agriculture

Federal government policy- and decision-making requires deep scientific, technological, and medical expertise from innumerable departments, agencies, and personnel.

Journalists are an easily spooked bunch. Where scientists see a problem in need of a solution, the press often sees an unmitigated crisis that can only be solved by fundamentally changing our way of life.

Florida is known for destructive hurricanes and torrid heat waves, but at the end of December, some parts of the state experienced many consecutive days of nighttime sub-freezing temperatures and frost.

King Solomon may have gained some of his famed wisdom from an unlikely source – ants.

Public trust in media is near an all-time low.

Pick just about any newspaper or journal and during the course of a year, one or more articles will be devoted to the benefits (or not) of organic foods and the downsides (or not) of conventionally grown food with pesticides and herbicides.

By Rob Shewfelt The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World as reviewed by Robert L. Shewfelt

The headline is not exaggeration or hyperbole. Scientific American just ran an article claiming that vegetables are becoming like sugary snacks and are toxic. And that's not even the worst part.

In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollen breaks down the Disneyfication of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, pointing out that for apples to become today’s abundant fruit they must be cross-pollinated.

Some 8,000 years ago, our ancestors struck a Faustian bargain with a creature wandering about in the neighborhood; we feed you, you feed us – it seems, at the time, to be a good collaboration.