California's two Democratic senators, longtime advocates of environmental protection, public health and the state's farmers, would seem natural allies of a coalition that will make a last-ditch effort in the Senate next week to end an antiquated system of farm subsidies. California's two Democratic senators, longtime advocates of environmental protection, public health and the state's farmers, would seem natural allies of a coalition that will make a last-ditch effort in the Senate next...

The proposer would propose an offer of raisins to the responder by partially pulling out a tray of raisins as far as he could. In each version of this mini-ultimatum game, the proposer could pull one tray with 8 raisins for himself and 2 for the other (an unfair split that people routinely reject) If the responder accepted the division of raisins, he would pull the tray the rest of the way and the two would be able eat. In a study reported in Science on October 5th, the researchers...

Government financial support spurs farmers to plant these crops, creating an abundant, cheap supply of fat-producing soybean oil and high-fructose corn syrup. When lawmakers wrote a new bill for this year, health experts hoped to see subsidies added for fruits and vegetables to augment subsidies for corn, soy beans and other crops. While both add extra money to promote fruits and vegetables in school lunches, neither adds new subsidies for most fruits and vegetables. As the Senate prepares...

I joined her at the Bellevue store recently, glad to shake the hand that knows the fruit that rolls around in my fridge. But there is an urgency to farming; a willingness to do what it takes to keep the crop in people's kitchens and your name on their tongues. You can find her most afternoons, brandishing her Global knife ("The best, man") and an innate sense of the power of produce. She rolled out a cutting-board-topped cart from the store's back room, grabbed an apple from the bin and...

When fully developed, the scout will roam an entire orchard on its own, collecting data to help growers better manage their orchards, said Tim McConnell, senior technical staff and project manager for Vision Robotics. Similar demonstrations of this robotic scout in six sites throughout Central Washington last week provided a peek at new technology in the tree fruit industry. Such technology is considered key for the future of the fruit tree industry as it battles increasing international...