Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
IF YOU fail to respond to a drug, it could be because your body is smashing it up without so much as a hello. Scientists have known for some time now that this happens particularly with drugs that mimic proteins. These drugs usually occur in 2 molecular forms -- one …
IT SEEMS the war between antibiotics and bacteria is a never-ending one. Time and again these clever organisms have made the most potent drugs look like placebos. But researchers at the Washington University's School of Medicine in St Louis believe they may have finally nailed the Achilles' heel of bacteria …
A LITTLE learning is a dangerous thing. That wisdom is increasingly dawning on scientists who are unravelling the truth about genes and diseases. Thanks to breakthroughs in molecular biology, scientists can ascertain from blood or tissue samples the presence or absence of genes that are responsible for about 10 to …
MANY a cow or female buffalo that is unable to produce milk has ended up in a slaughterhouse. But now, there is hope for these blighted creatures. A team of scientists led by R S Ludri of the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in Karnal has not only succeeded in …
YOU better start cultivating a taste for broccoli. Two John Hopkins University scientists say they have discovered in broccoli the presence of a chemical compound -- sulforaphane -- which helps fight cancer in animals. Paul Talalay and Gary H Posner had previously reported that sulforaphane increased the production of anti-cancer …
A COMPOUND derived from the female sex hormone oestrogen has been found effective at suppressing tumour growth, without the horrendous side-effects that normally accompany anti-cancer drugs. Theodore Fotsis of Children's University Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany, and his collaborators found that 2-methoxyoestradiol, formed in the body on the breakdown of oestrogen, …
SCIENTISTS have recently confirmed the presence in the lungs of asthmatics of an enzyme that produces nitric oxide, which damages cells lining the airways. Nitric oxide was known to be present in the air exhaled by asthmatics but the enzyme -- nitric oxide synthase -- that triggered its production in …
AN ANCIENT Egyptian practice of divining a woman's pregnancy by treating wheat seeds with her urine, say scientists, could be used as an efficient, economical pregnancy test for cows. The currently available laboratory methods of diagnosing pregnancy in cattle are laborious and expensive (Current Science, Vol 65, No 12). Based …
NEWBORN children whose mothers suffer from a severe form of AIDS may develop the disease quicker, a recent French study reveals. The finding by Stephane Blanche and his colleagues at the Paris-based Hospital Necker Enfants Malades, could help prevent the pre-natal transmission of the infection (The New England Journal of …
The holy grail of synthetic taxol may be in sight. Taxol, used to treat breast and ovarian cancers, is extracted in very small quantities from the leaf and bark of the endangered Himalayan and Pacific yew. But now, two teams of organic chemists -- led by K C Nicolaou of …
PEOPLE paralysed because of spinal injuries need not give up hope. Two independent studies reported in the British journal Nature (Vol 367, No 6459) show that damaged nerve tissue can be repaired, at least partly. In one study, scientists from Kyoto University in Japan used rat foetal tissue transplants to …
HOW did humans acquire intelligence? Two competing theories have attracted a lot of attention. One holds that the complex social relations among higher primates provided a key driving force; the other asserts that it was the complexities involved in obtaining food. Recent evidence indicates both pressures may have been equally …
LONG perplexed by the causes of more than a thousand brain disorders, neuroscientists are now increasingly finding that genes are often the culprits. Delving deep into the brain's molecular structure, scientists have identified the genetic defects that are responsible for 40 disorders of the nervous system and have a good …
ARE forests linked with the spread of malaria? Or, for that matter, do terrain, agricultural practices, water-bodies or ground-water have any bearing on the disease? Now, a computer-based analysis technology -- the Geographical Information System (GIS) -- may provide answers to these complex questions. The Malaria Research Centre (MRC) in …
MEDICAL research aims at producing technologies for the human good. But in pursuit of this objective, should we allow medical research to violate basic human rights? The violence of a male-dominated scientific establishment is being directed against the weaker members of society: women, the poor, and the illiterate. This exploitation …
A CHEMICAL used originally to kill bacteria in drinking water is now proving extremely effective as a male contraceptive. S K Guha, who is a professor at the biomedical engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, both in Delhi, and his …
PEOPLE who suffer wild swings of moods -- from ecstatic highs to melancholic lows -- have their mother to blame. At least this is what researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital, USA, suggest: Every woman on a sprawling family tree they have drawn up passes this disorder, called the manic-depressive psychosis, …
A REVIEW of previously classified documents has revealed that the US had used babies and unsuspecting patients for experiments on radioactivity for many years. It had also released large amounts of radiation into the environment in the 1940s and early 1950s. At least 19 mentally retarded teenagers were fed radioactive …
NOT ONLY do smiles reflect happiness, they can even induce it, says psychologist Paul Ekman of the Human Interaction Lab at the University of California (Science, Vol 262, No 5132). However, not any smile will do. In 1862, French neurologist Duchenne de Boulogne noted that half-hearted smiles only involve mouth …
If you're worried about your heart, there's good news and bad. First the good: there is strong evidence to support the theory that a couple of beers or glasses of wine daily help to prevent coronary heart disease. Now, the bad part: most heart attacks occur at dawn. Researchers at …
