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Of course cows, pigs, and chickens belong on farms, and nobody looks askance at a farm full of llamas or buffalos. But there are some farm animals you might not expect. And when I say "not expect," I mean holy crap WTF - why are these animals being farmed? More »
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Japan is still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that hit the country last March. One of the long-term problems is reclaiming farmland ravaged by the tsunami. And mutant rice might be the solution. More »
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The abandoned cities and giant monuments of the Maya, found throughout the Yucatán, are one of the greatest mysteries in human history. Why did this great empire collapse suddenly in 950 AD, leaving its massive urban centers to be consumed by jungle? New evidence suggests that the Mayans may have created such vast farms that they managed to change the local climate in a catastrophic way. More »
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The rise of agriculture allowed for the development of complex societies and technologies that likely wouldn't have been possible otherwise. It also wreaked havoc on human health. And we can add a new downside to the list: our misshapen mouths. More »
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A new sticker for fruit turns into 'fruit wash' when it's put under water and rubbed with a finger. Soon you may be able to clean the gunk off your fruit with . . . the other gunk on your fruit. More »
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For better or worse, agriculture is quite possibly humanity's defining development, allowing people to settle down in one place and build the complex civilizations that we live in today. But ancient humans weren't totally sure about this whole agriculture thing. More »
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Why are so many societies based on hierarchy rather than egalitarian values, despite the fact that evidence suggests ancient human communities were often fairly egalitarian? Stanford researchers wanted to find out. So they designed a computer simulation that compared two basic types of societies: egalitarian ones, in which all resources are shared equally, and hierarchical societies, in which some groups have greater access to resources than others. More »
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The Chu Valley between Kyrgyzstan and Kazkhstan is the home to an extremely hardy type of marijuana that resisted Soviet-era efforts to stamp it out. Law-breaking marijuana farmers in the region harvest the crop normally, but they also procure their stick-icky using a tried and true method that's been around for centuries: nude equestrianism. More »
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One of the runners-up for the recent Animal Architecture Awards is also one of my favorites from the competition: "Farmland World" by Allison Newmeyer and Stewart Hicks of the Chicago-based Design With Company. More »
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Every year, governments and other institutions give scientists grants to continue valuable research in their fields. In the fall, we'll see thousands of such research projects get started — projects that will cure disease, improve agriculture, create more efficient energy, and take us into space — all thanks to funding from taxpayers and philanthropists. More »
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Çatalhöyük is one of the world's most ancient settlements, founded in what is now Turkey around 7,500 BCE. New analysis of the village's dead reveals something strange about this ancient village: nobody cared very much about family ties. More »
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The most powerful civilization in South America before the arrival of Europeans was the mighty Inca empire, which ruled much of the continent's Pacific coast from their home in the Peru highlands. And it's all thanks to copious llama crap. More »
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These are the remains of a "desert kite", a giant animal corral built out of stones some 5,500 years ago. They were effectively the world's first slaughterhouses, as dozens of animals at a time were herded inside and killed. More »
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Dogs, sheep, pigs, cows, horses - all these animals and more have been fundamentally changed by humans to make our lives better. Domestication has fundamentally altered the course of human history, reshaping the land and other species to fit our new agricultural lifestyle. But how do you take a wild species and turn them into domesticated helpers? Why can animals like dogs or horses be domesticated while their close relatives like foxes and zebras remain stubbornly wild? More »
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In the 1200s, Genghis Khan and the Mongolian army built an empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to central Europe, ruling over a fifth of all land on Earth and over 100 million people. And all that conquering reshaped the Earth, reducing carbon dioxide levels enough to offset a year's worth of gasoline usage today. More »
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The time is coming when all that we hate will be all that can save us. No, not mutants. Foodie trendsters. By always seeking out novelty, they may pursue the only real model for long term food sustainability. More »
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Humans like to think we invented agriculture, but a single-celled organism might have us beaten by several million years. An amoeba species known as "Dicty" finds bacteria, moves them to the best location, and harvests them like crops. More »
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If humans are to colonize space, how will we manage sustainable agriculture? Enter the science of aeroponics. More »
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Genetically-modified canola has been breeding undetected in the American wilds for at least "several generations," say scientists. The escaped GM canola has already mutated into a never-before-seen strain, and now it may be modifying other plants too. More »
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This blurb from the November 1934 issue of Science and Mechanics offered a ray of totally bizarre hope for those suffering from food shortages during the Great Depression. Also, we were apparently at war with tyrannical goats. Whodathunk? [Modern Mechanix] More »
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By engineering a strain of symbiotic fungus, researchers have massively increased the growth rate of rice, and may help stave off the specter of global shortages of phosphates, which are essential minerals for plants. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5558232&view=rss&microfeed=true The U.S. Supreme Court has been hearing arguments on whether a genetically engineered pesticide-resistant alfalfa violates the National Environmental Policy Act. The case pits organic farmers against Monsanto, whose genetically altered alfalfa could spread its genes to neighboring crops, via cross-pollination and prevent them from being able to label them as "organic." This is the first time the Supreme Court will address the issue of GM foods. [New York Times] More »
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Researchers put a bit of old folk wisdom to the test by investigating whether water droplets on the top of leaves actually can focus the sun's rays and burn them. The result? Score one for folk wisdom. More »
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When every crop has to be licensed from patent owners like Monsanto, only those practiced in the art of pirate agriculture will have reasonably-priced food. This gorgeous series of photographs from Mendocino's pot harvest might be a glimpse of that future. More »
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Kenya is a land rich in corn and wheat farms. But last week, Kenya's government warned that poor crop yields meant millions would starve. This map shows what went wrong with growing season. More »
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Kibera, a dense, 2.5 square km shantytown outside Nairobi, is the largest slum in Kenya. It's estimated that possibly a million people live its maze of houses and outdoor markets. Now a group there has figured out a fast, efficient way to convert piles of trash into compost — and to convert areas that were once trash heaps into instant organic farms using just recycled PVC piping and other easily-accessible materials. One farm, which now feeds 30 people, was operational in just 3 months. This low-tech form of land reclamation could be a model for rapidly-growing urban populations. More »
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On the chilly Isle of Thanet in Kent, England, farmers are placing 220 acres of land under glass so they can grow vegetables all year round. The greenhouse, when completed, will house 1.3 million plants and increase the UK's crop of green vegetables by 15%. Called Thanet Earth, the project will be a series of 7 connected grenhouses with a relatively small carbon footprint. And nothing grown inside Thanet Earth will ever touch soil. More »
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