate that plants can’t keep up

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Cool Finds

This Artist Makes E. coli-Shaped Popsicles

For those who prefer plants to pathogens, there’s popsicle cacti, too

Beni Meier's record-holding 2323.7 pound pumpkin.

Halloween

How to Grow a Giant Pumpkin

Science!

New Research

Plants Can Sense When Insects Are Eating Them

Plants can sense munching vibrations that insects make, and respond accordingly with heightened defenses

Cool Finds

The Science of Why Toothpaste Makes Food Taste Funny

Blame toothpaste’s foaming action

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Cool Finds

Instead of Growing Meat in a Lab, Why Not Make It Out of Plants?

“Plant blood” is the secret behind the I-can’t-believe-it-isn’t-meat company, Impossible Foods

New Research

Each Day, 50 Percent of America Eats a Sandwich

About 20 percent of our daily sodium intake is delivered between two slices of bread

Thank Soil Microbes for White Truffles’ Heavenly Aroma

Bacteria produce the signature smell that truffle-sniffing dogs and pigs pick up on

Sorry, rover. Planting a garden will have to wait.

Four Handy Tips for Growing Your Garden on Mars

Is it possible to have a green thumb on the Red Planet? Perhaps, after you’ve mastered a few space gardening tricks

Kale is delicious, nutritious and unnatural, genetically speaking.

Sorry Hipsters, That Organic Kale Is a Genetically Modified Food

And those juicy red grapefruits are mutants created by radiation exposure

Cool Finds

High-tech Chopsticks Developed To Combat Food Safety Issues In China

Could utensils be a way to keep consumers safe?

New Research

Once Mexico Had a Wealth of Corn; Now It’s Left With a Genetically Boring Monocrop

This lack of diversity does not bode well for food sustainability and economics in light of climate change

A coffee roaster does a taste test in Los Angeles.

New Research

Five Coffee Mysteries the Bean’s Genes May Crack

The newly sequenced coffee genome might reveal the origins of caffeine and pave the way for better-tasting, healthier brews

A wild boar mama in Germany.

Cool Finds

Radioactive Boars Are Roaming Around Germany

The boar’s meat is too contaminated from Chernobyl’s radiation to be fit for human consumption

A closeup of jars, probably once filled with wine, at Tel Kabri in modern-day Israel.

New Research

Huge Wine Cellar Unearthed at a Biblical-Era Palace in Israel

Residue from jars at a Canaanite palace suggest the ruler preferred his red with hints of mint, honey and juniper

Jessica Rath sculpts paragon and roma tomatoes from life.

Art Meets Science

These Sculptures of Giant Tomatoes Are Ripe For the Picking

What physical traits do humans find desirable? Artist Jessica Rath looks in her grocery store’s produce section for answers

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