Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
Intrinsic antibiotic resistance has been a fact of bacterium life since long before humans discovered the use of antibiotic drugs. However, the introduction of pharmaceutical antibiotics in the 1940s and explosion in use ever since dramatically accelerated the spread of antibiotic-resistance genes. Today, the problem of antibiotic resistance is so …
With a growing demand, India see its import bills on the rise Very few people consider the impact of throwing away scraps of paper or selling newspapers to the local raddiwalas. They may be throwing away a fortune. The Indian paper industry uses three types of raw materials: wood, agro-based …
The global meltdown led to expectations governments would use money to reinvent economies for climate change. The plan was simple: spend obscene amounts of public money in infrastructure and other projects, to stimulate national economies. If this money got spent on all those things which would improve the environmental sustainability …
Life evolved when the ocean nickel levels dropped evolution of life was preceded by a great rise in the atmospheric oxygen levels. There are a couple of theories as to what triggered that rise. While both talk about a decrease in the number of bacteria that produce methane (methanogens) and …
Just when you thought the frenzy of Charles Darwin anniversary celebrations was on the wane, there is another tasty morsel. But unlike the multitude of TV and radio documentaries, books and exhibitions honouring the grandad of evolution, this item is all about popular participation. A project called Darwin Aloud is …
Plea to phase down a potent greenhouse gas TWO island nations vulnerable to climate change impacts, Micronesia and Mauritius, have sought curbs on a chemical that could represent a third of the total greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions by 2040. In a joint representation, the two countries sought US support to …
Conceive around December, risk of birth defects is low ideally it is said a woman should be a mother before she turns 30. This keeps the risk of genetically conceived diseases low. Alcohol intake and smoking are maternal risk factors too and should be avoided. Time and again researchers have …
Humans can speak because their brain development is slow slow and steady wins the race. The adage holds true even in the case of evolution of the brain. Some of our unique human features, like the ability to use languages, happen to be because of a slow brain development after …
The infectious agent can improve the efficiency of its batteries viruses just stormed the world of consumer electronics. A bit of genetic tweaking and they can make lithium ion batteries more efficient. For researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, this technology is an important breakthrough as it takes …
It is presumed that remarkable increases in cotton productivity in India have come about through bacillus thuringiensis cotton and that this approach therefore must be replicated in other crops. This article explores the myth of rising yields of genetically modified crops and points out that genetic engineering has been at …
Temperatures are set to rise as negotiators gather to prepare for the crucial December Copenhagen climate agreement that will replace the Kyoto Protocol. From June 1 for 10 days temperatures will rise in Bonn as negotiators from all over the world congregate to prepare for the crucial December Copenhagen climate …
Stepping into a major environmental dispute, the Obama administration said Thursday that no new timber-cutting or road project could begin in roadless areas of national forests without the permission of the secretary of agriculture. The Agriculture Department, which issued a directive outlining the policy, called it an interim measure meant …
With their boundless vistas of turquoise water framed by swaying coconut palms, the Carteret Islands northeast of the Papua New Guinea mainland might seem the idyllic spot to be a castaway. Stuart Beck, the permanent representative for Palau at the United Nations, in 2005. But sea levels have risen so …
The global economic downturn has aggravated human rights violations and distracted attention from abuses, Amnesty International said on Thursday. The world faced a grave danger that "rising poverty and desperate economic and social conditions could lead to political instability and mass violence," the rights group's secretary-general, Irene Khan, wrote in …
