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 …
SOME PLANTS produce two types of flowers - starninate (males) and bisexual. Scientists thought the role of starninate flowers was more to attract agents of pollination than to donate pollen. But new research shows that while larger floral displays attract more pollinators, staminate flowers are more effective in the dispersal …
SCIENTISTS have enhanced the nutritional value of the potato by inserting a synthetic gene into the plant and are now considering how to use genetic engineering to provide the plant with resistance to pests and disease. The International Potato Centre (CIP) in Peru collaborated with Louisiana State University to produce …
INSECTS that were introduced to stem the spread of water hyacinth are beginning to avoid feeding on the weed because they are polluted by toxic metals. However, the insects seem to be developing resistance to the toxicity by producing new cellular proteins and synthesizing new ones. In experiments conducted by …
After being spewed into the atmosphere for the past 30 years, mainly through the use of fire extinguishers, ozone-depleting halon concentrations are now decreasing (Nature, Vol 359 No 6394). Although halons H-1301 and H-1211 are each present in the troposphere at a concentration of two parts per trillion, the gases …
Fathers may be responsible for birth defects in their offspring (New Scientist, Vol 136 No 1843). Research using animal models suggests some miscarriages, birth defects and children's diseases can be blamed on the lifestyles and occupations of the fathers. Scientists thought sperm damaged by exposure to radiation or toxic chemicals …
A bacterium that causes botulism can be used to temporarily banish wrinkles (Asian Wall Street Journal, Nov 9, 1992). While treating a patient with dystonia -- a condition characterised by severe muscle contractions -- researchers at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Centre discovered the patient looked younger after being injected with minute …
ANALYSIS of scientific data reveals that geysers -- the hot springs that intermittently throw up columns of water -- can indicate in advance the arrival of an earthquake (Science, Vol 257 No 5075). Scientists Paul G Silver and Nathalie J Valette-Silver of the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC say variations …
WILDLIFE biologists no longer have to risk life and limb to catch a glimpse of elusive animals eager to protect their privacy. Thanks to technology, biologists can now sit back in the comfort of their offices and track the movements of seals and the rapacious foraging of elephants (Science, Vol …
CLIMATE change brought about by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could lead to mass extinction of wildlife in isolated habitats (Conservation Biology, Vol 6 No 3). Global warming is expected to raise temperatures in the northern temperate latitudes by 2o to 6oC by …
Karoshi -- death from overwork -- has struck corporate bigwigs in Japan. Now, white-collared workers and women too are being affected and a worried labour ministry has announced a set of initiatives to deal with the problem (The Lancet, Vol 340 No 8819). Karoshi, characterised by sudden death caused by …
The controversial Human Genome Project -- a collaborative effort to decode and understand the human genetic code in chromosomes -- is already showing results and is likely to be completed ahead of schedule (Nature, Vol 359 No 6394). The first maps of two human chromosomes -- the long arm of …
EN ROUTE to the sun, the spacecraft Ulysses dropped in on planet Jupiter in February this year. Launched on October 6, 1990, by the space shuttle Discovery, Ulysses -- a joint venture of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency -- has sent home valuable information …
Scientists at the University of California, Irvine, have made the world's smallest battery -- about the size of the common-cold virus (Science, Vol 257 No 5074). Chemist Reginald Penner and his co-workers stumbled on to it while trying to prove that silver and copper could be deposited as closely-spaced nanodots …
Ever since the use of insecticides was reduced in favour of biological control, British gardeners are discovering that some pests are on the increase (Financial Times, Oct 31/Nov 1, 1992). Now, there are friendly insects to control white flies, greenhouse red spider mites and vine weevils. Encarsia formosa, a tiny …
SCIENTISTS are discovering that specialised structures in the minute world of cells do not float randomly from place to place but are actively transported along well laid out tracks by a veritable menagerie of motor molecules (Science, Vol 256 No 5065). The motor molecules play a fundamental role in the …
TUBERCULOSIS, the number one killer in India -- two million cases of active TB are diagnosed each year -- and the AIDS epidemic are showing a disturbing tendency of coalescing and infecting the same individual (WorldAIDS, No 23). The risk groups of both diseases overlap in many countries in the …
THE NEXT time you pluck a flower, take care: you could hurt it. And, if you are a plant-lover, stop talking to them and try touching them instead. Researchers say seemingly passive plants can feel and react to touch in their own special way (New Scientist, Vol 136 No 1843). …
VICTIMS of Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases have reason to cheer: scientists may soon be able to treat -- if not cure -- their illnesses. Cyto Therapeutics, a US firm that develops cell implants, has signed an agreement with biologists Sam Weiss and Brent Reynolds of the University of Calgary …
DOCTORS in Africa are debating whether severely anaemic children should be given blood transfusions because of the risk of their getting AIDS-infected blood. Researchers, however, have found ways to reduce the frequency of transfusions by 55 per cent without increasing mortality (The Lancet, Vol 340 No 8818). Severely anaemic children …
A BRITISH laboratory and a US firm are collaborating to produce artificial blood after scientists overcame two obstacles that had hampered this effort. Attempts to use haemoglobin isolated from the red blood cells as "artificial" blood failed because it caused kidney damage and was unable to give up oxygen -- …
