Tiny, biointensive operations show smallholder farmers from around the world how they can grow far more food than conventional approaches.

A groundbreaking study combines brain imaging and behavior to reveal that many dogs prefer praise from their owners over food rewards. Conducted by researchers at Emory University, this research highlights the strength of the dog-human bond and suggests that dogs may value social interaction more than previously thought.

On a recent Monday evening in Seattle’s Central District, a handful of people gathered to work on a community farm. They pulled weeds, talked about the best ways to string up tomatoes, checked the progress of the greens and beans, harvested radishes and planted wildflowers.

As I became more adept at motivating my horse, focusing her attention, and gaining her respect, relationships at home and work improved. People commented on the change, yet no one could pinpoint what had shifted. The plot thickened as I gained more knowledge about instinctual horse behavior.

Love them or hate them, ring-necked parakeets have invaded Europe and they’re here to stay. Already a staple of many urban parks and gardens around the UK, some of these charismatic bright green birds are now so comfortable in their new surroundings that they will happily sit and feed from your hand.

Plant biologists have discovered how sunflowers use their internal circadian clock, acting on growth hormones, to follow the sun during the day as they grow.

The ideas below are from the Great Neighborhood Book, a collaboration between OTC Senior Fellow Jay Walljasper and Project for Public Spaces. Walljasper is a Minneapolis-based speaker and consultant about how to strengthen communities.

The one fact about plants that most people probably remember from school is that they use sunlight to make their own food. That process, photosynthesis, means that plants are dependent on sunlight.

Mowgli arrived at Best Friends Animal Society in Utah after being rejected by two shelters. On my day for volun­teering, I saw the eight-month-old malamute sitting off by himself, and I walked over to the fence to talk to him. When those mahogany eyes looked deep into my heart and touched my soul, I fell in love.

The idea that we can't feed ourselves with sustainable means is scoffed at by many. Without oil, pesticides, and GMOs we will certainly starve we are told by an establishment that sometimes seems without conscience.

We live in a world where time is all important. Nanoseconds mark the difference between success or failure to make an electronic transaction and where we are continuously reminded of “the time”: of being early or late, of having missed an appointment or arriving “before time”. In today’s world, time now governs our life.

These herbs aren't just for cooking—here's how you can use them to treat ailments from asthma to anxiety.

Urban flooding represents the most common yet severe environmental threat to cities and towns worldwide. Future changes in rainfall extremes are likely to increase this threat, even in areas that could become drier.

If we as humans can feel more beauty in ourselves, in our homes, in our environment, how much that can change our very experience of life itself. If we see and experience more beauty in the world then we can't help but being touched and moved by it.

A sustainable film made from a byproduct of kombucha tea could be a new material for clothing, shoes, or handbags.

About six months after Morris first ap­peared at Lauren’s door, he started to appear at my door instead. All my life I’d had a cat phobia. Cats terrified me so much that I had recurrent nightmares about a cat jumping from a tall staircase and landing on the back of my neck.

Ancient Athens shows what to do. Rome shows what not to do. Two questions to ask:  What are cities for? Who owns them?

Tests show a new air-cleaning system easily removed the rotten egg smells of pig farming and wastewater treatment.

Some farmers have turned to less chemically-intensive techniques to reduce the negative impact of agriculture, such as organic farming, which has been shown to outperform conventional farming by many standards of environmental sustainability. The question is whether we can meet the demand for food, which is predicted to rise substantially in the next 50 years.