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.

Malaria breakthrough promises better drugs

Now that they have discovered how chloroquine controls the malaria parasite, scientists hope to use this knowledge to develop more efficient anti-…

Indian AIDS research takes big step forward

With the expertise for HIV culture now available in the country, scientists will be better equipped to tackle AIDS.

Cosmic radiations originate in earth's galaxy

Latest satellite observations provide an answer to the long-standing query: What is the source of cosmic rays -- high energy radiations -- that …

Fresh light illumines search for dark matter

New evidence has emerged for the existence of dark matter -- an invisible constituent of the universe that is believed to play a key role in the …

Global warming causes extinction of species

Scientists warn a rise in temperature will reduce the habitable area in North America's mountains and cause a reduction in the number of mammal …

More carbon dioxide spurring plant growth

New measurement techniques show the level of atmospheric oxygen is decreasing in direct proportion to the burning of fossil fuels. These …

Hardy babul does well with crops

Field trials prove a deep-rooted tree indigenous to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra grows well in the Thar desert.

Industry wary of entering handicapped market

New, more efficient aids are being developed for the physically handicapped under a government project. The stumbling blocks, however, are the …

Boom time for lab bloomers

India hopes to earn Rs 200 crore every year exporting flowers mass produced in laboratories

Himalayan yew to fight cancer

Taxol, an effective anti-cancer drug that was approved for use in the US last year, will soon be available in India at half the cost

Hidden sink uncovered

A recent finding shows that over 35 billion tonnes of 'mysteriously missing' carbon dioxide from fossil fuels burnt over four decades went to …

Mercury thermometers coldshouldered

With health consciousness showing an upward trend, disposable non-mercury thermometers are catching on