Nitrogen fixation is essential for life on Earth. Despite nitrogen being the most abundant gas in our atmosphere, it exists mainly in...

Green algae are simple life forms with amazing impact on the environments of Earth. Algae can be grown at home for microscopy, biology...

Methane (CH4) is a familiar gas emanating from cow dung. Methane's creators are invisible creatures known today as methanaogens,...

Fermentation is used intentionally by c. 8000 BCE to create honey mead , a blend of fermented honey and water. Yeast is crucial to...

Urine has medical and practical applications though history. Renaissance alchemist Hennig Brand discovers phosphorus by boiling his...

Honey bees create honey, beeswax and folklore. First domestication of the honeybee is c. 8000 BCE, in the Neolithic Age. At this time the...

Honey mead is likened to ambrosia , nectar of the Greek Gods, with qualities of immortality and divine transcendence, beloved by bears...

Pistacia is a shrub or tree prized for food , resin, tannins, oils and natural turpentine for thousands of years in the Mediterranean...

Neolithic farmers in Britain and northern Europe are the first to drink milk. Early humans are lactose intolerant but consume dairy...

Broad beans ( Vicia faba ), faba or fava beans are cultivated as a crop from pre-Neolithic times to present day. Among the earliest...

Nigella sativa or kalonji is a blackseed plant with healing properties. Use in cooking and folk medicine is documented by the 2nd...

In ancient Egypt, every year starts anew with the Arrival of Hapi, or the Flooding of the Nile. It's a joyful occasion marked by...

The flooding of the Nile comes at the rise of the Dog Star Sirius . Festivals abound and people create agriculture calendars around it....

The Yamnaya or Yamna people occupy the Ponti-Caspian Steppe about 3300 BCE, with a tribal origin going back to Neolithic times. In the...

Phosphorus is the first element not known since ancient times. This glowing substance is discovered by German alchemist Hennig Brand in...

Liber is an ancient Roman wine god whose feast Liberalia is celebrated March 17. He predates Bacchus; early historians see Liber as a...

Tannenbaum is often equated with Christmas tree. Fir is best for the holidays. Its branches have flat soft foliage, it's easy to hang...

A symbol of strength and virility, the Bull appears i n ancient art and architecture. Blood sacrifice of bulls and oxen usually involves...

Amanita muscaria , fly agaric or fly amanita is the most widely recognized of the psychoactive plants and fungi. The use, folklore and...

Cultivation of apples goes back to the Middle Stone Age in central Asia. The wild ancestor of today's apples still grows in the region....