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Food & Environment

Can desalination quench agriculture’s thirst?

Miles away from the ocean, projects are afoot to clean up salty groundwater and use it to grow crops. Some say it’s a costly pipe dream, others say it’s part of the future.

Cracking the recipe for perfect plant-based eggs

Hint: It involves finding just the right proteins. With new ingredients and processes, the next generation of substitutes will be not just more egg-like, but potentially more nutritious.

The secrets of butterfly migration, written in pollen

Trillions of insects move around the globe each year. Scientists are working on new ways to map those long-distance journeys.

Frogs kick back against lethal fungus

Scientists are seeing signs of resistance to the infections that have been wiping out the world’s amphibian populations — and developing strategies to aid in the fight Down Under

Sustainable building effort reaches new heights with wooden skyscrapers

Wood engineered for strength and safety offers architects an alternative to carbon-intensive steel and concrete

The dirt on biocrusts: Why scientists are working to save Earth’s living skin

Think twice before stepping on that crunchy top layer of soil. It may be a vital ecosystem — one that you can help protect.

What a bioluminescent petunia had to teach me

I bought a glowing plant. It led me down a rabbit hole of radiant mushrooms, 19th century experiments and a modern rivalry between scientists in Russia and the Americas.

Understanding the sudden rise of type 2 diabetes in children

The metabolic disorder was long known as a disease of adulthood. Now, it’s spiking in kids and teens, with worrisome consequences.

Air pollution makes it harder for bees to smell flowers

Contaminants can alter plant odors and warp insects’ senses, disrupting the process of pollination

To help with climate change, carbon capture will have to evolve

The technologies are a useful tool to reduce CO2 levels but have yet to move us away from fossil fuels

The greening of planes, trains and automobiles

We need new fuels to transport people and goods around the globe as society moves away from coal, natural gas and oil. Here’s how things are shaping up.

One fish, two fish, 3,000 fish ...

Groups of cichlid fishes in East Africa radiated into thousands of species within dazzlingly short periods of time. How did they do it?

Nature interrupted: Impact of the US-Mexico border wall on wildlife

Scientists on both sides of the border are working to understand how the barrier is affecting the area’s biodiversity. Meanwhile, communities try to save animals left without access to water.

A scientific mission to save the sharks

Despite increasing protection measures, these fish are among the world’s most endangered animals. New tests to detect species being traded, as well as population studies, aim to help save them.

Cleaning up cow burps to combat global warming

New tools for lowering methane emissions from livestock are on their way

A lifetime of love for the charismatic narwhal

An independent scientist working with the Inuit has unraveled many mysteries of the one-tusked ‘unicorn of the sea’

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