Read the series on how FAO increased efficiency, effectiveness and transparency to better support its Members in the transformation of agrifood systems.

Read the series on how FAO increased efficiency, effectiveness and transparency to better support its Members in the transformation of agrifood systems

Read the series on how FAO increased efficiency, effectiveness and transparency to better support its Members in the transformation of agrifood systems.

Rome – The newly released Annual Report for 2020, 2021 and 2022 raises the visibility of the Organization's Resource Partners, including FAO Members, international financial institutions (IFIs), United Nations entities, [...]

In December 2017, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the UN Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028 (UNDFF) to serve as a framework for developing public policies and investments to [...]

World Wetlands Day raises global awareness of the importance of wetlands for human prosperity and a healthy planet. The 2024 theme "Wetlands and Human Wellbeing" focuses on the interconnectedness between [...]

Salzburg – Austria, marked a significant milestone as it celebrated the formal recognition of Traditional Hay Milk Farming in the Austrian Alpine Arc as a FAO Globally Important Agricultural [...]

The food security situation in Gaza is catastrophic. Famine is imminent in the Northern Governorates and there is a risk of famine across the rest of the Gaza Strip, according [...]

Data analyses, policy recommendations, and actions on the ground.

The Second Session of the COAG Sub-Committee on Livestock: Call for Proposals for side events at FAO headquarters in Rome, July 16-18, 2024! FAO Members and partner [...]

The PSS Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) team is excited to announce the launch of its newly designed webpages. The webpage has a fresh look [...]

The Committee on Agriculture (COAG), established in 1971, is one of FAO’s Governing Bodies providing overall policy and regulatory guidance on issues relating to agriculture (including livestock), food safety, [...]

Social protection and decent jobs are cornerstones of agrifood systems transformation, but they require strong political commitment

In this workshop, we will explore the role of innovation in supporting traditional practices that conserve agricultural heritage systems.  

Traditional agricultural practices, often rooted in the local communities and the knowledge [...]

Indonesia and Sao Tome and Principe receive their first designations from FAO along with Austria’s second system

The firebrand politician once quipped that she would like to be remembered as a woman who ‘had guts’

Yet another reason to fight light pollution

Human beings and chimps share as much as 98 percent of their DNA. If our species are so similar, can chimps be genetically engineered to be more like us?

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

The answer may lie between being ticklish and having a sense of humor

The Smithsonian Castle is recreated in gingerbread by Charles Froke, executive pastry chef of Washington's Four Seasons (Produced by: Abby Callard)

Why are we equipped with this curious modification? Find out in this one-minute video, where Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze gives us the info on our wrinkled digits.

The appendix may not be as useless as commonly thought.

Our host, Eric Schulze, has the answer

Through painstaking work, photographer Drew Gardner transformed Elizabeth Jenkins-Sahlin into her ancestor, a famous women’s rights activist. (Credit: Drew Gardner)

Who’s afraid of the dark? Our Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze is here to explain the illuminating science behind night vision.

Chris Mah, researcher at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in the invertebrate zoology department, describes the characteristics of different sea star species observed on the final dive of the Laulima O Ka Moana expedition. (Credit: Video courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2017 Laulima O Ka Moana)

What are freckles, and how do they form? In this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host, Eric Schulze, shines a light on the subject.

See the process involved when a massive specimen arrives at the Smithsonian

In this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host, Eric Schulze, explains what causes wind. The answer might blow you away.

Much more than you’d think – and it’s whirling around at dangerously high speeds

The answer depends on how you feel about cluster headaches

It depends on which variety of boomerang you're using. Our host Eric Schulze has more

Watch to get the answer that surprised the heck out of us

Our host explains why you should never say ‘no’ to a hungry pregnant woman

The science behind earworms and why they won’t leave us alone

The "Manned Orbiting Laboratory," or "MOL," was built to capture high-resolution images of Soviet targets on the ground. It was so advanced, it could pick up objects on earth as small as a baseball

Take a calming breath, then watch this video to find out

The space suits used by the astronauts on Gemini 7, known as grasshopper suits, were designed for comfort. But after two weeks inside them, that was the last thing on the crew’s minds.

Chef Darin Nesbit demonstrates how to cook cricket-crusted redfish. (Still Image: Natthanan Chumphookaew/iStock)

How many of your questions can our host, Eric Schulze, answer in 45 seconds?

http://smithsonian.com/ask Now it's your turn to ask the Institution's experts your questions about science, history, art or culture

A London blacksmith has perfected a technique known as pattern welding to create elaborately-designed replica Saxon swords and knives. He demonstrates his technique on camera.

Under exuberant coach, Knute Rockne, Notre Dame set the standards for football excellence. But off the field, the Fighting Irish was a PR sensation, capturing the hearts of a riveted nation.

Scientists have created thin polymer sheets that expand and contract when in contact with water

Smithsonian magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can — through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. On There's More to That, meet the magazine's journalists and hear how they discover the forces behind the biggest issues of our time. 

Our skin is an endlessly complex organ. Luckily, in this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze is here to explain exactly what happens after you get a scrape.

More on Kathleen Turner and her show at Arena Stage: http://j.mp/T0IkkZ Before taking the stage in "Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins," Academy Award nominee Kathleen Turner discusses the woman who inspired the show.

Credit: David Marshall, University of Bristol

We asked visitors to the National Mall what they thought should be in the Smithsonian collections in 2050. The consensus? Lady Gaga and much more...