Stinging fact

BUMBLEBEES carry out nearly 80 per cent of the pollination done by insects. However, just like honey bees, they too are becoming a victim of extensive pesticide use in agriculture. A study published in Nature on October 21 suggests the chemicals affect the insect’s ability to forage.

A hurried job

Science and Technology - Briefs

HEALTH SCIENCES The villain gets nastier The toxin bisphenol A (BPA) is found in plastics, dental sealants and grocery receipts. It is a known hormone disrupter. But its impact on the hormones produced by the thyroid gland remain unknown. These hormones are essential for cognitive development of children.

Science and Technology - Briefs

HEALTH Dengue breakthrough Nearly half a million people are affected by dengue every year. But there is currently no vaccine to protect against the dreaded disease. This is because dengue is not caused by a single virus, but rather by four different viruses, known as DENV 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Chemical confusion

When battered people took on the pesticide industry

Today, I want to tell you a true story of extraordinary courage. The past week, I was in Kasaragod, a district in Kerala, splendid in beauty and with abundant natural resources, but destroyed by the toxic chemical, endosulfan.

Science and Technology - Briefs

Chemistry From nature’s basket

Letters - July 31, 2012

Backdoor trade The write-up, “Death on mounds of a bumper crop” (July 1-15, 2012), is a realistic analysis of farmers’ woes in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. I have quit my corporate life to start farming. When I reached Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh in May, I saw many people making temporary shelters on their tractors or heaps of wheat and waiting outside procurement centres.

Bhopal to Germany

Disposal of endosulfan begins