Perils of herd mentality
Book>> You are not a gadget • by Jaron Lanier • Alfred Knopf, US $16
Rock stars
Book>> Written in Stone, the Hidden Secrets of Fossils and the Story of Life on Earth • by Brian Switek • Icon Books • Rs 5,499
Debates on atom
Book>> The Age Of Entanglement, When Quantum Physics Was Reborn • by Louisa Gilder • Alfred A Knopf • Rs 650
Chimera of free speech
Book>> The offensive Internet, speech, privacy and reputation • edited by Saul Levmore and Martha Nussbaum • Harvard University …
Is information knowledge?
Book>> The Information, A History, A Theory, A Flood • by James Gleick • Fourth Estate • Rs 599
Stress pass
Ayurvedic formulations have been found effective in countering the stresses of living in high altitudes
Manipulating life
Biological molecules hold the key to understanding diverse life processes and to correct aberrations
Heat comes in from the cold
The unlit part of the crescent moon can help calculate Earth's temperature and measure greenhouse warming
Miniature mammoths
Smaller version of mammoths may have inhabited Egypt long after they were thought to have become extinct
Interest in metals rekindled
Scientists have found a metallic mix that allows superconductivity at higher temperatures than before
Venting the spleen
A new drug will reduce the agony and the costs of treating thalassaemia, a hereditary blood disorder
Final diagnosis
Scientists have developed a product that will go a long way in helping standardise measurements of water pollution
Inverse proportion: species quantum and carbon dioxide
The extinction of species decreases plant productivity and impairs the functions of an ecosystem -- like mopping up carbon dioxide
A lead from the past
Evidence trawled from lake sediments in Sweden traces atmospheric lead pollution back to more than 2 millennia
A deep breath of fatal dust
An incurable lung disease digs the grave for workers employed in sandstone mines and brick and cement factories
Gasping for breath
Entire tree species face the threat of extinction from the increasing concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide
Windows for the Third World
Scientists claim highly insulating windows called "Low-E (emissivity)" windows could save considerable amounts of power in developing countries.
Inducing cell death to fight cancer
Some scientists claim tumours might be formed because cells refuse to die -- and not because they multiply at a high rate.
Conflict in the womb
An American biologist claims that a pregnant woman and her foetus are constantly engaged in a struggle with each other
The guests who came to kill
A new study suggests that the more the number of hosts a parasite feeds on, the more virulent it becomes
The bacteria behind the iron curtain
Microbiologists say a species of bacteria was responsible for iron deposits in the sedimentary layers that run hundreds of kilometres deep in the …
Enzymes that came in from the cold
The ability of microorganisms found in the Antarctic region to produce enzymes at low temperatures could save energy used for heating in …
Foetal tissue can cure terminal diseases
Tissue taken from aborted foetuses and implanted into the bodies of patients suffering from several incurable diseases has shown encouraging results
A drop of wood alcohal helps to perk up plants
Plants grow taller and faster if sprayed with a solution of methanol, claims an American farmer
Removing the slouches and aches from keyboards
Computer manufacturers have come up with new designs for keyboards that they claim, will help users avoid painful wrists and hunched shoulders.