Stop and Smell the Guano: How Fertilizers Saved the World - Episode 837

November 08, 2017 - A little more than a hundred years ago, the
world's fast-growing population was outstripping humanity's ability
to feed itself. Mass starvation was only averted when a pair of
brilliant German scientists developed a new chemical process to
snatch nitrogen gas from the air and use it to make modern
fertilizers. As science writer Thomas Hager explains in this
episode of Science Elements, it's a story of wars, greed, bird
droppings and a discovery that continues to dramatically shape our
lives today. Music: "Wash Out" by Broke for Free, licensed under
Creative Commons CC-BY 3.0.