Science
Down To Earth
Leads to China
Tracking down the imported syrup being used for honey adulteration
6 min |
December 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Panchayat Incorporated
Twenty20, which established a corporate panchayat in Kerala in 2015, is expanding its realm during the local body polls this year. How sustainable is the option? JINOY JOSE P KOCHI, KERALA
5 min |
December 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Indian passage for adulteration
Manufacturing of adulterant syrups has begun closer home
3 min |
December 01, 2020
Down To Earth
THE HONEY TRAP
INVESTIGATION INTO THE BUSINESS OF ADULTERATION OF HONEY
3 min |
December 01, 2020
Down To Earth
LABORATORY TESTS OF HONEY WE CONSUME
HONEY WHICH PASSED INDIAN STANDARDS FAILED WHEN TESTED USING EQUIPMENT THAT CAN DETECT MODIFIED SUGAR SYRUP
10 min |
December 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Immunity booster or buster?
What makes honey special and why honey adulterated with sugar is bad
4 min |
December 01, 2020
Down To Earth
How we broke honeygate
An undercover operation to contact Chinese sellers of sugar syrup brought to light the shady business
8 min |
December 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Adulteration business
As tests became more advanced and could detect adulteration, the industry has evolved and found new adulterants
10+ min |
December 01, 2020
Down To Earth
New Light On Dark Matter
Scientific research is unearthing new understanding on an old mystery
6 min |
November 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Foggy superstructure
It is unclear how the new commission on air pollution will fit in the federal framework, but its formation asserts the role of the executive and limits the judiciary
9 min |
November 16, 2020
Down To Earth
REPEAT ATTACK
Kerala’s struggle with the second wave of COVID-19 should serve as a warning to other states
5 min |
November 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Third tier or third wheel?
Newly constituted District Development Councils in Jammu and Kashmir have triggered fears of dilution of grassroots democracy in the Union Territory
4 min |
November 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Fingers crossed
Undoing the damage caused by Donald Trump may be Joe Biden’s first step, but the climate challenges that the US faces today are daunting
5 min |
November 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Digest - IN FRONT-COVID WARRIOR
Priyanka Shukla and her friends fought the administration to provide assistance to informal workers in Chhattisgarh during the lockdown
7 min |
November 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Checkmate, again?
THE NEXT PANDEMIC IS NOT FAR AWAY
3 min |
November 16, 2020
Down To Earth
An alien gone native
TREE TOMATOES FROM NAGALAND ARE A WORTHY SUBSTITUTE FOR THE REGULAR ONES
4 min |
November 16, 2020
Down To Earth
AGE OF VIRUS
The much-scorned, dreaded biological entities are also the highly misunderstood beings
10+ min |
November 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Scent of summer
EMBRACE KHUS ROOTS FOR A HEALTHY LIVING AND FOR A HEALTHY PLANET
4 min |
November 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Not even a glimmer
Epidemic of chronic diseases, social inequalities and covid-19 will worsen the future of global health
6 min |
November 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Natural capitalists
A village in Assam escapes unemployment and food scarcity by reviving an ancient food forestry practice
2 min |
November 01, 2020
Down To Earth
Bracing For An ‘Improved' WTO
The World Trade Organization needs an overhaul, but the reform will leave even less space for developing nations
6 min |
October 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Meal Of Indulgence, Everywhere!
Using local ingredients in baking can make food healthier
2 min |
October 16, 2020
Down To Earth
Milk, Or Not?
A debate rages as India’s top food regulator releases a draft regulation restraining plant-based milk from using the word “milk” on their labels
5 min |
October 16, 2020
Down To Earth
TEA POINTS
REKINDLING THE BRITISH-ERA ROMANCE WITH TEA CAN HELP UTTARAKHAND REVITALISE ITS ECONOMY AND RESOLVE THE LONG DRAWN-OUT MIGRATION CRISIS
4 min |
October 16, 2020
Down To Earth
People before profit
A Delhi-based clean energy services firm provides solar power and irrigation facility, with flexible repayment option, to returning informal workers in Uttar Pradesh
2 min |
October 16, 2020
Down To Earth
FACE OFF
Facial recognition has become a frontline policing tool in India amid fears that it is prone to errors and allows the government to expand surveillance without much oversight
10+ min |
October 16, 2020
Down To Earth
CHAOS IN THE MANDIS
The first kharif season after deregulation of the agriculture market is underway. The government has started procuring paddy at minimum support price, even before the designated period. For the largest private trade in India, this is a time of anxiety. How is the market treating farmers? SHAGUN KAPIL visits mandis in Punjab and Haryana only to find that the market has become even more unfavourable for farmers
10+ min |
October 16, 2020
Down To Earth
“Multiple lakes beneath glaciers on Mars”
Mars’ south pole will be one of the prime sites for setting up a base if humans ever try that. In a region named Ultimi Scopuli, researchers have found three salty waterbodies underneath icy glaciers, giving a boost to prospects of both microbial extraterrestrial life on Mars and its habitability for humans. The results, published in Nature Astronomy on September 28, came from the analysis of data from the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) aboard the Mars Express spacecraft launched by European Space Agency in 2003. MARSIS sends out radio waves onto the Martian surface and interprets the waves that are reflected back. The scientists used the same processing techniques as they do to find liquid lakes beneath the ice sheets near the Earth’s poles. The team had found evidence of a 19-km-wide single saltwater body in 2018 through 29 observations made between 2012 and 2015. Now they have found stronger evidence from 105 additional observations for the existence of the larger waterbody and three smaller waterbodies that surround it. We are quite confident of our find, says ELENA PETTINELLI, professor of mathematics and physics at the Roma Tre University in Rome, Italy, and co-author of the research paper, in an interview with AKSHIT SANGOMLA. Excerpts:
3 min |
October 16, 2020
Down To Earth
BORDERLINE UNETHICAL
Should we short-circuit trials of experimental COVID-19 vaccines?
6 min |
October 16, 2020
Down To Earth
All talk, no show
Countries may have announced grandiose plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they are unlikely to meet the global target to become carbon neutral by 2050
4 min |