Fodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs.Most animal feed is from plants, but some is of animal origin. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them), rather than that which they forage for themselves. It includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and pelleted feeds, oils and mixed rations, and sprouted grains and legumes. The availability of fodder is one of the limiting factors in animal husbandry. Organic husbandry should...

Our soil is often overlooked-it's teeming with billions of microscopic organisms that comprise the most biodiverse environment on Earth. Like all living things, they're affected by climate change, too. There's a fact that frequently gets mentioned when people talk about soil: There are more microorganisms in a teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people on Earth. The matrix of living creatures that recycle plant and animal life is incredibly complex, with bacteria, protozoa, fungi, actinomycetes, nematodes and others interacting in countless, largely-unmapped ways. And so, how might...

Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity, and health professionals worldwide are already responding to the health harms caused by this unfolding crisis. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that to avert catastrophic health impacts and prevent millions of climate change-related deaths, the world must limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. Past emissions have already made a certain level of global temperature rise and other changes to the climate inevitable. Global heating of even 1.5°C is not considered safe, however; every additional tenth...

Climate change will affect agricultural production worldwide. Average global crop yields for maize, or corn, may see a decrease of 24% by late century, if current climate change trends continue. Wheat, in contrast, may see an uptick in crop yields by about 17%. The change in yields is due to the projected increases in temperature, shifts in rainfall patterns and elevated surface carbon dioxide concentrations due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, making it more difficult to grow maize in the tropics and expanding wheat's growing range. Wheat, which grows best in temperate climates, may...

Forensics is a hot topic, and many youth have seen forensic entomology practiced in movies and on popular television shows (such as "CSI") as a way to solve crimes such as murder cases. Even for those who are not aware of the current trend, a murder case is something that consistently piques the interest of youth.Is the science that applies Insect Biology in criminal investigations, where insects and other arthropods are used to detect the circumstances of criminal cases? It is noteworthy that the first use of insects in criminal investigations was in China in 1235, when the mystery of the...