New rice varieties flourish in deep waters

IN THE flood-prone areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa -- where many believe rice originated -- yields are only about one-fifth that of Punjab and Haryana because the rice spends most of its energy literally trying to keep its head above water and has only a little left to produce grain.

Satellite images help monitor ocean warmth

SCIENTISTS at the University of Delaware have produced an accurate satellite image of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, enabling weather experts to track the deadly El Nino, the warm current in the Pacific which brings in its wake droughts to India, Africa and other parts of the world.

Ice caps may grow in higher temperatures

THERE is widespread belief that global warming will melt the polar ice caps and submerge large areas of inhabited lands. But a review of the latest scientific research published in New Scientist (Vol 135 No 1833) points to a totally opposite possibility.

Safer paracetamol

THE BRITISH Technology Group (BTG) recently licensed Penn Pharmaceuticals to manufacture a "safer paracetamol," according to a report in New Scientist (Vol 135 No 1836). Paracetamol was considered a safe painkiller until it was found that if consumed in large doses, it could be fatal. When broken down in the liver, paracetamol leaves behind a highly toxic metabolite.

Ants forage at 'safe' temperatures

The silver ant -- Cataglyphis bombycina -- is the undertaker of the Sahara desert -- a role it has been forced to adopt because of its own body limitations and because of a small lurking, desert lizard that loves to gobble them alive.

Lichens are reliable monitors of air pollution

INDIAN scientists find lichens can be used to monitor urban pollution levels. Lichens are disappearing within the core zone of the highly industrialised Haldia township in West Bengal, due to increasing air pollution. (Pollution Research, Vol 11, No 1). Sensitivity of lichens - essentially symbiotic associations of fungi and algae, often found growing on tree trunks and rocks - to air pollution, particularly gases like sulphur dioxide and particulate matter like dust, is fairly well-known. At HaIdia, effluents from companies like the Indian Oil, Eureka

Hardy babul does well with crops

TRIALS conducted in Pali, Rajasthan, indicate, that the ramkathi babul (Acacia nilolica, variety cupressiformis), indigenous to Andhra Pradesh arid Maharashtra, is an appropriate agroforestry species in and areas, according to a report in Indian Farming. (Vol 4 1 No. 11) The tree rp-sprouts when cut provides nutritious fodder and tough timber. As it has few branches and a

Musical gene sets birds singing

THE DISCOVERY that bird brains call appreciate the finer nuances of music has a learn of scientists harmonising at Rockefeller University in New York. The scientists, led 13, Claudio Mello, have identified a Aile in song- birds that responds to music made by other birds. Scientists studying canaries and zebra finches discovered that those nerve cells in the avian brain that react to Sound are influenced by a gone, to which they have given an unmusical acronvin ZENK. The gone reacts most vigorously when a male songbird hears the song of another male of its own

Metallic clams

SCIENTISTS at the School of Marine Sciences in Cochin have discovered that shells of some molluscs, such as two-shelled clams, which store trace metals in their shells and tissues, are good biological indicators of water pollution levels.

Absent gene

STEWART Cole and his team of scientists at the Pasteur Institute in Paris have discovered that the absence of a single large gene is responsible for making certain strains of tuberculosis bacteria resistant to isoniazid, the principal drug used to treat the disease. (Nature, Vol 358, No 6387) On reinserting the missing gene, in the laboratory, scientists found the bacterium once again became susceptible to the drug.