Science and Technology - Briefs

Technology Got a bright idea

Curse of excess

Science and Technology - Briefs

Health Sciences Assault by medicines

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.

The eye in the sky

REMOTE sensing is slowly changing the contours of planning in India. In time, it could do away with conventional methods of data collection involving laborious field studies and replace dusty files in the large cupboards of officialdom with computer tapes, discs and video monitors. Providing such relatively easy access to vast amounts of data will be of immense help to the country's planners.

Science and Technology - Briefs

HEALTH Chemical alert Occupational exposure to a chemical used in dry-cleaning solutions and to degrease car parts raises the risk of Parkinson’s disease six-fold. Scientists linked Trichloroethylene to the brain disorder after studying 99 sets of twins. One in each pair was a sufferer of the illness, which can cause limb tremors. The US Environmental Protection Agency says the chemical is a carcinogen. Annals of Neurology, November 14 (online) HEALTH SCIENCES Skip a beat with sweet fizz

Untapped potential

Data from remote sensing could replace dusty files in the large cupboards of officialdom with computer tapes, discs and video monitors. Providing such relatively easy access to vast amounts of data will be of immense help to the country’s planners.

Clinical historian

American Egyptologist Sarah Parcak’s methods might seem placid compared to Indiana Jones’.

Science and Technology - Briefs

ZOOLOGY The real cost of bat loss

Science And Technology - Briefs

ASTROPHYSICS Clue to cosmic rays’ origin