Problem fish

grilled salmon with lime butter sauce, salmon sushi, smoked salmonthe fish tops the list of a gourmets choices. It also does not stay behind in providing health benefits trapped in its oil. But the wild salmon populations are threatened the world over and reports say the farmed ones are too toxic to offer health benefits; the contaminants enter their body from fish food.

A brewing invasion

The coffee plant might soon take over the Western Ghats cultivated crops are usually not invasive, but coffee--a native of the Ethiopian highlands--may have the potential to invade the tropical rainforests in the Western Ghats. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, an invasive is an exotic plant

Algal bloom threatens coral reef

Tamil Nadu forest department plans to weed out algae manually A RED alga grown commercially for its starch extract in the Gulf of Mannar, off Tamil Nadu, is said to be choking the coral reef in the protected area.

Science and Technology - Briefs

food The secret of cheese

Cyanide kills elephants

It could have come from plants, thinks Karnataka Four wild elephants, found dead in Nanjangud, 25 km from Mysore, in November 2008, died of cyanide poisoning. Chemical analysis ordered by the Karnataka forest department has confirmed this. The deaths made the high court take notice for the first time of the increasing number of unnatural deaths among elephants in the state. In December it ordered the state forest department to constitute a committee to look into the matter.

Colonial plants

Map of Europe showing different levels of risk from invasive plant species

News 360° - Briefs

labour Provident fund feud Goa's regional provident fund commissioner has initiated an investigation against the Salgaocar Mining Industries Pvt Ltd after employees complained that they were not enrolled under the provident fund (PF) scheme. More than 130 employees working with the mining company for the past 16 years filed the complaint on December 29, 2008.

Rs 21 crore blunder

Tamil Nadu to undo plantations to save Olive Ridley turtles THE Tamil Nadu revenue department has sanctioned money to uproot casuarinas planted with World Bank fund along the coast because they were affecting the nesting of the endangered Olive Ridley Turtles.

Studying gharials

researchers have started telemetry tests on gharials in the Chambal river to gather information for the species' conservation.

Less invasives from ship

cargo ships sailing from coast to coast often transport unwanted freight. Marine plants, animals and microbes regularly hitch rides to distant shores in these ships' ballast water, seawater stored in narrow tanks in a ship's hull to stabilize it when it doesn't have cargo. This water is pumped out when the ship reaches a port and loads cargo, releasing invasive species that often alter coastal ecosystems.