Unaware and unprepared
More than 26 asteroids entered Earth's atmosphere between 2000 and 2013. None of them was detected in advance
WHO estimate on air pollution shows Indian cities are death traps
Analysis of database indicates that all 124 Indian cities assessed exceed the WHO guideline for particulate matter levels; Delhi, Patna exceed …
Women’s Day can be special when women are safe
We need a special national police force and sustained public campaign to avert a potentially explosive situation
Gut instinct
Grasshopper gut contains DNA of plants it eats. Data on the pest’s food habits can help devise control strategies
Social ants and social humans
Book>> The social conquest of earth• by Edward O Wilson • Liveright publications • Rs 1,040
Advocate for Hyderabad's threatened lakes
Jasveen Jairath, convener of Save Our Urban Lakes, a citizens initiative for saving water bodies of Hyderabad, talks about the challenges of …
Trials at sea
Book>> Round about the earth • by Joyce E Chaplin • Simon & Schuster • Rs 1,850
Simply creative
General principles of architecture are imaginatively applied to create a green building in Gurgaon
Uncertainty increases over convention terms
As it comes under increasing scrutiny, the biodiversity convention signed last year is proving to be neither good nor bad -- just uncertain. Key …
Delegates stall action on greenhouse gases
Little was achived at the December climate meeting in Geneva by way of setting schedules for future sessions,mainly because of stalling tactics …
Finnish belt-tightening chokes green projects
Faced with the century's worst recession Helsinki has had to cut back heavily on development aid. At stake are several international …
Third World posers for Northern donors
In the new environment-sensitive atmosphere after Rio, two Northern agencies that aid research projects in the developing world are being …
A watered-down capitulation
Who should benefit from biotechnology? The South, where the genes originate, or the North, with its massive gene banks? Commercial interests …
Politics of punctuation
A comma gave rise to an argument over whether technology transfer should take place according to terms agreed upon at Rio or terms mutually …
Southerners win the Rio round
For many southern groups, the greater cause at Rio was to align with their governments against the West's "green imperialism"
Conserving biodiversity and generosity
An offer of desi ber by a village lad came as a sharp comment on the global politics of biodiversity
Treasure down under
The discovery of mineral deposits on the sea bed off the Andamans could signal a treasure hunt for precious metals
Charred to extinction
Methane reserves set the air ablaze and roasted alive several species, including the dinosaurs
A reliable HIV self-test
Nitika Pant Pai, assistant professor at the department of medicine, McGill University, Canada, and her team have analysed data on acceptability …
Most disease maps unreliable
Disease maps help capture distribution of pathogens and their transmission intensity. An international team of researchers has reviewed 355 of …
There’s a splitting dent in Earth's magnetic field; here’s why NASA will track it
The weakening field poses concern for low-Earth orbit satellites: Highly charged particles may cause a glitch in the satellite or permanently …
‘The great Himalayan earthquake’, yet to arrive
It has been hypothesised for long that a large earthquake, called the “great Himalayan earthquake”, can strike anytime, but its time …
Shifting seasons on Russian steppe captured by NASA
Giant ‘scratch’ marks seen across the steppe’s land surface
Most Earth-like planet yet spotted by NASA's Kepler
NASA scientists call it Earth cousin and not twin because it circles a star smaller and dimmer than our sun
World Environment Day 2024: India needs new imagination in design of its development schemes, says Sunita Narain
Ground-level governance institutions must be strengthened, in addition to allowing increased feedback and accountability