Clouds with aerosols conspire to block and reflect away sunlight over the Indian subcontinent, a new research claims. This results in what is called 'solar dimming' lessening the amount of sunlight that reaches Indian soil.

A team of agriculture scientists zeroed in on a gene that imparts salt stress tolerance to paddy plants for long time and found that it remains suppressed in Gobindobhog.

a research team has stumbled upon a bug that feasts on arsenic. Present in the root nodules of black gram, the bacteria increases soil fertility and fixes nitrogen. It could be an effective way of bioremediation of arsenic from contaminated soil, says a team of researchers from iit Kharagpur and Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, West Bengal. They isolated a tolearant strain of rhizobium

while geologists look through sandstone beds on a dried-up river to piece together what happened millions of years ago, volumes of data are generated. A new software may now help geologists with different kinds of data. It caters to special requirements of field-based studies with systematically loaded data on to a laptop generating thematic map of locations including directions, colours, shapes

incineration of plastic that is non biodegradable leads to emission of cancer-causing dioxins. Researchers from Kolkata say they have developed a better disposal mechanism that cuts down emission of

there is help at hand for those undergoing bone implants. A new and stronger material paves the way for better recovery after knee or hip surgeries. Researchers from the Department of Chemistry at

sericin, a by-product of silk, may now find use in skin care products that protect from ultraviolet (uv) rays. A study revealed the protein protects the outermost layer of skin from uv rays.

vehicular pollution is common to most metros. A Kolkata-specific study has highlighted how vehicles in Kolkata emit cancer-causing volatile organic compounds (vocs). The study noted that specific

about 250 million people in urban India drink municipal water, which is treated and disinfected before being supplied. A recent study shows the chemicals used for treatment methods might give the

new ways are being devised to tame the cholera bug. Of late, the bug has been getting increasingly resistant to antibiotics. A team from Kolkata has found that the digestive juice bile helped reduce

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