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Food

Rick Bayless, whose innovative Chicago restaurants blazed the trail toward wider acceptance of south-of-the-border cooking, has much in common with the celebrated Julia Child.

Rick Bayless Preaches the Gospel of Modern Mexican Cuisine

The trail-blazing Chicago chef and cookbook author wins the second annual Julia Child Award and makes a donation to the Smithsonian

Are Pumpkin Beers, Thank God, Finally on the Way Out?

Some breweries are slowing production, as the trend may be fizzling

Yes, Spiders Eat Spiders

Portia spiders, known for their remarkable intelligence, have some of the most astonishing hunting skills in the arthropod community

This golden goodness relies on a mathematical concept known as the silver ratio.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Using Math to Build the Ultimate Taffy Machine

A mathematician dives into taffy-pulling patents to achieve optimum confection creation

In search of distinctly American beer hops.

Wacky, Wonderful, Wild Hops Could Transform the Watered-Down Beer Industry

The diversity of hops reflects a diversity of tastes and traditions that are part of an extraordinary evolution in beer

Have burned wasteland, will grow.

New Research

Hungry for Morel Mushrooms? Head to Yosemite

It turns out that the shriveled shrooms love forests ravaged by fire

Chock-full of smoked meats and native vegetables like corn, plantains, and squash, ajiaco is a mainstay of Cuban cooking.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

Ajiaco, Cuba in a Cauldron

With origins in the island’s oldest culture, ajiaco is a stew that adapts to the times

A malnourished Somalian baby is held by its mother while waiting for food during a 2011 drought.

Trending Today

It’s 2016. Here’s How Hungry the World Is

More than 21 percent of the developing world is in “serious” need of food, according to a new report

Alfred Jacob Miller's "Buffalo Jump," 1859-1860

Cool Finds

1,600-Year-Old Feast Unearthed in Alberta

Archeologists at Head-Smashed-in-Buffalo Jump have excavated a rare roasting pit with the meal still left inside

These cans are more influential than you might have guessed.

New Research

New Study Highlights Coke and Pepsi’s Uncomfortable Links to Health Organizations

In five years, the two soda companies sponsored at least 96 health and medical groups

Food prices are getting higher. Or lower. Whichever.

Trending Today

Why Those Headlines About Rising Food Costs Are So Confusing

There’s more to the story

A Hungry Snake Finds a Whole Colony of Sociable Weavers

Nesting in close proximity to each other has a lot of advantages for sociable weavers

Bagels always have just one hole, making them useful for illustrating one of topology's core concepts. Also, they are delicious.

Nobel Physics Prize Goes to Exploration of Exotic Matter, Explained in Bagels

Winners probed superconductors and superfluids, launching the ongoing hunt for strange phases of matter

Trending Today

After 80 Years, New York’s Iconic Carnegie Deli Is Closing for Good

The iconic jewish deli has served heaps of pastrami in Times Square for decades

Hello, I am goat.

What Living Like Goats and Badgers Can Teach Us About Ourselves

Two Englishmen won the Ig Nobel Prize for eating grass, earthworms and worse in the name of science

Dissident artist Pyotr Pavlensky appears at Moscow's Tagansky District Court on suspicion of vandalism.

Cool Finds

Russian Burger King Campaign Isn’t the First to Mix Art and Advertising

There’s a lot of back-and-forth between these worlds

This grocery store's shelves are lined with 100% wasted food.

Cool Finds

This Supermarket Sells Only Wasted Food

It’s a yummy solution to a worldwide problem

The Sweet Home Cafe will take your taste buds on a trip across the country.

Breaking Ground

Two Hungry Reporters Dig Into the Sweet Home Café at the African American History Museum

We’re still digesting the rich narrative—but mostly, the Georgia shrimp and Anson Mills stone ground grits

Why Do We Still Have Morse Code and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answer

Zut alors! Up to 36 tons of plastic debris is removed from the Seine each year.

Future of Energy

France Waves “Au Revoir” to Plastic Tableware

If it doesn’t come from biological sources, the country’s new motto is “just say non”

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