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. …
it is estimated that of the 2.5 billion people at risk of contracting malaria today, there are one billion people who are actually carrying malarial parasites. Two million to three million of them die each year. The death toll could rise to eight million a year due to the spread …
New species arise abruptly because of mutations in the genes that control the development of embryos. If such mutations occur in several individuals that then breed among themselves, they can lead to a new species. Jeffrey Schwartz, palaeontologist at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, has proposed this new theory of …
the city of Atlanta experienced a yellow deluge. Pollen, the male reproductive agent of plants from northern Georgia regularly poured over Atlanta with sticky mounds all over the city. The city was cleaned every evenings but the pollen was back the next morning. The city reached an all-time high of …
a state jury in Portland, Oregon, usa, has ordered tobacco giant Philip Morris Co to pay us $81 million to the family of a man who smoked Marlboro cigarettes for four decades before he died. The man, Jesse Williams, died in 1997, five months after he was diagnosed with lung …
The 20th anniversary of the Three Mile Island accident, the worst commercial nuclear mishap in us history, was marked by a candle protest and anti-nuclear speeches. More than 100 protesters spoke out against atomic power and recalled the horror, that had gripped the nation for days and led to the …
in what is considered a significant step, the National Cancer Institute ( nci ), Bethesda, usa, has urged thousands of us doctors to use chemotherapy along with radiation while treating cervical cancer after studies showed that such treatment can halve death rates. Randomised clinical trials conducted in various hospitals across …
The World Bank will provide us $300 million during 1999-2000 to Pakistan for expanding phase-2 of the Social Action Programme (SAP). A high-level World Bank review mission will soon arrive in Pakistan to formally approve assistance. The bank had earlier disbursed US $270 million for 1998-99. The expansion of SAP-2 …
ever since the first ruby laser was demonstrated in the early 1960s, many different kinds of lasers have been fabricated. These include dye lasers, semiconductor lasers and gas lasers. Laser light is extremely intense and of a single colour. Because of their unique properties, lasers can be employed in a …
the us National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( nasa ) plans to launch its biggest space telescope that will be named Chandra (after the India-born scientist S Chandrasekhar) in July 1999. Its specific objective will be "to unravel the mysteries of the evolution of the Universe'. The sheer size and …
owls are providing scientists with tips on improving the design of the Stealth aircraft. The winged predators could provide clues to reducing noise in future aircraft. The prey of owls
it is not easy by any chance to survive burial in an avalanche. About one-third of the people caught in an avalanche are killed by injuries from rocks, trees, debris or the force of snow itself. For the remaining two-thirds who manage to remain alive by the time the snow …
Intense light from the Petawatt laser, the world's most powerful laser at Livermore, USA, has been directed onto a thin gold film where it creates a plasma plume that acts as an accelerator. In particular, the laser electric fields rip electrons from the gold atoms and send the electrons shooting …
Tiny mechanical failures can result in plane crashes. To prevent this, a team from Iowa State University in the US has come out with a new method of detecting metallurgical snags in engine components. The researchers have developed a portable eddy current scanner that will show up hidden defects. The …
The technology that powers spacecraft destined for deep space, where solar energy is not available, has been used to develop a self-contained power plant that can be mounted right inside a residential boiler. This device will prove to be quite useful in cold areas where power is expensive, sporadic or …
on april 15, 1999, natives of Alaska delivered a message directly to oil giant bp Amoco's annual general meeting ( agm), telling shareholders what the management had refused to acknowledge until now: the company's drive for new oil worldwide threatens their culture and livelihood. Three Alaskan natives travelled thousands of …
the first telescope images of the dust rings around distant stars reveal startling new evidence of planets formed beyond the Solar System. This was stated by astronomers at the national meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, usa. Pictures of two distant stars from the Hubble Space Telescope show …
technology is finally catching up with what science fiction authors had written some five decades ago. Back then, no self-respecting science fiction author and would be caught dead without one or more (preferably more) anti-gravity device in their plots. According to recent reports, the us National Aeronautics and Space Administration …
the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( fbi ), arrested David L Smith, a New Jersey resident, responsible for developing the e -mail computer virus Melissa. Smith was held after the state police and the fbi conducted a joint investigation and traced him through his America Online account. Melissa has caused …
Ronald Parise of Connecticut, USA, thinks he can make electric buses go farther. Today's batteries cannot store enough charge for those long journeys, and drivers usually do not like stopping for top-ups. Parise proposes using a radio antenna on top of the bus to pick up microwave signals from overhead …
In an age where every mode of communication is going either "electronic' or "digital', how can good, old pens be left stranded in ancient times? Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, is patenting its "electronic ink' technology. This involves an electronic "page' that sandwiches a suspension of coloured particles in …
