Wiping out all of Africa’s elephants could accelerate Earth’s climate crisis by allowing 7% more damaging greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, scientists say. But conserving forest elephants may reverse the trend, providing a service worth $43billion in storing carbon, the academics found. The research, published in Nature Geoscience, shows that …
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 …
BIOTECHNOLOGY means a lot of things to different people. The new and the traditional coexist and reinforce each other within biotechnology -- now an established and highly interdisciplinary applied field. However, it symbolises big money, in terms of new industries, agricultural practices, patents and research grants. For scientists and academics, …
CERTAIN wasps are inveterate nectar thieves. The wily insects sneak through the back door and loot nectar, damaging the flower and reducing chances of pollination and fruit formation (Current Science, Vol 26 No 10). Insects help in pollination by acting as carriers of pollen grains, picking them up from one …
THREE-and-a-half centuries after the rest of the world, the Catholic church has finally discovered the sun does not revolve around it, or even around the earth. The result is the rehabilitation of Pisan astronomer and pioneer of modern physical science Galileo Galilei by Pope John Paul on November 1, in …
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 …
THE HUMBLE tur or arhar dal, a traditional food crop in arid areas, is now being grown as a cash crop by farmers attracted by its high market value. Seed companies are thus showing a keen interest in a new hybrid of the dal, also known as pigeon pea (Cajanus …
THIS BOOK is a misnomer for "heritage" connotes something far removed from the present. Kautilya's work, for example, might be described as India's heritage. The book, however, presents 10 autobiographical articles by Raghu Raj Bahadur, Debabrata Basu, Vasant Shankar Huzurbazar, Gopinath Kallianpur, Debabrata Lahiri, Pesi Rustom Masani, Keshavan Raghavan Nair, …
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 …
SCIENTISTS at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad have developed clean fuel, a coal gasification technology, but are finding no takers, even though their new technology is important, given the worldwide concern for global warming and pollution from thermal power stations and the fact that India has …
THE UZI fly, a dreaded parasite of the valuable silkworm, may soon have to look for other ways to survive because a hyperparasite has been discovered that breeds in its cocoon. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad have identified a wasp-like insect (Trichopria khandalus) that …
ACCORDING to the Book of Genesis in the Bible, God made Adam and then, not wanting him to feel lonely, took one of his ribs and created Eve. A simple explanation of why there are sexes and why there are only two. But try satisfying a scientist, or even a …
Thanks to the foresight of an American plant collector 20 years ago, several bean varieties are today resistant to a pest scientists had given up trying to control. During a trip to southern Mexico, H S Gentry recognised a wild vine considered a useless weed was, in fact, a wild …
SCIENTIFIC research in America is under pressure to perform better -- economically. Despite the yield of Nobel prizes, "smart" weapons and electronic consumer goods after the government's $76-billion annual investment in scientific research, the US has been unable to stop countries like Japan from obtaining the commercial gains. Lasers and …
THE AMOUNT of rain falling in various parts of India has changed over the years, decreasing in some places and increasing in others. K Rupa Kumar and his colleagues at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune report in a recent issue of the International Journal of Climatology …
THE MOST reliable guess that scientists have ventured about the origin of the universe is that it was the result of a cosmic explosion that took place about 25 billion years ago. Before the explosion, all matter in the universe is believed to have existed as a highly condensed cosmic …
AFTER discovering that babies are not as passive and helpless as they appear to be, adults are trying to figure out whether infants can do sums. In 20 years of research, it has become known that babies can differentiate and even tell if someone's lip movements match the speech they …
A report by a scientist claiming Indian chocolates are deliciously dangerous because they contain excessive cancer-causing nickel has sent the manufacturers to court and set off a panic among consumers. Not surprisingly, in the nasty slanging match that has followed, the manufacturers and M C Saxena. seem to be quoting …
A WORLDWIDE study of fertility research says men today have just about half the sperm count of men 50 years ago and there has also been an appreciable drop in the average volume of seminal fluid. These findings raise worries that male reproductive organs may be getting adversely affected by …
SCIENTISTS D S J Choy and P Altman working at the Investigative Cardiology Laboratory attached to the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, USA, have turned their attention to dinosaur hearts (The Lancet, volume 340, number 8818). Intrigued by the sheer size of the Barosaurus, a long-necked dinosaur that …
A CENTRE for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics has been mooted by scientists at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) to help forensic experts establish the identity of criminals beyond reasonable doubt. But the proposal is caught in a tangle between the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the home …
