Eliza Barclay

A plant scientist at Mars Inc. has appealed to the world's biggest life sciences companies to help him — by sharing what they already know about 100 crops that could provide better nutrition in Africa. But can the kings of agricultural intellectual property get onboard with open source agricultural information for Africa?

After years of research, an animal scientist looking for ways to keep inflammation down in cattle came up with a novel approach: feed them flax. The flax in their food helps keep animals healthy and has an added benefit for people who later eat their meat: omega-3 enriched beef.

New ideas about health, like physical culture and the paleo approach, appear at times of massive cultural change. Both movements look to the past for how to eat, exercise and live more naturally.

Turkey producers contend that they use antibiotics judiciously to help keep their flocks healthy.

Historians tell us that caffeine in coffee helped Western civilization "sober up" and get down to business. Now scientific research shows that at low doses, caffeine improves performance on mental tasks, especially in people who are already tired.

A new analysis of government data finds that antibiotic-resistant bacteria that cause human illness were widespread in supermarket meat samples tested. The implications are significant: that the bacteria had become resistant to antibiotics back at the farm because farmers were overusing them.

Believe it or not, there's a veritable subculture of otherwise healthy people who simply don't like eating real food. But liquid meal replacements may not be their best bet if they want an alternative.

The number of kids with dangerous levels of lead in their blood hasn't declined much in the past decade, as the government has remained focused on managing lead-based paint. Now researchers argue that more attention to contaminated soil is needed to prevent lead poisoning.

Manufacturers of water heaters agreed in 1988 to set all heaters at 120 degrees Fahrenheit to help reduce tap water burns. But burn rates haven't declined much, so a scientist wanted to find out why.

Henrietta Lacks' family was never consulted before her genetic information was made public. Author Rebecca Skloot, who chronicled the story of her cells, says current regulations aren't covering the privacy questions that come up for people like the Lacks family.