Science
Down To Earth
"DISCREPANCY IN UNIVERSE'S EXPANSION RATES COULD INDICATE SOME NEW PHYSICS"
IN 1998, SCIENTISTS DISCOVERED THAT THE RATE AT WHICH THE UNIVERSE WAS EXPANDING IS INCREASING. LAST YEAR, A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS CALCULATED THAT THIS RATE OF EXPANSION IS 10 PER CENT HIGHER THAN THE EARLIER CALCULATION. AKSHIT SANGOMLA SPEAKS TO ABRAHAM LOEB, CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY, ABOUT THE REASONS BEHIND THE DISCREPANCIES IN UNIVERSE’S EXPANSION RATES AND THE FORCES PULLING THE UNIVERSE APART
4 min |
February 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Unhealthy affair
AN EXHAUSTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CHALLENGES INDIA FACES IN THE HEALTH SECTOR
4 min |
January 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Overshadowed
India’s promising wind energy sector is struggling as the government gives more attention to solar power
4 min |
January 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Treasure in excreta
Phosphorus, a fast depleting natural resource, can be extracted from the unlikeliest avenue: faecal sludge SHAGUN KAPIL NEW DELHI
4 min |
January 16, 2020
Down To Earth
THE MAGIC BULLET'S TOLL
What if a saviour turns into a killer? After 80 years of use, overuse and abuse of antibiotics—termed magic bullets—microbes have become resistant to them. Antibiotic resistant diseases are undoing the great strides in modern treatment. VIBHA VARSHNEY exposes a growing public health crisis
10+ min |
January 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Not so wild
SICKLE SENNA, A WIDELY AVAILABLE BUT LITTLE-KNOWN HERB, IS READY TO TAKE ON THE PHARMA INDUSTRY
3 min |
January 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Flowers at will
FARMERS OF A VILLAGE IN WEST BENGAL USE ARTIFICIAL LIGHT TO MAKE FLOWERS BLOOM AS PER MARKET DEMANDGURVINDER SINGH PURBA MEDINIPUR
3 min |
January 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Cold trap
India recognised cold waves as disaster in 2012. But the country still does not have an effective action plan to mitigate its impact
4 min |
January 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Between wars
Landless Scheduled Caste farmers of Punjab vow to intensify their movement as the state prepares to acquire village common land for industrial development
4 min |
January 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Wildlife Recall
ONCE IN THE GRIP OF ARMED INSURGENCY, A NATIONAL PARK HAS LESSONS IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
4 min |
February 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Tasty Tubers
A LOST VEGETABLE OF AFRICA HAS GAINED ROOTS IN SOUTH INDIA WHERE IT IS COOKED IN A NUMBER OF WAYS
2 min |
February 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Tree Of Knowledge
Research on tree rings is now providing definitive evidence of global warming and its impact on weather systems
4 min |
February 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Farm Raiders
Western India is facing its most fierce locust attack in nearly three decades, the origins of which lie outside the country and were triggered by weather events attributable to climate change
7 min |
February 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Bereft Of Science
THE AUTHOR FAILS TO EVEN PROVIDE RUDIMENTARY EVIDENCE FOR HIS EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS
3 min |
February 01, 2020
Down To Earth
1.37 Billion And Not Counting
India, like the rest of the world, is intensely debating population explosion. But while countries are struggling to keep their numbers at replacement level, India is on the right path towards stabilising population sooner than expected. So what's the discussion all about? KUNDAN PANDEY captures the debate
10+ min |
February 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Thar's Friend
MEET TINY MELON KACHRI WHICH TURNS SHORT OF GOLD UPON DRYING AND CHANGES THE FATE OF ALL THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH IT
2 min |
December 01, 2019
Down To Earth
We Will Never Have Paris
The climate emergency is defined not in terms of deadlines but critical thresholds. Four years after the Paris Agreement, on the eve of the 25 th UN Climate Change Conference, countries' under-performance on their Paris targets is set to take us past 3°C warming. Next year, countries are due to announce a new set of climate action goals. Can we course-correct to achieve the objective of being carbon neutral by 2050 and stay below the 1.5°C warming threshold? An assessment by TARUN GOPALAKRISHNAN & KAPIL SUBRAMANIAN
10+ min |
December 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Punctured Cover
Crop insurance companies withdraw from Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana as extreme weather events spike claim rates resulting in heavy losses JITENDRA
5 min |
December 01, 2019
Down To Earth
‘Weavers Of Bengal Were An Incredible Asset For The East India Company'
WILLIAM DALRYMPLE IS HABITUATED TO HIS BOOKS CREATING A BUZZ. HIS LATEST, THE ANARCHY, FOCUSES ON HOW A JOINT- STOCK COMPANY, ESTABLISHED BY THE MERCHANTS OF LONDON, TOOK OVER PRACTICALLY THE ENTIRE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT BETWEEN 1756 AND 1803. RAJAT GHAI SPEAKS TO THE HISTORIAN-AUTHOR ABOUT THE EAST INDIA COMPANY AND THE FACTORS THAT LED TO ITS ASCENT IN SOUTH ASIA. EXCERPTS:
3 min |
December 01, 2019
Down To Earth
A Perfect Zero
Cities in the Philippines have adopted zero waste model to manage their waste. It's not just turning their waste to gold, but also making the surroundings clean, green and environmentally sustainable
5 min |
December 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Seed Money
CHIRONJI, A MILDLY SWEET NUT, ENSURES THAT FOREST DWELLERS NEVER RUN OUT OF CASH
3 min |
November 16, 2019
Down To Earth
Lockdown's Other Victim
Walnut tree has been the strange casualty of Kashmir’s transition from a state to a Union Territory
4 min |
November 16, 2019
Down To Earth
Let It Flow
Two private and one government owners of dams on the Ganga refuse to follow the upcoming water discharge guidelines necessary for the cleaning and rejuvenation of the river
4 min |
November 16, 2019
Down To Earth
Chaos Deferred
India's withdrawl from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership sits well in this era of hyper deglobalisation. It now needs a roadmap to make the domestic economy competitive.
10+ min |
November 16, 2019
Down To Earth
Farmer And The New-Age Health Market
India’s booming nutraceutical market provides a big opportunity to farmer producer organisations
3 min |
November 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Himachal's Affair With Flowers
Farmers in Himachal Pradesh are ditching traditional food crops to grow aromatic plants that offer higher and assured returns
3 min |
November 01, 2019
Down To Earth
“Community Rights Over Common Lands Must Be Recognised”
COMMONS LIKE GRAZING LANDS, WASTELANDS, LAKES AND COMMUNITY FORESTS ARE RAPIDLY VANISHING, PUTTING THE LIVELIHOODS OF MARGINALISED PEOPLE AT RISK. JITENDRA SPOKE TO RUTH MEINZEN-DICK, A SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE US-BASED INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, ON THE COMMONS, COMMUNITIES AND POLICIES
3 min |
November 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Default By Design?
As the Union government’s PM-KISAN scheme completes a crop cycle, farmers complain of exclusion and partial cash support
6 min |
November 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Powerful Winds Of Change
Technological improvements and falling costs are driving a boom in offshore wind power projects worldwide. Still, the industry faces its own peculiar share of challenges
10+ min |
November 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Debunking Myths On Migration
ABHIJIT V BANERJEE and ESTHER DUFLO, who jointly won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences recently, say that wage differences between countries have little to do with whether or not people migrate. In fact, evidence suggests that migration makes both migrants and local people better off
7 min |