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Food & Environment

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’

Invasive species are transforming the Everglades

From Burmese pythons and Asian swamp eels to Old World climbing ferns, South Florida hosts hordes of non-native animals and plants. What can be done about the ecological havoc they are wreaking?

The hornet has landed: Scientists combat new honeybee killer in US

An invasive yellow-legged wasp has been decimating beehives in Europe — and bedeviling Georgia since last summer. Researchers are working nest by nest to limit the threat while developing better eradication methods.

Time for half-year resolutions?

If your good intentions from a few months ago haven’t led to much, take note. A psychologist tells us what we can learn from studies on willpower.

In defense of wild meat’s place at the table

Sustainable and safe consumption of wildlife is possible, and important for those who depend on it, says a conservation researcher

From toxic fungus to soy sauce superstar

Today the koji mold is a master fermenter, but it has a checkered past

What’s next in the Ozempic era?

Diabetes, weight loss and now heart health: A new family of drugs is changing the way scientists are thinking about obesity — and more uses are on the horizon

Geothermal power heats up

Long confined to regions with volcanic activity, geothermal promises to become a much more versatile energy source thanks to new technologies

Why are there so many beetle species?

Diet played a key role in the evolution of the vast beetle family tree

How to control chronic wasting disease

A prion sickness similar to mad cow is spreading rapidly through North America’s deer and elk populations. A veterinary microbiologist discusses the options for keeping it in check.

Inching toward a global treaty on plastic pollution

Delegates from 175 nations are working on an international agreement that would tackle the vast amounts of plastic waste in the environment. A marine scientist specializing in plastic pollution discusses the problem and her hopes for the proceedings.

Nuclear’s role in a net-zero world

Is nuclear power a necessary part of the energy transition away from fossil fuels? As the debate rages on, new technologies and smaller reactors may be shifting the balance.

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