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 tabour of love for a courting male cricket often involves providing his mate with ample dinner - a large blob of a gelatinous substance known as spermatophylax. Besides its high nutritional value which helps the female lay more eggs, the blob serves to keep the female engrossed test she …
Edible vaccines made from plants? This seemingly unusual proposition is on the verge of becoming a reality. Preliminary studies in the US indicate that genetically altered potatoes, bananas, alfalfa sprouts and other foods could revolutionize medical care by providing cheap and plentiful sources of "edible" vaccines and other medicines to …
The dreaded AIDS virus could sooner or later affect the organised industrial labour force in India, leading to an alarming increase in absenteeism by 50 per cent, states a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) sponsored study. Conducted by the Deepam Educational Society for Health (DESH), a Madras-based NGO, the findings …
An American company, Solar Power International, Inc. has developed a solar lawn mower that is pollution- free. A conventional gasoline-powered lawn mower, on the other hand, causies more pollution in half an hour than a car driven 300 km (Solar Today, Vol 9, No 2). The solar mower uses photovoltaic …
A dairr row produces up to 40 litres of urine daily and this is posing a serious threat to the European countryside of moors, bogs and heaths. Scottish scientists have found that the ammonia-rich urine evaporates and adds to the nitrogen content of the atmosphere. This nitrogen accumulates in the …
BENZENE hexachloride and malathion showed up in vegetables from the Azadpur wholesale vegetable market, prompting the ministry of agriculture to order the phasing out of chemical pesticides in vegetable farming. The levels were found to be below the human tolerance level, but the question that haunted the ministry was: why …
CUBA's plans to rehabilitate its hiv patients within the community rather than locking them up in hospitals has not met with much success. "Uptill now, only 170 people have joined the out-patients scheme, and I have already received several letters requesting readmission," says Jorge Perez Avila, director of the Santiago …
Physicists at the University of California, Los Angeles, have built a device that uses a novel method of producing short tunable pulses of radiation. Working much like the musical accordion, the device employs an extremely short, highly energetic laser pulse from a short-pulse laser moving in a low pressure gas …
In India, the Union ministry of non-conventional energy sources is pursuing various R&D; projects to harness the geothermal energy available. About 340 hot springs have been identified in the country, with temperatures varying from 60oC to 130oC. A 5kw experimental power plant is being operated at Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh. …
AS PEOPLE, particularly women, grow old, they shrink. The humped back is the result of osteoporosis - a potentially lethal disease in which the bone mass withers. But now, a new generation of drugs, bone "paste" and hormones may soon bring relief. Osteoporosis affects 200 million people worldwide. In its …
TANKARDS-full of green tea are good for the liver and the heart, say researchers from the department of epidemiology, Saitama Cancer Research Institute, Japan. Green tea is different from brown tea in the way the 2 are processed- green tea does not undergo fermentation, because of which its contents of …
THE people of Panama City are losing their battle against pollution. An everincreasing number of automobiles, overburdened roads, lack of housing and an apathetic local populace are making a problem with no easy solutions. Studies indicate that some sectors of Panama Bay, which receives the city's wastes through 21 sewage …
The hepatitis virus has already run through alphabets A to E. A recent study could well slot it up to J. Tests conducted on a frozen blood specimen 30 years old led to the discovelry of 3 previously unknown hepatitis viruses. Tentatively called GB-A,' GB-B and GB-C, the viruses belcwig …
THE mysteries surrounding the GaVf War Syndrome (Down To Earth, Vol 3, No 15) may finally be laid to rest. The Pentagon has confirmed that the symptoms associated with the syndrome, like birth defects, memory loss and joint pain, may have been caused by the precautionary medicines given to allied …
US-based Megainin Pharmaceuticals Inc researchers have found a natural antibiotic in the tongue of the cow which may explain how injuries caused to the animal's tongue remain infection-free and heal rapidly. The researchers isolated a compound -- lingual antimicrobial peptide (LAP) -- capable of killing bacteria and viruses. They say …
HE green bug has finally bitten the Supreme Court. In a recent statement on March 30, Chief Justice A M Ahmadi declared that all official cars belonging to the court would soon run on compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of petrol or diesel. Natural gas is a gaseous hydrocarbon fuel …
HAVE you ever thought what prevents aquatic organisms living in and around the icy continent of Antarctica from freezing? Researchers believe that an enzyme -- lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) -- plays an important role in keeping these organisms metabolically active, and helps them survive even at sub-zero temperatures. S Shivaji, a …
British doctors are investigating the possibility of diagnosing certain illnesses by "smelling" the patient's breath using an electronic "nose". The ScanMaster is extremely sensitive and can detect the presence of the ulcer-forming bacteria Helicobacter pylori in the stomach. The ScanMaster relies on vibrating quartz crystals coated with a thin film …
ON THE night of March 23 a series of explosions ripped through the sewer drains all the way from Panchkuian Road to Karol Bagh 4 km away. They are 2 of the most crowded commercial areas in New Delhi. At the end of the 30-minute drama, which started arround 11.15 …
The early sci-fi image of robots taking over hazardous tasks so far done by human beings came a step closer to realisation with the success of NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Dante 2 robot in exploring an active volcano in Alaska. Descending more than 180 metres into the crater, …
