Science and Technology - Briefs

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES Storm alert

Vitamin D complex

Smoking nests

HOW urbanisation is eating into pristine wildlife habitats and leading to decline in animal populations across the globe has left ecologists worried. Despite this, it seems nature is one step ahead of us in some ways. Scientists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico have discovered what may be a surprising twist of adaptation.

From the blurbs

THE CARBON CRUNCH: HOW WE’RE GETTING CLIMATE CHANGE WRONG—AND HOW TO FIX IT. By Dieter Helm. Yale University Press; £20 In this book Oxford University economist Dieter Helm questions the accepted wisdom on climate change regulation. Regulations, he says, have caused people to focus on the most expensive ways of mitigating climate change, rather than the cheapest. He argues for a new, pragmatic rethinking of energy policy, from transitioning from coal to gas to carbon pricing.

Run for change

On May 28, police officers and celebrities in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro joined about 1,500 residents in a race through a shanty town to celebrate peace. The Challenge for Peace retraced the route used by drug traffickers to escape the Alemao Favela when police moved in in November 2010. Even former drug gang members took part in the five-kilometre run through the favela’s narrow streets.

From the blurbs

Social and economic impact of SEZs in India, Aradhna Aggarwal, OUP, Rs 745 This is a review of the evolution of SEZs in India from a historical perspective. It analyses the economic rationale of SEZs, their impact on employment and government revenue. Digital India, understanding information, communication and social change, Pradip Ninan Thomas, Sage, Rs 650 This book is a case study-based critical introduction to issues of digital communication and social change.

Dharavi's real estate threat

Poised on the northern edge of south Mumbai is a piece of real estate developers would love to get their hands on. Rubbing shoulders with upmarket Bandra, Dharavi is known as Asia's largest slum, but it's actually much more than that--it's a settlement in which people live and work, producing a wide array of goods and services. The government's plan to 'redevelop' Dharavi is threatening a huge number of livelihoods.

Garbage: Your Problem

There is just too much of it. And all of us contribute liberally every day. But what if the ragpicker doesn't come one day? What if the garbage-collecting truck doesn't arrive? What if... While most of us cover our noses with our handkerchiefs and look the other way, the estimated 30 million tonnes of solid waste that urban India produces each year is creating mountains of problems.

A social force called water

MAKE WATER EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS JUST suppose for a moment, howsoever impossible it may sound: the state just disappears one day. There is nobody to supply you with piped water. What will you do?

Resurrection of sunken city

Well-built roads lined with two-story houses, gardens and clothes drying in streets. Pavlopetri epitomises the modern suburban way of life. But it is a Bronze Age port, submerged for millennia off the southeast coast of Greece.