Science
Down To Earth
Chilli under attack
A new species of thrips destroys chilli farms across six states, triggering market shortage and farmer suicides
6 min |
May 01, 2022
Down To Earth
A charged view
Using discarded solar panels to make buildings can help deal with PV waste and give the cells a new lease of life
2 min |
May 01, 2022
Down To Earth
"Indian vegetarians do not eat vegetables"
FROM A RACE OF TALL, GRACILE PEOPLE WITH GOOD HEALTH AND LONG LIVES, INDIANS HAVE NOW BECOME OBESE AND UNHEALTHY. FOOD HISTORIAN AND PHYSICIAN MANOSHI BHATTACHARYA TELLS ROHINI KRISHNAMURTHY THAT THE PROBLEM LIES IN THE WAY OUR DIETS HAVE CHANGED OVER THE CENTURIES.
4 min |
May 01, 2022
Down To Earth
Shark whisperer
WHITE SHARKS HAVE A PERSONALITY BEYOND THE ANTAGONIST BEAST THEY ARE PORTRAYED AS IN MOVIES. THIS IS WHAT RAJ SEKHAR AICH, A NEW ZEALAND-BASED MARINE ANTHROPOLOGIST AND RESEARCHER OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH IN HIS BOOK IRIDESCENT SKIN. THE SOCIALLY INTELLIGENT MARINE ANIMAL HAS BEEN TRAVERSING THE SEAS FOR ABOUT 400 MILLION YEARS, BUT IS CURRENTLY A VULNERABLE SPECIES IN NEED OF CONSERVATION. THIS INTIMATE ACCOUNT LOOKS AT THE HUMAN WHITE SHARK RELATIONSHIP THROUGH THE EYES OF CAGE-DIVING TOURISTS IN NEW ZEALAND, AND BRINGS OUT TRAITS OF THE FISH THAT ARE RARELY ASSOCIATED WITH IT. THE AUTHOR'S PERCEPTION SURVEY OF TOURISTS BEFORE AND AFTER THEIR INTERACTION WITH THE SHARKS SHEDS LIGHT ON HOW CAGE-DIVING CAN HELP IN CONSERVATION EFFORTS. EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK:
4 min |
May 01, 2022
Down To Earth
Shot in the dark
India's precautionary dose rollout indicates that the world is reluctant to move beyond vaccines in the fight against COVID-19. How practical and viable is this booster-shot strategy?
4 min |
May 01, 2022
Down To Earth
Climate's Trafficking Connect
Disasters and poverty fuel human trafficking. Increase in extreme weather events makes millions more vulnerable to this trap. TARAN DEOL and SHUCHITA JHA travel to the frequently battered parts of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra to capture this often ignored aspect of climate change
10+ min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
In The Midst Of War, Russia Hits At Patents
As US-EU sanctions deepen, Moscow passes a law to allow free use of patents owned by "unfriendly countries"
4 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
WORLD SET TO CROSS 3.2°C
Long-term benefits of cutting greenhouse gas emissions today outweigh the costs
5 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
Virtual loss
BharatNet's broadband revolution in rural India fails to gather momentum even after missing seven deadlines
4 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
Star power
The world is close to cracking nuclear fusion energy code, a source of virtually endless clean energy
6 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
Unsettled forever
Over 50,000 tribal people moved out of Chhattisgarh in 2005-06 to avoid violence between state-backed civilian militia Salwa Judum and Naxal sympathisers. They settled in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and now, wielding a lesser-known clause of the Forest Rights Act, are demanding land at their current place of stay
5 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
Reluctant move
Nine years after the Minamata Convention was adopted, countries agree to eliminate the use of mercury in artisanal gold mining. Can they enforce the decision?
2 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
Snapshot from sewage
Wastewater surveillance is a cheap and effective way to map the spread of infection, be it COVID-19 or any other pathogen
6 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
SKINNED ALIVE
Pruning of timber tree species harms both the quality and quantity of wood, and needs to be checked immediately
3 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
FABULOUS FABA
Ancient superfood faba bean is set to stage a comeback
4 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
COOL IDEA
Ahmedabad residents strategically use shade, ventilation and building materials to keep their homes comfortable: and it does not cost the earth
3 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
Fantastic beasts
MAO'S BESTIARYIS A REVISIONIST HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE ANIMAL DRUG INDUSTRY IN MAO'S CHINA THAT ALSO GIVES CONTEXT TO THE CURRENT DEBATES ON ZOONOSES AND THE USE OF WILD ANIMALS FOR HEALTH BENEFITS
4 min |
April 16, 2022
Down To Earth
A New Energy Disorder
At a time when the world is moving towards decarbonisation, the Russia-Ukraine war has brought energy poverty on the doorstep of rich nations. Europe's energy ministers are now touring countries of all hues and persuasions to strike deals for supply of fossil fuels to hedge against inflation and future shortages. The new energy order that emerges post this conflict could well be devoid of climate change as its focal point
10+ min |
April 01, 2022
Down To Earth
Boots on the ground
The women waste collection workers of Ambikapur have helped the city manage its solid waste problem
3 min |
April 01, 2022
Down To Earth
Mission to cool
Cities are hiring dedicated officers to prepare for extreme heat
6 min |
April 01, 2022
Down To Earth
INSTITUTIONAL OVERSIGHT
Though hospital births have seen a record rise in the past 15 years, maternal and infant mortality rates remain high
10 min |
April 01, 2022
Down To Earth
TWIST IN THE LANTANA TALE
The Soliga tribal community of Karnataka makes handcrafted items from lantana, helping curb the spread of the invasive shrub that now covers 40 per cent of the Western Ghats S
3 min |
April 01, 2022
Down To Earth
NATURAL NUDGE
Employ beneficial and cost-effective microbes to improve crop yield
3 min |
April 01, 2022
Down To Earth
Plastic endgame
The world's adoption of the resolution to end plastic pollution by 2024 is only the first step in a long battle
4 min |
March 16, 2022
Down To Earth
Drug debacle
Sixteen years after India banned the veterinary use of diclofenac to save its vultures, three other drugs revive the old challenge
5 min |
April 01, 2022
Down To Earth
GOOD WHILE IT LASTED
Earth is losing species at an unprecedented rate, which, many believe, is the planet's sixth mass extinction. Since the biodiversity loss this time is the doing of humans, the event also marks the beginning of the Anthropocene Epoch, a self-aggrandising nomenclature that highlights our disproportionate and irreversible impacts on the surroundings
10+ min |
March 16, 2022
Down To Earth
Dung deal
Chhattisgarh's plan to purchase cow dung to boost the rural economy, ensure clean villages and solve the problem of stray cattle destroying crops had success initially, but things have not gone as per plan
4 min |
April 01, 2022
Down To Earth
'Compromise' on TRIPS waiver is a sellout
Tough new conditions emerge in the compromise deal to ease WTO intellectual property barriers to production of COVID-19 medical tools
4 min |
April 01, 2022
Down To Earth
Climate Justice, Now
IPCC's latest climate report provides evidence that climate-justice needs to be at the centre of global policymaking
4 min |
March 16, 2022
Down To Earth
Bizarre Patent Tussles Over A Covid-19 Jab
Moderna's many intellectual property disputes over its vaccine highlight the need for a patent-free regime to fight the pandemic
4 min |