'A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems' is a quote often attributed to the late Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos. The brew is one of the world's favourite drinks and an essential stimulant for many researchers ' but its future is uncertain. Nearly all the 10 million tonnes of coffee beans consumed annually around the world come from two plant species: the strong and often bitter robusta (Coffea canephora) and the more delicate-tasting arabica (Coffea arabica). Unfortunately, arabica suffers or dies when temperatures rise just a few degrees1, and robusta requires massive amounts of water and its yields drop drastically in a drought. Researchers are racing to keep the world's coffee-drinkers awake ' and preserve the livelihoods of the many lower-income-country farmers who grow the cash crop. Solutions vary from improving the resilience of the two main species, to experimenting with relatives in the Coffea genus, to squeezing more coffee out of current crops...
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