WHO published its World health statistics report 2025, revealing the deeper health impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on loss of lives, longevity and overall health and well-being. In just two years, between 2019 and 2021, global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years—the largest drop in recent history— reversing a …
THE smoke alarm is ringing vigorously across the globe. While in the US President Clinton in a dramatic assault on cigarette use - has declared nicotine a drug and ordered a crackdown on childhood smoking, in China the communist government has put a blanket ban on tobacco advertising (Down To …
IMAGINE a pulse of light which lasts for only a few hundred billionths of a billionth of a second (10-18 seconds, or an attosecond). This is about the time that light travelling at 300 million metres per second takes to move across an atom! If the calculations of some theorists …
While the last few years has seen a revolution in optoelectronks, there have been several stumbling blocks too. One such obstacle is the integration of optical components with silicon microchips. But scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, may have come up with a solution finally (Science, Vol 268). The …
AFTER developing an unusual wind turbine with no external blades, Sambrabec Inc., in Canada is all set to develop a new scaled up version. The much acclaimed Catavent 500 w self-regulating, ducted wind turbine developed by Louis Beaulieu, is being scaled up to 150 KW which could mean a significant …
Hokkaido University researchers in Japan are investigating a 'smart' material that could be useful in bio-medical applications. Hydrogels -a cross-linked polymer network filled with water molecules -can show 'shape memory'. The gel which can be deformed at low temperatures, can revert to its original shape when heated above 50
In what is being termed as a historic venture, the India-China-South Korea consortium to build a 100-seater passenger aircraft could cause a severe jolt to the powerful Western aerospace industry. Civil aviatiation experts opine that the Asian airline industry soon expects to see the maximum growth globally, in the medium-size …
Are men and women really different? This issue has been examined umpteen times by researchers hailing from various disciplines -- biologists, sociologists, anthropologists, medical practioners, behavioralists, psychologists -- and each has something new, different and invariably controversial to say on biological differences existing between the 2 sexes. Most researchers agree …
Arthritis patients have a cause to celebrate. A group of British researchers confirm that treatment with low dose of steroids can prevent the progress of arthritis in people who are just exhibiting the early symptoms of the disease. The study suggests for the first time that bone and cartilage deterioration …
Recently there was a gathering of people ("academics, bureaucrats, and a sprinkling of activists" in the words of Himal reporter Kanak Dixit) interested in stopping the accelerating impoverishment of mountain environments and their peoples. They met at Lima in Peru and talked for a week. And then they wrote a …
The story of Chinchurgheria, a village in West Bengal, is a chilling expose of the apathy of businesspersons, the government and politicians. In 1986, the people of Chinchurgheria and a few neighbouring villages joined a new stonecrushing unit. Within 2 years, villagers working as labourers started suffering from silicosis. With …
WITH threats of fatal diseases and genetic disorders on the rise, genetic testing becomes an essential tool in diagnosing an ailment or assessing the possibility of a person acquiring one. However, being prohibitively expensive, such speculative genetic screening is restrict- ed to patients in research projects or to those with …
President Fidel Ramos of Philippines is all set to solve the country's water problems once and for all. A radical shake-up of the Philippines' state-owned water facilities is on the wings. This will almost certainly entail at least partial privatisation of the Manila water utility in a revamp which foreign …
THE Gujarat legislature passed a bill in July 1995, reducing the area of the Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary in Kutch, Gujarat, to 444.23 sq krn from the earlier notified 765.79 sq km. Narayan Sarovar, famous for chinkaras, has become the battle ground for developmentalists and conservationists over the last few years, …
RESEARCHERS in Germany recently provided some vital clues about migraine and its origin by watching it in action. Carnelius Weiller and his colleagues at the University of Essen suggest that the real source of a migraine attack lies in the brain stem though the pain is experienced at the temples …
ELECTRIC cars have long been viewed as environment- friendly substitutes to the conventional petrol and diesel driven cars, But one of the main problems confronting the electric car manufacturers is the long time - sometimes as much as 12 hours - that it takes to recharge the vehicles' batteries. Now, …
ALL beer guzzlers bewarel This popular drink may after all be a repository of carcinogenic chemicals like nitroso- dimethylamine, according to scientists of the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN). After obtaining samples of Indian beer from commercial outlets in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Punjab and …
Population control measures using the controversial contraceptive, Norplant -- developed by Population Council, us -- has backfired, with its acceptance level among women being on the lower side. This has been revealed in a survey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi. The ministry of health …
DETECTING the deadly hepatitiS-B virus will now be easier, thanks to a new technique developed at the Delhi-based International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. Instead of the usual uncom fortable procedure of puncturing a vein to get gobbets of blood to conduct the test, just a little prick in …
The World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a couple of other UN bodies have launched a global integrated pest management facility to reduce excessive and costly pesticide use which threatens both human health and environment (Pesticide News, No 28). The pilot projects under the new programme will focus …
A REPORT presented in mid-July by the Institute for Environment and Health (mii), Leicester, United Kingdom, has hit hard especially those living in the northern hemisphere. It makes a startling statement that 60,000 human-made chemicals are likely to be causing not only impotency among men and wildlife, but might actually …
