'I cannot be a mute spectator to the carnage of Ganga'

As Uttarakhand grapples with the task of repair and restoration, octogenarian environmentalist G D Agarwal's fast to free Ganga of dams continues.…

Remembering Nammalvar: farewell, organic saint-warrior

G Nammalvar, the agriculture scientist who pioneered organic farming movement in Tamil Nadu, passed away on December 30 at the age of 75. He …

Fluctuating certified deaths vis-a-vis total deaths in India: A neglected reality

From 1992-2018, the percentage of medically certified deaths to total registered deaths fluctuated between 12 and 22%

Being declared dead when you’re still alive — why these very rare events occur

Fainting might also deceive the certifying doctor; activation of the vagus nerve occurs during fainting, slowing the heart and reducing blood pressure

Immortality is mathematically impossible, new research finds

A mathematical equation has proven that controlling one of the two major changes in a cell—decay or cancerous growth—enhances the …

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Languages are becoming extinct much faster than species. The digital divide can make it worse

Elephant electrocuted in Odisha: Third death in 34 days

As many as 732 elephants died between 2009 and 2019 in Odisha 

Scientists show how Vitamin D deficiency can cause heart failure

The new study has found that cardiac insulin leads to functional deterioration of heart in animals with low vitamin D levels

Resurrecting Babel

A member of a non-profit committed to documenting all of the world’s 7,000 languages, explains why her organisation is on such a mission

One-fifth of pregnant women at risk due to Group B Sterptococcus bacteria

The first comprehensive research on the bacteria estimates that out of 410,000 cases every year, there will be at least 147,000 stillbirths and …

How climate change is killing languages

Forced migration is a major cause of language extinction. Environmental disasters are driving these displacements in the very regions richest in …

ChatGPT threatens language diversity. More needs to be done to protect our differences in the age of AI

When writing tools prioritise one way of writing over another, they reinforce existing hierarchies that unfairly position Standard American …

Families of 120 of 121 doctors who died of COVID-19 in Bihar yet to get compensation

The delay in compensation have demoralised doctors who are living in fear after the recent spate of deaths in the state

Health is about public leadership: WHO chief

Tedros Ghebreyesus asked member countries to approve an ambitious Budget at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva

Measles outbreak kills nearly 700 children in 4 months in Zimbabwe

The number of deaths is four times that reported by the ministry two weeks ago (157 children)  

Seven decades after independence, many tribal languages in India face extinction threat

To lose these indigenous languages means losing huge human capital and rich cultural diversity 

World Biodiversity Day: Why language should not be forgotten

Languages are a treasure trove of knowledge about a region’s flora, fauna and medicinal plants, say experts

Two forest officials suspended for deaths of elephants in train accident

Environmentalists have called out the forest department for only taking action against low-rank officials

Towards Wakanda — Chadwick Boseman’s passing and the power and limits of Afrofuturism

Black Panther draws on an artistic movement known as Afrofuturism, in which knowledge about past violence and injustice inform an imagined future …

World Malaria Day: ‘If we don’t become complacent, we can eliminate malaria like 1965’

PL Joshi, former head of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme talks to Down To Earth about how malaria vaccination, surveillance and …

Swine Flu deaths cross 1,000; will this year be a repeat of 2015?

More than 22,000 cases of swine flu have been reported in 2017, a bulk of them from Maharashtra and Gujarat

Half of all South Africans are overweight or obese. Warning labels on unhealthy foods help change that

Globally there’s been an increase in the availability and consumption of unhealthy food

Assam’s human-elephant conflict: Legally protecting habitats, natural fencing can save the ‘gentle giants’

Elephants are part of Assam's culture & folklore but habitat loss is driving negative interactions with humans 

Looking for a non-Western lens to the Black Death? Try this translation of a work written in Mamluk Egypt

‘Merits of the Plague’ was written 600 years ago by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, a medieval polymath

International Mother Language Day 2023: Adivasi children in India unable to study in their own tongues needs redressal

Tribal children do not have teachers, reading material or even a proper script for their dialects or languages