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Food

The Nexus Air Taxi could have Uber airborne within a decade.

Seven Unforgettable Inventions Unveiled at This Year’s CES

From a self-driving suitcase to a flying taxi, these concepts made a splash at the huge trade show in Las Vegas

Shucked oyster shells lay beneath the moonlight at Fanny Bay Oyster Company on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

New Research

Oysters Open and Close Their Shells as the Moon Wanes and Waxes

A new study suggests the mollusks may widen and narrow their shells depending on movement of plankton, which shifts with the lunar cycle

Why Scientists Want to Engineer Spicy Tomatoes

With genetic tinkering, the fruits may offer an easy source of capsaicin, the beneficial compound that gives peppers their heat

Joseph Lee received a patent for his automated kneading machine in August 1894.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame Announces Its 2019 Inductees

Joseph Lee, inventor of the automatic bread and breadcrumb makers, was posthumously honored alongside 18 other men and women

Trending Today

Threatened Bluefin Tuna Sells for Record $3 Million in New Year’s Sale

The 612-pound fish will go to a sushi restaurant, but without intervention the prized species will not be on the plate for much longer

Cool Finds

Your Christmas Tree May Be Turned Into Mouthwash One Day

A new sustainable chemical process can turn pine needles into a chemical feedstock for paint, food sweeteners, mouthwash and other products

Trending Today

A German Grocery Chain Is Selling First-Of-Its-Kind “No-Kill” Eggs

Every year, billions of male chicks are euthanized by the egg and poultry industry, but new tech could end the chick culling

An entry in the Noche de los Rábanos contest

Why Radish Carving Has Become a Popular Holiday Event in Oaxaca

On Dec. 23, hundreds of participants test their skills carving the ruby-skinned root during the Night of the Radishes

Waiting on a lie

Trending Today

When Do Children Give Up on Santa?

A preview of a new international study explores when kids stop believing and how, after the jig is up, it impacted them psychologically

In the late 19th century, Ellen Swallow Richards worked to equip women with the tools of chemistry.

Women Who Shaped History

The First Female Student at MIT Started an All-Women Chemistry Lab and Fought for Food Safety

Ellen Swallow Richards applied chemistry to the home to advocate for consumer safety and women’s education

A mini-loaf of homemade panettone

A Culinary History of Panettone, the Italian and South American Christmas Treat

The holiday pastry has been a multicultural phenomenon since the very beginning

Varieties of maize found near Cuscu and Machu Pichu at Salineras de Maras on the Inca Sacred Valley in Peru, June 2007.

Rethinking the Corny History of Maize

A new genetic study traces the movement of one of the world’s most vital crops from Mexico to South America

Dispatch from 2018

Chicken Bones May Be the Legacy of Our Time

A new study argues that the sheer abundance of chicken consumption, coupled with the strange skeletons of modern chickens, will leave a unique fingerprint

Trending Today

Researchers Create First-Ever Honey Bee Vaccine

The compound protects against the American foulbrood disease, but the same technique could lead to protection against other major pathogens

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2018

Our picks deliver feminist history, folklore reimagined and an adventurous romp through awe-inspiring destinations

Cool Finds

Fruit Flies First Began Feeding on Our Fresh Produce About 10,000 Years Ago

It turns out the insects love marula fruit found in south-central Africa, which attracted them to human caves

Cool Finds

Here’s How That Cow Got So Large

The sad fact is most steers are slaughtered before they reach their full, awesome size, making the Aussie bovine more lucky than freakish

The Stone Age chefs likely boiled carp roe eggs in water or fish broth

Stone Age Humans Feasted on Caviar

Researchers used advanced protein analysis to identify traces of carp roe eggs left on a 6,000-year-old clay plot

Cool Finds

Did These Ancient Juglets—Found in a Bronze Age Burial in Israel—Contain Vanilla?

The finding suggests vanilla was being used 2,500 years earlier and half a world from where we thought, but vanilla experts are skeptical on the findings

This creamy oyster pan roast pays homage to the offerings of oysterman-turned-restaurateur Thomas Downing, a household name in 19th-century New York.

Sweet! You Can Now Cook the Food From the African-American History Museum’s Award-Winning Café in Your Own Home

Smithsonian Books introduces the Sweet Home Café Cookbook, chock full of delicious riffs on classic African-American recipes

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