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Scientists still don't know exactly what growing conditions are responsible for the most flavorful tomatoes. But they have a few ideas that are worth keeping in mind as you try to coax sweetness and tartness from your garden seedlings.

Antibiotic-free food went mainstream after Chipotle's founder advertised free-range pork on the menu. Now many big players in food service are getting into the act, creating a few supply chain hiccups.

In January 2003, The Lancet — one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals — published an article championing the combination of two drugs (ACE inhibitors and ARBs) in treating certain types of kidney disease. But then an investigation concluded that the data in the study had been collected in a way that made it scientifically unsound. The Lancet printed a retraction, but thousands of patients still receive these drugs in combination.

Old people do have a unique smell. Researchers found that volunteers could reliably distinguish the body odor of the elderly from a whiff of the young or middle-aged. And, it turned out, the aroma from younger men smelled the worst.

One of the world's most treasured foods comes from an unlikely source — a sturgeon farm on a kibbutz in northern Israel. The prized sturgeon eggs — or osetra caviar, if you must — fetches a hefty price and has a top-chef following.

The amount of radiation found in Pacific bluefin tuna spawned near Fukushima does not threaten our health, despite today's suggestive headlines. What a new study shows is that scientists can rely on tiny amounts of radiation to track animals across great distances.

This week we're revisiting some of the best Takeaway interviews from the last year. Here, John talks with Jonah Lehrer, science journalist and author of "Imagine: How Creativity Works," about what made some of history's most creative minds tick. They'll discuss W.H. Auden's drug of choice and why Skype hasn't replaced the face-to-face encounter.

If there's one grilling tip to remember this Memorial Day weekend, it should be this: Flame is bad. Whether you're barbecuing OR grilling, a meat-eater or a vegetarian, here's how to keep your flavor from going up in smoke.

Meat processors blame social media and their own lack of transparency for the "pink slime" storm. . But will consumers ever trust the industry when it comes to understanding how the food processing system works?

So far everything looks good for a possible docking with the station on Friday by the company's Dragon capsule.

Scientist and explorer John Oldale shares a wealth of fascinating facts and the unexpected stories behind them. His book A World of Curiosities: Surprising, Interesting, and Downright Unbelievable Facts from Every Nation on the Planet touches on history, travel, politics, natural history and more.

Is fracking making people sick? The question has ignited a national debate. A proposed study in northern Pennsylvania could help resolve the issue. By mining more than 10 years' worth of patient records, researchers hope to better understand the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing on health.

Industry has ruined a lot of Pennsylvania's water. Coal mining companies hammered the state, leaving behind acidic water that turned thousands of miles of streams into dead zones. People in the state are looking for ways to make sure the fracking boom doesn't deal another blow to its water.

Jim Manzi, founder and chairman of Applied Predictive Technologies (APT), an applied artificial intelligence software company, contributing editor at National Review and the author of Uncontrolled: The Surprising Payoff of Trial-and-Error for Business, Politics, and Society, says we need to bring scientific tactics, like controlled experiments, to public policy. Read more about Manzi's proposition here. 

Gretchen Reynolds writes the "Phys Ed" column for the New York Times and is the author of The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can: Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer. She joins us to discuss what science is proving and disproving when it comes to exercise. 

The Lyrids aren't known for their flashy shows, but this year they're getting some help. The height of the showers is expected Sunday morning before dawn, and darker skies will make viewing more exciting.

In Tennessee a new law goes into effect today that will allow public school teachers to teach alternatives to such scientific topics as evolution and climate change. The bill is being called the "monkey bill," a reference to the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. Josh Rosenau is the programs and policy director at the National Center for Science Education, a non-profit that defends the teaching of evolution and climate science in public schools. Nelson Turner is a teacher at The Woodland Middle School in Brentwood, Tennessee. Nelson has taught 7th grade general science for 15 years.

The Intrepid Air and Sea Museum moves three aircraft off the flight deck to make room for the shuttle Enterprise.

For those who will be in the Washington, D.C., area Tuesday morning and would like to see space shuttle Discovery on the "fly-in" to its retirement home, the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum has some recommended viewing spots.

The first of NASA's retired space shuttles will make its way to its new retirement home on April 17. The well-traveled orbiter will be flown low over the nation's capital before being placed on permanent display at the Smithsonian.