Less monarchs

An alarming plunge in the number of monarch butterflies migrating from the US and Canada to Mexican winter colonies has experts worried. Although masses of sleeping butterflies still hang like clumps of dead leaves from branches in the El Rosario sanctuary in central Mexico, biologists say their population this year is the smallest ever and down three-quarters from 2004.

Heady days ahead?

Medical research has conclusively proved cannabis's potential as treatment for pain, nerve injury, nausea associated with chemotherapy and physical wasting related to aids. But outdated regulations and attitudes hace always come in the way of legitimate research on it. As a result, when patients with difficult-to-treat ailments use the plant, law renders them criminals.

Falling in line

us automobile manufacturers are facing rough weather following Canada's move to adopt stringent auto emission rules that have been adopted by California (see Down To Earth, 'World's First', October 31, 2004, p 16). The move might force them to make more fuel-efficient vehicles that emit much lesser quantity of greenhouse gases. It will also be a blow to them because they have challenged California's emission rules in the court (see Down To Earth, 'Pollution lawsuit', January 15, 2005, p 12).

'Renewing' energy practices

Ontario, Canada's most populous province and home to one third of its population, is poised to take a lead in renewable energy utilisation in North America. Though several American states have set renewable energy targets, they haven't introduced effective mechanisms for the growth of renewables. But Ontario's ruling Liberal Party recently endorsed a policy mechanism widely used in Europe for the purpose.

Yes to asbestos

Trade interests always reign supreme, usually disastrously so: the Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals might soon be rendered purposeless if the trend spearheaded by Russia and Canada at the convention's first Conference of Parties (cop-1), held on September 20-24 in Geneva, is any indication.

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start telling stories: Being a maths wizard and a great storyteller may appear completely different, but a new study by Canada's University of Waterloo suggests that preschool children's storytelling abilities are predictive of their mathematical ability. In the study, children aged three and four were shown a book that contained only pictures and were asked to tell the story to a puppet. Two years later, the kids were tested for the mathematical abilities. It was found that children who scored well in the mathematics test were also good at storytelling.

Corporate watching

British Columbia Government and Employees Union If us corporates get access to confidential information about citizens of other countries, will they run to their country's fbi and tell all? That spectre is bothering government workers in British Columbia, a Canadian province, where ibm Canada has bagged a contract, which may give it access to virtually all files handled by the government.

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bi-advantages: As per researchers from Canada's York University, bilingualism is useful not only because it makes it possible to talk to more number of people. They have found that bilinguals perform a variety of cognitive tasks better than people who speak only one language. Furthermore, the differences between the two groups increases with age, leading the researchers to hypothesise that knowing and using two languages inhibits the mind's decline.

Vexed issue

On may 21, 2004, the Supreme Court (sc) of Canada ruled that Percy Schmeiser, a farmer, had breached the law by growing canola containing a patented gene without the permission of the patent-holder, Monsanto Company. The court's order implies that patent rights extend to any living organism in which a patented gene may be found, regardless of whether or not the introduction was intentional.

A palliative gesture

Canada is on the verge of becoming the first nation to honour a World Trade Organization (wto) pledge on making available cheap generic drugs for hiv/aids-afflicted people in developing countries. The Canadian House of Commons unanimously approved a bill (c-9) that would amend the country's patent laws.