Science is showing how healthy soil can help save the planet—and how we can all help improve what lies beneath our feet.

Invisible worlds, ultimate partners. A crescendo of evidence points to the central role of microorganisms — bacteria, viruses, fungi and algae — in the health of oceans, forests, soils, plants, humans and other animals. 

Rick Haney, gangly and garrulous, paces in front of a congregation of government conservationists, working the room for laughs before he gets to the hard data. The U.S. Department of Agriculture soil scientist points to an aerial photograph of research plots outside his facility in Temple, Texas. “Our drones took this shot,” he says, then shakes his head. “Kidding. We don’t have any drones.”

Research by geologist Gerald Matisoff and colleagues assists efforts to improve water quality in Lake Erie.

Scientists, farmers, and chefs are developing new varieties of produce from heirloom seeds. It will make life better for organic farmers—and yummier for everyone else.

Herbs were our first wonder drugs, and they remain powerful medicine to this day. Here are health-promoting plants to know now.

There are thousands and thousands of bees that are not honeybees out there, pollinating our flowers and helping plants produce food. Who knew?

Mental health is not all in our heads. Nutrition is an oft-ignored — yet incredibly effective — way to manage mental illness, including schizophrenia.

Most of the processed foods we eat are studded with mysterious additives. They extend shelf life. They create exciting flavors, colors and textures. But they don’t do great things for our health. Find out which ones to avoid, and why.

A person with a rare disease is doubly isolated: He or she lives with serious illness as well as uncertainty about treatment options. There is no choice for a patient but to become an expert and advocate extraordinaire.

Garlic mustard and Asian carp can wreak havoc on their ecosystems, but do they have a future on your dinner plate?

In tasteful black-and-white photos, the nonprofit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep captures the bittersweet farewell of parents and their lost babies.

Archaeologists are in the unique position of studying the relationship between humans and their environments over millennia. Consequently, a number of them believe their work should inform current environmental debates.

Low-calorie food replacements have promised to make our weight-loss dreams come true, but research indicates that these pseudo-foods rarely deliver. In fact, they may set our weight-loss efforts back.

Making ethanol from skunk beer? Forward-thinking entrepreneurs and their innovations  in the field of renewable clean energy. 

Patients with the same condition may require different treatments.

How do you spot minute traces of chemicals in drinking water? Simple—build a fish that lights up when it swallows the poison.

PAINESVILLE, OH—His hands held high over his head, Michael Warren jabbed at his thumb with a knife as bright and shiny as the phalanx of motorcycles that surrounded him. Some people in the crowd winced and turned away, but when they looked back again, Mr. Warren still had not managed to tease out the drop of ritual blood.