Watch how seed cotton is collected and processed into cotton fibers, feed for livestock, and cooking oil.

Explore the water footprint of producing various proteins, fruits, and vegetables

This interactive gallery highlights the various types of water behind the production of biofuels, foods, and materials such as cotton. Diets high in bovine meat, whose production requires 15,415 liters of water per kilogram (1,847 gallons per pound), are among the most water-intensive, whereas every kilogram of vegetables uses 322 liters of water (39 gal/lb) to produce.

View the 45 gallons of refined products created from each 42-gallon barrel of crude oil

More than 85% is refined into fuels, such as gasoline and diesel, while about 10% is converted into raw materials for plastics, synthetic rubbers, and other essential products, such as lubricants. Because the majority of these products are less dense than the starting crude oil and additional inputs are introduced during the refining process, there is a processing gain of three gallons.

How tea gets made

Tea is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, and this video walks us through the process of supplying it from farms to our mugs. Workers handpick leaves, ferment them, and dry them as part of this involved operation. Follow along for a scientific understanding of the many steps it takes to produce tea and appreciate the detail and effort to create its flavor, aroma, and color.

Mapping where pumpkins are harvested in the US

Roughly 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin are sold in the US every year, with 80% of that available in the month of October. See which states are the biggest producers in acres, starting in Illinois where over 16,000 acres of the gourd are harvested...

See where the 100 million barrels of crude oil the world consumes daily end up.

From seed to pumpkin, a 3-minute time-lapse

Pumpkins are atypically enormous winter squashes, meaning they are harvested in the fall and then remain edible throughout winter. See how it all happens with this mesmerizing, music-backed time-lapse showcasing a pumpkin's 120-day journey from...

How a cut flower goes from a Colombian farm to a US vase in under 72 hours

The flower industry operates a complex logistical relay to move flowers to distant markets. Blooms are harvested before opening, chilled immediately, auctioned, and air-freighted to retailers before they are fully in bloom.

The South built its wealth largely from slave labor

Before the Civil War, the Southern economy relied on roughly 4 million enslaved people producing cash crops such as cotton, rice, and sugarcane. Their forced labor generated immense profits—the South produced 75% of the world's cotton by 1860.

View a sample of objects surprisingly derived from crude oil, including chewing gum and lipstick

Crude oil processing produces a variety of fuels and the building blocks for plastics, but it also distills out the hydrocarbons used to make aspirin, Teflon, vinyl, crayons, candles, Tupperware, roofing shingles, asphalt pavement, hair dye, anesthetics, food-grade lubricants, polyester, synthetic rubber, and resins for items like dentures.

The life of a pistachio

Pistachios—which are actually a seed, not a nut—are a superfood with lots of great fat, fiber, antioxidants, and more, and is listed as a complete protein. Originally from the Middle East, the seed was imported to the US where California has become the leading grower in the world. Harvested once a year around October, the flavor is having a bit of a moment both for its taste and nutrition. Watch more here.

Coffee is made by brewing the seeds from the coffeea plant

The cherries from the coffeea plant are milled into coffee beans. After processing, the beans are dried and roasted.

Some invasive species' populations have been controlled by turning them into cash crops that can be harvested and sold to produce useful materials.

Many plastic products are molded from melted pellets called nurdles, which are made from ethylene and propylene extracted from crude oil.

A timelapse of sprouting seeds

Germination is the process where an organism sprouts from a seed or spore. This timelapse captures the process in an inspiring, two-minute video so you can see the whole story of the seed quickly.

The era of advanced farming machines

Traditional agriculture, which for millennia was conducted primarily as subsistence farming by millions of workers, has been transformed since the industrial revolution. Agribusinesses continue to develop newer, more specific tools to streamline the...

The separation of crude oil into petroleum products begins by boiling it in a distillation tower, where constituent hydrocarbons are separated into layers based on the temperatures at which they boil.

To use the various chemicals in crude oil, they must often be cracked—broken down into smaller molecules—to make their processing easier in everyday machines.

In the US, 'organic food' is defined by the USDA

Food products can only be classified as “organic” if they meet the standards defined by the US Department of Agriculture. For crops, that means avoiding prohibited substances and genetic engineering, among other requirements. For livestock, that includes a minimum number of grazing days.

Spiders can make up to seven types of silk, with some able to withstand twice the force of ultra-high-strength steel of the same mass and length before breaking.

During wash cycles, synthetic fabrics shed millions of plastic microfibers, making them a significant source of global microfiber pollution.

There's a grading room on the eighth floor of the New York Stock Exchange where experts loudly slurp coffee and then spit it out to test its quality.

A guide to crude oil and natural gas extraction, from rig site preparation to land restoration

Requirements for traffic plans, access roads, and noise barriers vary by state and local laws, but once the rig site is prepared, the rig is assembled and digs a well that is then encased in steel and cement to protect groundwater reservoirs. After drilling and testing the extraction pipe, fracking fluid is injected into the rock to create cracks where crude oil resides, allowing it to be pumped out.

The ins and outs of oil refining

The oil industry is broken up into the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments, and oil refining is part of the latter. “Downstream” refers to companies like Standard Oil that are converting crude oil into a finished product.

The ancient crops we've forgotten how to grow

Roughly half of all world calories today stem from maize, wheat, and rice. But for most of history, plants were domesticated in highly local places. This video dives into the scientists learning about crops no longer highly in use that once fueled entire civilizations in North America. Some forgotten crops include pitseed goosefoot, maygrass, and sumpweed.

Genetic engineering has accelerated millennia of altering various crops' genes

Although farmers have long cross-bred crops to obtain plants with specific colors, sizes, and other characteristics, these processes took significant time. Today, genetic modification in agriculture involves scientists altering an organism's DNA for various purposes, including enhancing pathogen resistance, removing allergens, and delaying spoilage.

The mystery of the cucumber, from coiling tendrils to its bitter, mature fruit

Cucumus sativus was first cultivated 3,000 years ago in the Himalaya of India, appearing in ancient Sanskrit hymns in the Hindu tradition. They are typically harvested well before maturation, as their yellow, final fruit is bitter. Their coiling tendrils were so distinct they prompted famed naturalist Charles Darwin to publish one of his lesser-known works, "On the Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants." Its refreshing coolness inspired cucumber-derived body washes and sprays over millennia.

Watch how dog kibble is manufactured by blending meats, grains, cereal crops, and corn kernels.

Explaining concentrate and how concentrate-derived juice differs from its source

Developed to reduce the volume of goods—thus lowering storage and shipping costs—the concentration process uses pressure and heat to remove water, pulp, and skin from fruits. Concentrates provide significant flavor, sugar, and calories to foods in small quantities, but do not retain most of the fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients from the source fruit.

How synthetic meat is made

The future of meat is cheaper, faster, and more environmentally friendly—it will also be grown in a lab. This three-minute video breaks down how exactly lab-grown meat is made.

Jam and jelly differ in texture because of how fruit is processed

Jam contains crushed fruit with preserved pulp and fibers for a thicker, spreadable texture. Jelly is made from filtered fruit juice and produces a smooth, translucent gel. The distinction reflects preservation methods developed to extend fruit shelf life while tailoring texture and appearance.

What Costco does with its unsold baked items

Ever wonder what Costco does with its seemingly endless supply of muffins and other baked goods? Rather than mark down the items or toss them in the trash, the big-box retailer donates the perishable food to Feeding America, a network of food banks and other programs that help feed those in need.

Microplastics are entering human food chains through carrots, wheat, and other foodstuffs grown in farmlands fertilized by sewage sludge.

Watch a two-year time-lapse of a pinecone seed transforming into a pine tree.

Conditioners can help unshrink garments by lubricating fibers

Textile fibers relax and shrink due to heat and moisture, disrupting hydrogen bonds. While loosely knitted fabrics are more prone to shrinkage than tightly woven ones, synthetic fibres like polyester resist shrinkage due to their crystalline structure.

While carbon capture and storage systems collect carbon dioxide at the source, such as power plants, direct air capture systems extract it from the atmosphere.

Bees are crucial for pollination and food security

When animals and insects pick up the pollen of flowers and spread it, they allow plants, including many food crops, to reproduce. The most common pollinator is the bee, but bees are at risk from pollution and pesticides.

There are 6 essential steps in cheesemaking

The six basic steps that are required to turn milk into cheese start with acidification and end with ripening (aka aging). This guide explains what happens at each step and how it contributes to the finished product.

Imagining the farms of the future

About 10,000 years ago, humans began to farm. This agricultural revolution was a turning point in our history and enabled the existence of civilization. Today, nearly 40 percent of our planet is farmland. Spread all over the world, these lands are the pieces to a global puzzle we're all facing: in the future, how can we feed every member of a growing population a healthy diet? Brent Loken investigates in this seven-minute video.

Within fabrication plants, it takes about three months to manufacture hundreds of microchips from a single wafer of pure silicon using light and significant quantities of electricity, water, and hazardous chemicals.

Genomic sequencing is the process of determining the order of nucleotides that make up an organism's genetic information and can be done in about 24 hours or less for human DNA.

How those Pakistani Mangoes make it to shelves near you is more complicated than you think.

Customs restrictions, high transport costs, and a short shelf life have made the world’s greatest mangoes — grown in Pakistan — difficult to come by in the U.S.

See a breakdown of how some of the most common food items are traded across the globe, including the key trade relationships for each item.

Most coffee is grown within the coffee belt, a geographic region characterized by mild climates, regular rainfall, and higher altitudes.

Farming accounts for about 75% of the 1.9 trillion gallons of water drawn from the Colorado River each year, with about half used to irrigate crops fed to livestock.

Compared with plant-based milks, cow milk produces greater carbon emissions, requires more land, and uses more water, but it naturally provides greater nutritional benefits.

World Cup venues spend months cultivating their fields and choosing their grass based on the cities' climates.

Commodities have to meet specific specifications to be classified as commodities

In the financial sense of the term, commodities must be uniform, interchangeable, and deliverable to meet the classification. That's partly why a crop grown in your backyard might not qualify as a commodity crop.

An explanation of the Calvin cycle, including why it needs to run six times to create glucose

Each run of this second phase of photosynthesis begins with a five-carbon molecule called RuBP, which gains an additional carbon atom when carbon dioxide (CO₂) is attached. Across six cycles, the six six-carbon molecules—36 carbon atoms in total—are processed into 12 three-carbon sugars, which can be used to generate glucose, and six RuBP molecules, enough for each cycle to restart.

An overview of crude oil, including its constituent hydrocarbons and refinement outputs

The mixture is primarily composed of molecules of carbon and hydrogen atoms bonded into a variety of shapes and lengths, giving each different chemical properties, such as boiling points. Refining can remove elemental impurities—such as sulfur—after hydrocarbons are separated, ensuring the resulting products can be used effectively in other machines, such as car engines.

A visual database of pollens

Pollen is a powdery substance made up of small grains involved in the fertilization process of plants. There are thousands of types of pollens across the world, and you can see real images of them in this visual database.