Agriculture
- Oceans
Fish escapes from marine farms raise concerns about wildlife
Farmed salmon, sea bass and other fish frequently escape from sea cages into the ocean. Will these runaways harm native wildlife?
By Roberta Kwok - Plants
How a tomato plant foils a dreaded vampire vine
Tomatoes can foil a dodder plant attack by getting scared and scabbing over.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Evidence piles up for popular pesticides’ link to pollinator problems
Neonicotinoid pesticides linked to population declines in California butterflies and wild bee extinctions in Great Britain.
- Environment
New desalination tech could help quench global thirst
Designed with better, more energy-efficient materials, next-generation desalination plants may offer a way to meet the world’s growing need for freshwater.
- Agriculture
New analysis: Genetically engineered foods not a health risk
No real evidence for health or environmental dangers of GE crops.
By Meghan Rosen - Plants
Here’s what a leaf looks like during a fatal attack of bubbles
Office equipment beats synchrotrons in showing how drought lets air bubbles kill the water-carrier network of veins in plant leaves.
By Susan Milius - Agriculture
Bacterium still a major source of crop pesticide
Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria have provided pest-fighting toxins for over 50 years.
- Agriculture
Readers debate GMOs
Genetically-modified food, nuclear fusion, black holes and more reader feedback.
- Agriculture
Climate change threatens quality of French, Swiss wines
Wine quality could suffer as climate change desynchronizes warm temperatures and droughts, preventing grape growers from harvesting at the optimum time.
- Agriculture
Wine quality subject to climate change
Wine quality could suffer as climate change desynchronizes warm temperatures and droughts, preventing grape growers from harvesting at the optimum time.
- Agriculture
FDA to test foods for controversial herbicide
Amid controversy and conflicting studies, the FDA will test food for glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world.
- Agriculture
Plants trick bacteria into attacking too soon
Scientists have discovered that a plant compound interferes with bacterial communication.