Reply by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in compliance to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order dated January 21, 2024 in the matter of ‘News item titled “Feeling anxious? Toxic air could be to blame” appearing in Times of India dated 10.10.2023’. NGT had directed CPCB to file a …
Scientists trying to accurately forecast droughts in Zimbabwe have found that the country's maize production is more dependent on El Nino -- a warm water current that occurs in the Pacific Ocean and causes climate variability in the tropics and the sub-tropics -- than it is on rainfall (Nature, Vol …
A new solar cell design could slash the cost of producing solar electricity by at least 80 per cent, claim researchers at the University of South Wales in Australia (Environmental Science & Technology, Vol 28, No 8). Conventional cells use expensive high quality silicon 400 microns thick but the metal …
The deficiency of vitamin A -- the cause of nictalopia, or night-blindness -- has now been linked to the transmission of the AIDS virus from pregnant women to their babies (Science, Vol 265 No 5170). The study could spur foetal protection. Conducted by Richard Semba and his colleagues at the …
Scientists at the US's Argonne National Laboratory have found a cheap and quick method to produce diamond films by using soccer ball-shaped carbon molecules called fullerenes (Science, Vol 265, No 5172). Diamond films are used in electronic circuits to remove heat and as a tough coating for machine tools. The …
HOW do you ensure that a cancer drug injected into the bloodstream reaches its target without being mauled by enzymes stalking the blood highway? And how do you pack ever greater information on to ever diminishing silicon wafers without causing a "traffic jam" on the chip? To cope with these …
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A HEAVENLY calm, if yogis are to be believed, may pervade the inner sanctum of the human mind, but the core of matter is turning out to be a hotbed of activity. Particle physicists probing the structure of protons and neutrons -- which constitute the bulk of matter -- using …
DRIVERS of polluting vehicles will now find it harder to evade the long arm of the law. Remote sensing devices being developed in the US will have the capability of latching on to the exhaust plume of a polluting car or truck which exceeds the regulatory limits. Remote sensing devices …
BRITISH physicist Stephen Hawking, arguably one of the brightest minds of the century and author of the bestseller A Brief History of Time, has been described as a "cerebral man". But his is no mind-over-matter story, nor is he the proverbial Jack-of-all-work-and-no-play. He is a victim of a debilitating affliction …
A gaily coloured dress might be a visual treat, but the dyes used in them might hide a dark secret. Studies at the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology in the US have revealed that treating azo dyes -- noxious effluents released by textile mills -- with hydroxyl ions …
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 responsible for cloning the gene that codes for melatonin, the hormone that governs …
Scientists have now been able to reason why black Americans suffer higher rates of hypertension, heart disease and stroke than their white counterparts. The new findings of Randall Tackett and his team at the University of Georgia in the US reveal that Afro-Americans may have less flexible veins (Science, Vol …
Opening the refrigerator door can sometimes be a smelly jolt and conventional deodorants are not much help. But now a Japanese firm, Arromic Co Ltd, has come up with a ceramic-based deodorant that can take care of the offensive odours (New Technology, Vol 22, No 2). Conventional deodorants suffer from …
The erratic rationale that has often led unrequited love to pen down its sighs has defied "scientific" comprehension. But recently, Fredric Jones of the University of Cardiff in the UK claims to have cut this emotional Gordian knot with a mathematical sword (New Scientist, Vol 143, No 1935). He used …
Latin American countries are now equipped with a cheap and effective remedy to keep cholera under check, thanks to the researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta (Science, Vol 265, No 5171). Cholera has been the primary epidemic in Latin America since 1991. The pestilence spreads …
THE bright side of moon may move many a heart to romantic verse, but for scientists, it is the faint glow on the dark portion of the crescent moon that matters. The glow is a reflection of sunlight bounced off the Earth by clouds, snow and dust hazes. The reflection, …
Removing stains from clothes is a quid pro quo affair -- for bleaching agents to work, the clothes have to be washed in warm water, which can ruin texture and colour. But now, researchers at Unilever Laboratories in the US and Holland claim to have developed a low-temperature bleacher (Nature, …
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Testing in Maryland, USA, have developed an instrument that can detect gases present in infinitesimal amounts (Environmental Science & Technology, Vol 28, No 6). The instrument uses microwaves similar to those used in microwave cookers to measure as little as 10 parts …
Connoisseurs who have savoured the renowned French wine, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, for the past 40 years may be surprised to learn that its vintages from the 1950s contained high levels of lead (Nature, Vol 370, No 6484). Belgian and French researchers analysed 19 vintages of the wine and found they contained toxic …
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 spreading from a tumour to other parts in the body (New Scientist, Vol 143, No 1933). Called integrin alpha4-beta1, the …
