The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has published the R&D; Roadmap for Green Hydrogen Ecosystem in India. This document was published on 13th October, 2023. One of the central pillars of the National Green Hydrogen Mission is the establishment of a supportive research and innovation ecosystem for green hydrogen …
WHEN YEAST'S chromosome III became the first chromosome to have its DNA described fully, a big surprise lay in store for scientists: They stumbled upon a wealth of genes whose functions are completely unknown. "All of a sudden we learn there is a whole class of genes, more than half …
RECENT studies by four independent teams of astronomers indicate that planetary systems resembling the young solar system may exist in nearby parts of the galaxy. Three of these studies, presented at a recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society, focussed on a star called Beta Pictoris, which is visible from …
The curtain shrouding the Indo-Russian rocket deal seems to be lifting at last with U R Rao, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), reiterating recently that the deal was "very much on". Work on developing the engine jointly is proceeding on schedule and India has "made the initial …
The Hindi proverb that derides the enfeebled mind as one with "worms in the brain", is no longer a literary expression. A study involving 159 worm-infected Jamaican children between 9 and 12, showed that removing moderate to heavy amounts of worms from children led to a significant memory improvement, in …
Researchers at the Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow have successfully used a crude extract from the plant baruri (Crataeva nurvala) to dissolve stones in bladder and kidney. G K Patnaik of CDRI's Centre for Advanced Pharmacological Research on Traditional Remedies says lupeol can be extracted from baruri and used …
Only one per cent of the world's bacteria -- those that can be cultured in the lab -- are known, but molecular techniques pioneered by the Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) in Britain will enable researchers to identify and classify bacteria into reliable genetic groupings. This will provide a …
Global warming, but so what? The data on its impact is still uncertain and contradictory. USA's Environment Protection Agency commissioned a study which involved 50 scientists from around the world for three years. The scientists found that the total cereal production by 2060 could be 1 per cent to 7 …
EVE MAY not have been the mother of the human race after all. Molecular biologists have been arguing that the genetic components of human beings indicate that all family trees lead back to a single African woman, nicknamed Eve, who lived about 200,000 years ago. But there is a school …
IT'S BEEN a rat race to get the patent. But Harvard University's onco-mouse, a creature designed in a laboratory for cancer research, may still not make it. In mid-May, shortly after the European Patent Office published its patent for this mouse that has been given cancer-causing genes, European green activists …
WHAT IS common between Rajasthan's deserts and quality paper? The National Chemical Laboratory has isolated an enzyme from a micro-organism found in the Haldighat region of the state. This chemical breaks down a component of paper pulp, hemicullulose, which lowers the quality of paper. But the enzyme leaves the cellulose, …
PALM OIL will be the cooking medium of the future in India, if the Regional Research Laboratory at Thiruvananthapuram is to be taken seriously. It has developed a machine which can process 1,000 kg of palm fruit per hour. The process technology covers fruit harvesting, stripping, oil extraction and purification. …
TODAY, the world seems to be divided into two groups: those who believe in the restrained use of natural resources as they are finite and those who hold that human technological intervention can stretch these resources indefinitely. Ponting, a British civil servant and historian, places himself firmly in the first …
Gods, it is said, can assume any shape or many shapes at one time. Our mythological Hanuman, monkey god of the epic Ramayan, conforms to this omniscience. A combination of the rhesus monkey, the langur and man, it cannot be said to belong to any single species. I find this …
"ECONOMICS is the science of studying people's behaviour in their ordinary day-to-day life." That is how undergraduate textbooks define the subject. The book under review, however, talks about an economic revolution. But it is not clear who this revolution is being waged against. After reading the book, one learns that …
THERE IS A missing link that keeps the work of our scientists very insulated. It keeps their work from reaching potential beneficiaries. These are educated people who ought to know. They visit Delhi regularly from areas where such work could be of use but are totally unaware of what is …
AN octopus can learn tasks simply by watching other octopuses at work. This observation has surprised researchers who believed such mental capacities to be the sale preserve of higher vertebrates like mammals. The octopus belongs to the family of molluscs which are invertebrate. Research on Octopus vulgarid, the common octopus …
AFTER two disappointing failures in 1987 and 1988, the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) was finally launched on May 20 from the Sriharikota range. It successfully placed the 106-kg SROSS (Stretched Rohini -Satellite Series) satellite in an orbit 450 km above the earth. The successful launch came as a, much-needed …
FEARS of ozone layer depletion have inspired research into refrigeration technologies that do not depend on ozone-destroying chemicals and which may even be more efficient than the conventional coolants. The Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Naval Postgraduate School at California,. USA, have jointly developed thermoacoustic devices that chill nitrogen …
THE Indian silkworm is likely to become rather superior - once scientists at the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore are successful in their application of a method developed recently by them in isolating and transferring specific genes. The low-yielding but sturdy Bombyx mori (mulberry silk-worm) will remain sturdy, of …
A trick that Nature rarely performs is homeosis - the substitution of one body part by another. A team of zoologists at Utkal University, led by Prof Priyambada Mohanty-Hejmadi, became part of one such display when they discovered that even vertebrates can exhibit homeosis, which earlier was thought to be …
