India granted 'observer' status in Arctic Council

India has been granted the status of an observer in the Arctic Council, an organisation of global nations that coordinates Arctic policy. With the melting of Arctic ice, new waterways are emerging, creating opportunities for countries to tap the region’s so far inaccessible resources. There is growing competition over the untapped oil, natural gas, minerals and fish resources of the region.

Stranger than fiction

The Science Museum, London, has published its first work of fiction. The novel Shackleton’s Man Goes South, has been written by the museum’s former writer-in-residence Tony White. Shackleton’s Man Goes South explores the political, social and cultural impacts of climate change. “The story is a desperate journey in a hot world—an escape to Antarctica rather than from it,” White told The Guardian.

Concern over curriculum

Leading environmentalists in the UK, including broadcaster David Attenborough and mountaineer Chris Bonington, have condemned the country’s government’s plans to drop debate about climate change from the national curriculum for children under 14. In a letter to the Sunday Times Attenborough and Bonington joined academics, politicians and business leaders in warning that “the proposals are shortsighted”.

Wrist against risk

A hi-tech bracelet could soon be helping civil rights and aid workers at risk of being abducted or killed. When triggered, the personal alarm in the device uses phone technology to warn that its wearer is in danger. Warnings are sent in the form of messages to Facebook and Twitter.

Watch the clock

MOST heart attacks occur in the morning. Depression and suicidal thoughts peak in the middle of the night. Travelling across time zones makes people feel out of sorts. While these appear to be different observations, there is one interesting phenomenon common to them all: a clock that constantly ticks inside of us.

Gorilla tactics

A zoo in Southwest UK celebrated its 90th birthday by getting a nine-year-old gorilla to paint sculptures. The art piece in question was that of a gorilla. Authorities at Paignton Zoo believe their endeavour will highlight the plight of large apes in the wild. The painter, N’Dowe, is scheduled to apply his “master strokes” on several other replica of his species in coming months.

Science and Technology - Briefs

ECOLOGY Heat is on

No jumping borders

The UK government has placed a temporary export bar on two oil paintings that gave the 18th Century British public their first chance to see what a kangaroo and a dingo looked like.

Read blues away

People in England with mild to moderate mental health concerns, including panic attacks, anxiety and depression, are to be prescribed self-help books which they can borrow from their local library.

Deadly deficiency

MALARIA claims over a million lives each year. Primaquine is the key drug for the eradication of the devastating disease. However, the drug can cause severe complications in patients lacking glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) enzyme. A study published in PLOS Medicine on November 13 has found that over 450 million people across the globe are deficient in this enzyme.