Cacao tree originated 10 million years ago: scientists
Early evolutionary origin of the species is good news as it suggests that cacao has had enough time to diversify genetically
Nutrient overdose
Population burst has increased the amount of nutrients released into the atmosphere through human activity. Varun Varma, a PhD student at the …
Beneath the surface
Heat absorption rate of sub-surface waters in the Pacific has seen a phenomenal rise in the past 60 years
Ultra-sensitive to light
Arindam Ghosh, physicist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, talks to Tiasa Adhya about his discovery of a light-sensitive composite …
My genetic profile
Book>> My Beautiful Genome • by Lone Frank • Penguin • Rs 450
Sweet Victory For Diabetics
Carbohydrate-based sweeteners available in the market are not good for diabetics. Recently, 15 students from IIT Madras tweaked lactobacilli used …
Newton, the alchemist
Book>> Clockwork Universe, Isaac Newton, the Royal Society and the Birth of Modern Science • By Edward Dolnick • Harper Collins &…
Blast That Cures
For the first time in India a needleless drug delivery device has been designed. Gopalan Jagadeesh from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, …
Big bite
As the malaria parasite and its mosquito carrier become increasingly immune to pesticides and drugs, a recourse to vaccines seems to be the only …
Chemical traps
Harnessing solar energy has been a long-standing scientific goal. The latest approach employs chemicals that, like the leaves of a tree, soak up …
Quicker detection of TB and hepatitis
Two new tests allow a faster and more accurate detection of tuberculosis and hepatitis B than possible earlier
Bad blood
A hypothesis that radiation from a nuclear plant caused leukaemia in the children of its employees has been trashed
Doing away with wood
In Niger and Mali, where timber is scarce and expensive, mud building is making a headway, thanks to the efforts of a French organisation called …
On the verge of a breakthrought
The electronics industry is poised for a quantum jump as a group of Indian scientists claim to have developed a silicon-based, light-emitting diode.
Nipping malaria in the bud
Scientists are focussing on strengthening genetically the defence mechanism of mosquitoes so as to render them inhospitable to the malarial parasite.
A monthly defence
A recent hypothesis contends that menstruation protects women against various uterine infections.
Detecting a hard-to-trace brain disease
Indian scientists have developed a kit to detect a disease caused by tapeworm larvae, which doctors often confuse with tuberculosis of the brain.
Playing Lego with molecules
Scientists are trying to make designer solids -- substances whose molecules they assemble according to a predetermined plan
Swallowing a live fish may get rid of asthma
A miracle cure for asthma continues to attract patients in thousands despite the scepticism expressed by medical experts
Flywheels offer cheap option for operating trams
A British firm has developed an innovative tram system as a cheap alternative for mass transport
New viral disease targets sheep in India
A contagious disease, similar to rinderpest and first observed in the Ivory Coast in 1940, has surfaced among sheep and goats in south India
Hi-tech systems for 21st century commuters
Computers and satellites will soon be used by transport authorities in USA and Europe to provide commuters a reprieve from traffic congestion
Biochemicals sweep US free of petrochemicals
Growing environmental awareness is making the Americans switch from chemicals derived from fossil fuels to those made from plant matter.
Antibiotics, not antacids, to treat ulcers
Doctors and pharmaceutical companies have been slow to respond to growing evidence that peptic ulcers are better treated with antibiotics, rather …
Getting Indore's roads to play a double role
An Indore engineer has solved the problem of waterlogging in the city's slums by building sloping roads that lead excess water to the nearest nullah.