How Africa can close its continent-wide science funding gap
Successful economies are led by innovation and driven by knowledge. For Africa to advance, it needs to make more substantial investments in its …
The physical Net
Book>> Tubes, A Journey to the Center of the Internet • by Andrew Blum • Penguin • Rs 499
Cyber dystopia
Book>> The Filter Bubble, What the Internet is Hiding From You • by Eli Pariser • Penguin Books • US $25
Satellite link
Book>> Moon: A Brief History • by Bernd Brunner • Yale University Press • Rs 1,000
Old shine
Indian scientists have found a chemical that cleans antique metallic objets d'art without damaging the patina
Mushroom boom
Indian farmers are busy harvesting the booming demand for mushrooms. The problem is that it is a delicacy that is rather fastidious about its …
Space opera
After years of pranged possibilities and piggyback rides, India has attained independent satellite launch capability
Mars' water connection
Channels and valleys observed on the Martian surface and meteorites of Martian origin indicate that once there might have been water on the planet
the key to prosperity
It's time India realises that it is trade and not merely technological innovation that holds...
Technological juggernaut loses speed
Endless red tape and public hostility to technology have raised fears about the future of Germany's technological sector
Automatic warning
Posting humans to inhospitable sites in the Himalaya to monitor snow and wind patterns may soon be unnecessary
Collision in space
At least 2 Indian planetaria are gearing up for a once-in-a-lifetime ogle at Jupiter as it is strafed by a comet shower
Rock-hard sandwiches
Thin film, no more than a few microns thick, can endow substances with hardness, magnetic, superconducting and optical properties
Information highway: questions of powerdrive
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: A DIALOGUE Edited by M S Swaminathan Publisher: Macmillan India Ltd Price: Rs 320
The liquid heat trap
A giant pond at a dairy in Gujarat is the world's largest water storehouse of the sun's energy and heats about 80,000 litres of water everyday
The computer plays postman
India seems ready to cash in on electronic mail, a cheap and fast way of communication in which messages are exchanged through computer networks.
Manipulating reality
The concept of Virtual Reality -- simulating the real world -- is adding a new dimension to entertainment and education.
The secret sex life of the sea urchin
With the unravelling of how fertilisation occurs in sea urchins, scientists may now better understand the reproduction process in higher mammals, …
Helping computers keep a tight hold on power
Scientists are trying to integrate a new type of circuits - called reversible circuits -- into computers to make them more energy efficient
New chip on the firmament
A microchip developed by a US firm will greatly increase the working speed of personal computers. But the chip's long-term success will depend on …
Why some bumble bees spend the night out
Bumble-bees infected with the larvae of parasitic flies stay the night out in the cold to hinder the development of the eggs
Wanderlust heats up the blood of some fish
Biologists have found that some fish evolved into warm-blooded creatures because their adventurous ancestors were exposed to large temperature …
Correcting the Leaning Tower's tilt
A Chinese architect claims he can stop the Leaning Tower of Pisa from tilting further, and even bring it back to the original angle of tilt.
Venus' volcanoes have lost their fire
Scientists in Arizona say the latest satellite images from Venus indicate very little volcanic activity has taken place on the planet after a …
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 …