2024 Disasters in Numbers
<p>In 2024, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded 393 natural hazard-related disasters. These events caused 16,753 fatalities and affected 167.2 million people. Economic losses totaled US$241.95
United States Of America (US)
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Culprit gene found
AFTER ten years of frustrating toil, a band of gene-hunters from USA and the UK have at last nabbed the gene that causes Huntington's disease, a debilitating disorder of the nerves. The
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Sunbathers beware
NEXT TIME you liberally smear suntan lotion on your body and linger too long in the sun, beware: Sunscreens are not sunproof, say scientists. According to US epidemiologists Cedric and Frank
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Planet X
IS THERE a tenth planet in our solar system? Astronomers who have observed Uranus and Neptune deviate from their calculated orbits, attribute such irregularities to the gravitational pull of an
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Reading handwriting
A TEAM of US scientists has developed a technique to enable hand-held computers that work with a pen to recognise handwriting quickly and more accurately than their present level of literacy allows
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Can't stand the smell
If there is one thing a mouse cannot stand, it is the smell of other mice. Male mice with high levels of testosterone -- a male sex hormone -- mark their territories by secreting an oil in their
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Maternal aerobics
Fitness-conscious mothers can now safely put aside doubts and swing to Jane Fonda's aerobics. According to a study conducted over 12 weeks by a team of American researchers, lactating mothers run no
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Mealtime for bacteria
SCIENTISTS at the University of Minnesota in the US have developed a new strain of bacteria to fight pollution caused by organohalides -- compounds of carbon and halogens such as chlorine and
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Plants as toxin purifiers
Plants have long been known as air purifiers, but now Paul Jackson, a microbiologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, is using plant cells to purify liquids contaminated with heavy metals like
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Sticky proteins
Irving Weissman and Fang Qian of California's Stanford University have discovered a protein that mimics the adhesive action of Velcro fasteners, a trait that could help in preventing cancer cells
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Thou shalt lag no more
Globe trotters might at last get a breather -- a drug for jet lag is in the offing. A team of researchers from the Harvard and Yale Universities' medical schools are close to nailing down the gene