Sustainability & Climate Change
Food production needs are expected to roughly double over the next 35 years as the world population grows and people in under developed countries become more affluent and demand more calories. Healthy ecosystems are vital to the survival of all organisms. How can we grow crops without harming the environment? How can we balance technology and global food security? What is the right balance of organic and conventional farming? What role can genetics and biotechnology play without compromising the needs of tomorrow?
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Robot lasers may open the door to near chemical-free agriculture
The LaserWeeder G2 doesn't just remove weeds; it obliterates them. Using optimal thermal energy, the laser explodes cell walls at ...
Neanderthals and humans first mated 50,000 years ago and their DNA may have given us an evolutionary advantage
Far from triumphantly breezing out of Africa, modern humans went extinct many times before going on to populate the world, ...
Aquaculture in the Amazon—enhanced food security comes with sustainability risks
Expanding aquaculture in the Amazon could provide nutritional and economic benefits at a fraction of the environmental cost of cattle ...
Wooly mice: A small step forward in the challenging effort to de-extinct the Pleistocene-era wooly mammoth
Scientists working to unlock the secrets of de-extinction recently announced what they say is a turning point for the movement: ...
Organic industry lobbies to replace organic seal on foods with GMO-free, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, and pesticide related claims
To better engage younger consumers, further maximize the impact of the organic seal and drive sales, [Matthew] Dillon urges industry ...
Viewpoint: Regenerative agriculture’s ‘exorbitant price tag’—Will it ever make economic sense?
[O]ut of 900 million arable acres in the US, only a tiny fraction is currently being farmed regeneratively. And out ...
Viewpoint—Greenpeace’s conviction and humiliation in the pipeline court case raises the question: What’s the global future for science-rejectionist NGOs?
On March 19, a North Dakota court jury ruled against Greenpeace USA, awarding $660 million to Energy Transfer LP for ...
Africa’s food security challenges: Is nuclear agriculture a solution or a problem?
Climate change is an ongoing and increasing threat to African agriculture. Prolonged droughts, pest outbreaks, and poor soil quality are ...
Viewpoint: Here’s why RFK, Jr.’s recommendation to substitute animal fats for vegetable alternatives is bad for your health
'Americans should have every right to eat out at a restaurant without being unknowingly poisoned by heavily subsidised seed oils,' ...
Sticky pesticides: Farmers don’t like using pesticides anymore than we like traces of them on our food. Here’s a smart way forward
It's easy for Greenpeace employees in cities to talk about farming but in the real world, without pesticides we'd lose ...
USAID cuts gut access to lifesaving vaccinations for millions of people in the world’s poorest countries
The United States is planning to terminate more than $1 billion in funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, an international ...
Consumer resistance to technology tweaking food: Brits remain skeptical about cell-based meats
[A] minority (16-41%) of people in the UK are willing to consume cell-cultivated meat [according to the UK Food Standards ...
AI poised to revolutionize farming. Here’s how
In agriculture, AI is already helping farmers to monitor crop health, tailor the delivery of inputs, and make harvesting more ...
Treasure map of genetic secrets—Bigger and more flavorful eggplants and tomatoes on the horizon
Bigger and more flavorful tomatoes and eggplants may soon become a reality, thanks to a team of scientists at Johns Hopkins ...
Lazarus plants: ‘Zombie’ plants that spring back to life hold keys to developing technologies to adapt agriculture to climate change.
To protect crops from rising droughts, scientists are looking to the genes of a small group of plants that can ...
Viewpoint: Why you should read science headlines with caution
The strong correlation between flashiness and wrongness comes from several factors. First, much, if not most, scientific research is wrong. That’s why ...
Ageing and diet: In a study one food plan actually appears to provide some unique benefits
A new 30-year study of eight popular diets has identified the one most likely to keep you healthiest into your ...
As the Trump administration withdraws support for biotechnology innovation pushed by former president Biden, Europe is poised to seize the initiative
The U.S. administration of President Donald Trump has revoked Executive Order 14081, "Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, ...
Korean Muslim group becomes latest religious organization to issue a Fatwa approving cultivated meat as Halal
Cultivated meat can be considered Halal and consumed by Muslims, provided they’re sourced and produced in accordance with Halal standards, ...
5 actions the Trump administration could and should take (but probably won’t) to contain bird flu
First, vaccinating poultry is critical to preventing flock outbreaks and must be a cornerstone of the nation’s avian influenza prevention ...
Viewpoint: Trump’s tariffs are squeezing American farmers. We are still in wait-and-see territory but tensions are building
The trade war hit my farm and greenhouse business here in northwest Missouri on March 4. The first email I ...
Cosmic cuisine: Synthetic biologists are exploring cellular agriculture to grow food in space
[P]roducing food in space is incredibly difficult. There is very limited space aboard spacecraft, and microgravity impacts the growth of ...
Viewpoint: For European farming to innovate, patents are critical
EU policymakers are currently negotiating new rules for developing innovative plant varieties through new genomic techniques (NGTs). These techniques allow plant breeders ...
Varroa mites, not pesticides, are by far the largest threat to honeybee health. Developing RNAi technology shows promise in addressing that crisis
Pictures of honeybees show up in prehistoric cave paintings, one stretching back 8,000 years ago in Spain. The ancient Egyptians were ...
Viewpoint: Social media’s herd mentality undermines how we view farming and food
The information superhighway has many potholes to navigate and treacherous off ramps that will result in people getting lost on ...
Viewpoint: Anti-glyphosate hysteria pushed by RFK, Jr. and MAHA allies throws a dark cloud over modern agriculture
[L]ooming concerns such as talk of a possible glyphosate ban and tight time lines for national carbon emission goals have ...
Viewpoint: Kill Prop 65—It’s past time to ditch California’s science-twisting and misguided attacks on safe-as-used chemicals
Proposition 65 was a voter referendum that stated if a chemical was correlated to cancer, it needed to have a ...
