Air quality is a major challenge globally and is the single greatest environmental risk to human health. More than 90 per cent of the world’s population lives in areas that exceed the World Health Organization guideline for healthy air. In North America, Canada and the United States of America have …
Beauty might be just two molecules deep. This has been proved by a recent experiment, wherein, researchers caused chicken embryos to develop a second beak. To accomplish the feat, researchers from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, manipulated cells that become part of the beak's front end when …
Negotiations over the past four years have diluted the already weak Kyoto Protocol signed in 1997. The protocol requires industrialised countries to reduce emissions of heat trapping gases like carbon dioxide to about five per cent below 1990 levels. This target is to be achieved between 2008-12. At the latest …
according to recent reports, the mountain pine beetle epidemic in Canada threatens around us $3.81 billion in lumber in British Columbia's forests. Eight million hectares of lodgepole pine trees are being infested and killed by the beetle, thanks to four years of warm winters in British Columbia, Canada's largest lumber …
What is the need of regulating biotechnolgy? Biotechnology products have acquired a special significance today as they can be used to cure diseases where conventional drugs have failed. Unfortunately, despite a growing demand for these products, the existing regulations are not comprehensive enough to address the market needs adequately. What …
they might well be the modern-day buccaneers. To further their research, agricultural and pharmaceutical companies often tap local communities for traditional knowledge relating to the use of biological resour ces. The conglomerates lose no time in appropriating this painstakingly assimilated information. And make a fast buck by developing products based …
An endocrine disrupter is a synthetic chemical which, when absorbed by the body, interferes with normal hormone function. This undermines intelligence, decreases resistance to disease and impairs reproduction. These chemicals include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, pesticides and phthalates which cause a range of problems
intense cold, sea spray and long dark winters are stripping toxic mercury from the atmosphere and pushing it into the fragile Arctic food chain where it is accumulating, new research suggests. The sudden burst of sunlight after long polar winters drives chemicals in sea salt to react with normally inert …
lake Ontario of Canada is in a perilous condition due to leakage of nuclear waste from a facility managed by Cameco Corporation, the world's biggest supplier of uranium. The leakage of toxic substances such as arsenic and uranium from the storage site of Cameco at Port Granby has been going …
the Sun, apart from being the source of all energy for the Earth, also spews out other particles copiously into space. One such particle, the neutrino could help scientists formulate the correct theory of the Sun. Unfortunately, all attempts till date to measure the number of neutrinos coming to us …
a disaster in the making? This question is being raised about a proposal of Quebec's largest utility company, which plans to build 36 new dams on 24 rivers across the province. If implemented, the proposal would let small private energy producers to build and operate the dams. The electricity would …
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that municipalities across the country have the right to ban the residential use of pesticides. The court ruled that the Montreal suburb of Hudson had not violated laws when, in 1991, it banned the use of pesticides for gardening, becoming the first Canadian …
Armed with the permission to undertake large-scale trials of Bt cotton, a genetically modified (GM) variety, biotech giant Monsanto has now got permission from the Indian government to import certain strains of its GM soyabean for testing under controlled laboratory conditions. The Round-up Ready soyabean is a variety that has …
Global warming could weaken the ice-soil mixture called permafrost in areas surrounding the Arctic Circle, causing damage to buildings, pipelines and electricity generating stations, according to a study done at University of Delaware, USA. Large cities in Siberia and smaller ones in Alaska and Canada run the risk of being …
the appellate body of World Trade Organisation (wto) has upheld the French ban on asbestos. Canada, a leading exporter of asbestos, used to export nearly 30,000 metric tonnes of Chrysotile, or "white' asbestos each year to France till 1996, when France imposed a ban on its asbestos. Canada, alleging that …
A Canadian mining company has been dumping cyanide, mercury and copper into Guyana's biggest river, the Essequibo, alleges the Guyana Shield Media Project (gsmp), a group that disseminates information about environmental issues. According to some media reports, people have been seen vomiting after consuming the river water. The gsmp says …
toronto , the largest city in Canada, will become a zero waste city by 2010, according to Mel Lastman, the city's mayor. Task Force 2010, set up for the purpose, will recommend a comprehensive waste diversion plan to Toronto City Council by June 2001, in consultation with the people of …
Don't forget to eat your breakfast or you may end up forgetting a whole lot more. A study from Canada shows that senior citizens fare better in memory tests when they eat breakfast. "Breaking the morning fast is important for cognitive functions,' says Carol Greenwood, research scientist at the University …
One drink of beer a day can prevent cataracts. Scientists in Canada carried out tests on rat lenses and found that antioxidants, like those in beers, protected cells in the eye which, if damaged, lead to an increase in cataracts. They say that high glucose levels damage key elements of …
A "spy in the sky' satellite is being tested by coastguards in Canada in an attempt to catch ships illegally discharging oil into the North Sea. The satellite, called Radarsat, is part of an eight-month trial ordered by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. It is hoped that the satellite, which …
