Curse of the horn

Science and Technology - Briefs

Material Sciences Live wire Here is a wire you can stretch, bend or cut and it would still work. Scientists have created the self-healing, elastic wire using liquid metal and a polymer. Small tunnels are bored in polymer sheath and are filled with a liquid alloy of indium and gallium, forming a liquid metal wire inside the stretchable sheath.

High on weed

LANTANA is one of the 10 worst weeds in the world. It originated in the Americas but can now be found across more than 60 countries. Biological attributes like fire tolerance and ability to survive in any condition make it a nightmare for forest managers. The weed occupies over 13 million hectares in India and continues to spread.

Getting the bulletin right

In the PBS documentary, Monsoon, the poet S P Kurada notes, “The wild monsoon winds blow with abandon, swaying everything in their path.

Capturing the monsoons

Drops for the economy

Land of discord

Lincoln’s fake Facebook

The blogger community was fervent about the claims made by Illinois blogger, Nate St Pierre. He revealed that Abraham Lincoln had requested for a patent for the visual appendix and concept of what we now call “Facebook” in 1845 but Lincoln’s request had been rejected. The blog was found to be a hoax.

Drying up of an empire

In 1861, French botanist Henri Mouhat published a travelogue describing his visit to a “lost empire” in Southeast Asia. Hidden in the jungles of what is today Cambodia were temples of breathtaking magnificence. Mouhat announced he had rediscovered a lost empire: Angkor Wat.

Age-old Barbarism

Former environment minister Maneka Gandhi’s exhortations against cruelty to animals were often extreme—depriving itinerant animal trainers of their pets or campaigning against the killing of stray dogs even though this could expose children to rabies. Now, Richard D Ryder, former programme organiser for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, says environmentalism is rooted in the desire to preserve natural resources for human beings and arises from “speciesism”, as does cruelty to animals and denying them the right to live.

Letters - March 15, 2012

Puranas as sci-fi