Agriculture and Food News
August 5, 2025
Top Headlines
Aug. 1, 2025 — Ape behavior just got a name upgrade — “scrumping” — and it might help explain why humans can handle alcohol so well. Researchers discovered that African apes regularly eat overripe, ...
July 21, 2025 — Gene editing may hold the key to rescuing endangered species—not just by preserving them, but by restoring their lost genetic diversity using DNA from museum specimens and related species. Scientists propose a visionary framework that merges ...
July 19, 2025 — Romaine lettuce has a long history of E. coli outbreaks, but scientists are zeroing in on why. A new study reveals that the way lettuce is irrigated—and how it’s kept cool afterward—can make all the difference. Spraying leaves with untreated ...
July 17, 2025 — Dogs trained by everyday pet owners are proving to be surprisingly powerful allies in the fight against the invasive spotted lanternfly. In a groundbreaking study, citizen scientists taught their ...
July 16, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that a protein once thought to be just a cellular "courier" actually helps plants survive drought. This motor protein, myosin XI, plays a critical role in helping leaves close their pores to conserve water. When it's ...
July 10, 2025 — Climate change is silently sapping the nutrients from our food. A pioneering study finds that rising CO2 and higher temperatures are not only reshaping how crops grow but are also degrading their nutritional value especially in vital leafy greens ...
July 8, 2025 — High heat and heavy metals dampen a bumblebee’s trademark buzz, threatening pollen release and colony chatter. Tiny sensors captured up-to-400-hertz tremors that falter under environmental stress, raising alarms for ecosystems and sparking ideas ...
July 7, 2025 — Danish and Welsh botanists sifted through 400 studies, field-tested seed mixes, and uncovered a lineup of native and exotic blooms that both thrill human eyes and lure bees and hoverflies in droves, ...
July 6, 2025 — Kenyan fig trees can literally turn parts of themselves to stone, using microbes to convert internal crystals into limestone-like deposits that lock away carbon, sweeten surrounding soils, and still yield fruit—hinting at a delicious new weapon in ...
June 26, 2025 — Urban wildlife is evolving right under our noses — and scientists have the skulls to prove it. By examining over a century’s worth of chipmunk and vole specimens from Chicago, researchers discovered subtle yet significant evolutionary changes in ...
June 24, 2025 — Two Ice Age wolf pups once thought to be early dogs have been identified as wild wolves, thanks to detailed DNA and chemical analysis. Surprisingly, their last meals included woolly rhinoceros ...
June 23, 2025 — In a remarkable twist of science, researchers have transformed a fungus long associated with death into a potential weapon against cancer. Found in tombs like that of King Tut, Aspergillus flavus was ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:51pm EDT
Aug. 5, 2025 — Tyrannosaurus rex might be the most famous meat-eater of all time, but it turns out it wasn’t the only way to be a terrifying giant. New research shows that while T. rex evolved a skull designed ...
Aug. 2, 2025 — Long before evolution equipped them with the right teeth, early humans began eating tough grasses and starchy underground plants—foods rich in energy but hard to chew. A new study reveals that this ...
Aug. 1, 2025 — About 9 million years ago, a wild interspecies fling between tomato-like plants and potato relatives in South America gave rise to one of the ...
July 30, 2025 — Scientists have used artificial intelligence to upgrade plant immune systems, potentially revolutionizing how crops like tomatoes and potatoes can defend against harmful bacteria. By reengineering ...
July 18, 2025 — Tourists feeding wild elephants may seem innocent or even compassionate, but a new 18-year study reveals it s a recipe for disaster. Elephants in Sri Lanka and India have learned to beg for snacks ...
July 17, 2025 — Mango lovers and growers alike may soon rejoice: scientists at Edith Cowan University have found that a simple dip in ozonated water can drastically extend the shelf life of mangoes by up to two ...
July 15, 2025 — High in Fiji s rainforest, the ant plant Squamellaria grows swollen tubers packed with sealed, single-door apartments. Rival ant species nest in these chambers, fertilizing their host with ...
July 11, 2025 — In a bold step toward sustainable space travel, scientists are engineering a radically small, protein-rich rice that can grow in space. The Moon-Rice project, led by the Italian Space Agency in ...
July 8, 2025 — Scientists at MIT have turbocharged one of nature’s most sluggish but essential enzymes—rubisco—by applying a cutting-edge evolution technique in living cells. Normally prone to wasteful ...
June 25, 2025 — Leafcutter ants live in highly organized colonies where every ant has a job, and now researchers can flip those jobs like a switch. By manipulating just two neuropeptides, scientists can turn ...
Earlier Headlines
June 17, 2025 — Beetles that can see the color red? That s exactly what scientists discovered in two Mediterranean species that defy the norm of insect vision. While most insects are blind to red, these beetles use ...
June 15, 2025 — Aphid-hunting wasps can reproduce with or without sex, challenging previous assumptions. This unique flexibility could boost sustainable pest control if its hidden drawbacks can be ...
June 10, 2025 — After millions of years of evolutionary isolation, Madagascar developed an unparalleled array of wildlife, and recent research has uncovered an unsung ecological hero: the lizard. Though often ...
June 10, 2025 — Bumblebee queens don t work nonstop. UC Riverside scientists discovered that queens take strategic reproductive breaks early in colony formation likely to conserve energy and increase the chance of ...
June 2, 2025 — Some microbes living on sand grains use up all the oxygen around them. Their neighbors, left without oxygen, make the best of it: They use nitrate in the surrounding water for denitrification -- a ...
June 2, 2025 — Making a discovery with the potential for innovative applications in pharmaceutical development, a microbiology student has found a long sought-after fungus that produces effects similar to the ...
June 2, 2025 — California Central Valley, which is known for the agriculture that produces much of the nation's fruits, vegetables and nuts, is a major contributor to a growing dust problem that has profound ...
June 2, 2025 — New research shows that the presence of solar panels in Colorado's grasslands may reduce water stress, improve soil moisture levels and -- particularly during dry years -- increase plant growth ...
May 30, 2025 — Laboratory could improve crop resilience In a discovery three decades in the making, scientists have acquired detailed knowledge about the internal structures and mode of regulation for a specialized ...
May 30, 2025 — To achieve the European Green Deal's goal of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, researchers argue that new genomic techniques (NGTs) should be allowed without pre-market authorization in organic ...
May 29, 2025 — A professor of crop sciences and of plant biology describes research efforts to 'future-proof' the crops that are essential to feeding a hungry world in a changing climate. Long, who has ...
May 29, 2025 — Scientists have pioneered a new way to breed climate-resilient crops faster by combining plant genebank data with climate and DNA analysis. The method, tested on sorghum, could speed up global ...
May 29, 2025 — A virus responsible for damaging cotton crops across the southern United States has been lurking in U.S. fields for nearly 20 years -- undetected. According to new research, cotton leafroll dwarf ...
May 29, 2025 — Scientists analyzed almost 200 cannabis genomes to create the most comprehensive, high-quality, detailed genetic atlas of the plant to date. The atlas reveals unprecedented diversity and complexity ...
May 29, 2025 — Forest-based agroforestry can restore forests, promote livelihoods, and combat climate change, but emerging agroforestry initiatives focusing only on tree planting is leading to missed opportunities ...
May 28, 2025 — A study finds small-scale tree cover in Costa Rica boosts biodiversity while limiting dangerous mosquito ...
May 28, 2025 — A new study shows that planting too much genetically modified corn designed to fight off a tough insect -- the corn rootworm -- especially in the eastern U.S. Corn Belt states may be causing more ...
May 28, 2025 — Researchers compared the whole genome sequence of two genetically distinct lineages of bed bug, and their findings indicate bed bugs may well be the first true urban ...
May 28, 2025 — An analysis of data from a national health survey conducted before the pandemic found that pizza, soup and chicken are some of the main sources of sodium (salt) intake for people in all racial and ...
May 28, 2025 — Parasitic worms that infect humans are not interbreeding with those that infect cattle as previously thought. This is good news for when it comes to controlling schistosomiasis, a disease caused by ...
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
- How Madagascar’s Lizards Became the Island’s Last Hope for Reforestation
- Scientists Reveal the Hidden Pause That Keeps Bee Colonies Alive
Monday, June 2, 2025
- Nitrogen Loss on Sandy Shores: The Big Impact of Tiny Anoxic Pockets
- Student Discovers Long-Awaited Mystery Fungus Sought by LSD's Inventor
- Human-Caused Dust Events Are Linked to Fallow Farmland
- Research Shows How Solar Arrays Can Aid Grasslands During Drought
Friday, May 30, 2025
- Scientists Find a New Way to Help Plants Fight Diseases
- The EU Should Allow Gene Editing to Make Organic Farming More Sustainable, Researchers Say
Thursday, May 29, 2025
- 'Future-Proofing' Crops Will Require Urgent, Consistent Effort
- Living Libraries Could Save Our Food
- Cotton Virus Circulated Undetected for Nearly 20 Years, Study Finds
- Cannabis Pangenome Reveals Potential for Medicinal and Industrial Use
- Agriculture in Forests Can Provide Climate and Economic Dividends
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
- Trees Vs. Disease: Tree Cover Reduces Mosquito-Borne Health Risk
- Too Much of a Good Thing: Consequences of Overplanting Bt Corn in the US
- Bed Bugs Are Most Likely the First Human Pest, New Research Shows
- Understanding Cultural Differences in Salt Usage May Help Lower Consumption
- Genetic Deep Dive Dispels Fear of Hybrid Worm Threat
- When the Forest Is No Longer a Home -- Forest Bats Seek Refuge in Settlements
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
- Zika Virus Uses Cells' 'self-Care' System to Turn Against Host
- Stirling Research Could Extend Biopesticide Effectiveness
- Discovery Offers New Insights Into Skin Healing in Salmon
Monday, May 26, 2025
Thursday, May 22, 2025
- An Artificial Protein That Moves Like Something Found in Nature
- Why Europe's Fisheries Management Needs a Rethink
- Scientists Say Microplastics Are 'silently Spreading from Soil to Salad to Humans'
- Ox-Eye Daisy, Bellis and Yarrow: Flower Strips With at Least Two Sown Species Provide 70 Percent More Natural Enemies of Pests
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
- Can Plants Hear Their Pollinators?
- Natural Algal Communities Can Inhibit Aquaculture Pathogens
- How Hibiscus Flowers Lost Their Bullseyes
- A New Technology for Extending the Shelf Life of Produce
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
- New Research Reveals Puff Adders as an Important Conservation and Rodent Control Solution
- Wild Spinach Offers Path to Breed Disease Resistance Into Cultivated Varieties
- Agrivoltaics Enjoys Comparatively High Acceptance
Monday, May 19, 2025
- Bees Facing New Threats, Putting Our Survival and Theirs at Risk
- Cover Crops May Not Be Solution for Both Crop Yield, Carbon Sequestration
- First-of-Its-Kind Global Study Shows Grasslands Can Withstand Climate Extremes With a Boost of Nutrients
- Scientific Breakthrough: We Can Now Halve the Price of Costly Cancer Drug
- Fitness Fight: Native Bees Struggle Against Invasive Honey Bee
- Fast Food, Fast Impact: How Fatty Meals Rapidly Weaken Our Gut Defenses
- Scientists Describe 71 New Australian Bee Species
Friday, May 16, 2025
Thursday, May 15, 2025
- Dual Associations With Two Fungi Improve Tree Fitness
- Scientists Use Fossils to Assess the Health of Florida's Largest Remaining Seagrass Bed: Surprisingly, It's Doing Well!
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Monday, May 12, 2025
- Flamingos Create Water Tornados to Trap Their Prey
- Invasive Salmon, Clams and Seaweed Are Next Threats to Biodiversity in Britain
- Helping Birds and Floating Solar Energy Coexist
- Microbial 'phosphorus Gatekeeping' Found at Center of Study Exploring 700,000 Years of Iconic Coastline
Friday, May 9, 2025
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
- A Healthy Diet in Childhood Is Linked to Starting Menstrual Periods Later, Regardless of BMI or Height
- Heat and Drought Are Quietly Hurting Crop Yields
- Food as Medicine: How Diet Shapes Gut Microbiome Health
- Scientists Discover a New Way to Convert Corn Waste Into Low-Cost Sugar for Biofuel
- Sustainability Often Used as a Buzzword in Agricultural Genomics
Monday, May 5, 2025
- Sampling, Lab Capacity Could Be Weak Links in African Swine Fever Outbreak
- How Are They Biting? High Speed Video Reveals Unexpected Jaw Movements in Reef Fish
- Vertical Farming to Increase Yields and Reduce Environmental Impact
- Are Agricultural Pesticides an Environmental Threat?
- Targeting Gluten: Researchers Delete Proteins in Wheat Harmful to People With Celiac Disease
Thursday, May 1, 2025
- AI System Targets Tree Pollen Behind Allergies
- Electricity-Generating Bacteria May Power Future Innovations
- Intensifying Farmland Can Sometimes Degrade Biodiversity More Than Expansion
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
- Once Bitten, Animals Develop Resistance That Shrinks Tick Population
- Protein Sources Change the Gut Microbiome -- Some Drastically
- New Study Unlocks How Root Cells Sense and Adapt to Soil
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Monday, April 28, 2025
- New Pests and Diseases Will Cut UK Tree Growth
- New Pangenome Analysis Uncovers Genetic Key to Larger Peanut Yields
- How Math Helps to Protect Crops from Invasive Disease
- Flower Strips Could Save Apple Farmers Pest Control Costs
- Blackberries With No Thorns? Scientist Assembles Genome of a Blackberry in Major Step to Breed Better Fruit
- Evolution of Pugs and Persians Converges on Cuteness
- 'Extremely Rare Event': Bone Analysis Suggests Ancient Echidnas Lived in Water
Friday, April 25, 2025
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
- Nature Accounting in Colombia Makes Sound Economic Case for Protecting Native Ecosystems
- Childhood Exposure to Bacterial Toxin May Be Triggering Colorectal Cancer Epidemic Among the Young
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
- E-I-E-I-Omics: New Discoveries in Corn Genetics Could Help Grow More Productive, Resilient Crops
- How Do You Like Them Apples? Apple Genus Evolution Revealed
- Insects Are Disappearing Due to Agriculture -- And Many Other Drivers, New Research Reveals
- Evidence of Potential Bed Bug Insecticide Resistance in Gene Mutation
- Better Feed, Fewer Burps: Scientists Target Dairy Gas Emissions
Monday, April 21, 2025
- How Activity in Earth's Mantle Led the Ancient Ancestors of Elephants, Giraffes, and Humans Into Asia and Africa
- How Bacteria Use Sneaky Chemistry to Disable Plant Defenses
- Simulations Predict How Pesticides May Affect Honeybee Colonies
- Wild Chimps Filmed Sharing 'boozy' Fruit
- Even Sublethal Insecticide Dose May Disrupt Pollinator Mating Process
- Introduced Trees Are Becoming More Common in the Eastern United States, While Native Diversity Declines
- Should Farm Fields Be Used for Crops or Solar? Or Both