It’s always great to read news where small micro projects attempt to better lives. They may lack the ostentation of the mega-scale, but just as each drop makes an ocean, so can these micro-projects have a cumulative impact. One such experiment is being tried out in rural Africa. Most of Africa is in perpetual debt. War stricken and ravaged by economic plight, development is very slow if not at a standstill. One such stumbling block is lack of infrastructure like power and electricity. Mega projects require huge cash inflows which are not forthcoming or are inadequate for development. The ray of light could be provided ...

It’s quite easy to put together a Lego house. We all have done it during our wonder years. But would you live in one? No, the house isn’t made from the familiar red-yellow colored Lego bricks but the inspiration comes from there. Eco-houses may soon be the norm rather than the exception. Construction is equated with the airlines industry in its insalubrious impact on the environment. Building eco-houses is an attempt to negate that. The industry has seen a lot of innovation in designing houses made from recyclable materials which are easy to put together.

The ...

‘Growing’ one's own energy was something more common to the agriculture of my country, India. Farmers in some parts of the country have adapted bio-gas (Gober Gas) for their needs. A more rustic form, the use of cow manure as a cooking fuel has long been a custom. So I was pleasantly surprised to read this piece on National Geographic. The news is that farmers in the United States are ...

A new study has given drivers another thing to worry about. A new study has come out with findings which suggest that tunnels are toxic air traps. The study, published in Atmospheric Environment, measured ultrafine particle concentration levels outside a vehicle travelling through the M5 East tunnel in Sydney. The study was jointly steered by Professor Richard de Dear and his doctoral candidate, Mr Luke Knibbs from Macquarie University, and assisted by Professor Morawska and Dr Kerrie Mengersen from QUT.

Atmospheric ...

New age composite materials are evolving old technologies and yielding better ways and better results. The search for alternative sources of energy is closely aligned with research into composite materials. Whether it is better batteries or more efficient solar cells, each day opens up new possibilities. New age materials are contributing to better designs. Wind energy is just one example.
 
Generating energy from the natural force of wind using windmills is now old hat. Turbines are the modern avatars of the windmills. But even turbines are changing shape, thanks to new designs being tried out. Maximizing ...

Two years back, the world voted for the seven wonders of the modern world. Two years hence, the world gets ready to vote for the seven wonders of the natural world. From the man made to the ones made by nature, the interest is enormous and so is the debate. And just like a reality show, the public is being wooed to put in their two bits for choosing the ultimate seven. The medium is the same – the internet and the phone.
 
The organization behind the contest is the New7Wonders Foundation, a private entity. The purported aim ...

The ‘Encyclopedia of Life’ if one recalls was a project started in 2007. Its mission is to be an online information fount on every type of animal and plant on the planet. At last count it has reached a very healthy content figure of 170,000 species entries. And to just underscore its value again, it has already started lending its knowledge to diverse fields such as climate change, aging and insect pestilence.

If you haven’t been there yet, check it out at EOL.

Just ...

In what can be described as nature’s yin-yang, two contrasting events caught my eye among the many reported daily by Reuters. The first even reported the disappearance of salmon from one of its most fertile grounds in Canada. The second reported just the opposite – the reemergence of salmon (not the same, of course!), a few thousand miles away in the Seine River which runs through Paris.

The two contrasting stories serve as an illustration that if we care, we can restore nature’s cycle. And if we don’t, we risk losing it forever. Here are the two ...

The Galapagos Island was Charles Darwin’s laboratory. It was here that he developed his germinal work – Origin of Species. Now, the islands are threatened by one of man’s oldest scourge – the mosquito.

Located 972 km west of continental Ecuador it is a World Heritage Site. Also, in 2007, UNESCO put the Galápagos Islands on their World Heritage in Danger List. Its primary asset is its wildlife. Galapagos is home to some of the most unique endemic fauna on Earth. Species of Iguana, Galápagos tortoise, Galápagos Green ...

Scientists are now interfering in the sex life of fungi. But it’s all for the worthy cause of generating biofuels. The powerful idea revolves around the purported ability of micro-organisms to break down cellulose and produce renewable biofuels. The chief accomplice in this mission is the soil fungus Trichoderma reesei.

Generating biofuels from cellulosic waste like sawdust, weeds and other useless plant matter is a good idea against the option of food crops. Trichoderma reesei could be a vital ally in this endeavor bit for the small matter of its sexual identity. The ...