Food News

November 6, 2025

Top Headlines

Scientists Shocked to Find E. Coli Spreads as Fast as the Swine Flu

Nov. 4, 2025 — Researchers have, for the first time, estimated how quickly E. coli bacteria can spread between people — and one strain moves as fast as swine flu. Using genomic data from the UK and Norway, scientists modeled bacterial transmission rates and ...

Sunflowers May Be the Future of "Vegan Meat"

Nov. 4, 2025 — A collaboration between Brazilian and German researchers has led to a sunflower-based meat substitute that’s high in protein and minerals. The new ingredient, made from refined sunflower flour, delivers excellent nutritional value and a mild ...

Scientists Discover the Nutrient That Supercharges Cellular Energy

Nov. 3, 2025 — Scientists uncovered how the amino acid leucine enhances mitochondrial efficiency by preserving crucial proteins that drive energy production. By downregulating the protein SEL1L, leucine prevents unnecessary degradation and strengthens the cell’s ...

Ancient Viruses Hidden Inside Bacteria Could Help Defeat Modern Infections

Nov. 3, 2025 — Penn State scientists uncovered an ancient bacterial defense where dormant viral DNA helps bacteria fight new viral threats. The enzyme PinQ flips bacterial genes to create protective proteins that block infection. Understanding this mechanism could ...

Soil Microbes Remember Drought and Help Plants Survive

Nov. 2, 2025 — Researchers discovered that soil microbes in Kansas carry drought “memories” that affect how plants grow and survive. Native plants showed stronger responses to these microbial legacies than crops like corn, hinting at co-evolution over time. ...

It Sounds Creepy, but These Scientific Breakthroughs Could Save Lives

Oct. 30, 2025 — From mini-brains to spider-inspired gloves and wolf apple coatings, scientists are turning eerie-sounding experiments into real innovations that could revolutionize health and sustainability. Lab-grown brain organoids may replace animal testing, ...

Scientists Turn Flower Fragrance Into a Mosquito Killer

Oct. 27, 2025 — A team of researchers has developed a floral-scented fungus that tricks mosquitoes into approaching and dying. The fungus emits longifolene, a natural scent that irresistibly draws them in. It’s harmless to humans, inexpensive to produce, and ...

Glowing Sugars Show How Microbes Eat the Ocean's Carbon

Oct. 19, 2025 — Researchers have developed a light-emitting sugar probe that exposes how marine microbes break down complex carbohydrates. The innovative fluorescent tool allows scientists to visualize when and where sugars are degraded in the ocean. This ...

Scientists Discover Orchids Sprouting from Decaying Wood

Oct. 8, 2025 — Kobe University researchers found that orchids rely on wood-decaying fungi to germinate, feeding on the carbon from rotting logs. Their seedlings only grow near deadwood, forming precise fungal partnerships that mirror those seen in adult orchids ...

Japan’s Hot Springs Hold Clues to the Origins of Life on Earth

Oct. 3, 2025 — Billions of years ago, Earth’s atmosphere was hostile, with barely any oxygen and toxic conditions for life. Researchers from the Earth-Life Science Institute studied Japan’s iron-rich hot springs, which mimic the ancient oceans, to uncover how ...

A Plant Compound Might Be the Secret Weapon Against Gum Disease

Sep. 30, 2025 — A team of researchers tested morin, a plant compound, against gum disease bacteria and found strong antimicrobial benefits. By encapsulating it in polymers, they created a powdered form for oral hygiene products. This could replace antibiotics, ...

A Tiny Mineral May Hold the Secret to Feeding Billions Sustainably

Sep. 24, 2025 — Rice, a staple for billions, is one of the most resource-hungry crops on the planet—but scientists may have found a way to change that. By applying nanoscale selenium directly to rice plants, researchers dramatically improved nitrogen efficiency, ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:58pm EST

A Hidden Gene Could Triple Wheat Yields

Oct. 19, 2025 — Researchers discovered the gene that gives a rare wheat variety its unusual “triple-grain” trait. When switched on, the gene helps wheat flowers produce extra grain-bearing parts. The finding ...

Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus Just Revealed Stunning New Clues to Life

Oct. 2, 2025 — Fresh analysis of Cassini data has revealed new complex organic molecules inside ice grains spewing from Enceladus. These discoveries strengthen the case that the moon’s underground ocean hosts ...

Pollen Holds a Secret That Could Save Honeybees

Sep. 30, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that pollen is a hidden source of natural medicine for honeybees. Symbiotic bacteria called Streptomyces produce antimicrobial compounds that fight deadly bee and plant ...

Stunning Images Reveal How Antibiotics Shatter Bacterial Defenses

Sep. 29, 2025 — Researchers have revealed how polymyxins, crucial last-resort antibiotics, break down bacterial armor by forcing cells to overproduce and shed it. Astonishingly, the drugs only kill bacteria when ...

Scientists Just Found Rare Spores Inside a Fossil Older Than Dinosaurs

Sep. 27, 2025 — Scientists reclassified a long-misunderstood fossil from Brazil as a new genus, Franscinella riograndensis. Using advanced microscopy, they discovered spores preserved in situ—a rare find that ...

Dogs Can Tell How Toys Work Without Any Training

Sep. 23, 2025 — Gifted dogs can categorize toys by function, not just appearance. In playful at-home tests, they linked labels like “fetch” and “pull” to toys—even ones they’d never seen before. The ...

Could These Strange Rocks Be the First True Evidence of Life on Mars?

Sep. 21, 2025 — In Jezero Crater’s Bright Angel formation, Perseverance has found rocks rich in organic molecules and minerals linked to microbial metabolism. Their arrangement hints at redox reactions that ...

Tiny Protein Pairs May Hold the Secret to Life’s Origin

Sep. 18, 2025 — A team from the University of Illinois has uncovered surprising evolutionary links between the genetic code and tiny protein fragments called dipeptides. By analyzing billions of dipeptide sequences ...

Soil Warming Experiments Challenge Assumptions About Climate Change

Sep. 17, 2025 — Heating alone won’t drive soil microbes to release more carbon dioxide — they need added carbon and nutrients to thrive. This finding challenges assumptions about how climate warming influences ...

150-Million-Year-Old Teeth Expose Dinosaurs’ Secret Diets

Sep. 14, 2025 — By analyzing tooth enamel chemistry, scientists uncovered proof that Jurassic dinosaurs divided up their meals in surprising ways—some choosing buds and leaves, others woody bark, and still others ...

NASA's Perseverance Rover Finds Clues to Ancient Mars Chemistry and Possible Life

Sep. 12, 2025 — Mars’ Jezero Crater holds signs of ancient water and strange mineral reactions, some linked with organic compounds. With Perseverance’s samples and AI-refined mineral maps, scientists are closing ...

How Orangutans Thrive in Feast and Famine Without Gaining Weight

Sep. 9, 2025 — Orangutans, humans’ close evolutionary relatives, have developed remarkable strategies to survive in the unpredictable rainforests of Borneo. A Rutgers-led study reveals that these apes balance ...

Scientists Recreate Life’s First Step: Linking Amino Acids to RNA

Aug. 28, 2025 — Researchers demonstrated how amino acids could spontaneously attach to RNA under early Earth-like conditions using thioesters, providing a long-sought clue to the origins of protein synthesis. This ...

Bumble Bees Balance Their Diets With Surprising Precision

Aug. 27, 2025 — Bumble bees aren’t random foragers – they’re master nutritionists. Over an eight-year field study in the Colorado Rockies, scientists uncovered that different bee species strategically balance ...

Scientists Found the Missing Nutrients Bees Need — Colonies Grew 15-Fold

Aug. 23, 2025 — Scientists have developed a breakthrough food supplement that could help save honeybees from devastating declines. By engineering yeast to produce six essential sterols found in pollen, researchers ...

Scientists Finally Crack the Secret to Perfect Chocolate Flavor

Aug. 21, 2025 — Scientists have decoded the microbial and environmental factors behind cacao fermentation, the critical process that defines chocolate’s taste. By recreating the fermentation with controlled ...

Scientists Just Found a Hidden Factor Behind Earth’s Methane Surge

Aug. 17, 2025 — Roughly two-thirds of all atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, comes from methanogens. Tracking down which methanogens in which environment produce methane with a specific isotope signature ...

Tiny Microbes May Secretly Rewire the Brain Before Birth

Aug. 19, 2025 — MSU researchers discovered that microbes begin shaping the brain while still in the womb, influencing neurons in a region critical for stress and social behavior. Their findings suggest modern birth ...

The Sweetpotato’s DNA Turned out Stranger Than Anyone Expected

Sep. 14, 2025 — Sweetpotato, a critical food crop for millions, has finally had its genetic code fully decoded after decades of mystery. Scientists unraveled its extraordinarily complex genome of six chromosome ...

New “evolution Engine” Creates Super-Proteins 100,000x Faster

Aug. 8, 2025 — Researchers at Scripps have created T7-ORACLE, a powerful new tool that speeds up evolution, allowing scientists to design and improve proteins thousands of times faster than nature. Using engineered ...

Can Humans Regrow Eyes? These Snails Already Do

Aug. 6, 2025 — Apple snails can fully regrow their eyes, and their genes and eye structures are strikingly similar to humans. Scientists mapped the regeneration process and used CRISPR to identify genes, including ...

This Prehistoric Predator Survived Global Warming by Eating Bones

Aug. 6, 2025 — A prehistoric predator changed its diet and body size during a major warming event 56 million years ago, revealing how climate change can reshape animal behavior, food chains, and survival ...

700,000 Years Ahead of Their Teeth: The Carbs That Made Us Human

Aug. 2, 2025 — Long before evolution equipped them with the right teeth, early humans began eating tough grasses and starchy underground plants—foods rich in energy but hard to chew. A new study reveals that this ...

Did Drunk Apes Help Us Evolve? New Clues Reveal Why We Digest Alcohol So Well

Aug. 1, 2025 — Ape behavior just got a name upgrade — “scrumping” — and it might help explain why humans can handle alcohol so well. Researchers discovered that African apes regularly eat overripe, ...

Did Humans Learn to Walk in Trees?

July 29, 2025 — In the quest to understand how and why early humans started walking on two legs, scientists are now looking to chimpanzees living in dry, open savannah-like environments for clues. A new study ...

Woodpeckers Thrive Where Missiles Fly. How a Bombing Range Became a Wildlife Refuge

Aug. 4, 2025 — In a surprising twist of conservation success, a U.S. Air Force bombing range in Florida has become a sanctuary for endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker. Michigan State University ...

This Sugar Substitute Does More Than Sweeten — It Kills Cancer Cells

July 25, 2025 — Fermenting stevia with a banana leaf-derived probiotic turns it into a powerful cancer-fighting agent that kills pancreatic cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. The secret lies in a metabolite ...

Eggs Are Off the Hook—study Reveals Bacon’s the Real Heart Risk

July 27, 2025 — Eggs are finally being vindicated after decades of cholesterol-related blame. New research from the University of South Australia reveals that eggs, despite their cholesterol content, aren't the ...

These Dogs Are Trained to Sniff out an Invasive Insect—and They're Shockingly Good at It

July 17, 2025 — Dogs trained by everyday pet owners are proving to be surprisingly powerful allies in the fight against the invasive spotted lanternfly. In a groundbreaking study, citizen scientists taught their ...

Brighter, Bolder, Hotter: Why Female Guppies Can't Resist Orange

July 10, 2025 — Male guppies that glow with more orange aren’t just fashion-forward — they’re also significantly more sexually active. A UBC study reveals that brighter coloration is linked to virility and is ...