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. …
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA, has developed a radio that can warn people about the bad weather in advance. Whenever NOAA's storm prediction centre issues an alert, the radio automatically sends a tone. The radio costs about US $40. People can also turn their homes into local …
scientists have devised various methods to recycle old tyres into new ones. Now Kirk Manfredi, a chemist at the University of Northern Iowa, usa , has developed a technique to produce lemon oil from discarded tyres. He produces limonene, which is the main ingredient in the oil of lemons and …
research from Pennsylvania suggests that smoking heavily for many years may activate a receptor in smokers' lungs that makes them more susceptible to cancer. And once activated, the receptor stays switched on, even after decades without a puff. Jill Siegfried and her team at the University of Pittsburg and their …
The hottest volcanoes of the solar system are situated on Io, a moon of Jupiter. Latest images of the volcanoes may help scientists to investigate Io's most active volcanoes, Prometheus . The volcano appears to have shuffled about 80 km across the moon's surface in the past two decades. Alfred …
have we descended from cannibals? A bioarchaeologist and a paleoanthropologist through independent research studies have both established that cannibalism was practised intensively from the early days of human evolution ( Science , Vol 227, No 5326). In 1967, when bioarchaeologist Christy G Turner II of the Arizona State University found …
Mathilde, a 52 kilometres asteroid, has been observed by the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft. The spacecraft measured the mass of the asteroid when it passed within 1,200 km of Mathilde. Findings show that Mathilde is full of cavities. Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, USA, say the …
a huge bubble of hot and magnetically charged gas has been discovered that may damage satellites after reaching the Earth's atmosphere. The bubble in the form of a giant cloud travels towards the Earth with a speed of 14,48,100 km per hour. When it reaches the Earth, the bubble expands …
a purple weed, Lythrum salicaria , that was brought from Europe and released in North America 200 years ago is threatening wetlands across the us and Canada. Bernd Blossey of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York has been trying to discover why plants that pose no problems in Europe have …
A US study shows that increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere result in improved photosynthesis, helping trees grow faster. Scientists at the University of Georgia, USA, have evaluated the response of loblolly pines to increasing concentrations of CO 2 and measured the photosynthesis, respiration and …
the endangered Asian elephants have a new friend in usa . A proposal to spend up to us $25 million to conserve the asian elephants could go a long way towards saving them from extinction. "It is clear that active intervention is necessary,' says Mary Pearl, executive director of the …
many times patients complain that doctors order more tests or perform more expensive procedures than required. Now sophisticated new computer models will enable millions of patients to analyse their medical records and help them determine the cheapest and the most effective way of treatment. The largest us hospital company, Columbia/ …
electromagnetic fields from power lines and appliances do not affect the risk of leukaemia in children, say researchers at the us National Cancer Institute ( nci ) and the University of Minnesota, usa. The study is one of the most comprehensive probes into the links between electromagnetic fields and the …
poaching of spiders, reptiles and other rare insects has spurted into national parks of the southwestern us , as these species attract high value in the overseas markets. traffic , a division of the World Wide Fund for Nature ( wwf ) that tracks the impact of poaching around the …
Women are more efficient than men in using the world wide web, according to a survey. A test conduced by MCI, an American Telecommunication company, at the site http://www.nettest.mci.com, attracted thousands of people to answer five general interest questions using the Net. The company found that overall women aged between …
the use of appetite suppressant drugs adversely affects the health of people, according to reports published in the uk and usa . Dexfenfluramine, a commonly prescribed dieting drug, boosts the levels of serotonin in brain and influences the neurotransmitter that carry chemical signals across the tiny gaps between one neurone …
a recent study has established that mobile phones can disrupt implanted heart pacemakers. The interference caused by hand-held wireless telephones may prevent cardiac pacemakers from functioning properly. A team led by David Hayes of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, came to this conclusion after conducting studies on 980 patients …
surgeons have developed a method of blasting holes through heart that would help relieve heartache in patients. Clinical trials show that laser beams can be used in creating holes in the ailing heart of human which can prove to be extremely beneficial for the people suffering from acute heart problems. …
a genetically engineered rice that can produce human proteins and can be harvested just like any other crop, has been developed by California-based Applied Phytologics. This technique could make it cheaper to produce many bioengineered proteins such as those found in detergents ( New Scientist , Vol 155, No 2090). …
A printing process based on reprintable papers has been developed that would help avoid wastage of paper. The new system envisages tiny dots of special ink encapsulated within an ordinary paper. By raising the temperature in the printer, the paper can be wiped clean which is stable in the same …
A project worth US $1 billion has enabled Pakistan to reclaim about 260,000 ha of waterlogged farmland. The project was launched with an assistance from the World Bank. Although Pakistan has the best canal irrigation systems in the world, the country's agricultural production has been badly affected by waterlogging and …
