Farming

Left, Bob Fletcher in the California fields; right, Marielle Tsukamoto beneath a flock of paper cranes, symbols of peace and resilience, at an internment exhibition at the California Museum in Sacramento.

During World War II, This Farmer Risked Everything to Help His Japanese American Neighbors

When the U.S. government sent the Tsukamoto family to an incarceration camp in 1942, one neighbor stepped up to save the farms they left behind, giving them something to come home to

Officers display the weapons used in the November 15, 1959, killings of the Clutter family.

Inside the Brutal Murders That Inspired a Foundational Work in the True Crime Genre

Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" documented the killings of a family of four in rural Kansas on this day in 1959

Travis Gienger nicknamed his pumpkin "Rudy" for the Notre Dame football player who inspired the movie Rudy.

Minnesota Teacher's 2,471-Pound Gourd Triumphs in Annual Pumpkin-Weighing Competition

Travis Gienger, who nicknamed his prize-winning pumpkin "Rudy," has been growing gourds for nearly 30 years

Thirty-six homes—the world’s last topped with a traditional eelgrass roof—all sit here on Laeso.

Could Eelgrass Be the Next Big Bio-Based Building Material?

On the island of Laeso in Denmark, one man is reviving the lost art of eelgrass thatching and, in doing so, bringing attention to a plant that has great potential

Oued Beht, highlighted in color

The Discovery of a 5,000-Year-Old Society in Morocco Reveals an Ancient Farming Culture

At the site known as Oued Beht, archaeologists uncovered evidence of a large farming settlement where people used advanced techniques

The Marco Polo sheep is a subspecies of argali, the largest living wild sheep.

Montana Rancher Who Created Giant, Hybrid Sheep Sentenced to Six Months in Prison

Arthur “Jack” Schubarth cloned illegally imported genetic material from the Marco Polo argali to create hybrid sheep that would draw higher prices from hunting preserves

A worker of the fungus-farming ant species Mycetophylax asper, collected in Santa Catarina, Brazil, in 2014, on its fungus garden

Ants Farmed Fungi in the Wake of Dinosaurs’ Demise 66 Million Years Ago

A new study from Smithsonian scientists analyzes ant and fungus species, and uncovers the origins of their close partnership

Construction of the famous stone statues of Rapa Nui, called moai, was previously thought to have contributed to the island's population collapse.

Easter Island's Ancient Population Never Faced Ecological Collapse, Suggests Another Study

New DNA analysis adds to growing research indicating the famous Pacific island did not collapse from overuse of resources before the arrival of Europeans

Healthy little brown bats in Mt. Aeolus cave in Vermont in 2012

The Surprising Link Between Bats Dying and Human Infant Mortality

A new study finds that when bats in U.S. counties were decimated by the deadly white-nose syndrome, human deaths followed closely behind

So-called “corn sweat,” the water vapor released by the process of evapotranspiration, can raise humidity in corn-producing areas on the hottest days of summer.

Feeling Sticky This Summer? 'Corn Sweat' Could Be Raising the Humidity

The natural process of plant evapotranspiration is pumping moisture into an already hot and humid atmosphere, especially in the corn-growing areas of the Midwest

Start dates at schools across American range from mid-July to early September.

When Do Kids Go Back to School? It Depends on Where They Live

In some districts, students returned to their classrooms weeks before Labor Day

DCPA is used on crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions.

'Dangerous' Pesticide That Could Harm Fetuses Is Pulled From the Market in Historic Move by EPA

Often used to kill weeds around crops, DCPA poses a health risk to the unborn babies of pregnant farmworkers, according to the agency

A woman and her equine push a herd of horses on a hazy morning near Grand Teton National Park.

See 15 Photos of Real-Life Cowboys and Cowgirls Wrangling Cattle and Riding Bucking Broncos

Giddyap and get a look at these stunning selections from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

A little over a century ago, a limestone cave system north of Kuala Lumpur was reborn as a holy Hindu shrine, called Batu Caves.

From Cisterns to Temples, These Twelve Underground Worlds Are Open for Exploring

Some of these age-old subterranean spaces have even been transformed into amusement parks, art galleries and restaurants

A new butter alternative uses synthetic fat to create taste of dairy butter without the need for cows.

New 'Butter' Made From Carbon Dioxide Tastes Like the Real Dairy Product, Startup Says

The company, called Savor, uses a synthetic fat to approximate the taste of butter and is seeking regulatory approval

One of the complete skeletons analyzed in the new study

Did Plague Cause the Mysterious Collapse of Europe's Early Farmers 5,000 Years Ago?

A new study finds widespread DNA evidence that an ancestor pathogen of the Black Death helped bring about the end of an agricultural society responsible for megalithic tombs and monuments, like Stonehenge

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Keeping the Spirit of Maine’s Wild Blueberry Harvest Alive

In the far reaches of New England, an unusual convergence of farmworkers renews an ancient and increasingly threatened agricultural practice

Robert DiNapoli, co-author of a new study about population dynamics on Rapa Nui, stands in front of a rock garden on the island. People used rocks to make the volcanic land more suitable for farming.

Easter Island Did Not Collapse From Overuse of Resources After All, Study Suggests

A new paper contradicts the idea that people used up the island's resources and experienced a significant population decline, instead proposing that a small society lived there sustainably

Chickens on a poultry farm in Tepatitlan, Jalisco State, Mexico, on June 6, 2024. Outbreaks of H5N2 avian influenza have recently been reported in poultry in Mexico.

Man Infected With H5N2 Bird Flu in Mexico Dies. Here's the Latest on the Virus

The strain is not the same one that has infected U.S. cows and three dairy farm workers, and officials say the risk to the general public remains low

Bird flu was first detected in U.S. dairy cows in March. So far, infections have been detected in 33 herds across eight states.

Bird Flu Virus Detected in Pasteurized Milk, as U.S. Moves to Test More Dairy Cows

The FDA maintains that the commercial milk supply is safe, and it plans to report results of further tests in the coming days and weeks

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