ornithology Birds love noise The house finch and the black-chinned hummingbird are unaffected by noise pollution. In fact, they prefer to nest in noisier areas because it increases their chances of survival. A team isolated the effects of noise pollution on bird communities. For this they chose regions with natural gas extraction plants which contain noise-generating compressors. The
Two paragraphs in its introductory section have blighted an article on stem cell research. Graham Parker, editor of Stem Cells and Development, told the science journal Nature that his publication was retracting the study by scientists at Britain
In June, a group of Azeri bloggers posted a video in which a donkey holds a news conference before a circle of gravely nodding journalists. The video was a sly send-up of the government, which had been accused in the local media of paying exorbitantly to import donkeys. Two of the group that created the video, Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli, 30, were arrested in the last week of July in
An Australian documentary that premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in July has ignited a controversy with its claims on slavery in the refugee camps of western Sahara. The protagonist has denounced the film for portraying her as a slave. The 80-minute film, by Sydney-based Violeta Ayala and Dan Fallshaw, is set in refugee camps in south-west Algeria, where 160,000 Saharawi people have lived
14 villages in Vidarbha to drown as authorities hurry dam project ahead of elections a decision to close the gates of Gosikhurd dam on the Wainganaga river in Maharashtra
MPs ask Manmohan Singh to prevent coal mining near tiger reserve politicians cutting across party lines have opposed coal mining near the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. Till recently they were pushing for fast-tracking clearance to the mining project proposed by the Adani Enterprises. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, members of the Parliament (MPs) from
