Crazy ant gets a name

Make way for Indian probiotics

Science and Technology - Briefs

HEALTH SCIENCES The villain gets nastier The toxin bisphenol A (BPA) is found in plastics, dental sealants and grocery receipts. It is a known hormone disrupter. But its impact on the hormones produced by the thyroid gland remain unknown. These hormones are essential for cognitive development of children.

Green way to recycle paper

Millions of tonnes of waste paper is generated every year. Just a small fraction of that is recycled through deinking—detachment of ink particles from the paper and removal of this ink by washing. This is done using hazardous chemicals like sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide. This produces toxic effluents, drastically increasing the cost of wastewater treatment.

Monkey’s tale

Detergent detector

ADULTERATION of milk is common. In January this year a survey by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) found that about 70 per cent of the milk in the country does not conform to the standards set by it. The milk samples were found to have glucose, urea, hydrogen peroxide, vegetable fat, neutralisers, skim milk powder and even detergent in the samples tested.

Science and Technology - Briefs

HEALTH Dengue breakthrough Nearly half a million people are affected by dengue every year. But there is currently no vaccine to protect against the dreaded disease. This is because dengue is not caused by a single virus, but rather by four different viruses, known as DENV 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Code of conduct for space

Plastic from weed

WATER hyacinth is considered one of the most notorious aquatic weeds. It proliferates rapidly in lakes, dams and irrigation channels and chokes them. But scientists have now shown that the infamous weed is a rich source of carbohydrate and can be used to make biodegradable plastic.

Rise of the mutants

WHEN the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant malfunctioned after the devastating tsunami in March last year, it left the scientific community jittery over the noxious effects the radiations might have on the biodiversity in Japan, and beyond. It seems the fears were not unfounded.