Stress saves

ANIMALS can alter their morphology, physiology and development with changes in their environment, a phenomenon known as “phenotypic plasticity”. But until now, nobody knew the mechanism behind such responses.

Science and Technology - Briefs

CHEMISTRY Nano guard

Gut microbes can cause severe malnutrition

A study of young twins in Malawi in south eastern Africa reveals that simple food intake will not improve the health of some of the world’s malnourished children. Their health depends more on the kind of microbes that inhabit their guts, the study shows. Understanding the role of the gut microbiota in under-nutrition could help devise new ecologically inspired strategies for correcting this problem.

Mark Lynas and the demeaning of science

Blog Intro:  He’s fuzzy on facts and low on science, but the campaigner gets big media support He’s fuzzy on facts and low on science, but the campaigner gets big media support

Research on avian influenza virus to resume

The global scientific community studying avian influenza virus has announced resumption of research on H5N1 virus transmission in countries in which governments and institutions have given approval and where appropriate biosafety and biosecurity conditions have been met. The announcement has been published jointly in the journals Nature and Science.

Science, Technology and Innovation policy to be approved at Science Congress

To integrate scientific innovation in every day life, the Centre has proposed a new policy called Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). The policy will be approved at the 100th Indian Science Congress, which will be held in Kolkata on January 3-7, 2013. The policy draft, put up on the website of the Department of Science and Technology, was open for public comments till November 22.

Science and Technology - Briefs

CLIMATE SCIENCES Blooming like never before

Two decades of hope

When planning Down To Earth as a news magazine, we had two concerns: One, are we fully aware of the rapid changes that are taking place in the world’s technological systems, the kinds of opportunities and problems that these changes are likely to generate, and are we debating enough which of these we want to adopt or letting ourselves through inertia be swept

Uncertainty of conservation science

The conservation of endangered species is a venture marked by ambiguity. Whether the right populations are being protected from the appropriate threats to the precise degree, is a question that governments and conservationists are constantly evaluating. In such times of uncertainty, decision makers often turn to science for the answers.

Miles to go

For India, space is not the final frontier to be conquered. The country’s performance in solving mundane problems such as poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition may be dismal, but its space programme is soaring high. Its latest achievement: the May 5, 2005, launch of Cartosat-1, a satellite for mapmaking, with a 2.5 metre resolution. The 1,560 kilogramme (kg) Cartosat is the only satellite in the world with two panchromatic cameras positioned so as to measure even the elevation of the terrain mapped, allowing almost instant generation of 3-dimensional maps.