Two male students and two female students working with beakers and test tubes

Explore How Research Impacts Your Life

Insect Eaters: Turning Pests into Chicken Feed

ARS scientists are looking to turn the tables on mosquitoes and other insect pests like house flies by making them into lunch for other animals.

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Keeping the Bay Healthy

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest and most productive estuary in the United States and third largest in the world.

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Women Play Leading Role in Ag Science

Women are leading cutting-edge scientific research at ARS.

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New Cultivars Vitalize Cajun State’s Sugar Industry

ARS scientists use genetics to keep the Louisiana sugar industry vital.

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Sugar Byproducts May Help Refresh the Environment

Scientists are turning that waste into products that can refresh the soil. Two examples involve mill mud and bagasse.

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Scientists Improve Rice

Rice, already the primary staple for half the world's population, is getting a makeover from a research team in New Orleans, LA.

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Using More Cotton May Help Clean the Environment

Researchers may boost the cotton nonwoven industry and clean the environment.

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Egg-splaining Egg Safety

We are cracking the mysteries about egg safety, handling and consumption!

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Black and orange Pepper Jack ornamental peppers.
Pepper Portal

Learn about ARS developed peppers, watch a cooking video and get recipes.

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Interior view of a vertical farm.
Vertical Farming Is Moving Up

Vertical farming, the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers, allows farmers to grow fresh produce indoors year-round.

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If You’re Happy and You Know It, Strut Around

Want to raise backyard chickens? It requires planning, attention to detail, and fastidiousness when it comes to completing chores.

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A weed growing next to a tombstone
A Halloween Mystery

Graveyards are a pretty cool place, if you’re a scientist. A Mississippi graveyard is the perfect place for a globe-trotting plant.

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This Bee Lives Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Researchers discovered a fuzzy gray bee that carves its nest into chunks of sandstone!

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Eaglet looking at camera
Hanging Out and Taking Selfies

Takoda, the bald eagle at the U.S. National Arboretum, becomes a teenager.

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Your Pet Isn't The Only One Wearing a Collar

ARS researchers undertook a five-year study to improve control of the ticks that spread Lyme disease.

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Shelled and unshelled pecans.
Protecting Pecans with Friendly Fungi

Scientists at the ARS Fruit and Tree Nut Research Station have developed a new way to protect pecans from diseases.

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Protecting Our Pollinators

Pollinators are also essential to healthy, biodiverse ecosystems across public and private lands.

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A boy eating French fries
Keep Your Eyes on the Fries

Are you eating ARS-developed French fries? The answer may surprise you.

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Male hands hold soil sprouting a seedling and female hands holding soil sprouting a seedling.
Reduce Waste With Composting

Composting is an excellent way to reduce waste sent to landfills while providing soil in gardens or fields with precious nutrients.

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A baseball and a wooden bat laying on grass.
Three Strikes and You're Out

Learn how ARS scientists are working hard to fight this pest and protect our beloved ash trees.

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Scientists using a laser-scanning confocal microscope to make 3D images.
The Tiny World of Microscopic Imaging

This facility is equipped with state-of-the-art microscopes capable of producing high-resolution, digital images of many pests and pathogens.

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An open carton holding a dozen eggs.
Cracking the Mystery of How to Store Eggs

Should you store eggs in the refrigerator or let them sit out in the kitchen at room temperature?

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Sunbutter spread on a piece of bread and jars of Sunbutter next to it.
SunButter: A Tasty Sandwich Spread

Did you know that ARS scientists developed a tasty, nutrient-rich peanut butter alternative made from sunflower seeds?

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Two diseased catfish
Researchers are Close to Hooking Fatal Catfish Disease

ARS scientists are close to landing answers and potential remedies to the elusive disease, Aeromonas hydrophila.

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Growing Food in Space

ARS scientists are working with NASA to develop technologies to allow astronauts to grow fresh produce while in space.

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Honeybees feeding on microalgae
Microalgae is the Bee’s Knees

Microscopic algae could provide a strong, sustainably produced artificial diet for honeybees.

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A baby being spoon fed
Can Baby Food Affect Your Adult Health?

What you eat at certain stages of life may determine your future health.

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brown marmorated stink bug
Do Bugs Bug You?

Learn about insects and what we can do to keep them out of our homes.

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Chia seeds
Alternative Grains

ARS researchers are evaluating ways to use gluten-free alternatives, like amaranth, in popular products like cookies.

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ARS in Your Pizza

Great pizza needs great ingredients! Did you know that two of those were developed by ARS?

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A green plant leaf illuminated by light shining through it
What is Photosynthesis?

Learn about photosynthesis and how plants use it to feed the planet.

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Red apples growing on a tree
An Apple For Your Teacher and You

ARS maintains an experimental orchard in Geneva, NY, devoted to bringing you even better apples for the future.

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Purple grapes growing on a vine
Grape Expectations

ARS has bred "seedless" grape varieties with seeds so tiny that you can't even detect them.

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Cattle in a field.
How Can an App Beef Up Cattle Production?

A team of ARS researchers is developing a web-based tool that will help cattle producers select the best bull for their herds.

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An air potato beetle on a green leaf
Invasion of the Air Potato!

Controlling one of the most aggressive invasive weeds in the southeastern United States.

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Three "Heal Right" micronutrient bars in their wrappers and surrounded by blocks of chocolate, blueberries and raspsberries
Really-Good-For-You Health Bars

ARS researchers helped formulate a tasty fruit-based bar with health-promoting ingredients.

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Pear fruit bars on a plate surrounded by pears, blueberries and cranberries.
Imperfect Fruits and Veggies Get a Second Chance

Scientists are turning potentially wasted fruits and veggies into tasty, healthful products for you to enjoy.

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A biorefiner
Prospecting for Non-Fossil Oil and Gas

A thermo-catalytic system may help farmers and ranchers convert farm and ranch leftovers and waste to sources of bioenergy.

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Peanuts in the shell
Hope for People With Peanut Allergy

ARS scientists have come up with a very promising for peanut allergy treatment.

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Corn growing in kura clover.
Living Mulch Improves Soil Health and Farmer’s Bottom Line

Scientists is working on a double-cropping system that may improve a farmer’s profit margin.

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Many mixed breads and rolls shot from above.
Microbe Turns Bread Waste into Useful Compound

ARS scientists found a way to make a valuable compound from left over bread.

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