Ancient DNA is revealing the genetic landscape of people who first settled East Asia
By studying the DNA of people who lived in East Asia thousands of years ago, scientists are starting to untangle how the region was populated.
Sept. 15, 2020 • ~11 min
Tags: ancient-dna hunter-gatherers china agriculture archaeology genes genomics southeast-asia rice adna siberia paleoanthropology human-migration east-asia hunter-gatherer start-of-agriculture paleogenomics
Gene editing to produce 'super dad' livestock
Modified animals could improve sustainable meat production, but safety and ethical issues remain.
Tags: genetics agriculture genetic-engineering
How to reverse global wildlife declines by 2050
Wildlife populations have plummeted by 68% since 1970. But we have a plan to turn things around.
Sept. 14, 2020 • ~6 min
Tags: conservation biodiversity agriculture wildlife ecosystem-services ecosystems biodiversity-loss sixth-mass-extinction food-systems
The fourth agricultural revolution is coming – but who will really benefit?
AI, robots and other technologies could transform farming – for worse as well as for better.
Sept. 14, 2020 • ~8 min
Tags: artificial-intelligence agriculture robots farming
Plants might be able to tell us about the location of dead bodies, helping families find missing people
Researchers are figuring out how plants respond to the presence of human cadavers. The findings could prove important for discovering the locations of murder victims or mass graves.
Sept. 3, 2020 • ~7 min
Tags: evolution innovation agriculture plants microbes adaptation genetically-modified-organisms forensics genetically-modified-plants decomposition
Plants might be able to tell us about the location of dead people, helping families find missing people
Researchers are figuring out how plants respond to the presence of human cadavers. The findings could prove important for discovering the locations of murder victims or mass graves.
Sept. 3, 2020 • ~7 min
Tags: evolution innovation agriculture plants microbes adaptation genetically-modified-organisms forensics genetically-modified-plants decomposition
When plants and their microbes are not in sync, the results can be disastrous
Just as humans can suffer from an imbalance of microbes in their gut, plants can suffer a similar syndrome in their leaves. This finding opens up new possibilities for improving food security.
Aug. 28, 2020 • ~8 min
Tags: agriculture plants microbiome ecosystem crops microbiota arabidopsis
Amazon fires trap farmers into poverty – and into setting more fires
Fires that burn the forest burn crops and pastures alike. But farmers in the eastern Amazon are left with few good options.
Aug. 17, 2020 • ~7 min
Tags: climate-change agriculture brazil farming amazon-fires wildfires forest-fires fire-risk
Cold War spy satellite captures threat to marmots
When an American pilot went down over the Soviet Union in the 1960s, the US launched a spy satellite. Its data now helps monitor the bobak marmot.
Tags: conservation agriculture rodents ecosystems satellites earth-and-environment
The pandemic may change what we eat
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted food supply chains and raised awareness of how food production harms the planet, an expert says.
Tags: covid-19 agriculture food earth-and-environment health-and-medicine
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