Non-chemical use to contain kala-azar vector

policymakers in India swear by the insecticide ddt to contain sand fly, the kala-azar vector. There are alternatives to using chemicals, a group of researchers has found by studying 50 villages in five kala-azar endemic districts in Bihar. The disease is most prevalent in the state. Critics say the study is not foolproof.

Pesticide causes blindness in fish in Punjab

carp, the freshwater fish species, are going blind in Punjab. The reason, a study reveals, is a pesticide used in rice fields nearby. Monocrotophos, the pesticide, causes a cataract-like condition reducing the economic value of the fish, said Punjab University researchers who carried out the study.

Back biting is locusts' natural behaviour

locusts move in swarms to save their butts. Literally, say researchers from the us, the uk and Australia. They are a menace for crops, because they move around in swarms. But their collective movement is hardly a sign of unity.

TB bacteria use iron to survive

the tuberculosis (tb) bacteria kill two people every three minutes. The bacteria uses iron from the human body to survive. But the mechanism by which they source the iron was not known. Researchers from the University of Hyderabad have recently cracked the mechanism. Their research paves the way for new medicines to treat the disease better.

Geologists get new tool to manage multiple data

while geologists look through sandstone beds on a dried-up river to piece together what happened millions of years ago, volumes of data are generated. A new software may now help geologists with different kinds of data. It caters to special requirements of field-based studies with systematically loaded data on to a laptop generating thematic map of locations including directions, colours, shapes and sizes of stones.

Sea buckthorn leaves can cure liver ailments

sea buckthorn, a shrub found in the cold desert regions of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, is well-known as a storehouse of vitamins and for its cholesterol busting properties. The plant has been now been found to work wonders for the liver too.

Cheetahs in captivity suffer from protein disorder

cheetahs in captivity are suffering from an ailment about which very little is known. In a new study, researchers from Japan and China have tried to show how the disease spreads among the population. The disease is a protein disorder similar to the mad cow disease where normal proteins get converted to abnormal proteins. These then get deposited in organs such as liver and spleen, the researchers said in the May 20 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Bytes

weight matters: Obesity contributes to global warming, says a study. Obese people require 1,680 daily calories to sustain normal energy and another 1,280 calories to maintain daily activities. This is 18 per cent more than someone with a stable body mass index. The next step will be to quantify how much a heavier population is contributing to climate change, higher fuel prices and food shortages.

Plastic digester for better biogas production

biogas plants don't function well when ambient temperatures are low and hence remain out of use for greater part of the year, in the hills for example. The plants are most efficient when the temperature of slurry--mixture of organic materials such as cow dung or plant waste--is 35-40C. Scientists have found that using plastic helps attain the desired temperature even when the surrounding temperature is low.

A language that only Great Andamanese speak

the Great Andamanese tribe speaks a language that no one else in the world does. A study suggests it could be among the few paleolithic languages that exist in the world and may constitute the sixth language family in India.