Drought + food = instability?

As California parches, we look at drought in the "Arab Spring" and China's Great Leap Forward. How are drought and famine related? More »

Smokin’ hot! Altered tobacco plants point toward race-car photosynthesis

Photosynthesis — creation of sugar from carbon dioxide with solar power — is the basis of life on Earth. Could photosynthesis become More »

Some seed corn is covered by 30 patents. Three firms dominate corn and soybean seed producers, and patents are moving faster into More »

Study finds added sugar — equal to 3 cans of soda a day — doubles death rate among female mice, and impairs male reproduction. Even More »

What about farming insects? 2 billion people eat insects, and more should be, according to the UN. As the planet searches for protein More »

If you teach a group of monkeys that blue corn tastes yucky, they switch to pink corn. What happens when a monkey raised to detest pink More »

What are the safety fundamentals of the giant American food system? What do the new rules say? Who will (and maybe should) escape More »

Think you can get away with an occasional high-fat junk food chow-down? A new study confirms that a single meal can harm your arteries. More »

Cheesemaking is older than Homer’s Odyssey, but questions remain. Which bacteria make the best cheese? Must low-fat cheese taste like More »

Soy protein: It may look like meat. Could meat be grown, cell by cell, in lab dishes. Could in vitro meat solve health and More »

Native agriculture could be a sophisticated response to a challenging environment. What were the secrets of permaculture, companion More »

Could soil help? One-third of soils are degraded. In fighting desertification, erosion and nutrient loss, some soil-restoring More »

Fish contamination was rare after the oil spill in the Gulf, with levels of dangerous hydrocarbons well below “levels of concern.” More »

Teenagers listen up! Caffeine not just a mood-booster: Coffee’s complex chemistry could help with memory, illness, but in moderation! More »

Among foodies, apples lack the “healthy-tasty” cachet of acai berries or pomegranates. But in a year-long study, apples produced major More »