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 …
A MALARIA vaccine made in Colombia by synthesising protein segments from the malaria parasite is proving promising in field trials, but its efficacy is still low. Vaccine developer Manuel Patarroyo of the National University of Colombia in Bogota reports the vaccine offers adults 38.8 per cent protection against malaria, but …
SCIENTISTS are using the latest equipment and most modern techniques to measure to an accuracy of 10 cm the height of Mt Everest and test the validity of an American astronomer's announcement in 1987 that Mt K2 (Godwin Austen) is the world's highest peak. Giorgio Poretti, who is implementing a …
IF SEWAGE disposal is your problem, try treating the waste with earthworms -- you won't be disappointed. Biotechnologists studying earthworms have evolved a process to convert organic waste water -- like sewage, food processing and paper and pulp industry waste water -- into reuseable water while the earthworms' excreta can …
INCREASING the level of oxygen in blood could cure impotency in humans because it would stimulate production of nitric oxide, which causes penile tissue to relax and better engorge blood from the penile artery. This is important because any restriction of oxygen supply to penile tissue because of excessive smoking, …
AUSTRALIAN astronomers have chanced upon a rare type of pulsar (a word coined from pulsating star) -- a cosmic source of regular and rapid pulses of radiation, usually at radio frequencies. The pulsar is lurking at the edge of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Named PSR J0437-4715, the pulsar is …
STRUTTING and swimming through the Antarctic, some emperor penguins are working on a scientific mission: monitoring the sea resources of the polar region. Every winter, emperor penguins -- the largest of the species -- travel long distances searching for food in open water, called polynias, that punctuate the sea ice. …
EVEN AS European Community researchers are developing a powerful computerised translation system that promises to break through language barriers, scientists in Japan, Germany and USA are working on a telephone translation system whose implications for world trade are mind-boggling. Both systems are reportedly in the test stage. The EC project, …
WESTERN infants are more likely to become victims of so-called crib deaths because they are far more frequently left alone to sleep than Asian children, a British study shows. Crib deaths -- known formally as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) -- is a phenomenon involving the unexpected and unexplained death …
MARIJUANA and heroin may be frowned on by parents and the police, but they do have a beneficial side for scientists. Recent breakthroughs in understanding how these two addictive drugs act on the brain could result in a non-addictive opiate that will help drug addicts cope better with withdrawal symptoms. …
PEOPLE confined to wheelchairs will be able to reach for anything stored on the topmost shelves because a wheelchair has been developed in USA that can be raised a couple of metres without loss of normal mobility (Design News, Vol 49, No 1). Named Full Access Wheelchair, the new design …
FARMERS are exploiting a loophole in the European Community's new common agricultural policy, which grants them crop subsidies to leave their land fallow so as to reduce oilseed production. But many of these fields in UK will shortly turn a greedy yellow as they would have been planted with rape …
VARIOUS studies indicate that the risk of contracting AIDS during receiving or providing dental treatment is negligible because in the past decade worldwide, only 5 patients -- and all from a single dental practice -- are known to have become infected by dentists and only 2 dental care staff out …
SCIENTISTS at the Malaria Research Centre (MRC), New Delhi, say neem oil used in low concentrations effectively repels malaria-carrying mosquitoes that are resistant to pesticides. This is welcome news because malaria has re-emerged as a major public health threat because the malaria-causing microorganism, Plasmodium falciparum, is increasingly resistant to chloroquine …
INDIAN scientists are exploring the possibility that neem could provide a non-toxic AIDS therapy. In Ayurveda and Unani, neem is prescribed for diverse ailments ranging from skin diseases to diabetes. Scientists at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, postulate neem's efficacy is not so much because of its …
SCIENTISTS working to develop new Ayurvedic drugs are concentrating on the treatment of memory disorders. Says Sukh Dev, professor of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, "Ayurveda prescribes several remedies for improving memory and intelligence. Our experiments are validating many of these claims." Sukh Dev and his …
TEMPTED by projections that the number of air passengers will double in the next 10 years, but daunted by the US $10 billion price tag of a super jumbo jet with a carrying capacity of 800 passengers, Boeing of USA is negotiating collaboration with Europe's Airbus Industrie consortium. Boeing's latest …
A NEW V ACUUM cleaner has over come the perennial problem of dust clogging the filter and reducing the machine's efficiency. Dyson Dual Cyclone whizzes dirt and air around at high speed, but instead of using filter, the dirt is collected in a plastic container that can be clipped off …
A TIENTS who do not respond to AZT -the primary AIDS therapeutic drug produced and patented almo worldwide by Burroughs Wellcome Co -now have hope. Studies at the US Nationi Institutes of Health at Bethesd Maryland, show two other drugs . le DDC produced by Hoffmann at Roche Inc and …
A US B-52 bomber has been given a new role -launching satellites Recently, a modified B-52 dropped rocket carrying a Brazilian satellite an altitude of about 12.8 km. Five seconds later, the rocket motors fir sending the 150-kg satellite into a 515-km orbit above the earth. Orbital Sciences of Fairfax …
INDIA'S miracle neem (Azadirachta indica) is moving from the laboratory to the market and many US and Australian firms are getting involved in manufacturing neem-based pesticides. Says Michael O'Shea, managing director of Neemoil Australia Pvt Ltd, "Indian suppliers have been swarming about us like flies around honey." In USA, a …
