Beware of the Ganga

A dip in the Ganga was meant to purify both body and soul. But devotees in Bihar have had a bad experience

New wrist-worn device can quickly tell if you’re having a heart attack — it could save many lives

Testing for a protein in the heart cells called troponin can help show changes in heart rhythm

‘Ethnoveterinary medicines can be used as preventives and curatives’

Down To Earth spoke to MNB Nair from the Center for Ethno-Veterinary Science and Practice, The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences …

Trichomes the real heroes in natural farming

These small, smooth hair protect plants from insects and stop fungal spores from germinating

Did you know dogs can detect malaria in our breath?

Using dogs to detect malaria in humans can help speed up global eradication of the disease as the method is non-invasive and allows many samples …

Number of dengue cases in 2017 was the highest in a decade

There has been a more than 300 per cent hike in dengue cases since 2009, and even the total number of deaths in 2017 was the highest in the last …

Why zoonotic diseases are fast spreading to humans

Infectious diseases that were once confined to animals in forests are now attacking human beings, at a faster pace

Giving the art of mimicry a new meaning

In order to propagate its own species, a parasitic fungus attacks mustard plants and transforms their leaves, making them look like flowers of …

Smoke gets in your eyes - and forms cataracts

The oxidising property of cigarette and chulha smoke is one of the factors being linked by researchers to the formation of eye cataract.

Harmful traces

TRACE ELEMENTS IN HUMAN NUTRITION AND HEALTH·World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland· Pages 343

Hide Burns

Skin diseases and stomach ailments afflict most of the people living around a tannery area in Kanpur - one of the fallout of the failure of the …

Recurrent scourge

Spread of rat fever in Kerala, once again points to the lacuna of the authorities in controlling the disease

Advertisements: Flu good, no?

Avian influenza (AI) is spiralling out of control in Asia. So also is the spin being put to the disease. There was the spectacle of Thailand …

One in four Indians above 30 risks dying of lifestyle diseases: WHO

Report shows India has no multi-pronged plan to reduce NCDs or a proper monitoring and surveillance system

Bytes

Now a papaya-clay filter

The hybrid clay filter could be the cost-effective answer to water purification

Breathing poison

Counteractive

Do mosquito repellents have adverse health effects?

Feud settled

Sapping structures

Nanoparticle safety under scanner

Are nanomaterials safe?

And the frog survived

Konkan village rejects mining plan

Officials say villagers are not final arbiters

Healthy lifestyle can overcome genetic risk of heart disease: study

Subjects who followed a low-fat diet reported higher levels of good cholesterol despite carrying a gene shown to increase risk of diabetes, shows …

Stung by Aedes

Incidence of dengue and chikungunya has grown dramatically in recent years. Let’s understand the impact of climate change on virus …