Some pesticides can be harmful to humans, but beer may be an organic solution to that problem, suggests a study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. A team of researchers, led by Maite Gandariasbeitia from NEIKER-BRTA Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development in Spain, has investigated organic by-products of used beer grains (called bagasse) and canola (rapeseed oil) cakes, to find that they make a useful pesticide when mixed with cow manure.

japanese flower artist azuma makoto presents his latest exhibition which displays the TACHIKO and YASUTOSHI versions of his 'paludarium' series. the overall series expresses influence from the 19th century english invention, a small conservatory or plant protection machine that had since been exhibited at the paris expo.

A tiny new species of chameleon has been discovered, and it seems to be the smallest reptile in the world. Known as Brookesia nana, or the nano-chameleon, the petite species can perch on a fingertip and may have the smallest adult males of any vertebrate.

Plenty is an ag-tech startup in San Francisco, co-founded by Nate Storey, that is reinventing farms and farming. Storey, who is also the company's chief science officer, says the future of farms is vertical and indoors because that way, the food can grow anywhere in the world, year-round; and the future of farms employ robots and AI to continually improve the quality of growth for fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Updated Nov 21: 750 acres in the title was a typo; the correct number is 720 According to Nate Storey, the future of farms is vertical. It's also indoors, can be placed anywhere on the planet, is heavily integrated with robots and AI, and produces better fruits and vegetables while using 95% less water and 99% less land.

Magic mushrooms have historically been associated with counter-culture. Their legal status is subject to debate and often dependent on what country or state you live in. In recent years, many studies have highlighted the potential benefits of the drug for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and migraine, in particular the active component of magic mushrooms, psilocybin.

In his 1879 account of wanderings in the Orient, the travel writer James Hingston describes how, in West Java, he was treated to a bizarre experience: I am taken by my kind host around his garden, and shown, among other things, a flower, a red orchid, that catches and feeds upon live flies.

News: Scientists at a Spanish university are developing a new type of concrete that captures rainwater to create living walls of moss and fungi. Unlike existing vertical garden systems which require complex supporting structures, the new "biological concrete" supports the growth of organisms on its own surface, according to researchers from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona.