Although spending on science has risen worldwide, greater investment is needed in the face of growing crises, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recommended in a new report published. The latest edition of its Science Report, which is published every five years, further reveals that there is …
it may now be possible to capture live pictures of atomic motions in a chemical reaction or marvel at a snapshot of early universe. An international research team is building two huge machines towards these. "We have developed a novel microwave amplifier and ultra-stable microwave generator for one of the …
IN this past month, farmer associations in Haryana and Tamil Nadu have located and burnt field trials for genetically modified Bt rice. In Chhattisgarh the state government has stopped similar trials happening under its nose. It is all too easy to deride these actions as the handiwork of some misinformed …
new periodic table: A recent report raises the possibility of a new periodic table of elements. Some nanoscience researchers have likened the minuscule particles they are making
Just imagine: floods in dry Rajasthan; drought in wet Assam. In both cases, devastation has been deadly, with people struggling to cope. But are these natural disasters or human-made disasters signs of change of the world's climate systems? Or are these simply the result of mismanagement so that people already …
In a world where technology plays an increasingly important role, and science is invoked almost as often as the Bible, few people understand what good science is. In principle, science is considered to be an objective knowledge system that proposes theories that can be supported or refuted by data. In …
What a line of attack! PepsiCo, in its advertisements to deny that it had pesticides in its drinks, said that there were more pesticides in tea, eggs, rice and apples. Coca-Cola, in its defence, has similarly argued that as everything in India is contaminated, its drinks are safe. They say …
us president George W Bush on July 19 used his veto for the first time blocking a popular bill that would have expanded federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. "It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect, so I vetoed it,' Bush said at a …
Do you know what is common between a recently taken patent in the field of nanotechnology and a publication on animal behaviour in the journal Science, a little while ago? A report in January 2006 from the Interfax News Agency, Russia, which some greeted with enthusiasm and others dismissed with …
caffeine test: Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, USA, are developing a dipstick that can be used to check for caffeine in a variety of drinks. It would be the first consumer test for caffeine and would be beneficial for anyone wishing to avoid caffeine …
india has set up a new Earth Commission and renamed its Union ministry of ocean development the Union ministry of earth sciences. The move is important since it is seen as the the first step of the Indian government to integrate all researches on land, ocean and atmoaspheric systems. "The …
a new open source software to identify and manage the major weed species of rice-wheat cropping systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains was launched recently. It targets farmers, extension workers, students, researchers and grass roots organisations. The project is called the Open source Simple Computer for Agriculture in Rural areas software …
the claim by an India-born nuclear scientist of achieving nuclear fusion the reaction that fuels the sun in a laboratory has landed him in a controversy, with his peers reporting they could not replicate the experiment. Rusi Taleyarkhan, a professor of nuclear engineering at Purdue University, usa, shot to fame …
it is not often that one of the pillars of the religious establishment strikes a blow against obscurantism. Which is why the archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican church, must be complimented for coming down on the side of reason in the controversy over intelligent design. The debate, …
The Vatican has dismissed intelligent design (id) on scientific grounds and has agreed to the Pennsylvania court's ruling to keep id out of the classrooms. After months of mixed messages from Pope Benedict xvi and his aides, the Vatican directly addressed the issue in the January 17, 2006, edition of …
expectations about the therapeutic potential of stem cells have suffered a setback with the revelation that a technique used for fraudulent research by Woo Suk Hwang of South Korea may still be granted a patent. "As long as an invention is not contrary to scientific laws
longest core: A core measuring more than 1.5 kilometres long has been recovered under the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater Deep Drilling Project in the US. The impact crater was formed about 35 million years ago when a rock from space struck the Earth. The drilling project was a major success, …
After thirty years, rural development was back as the main theme of the Indian Science Congress, this year. Held in Hyderabad between January 3-7, 2006, the meet had "Integrated Rural Development: Science and Technology' as its theme. With both the President and the prime minister making an appearance, the Congress …
