WITH more and more local bodies showing a red bottomline, some of the core urban services may soon be up for grabs, if entrepreneurs are willing to take them on. The sectors under debate

AN entirely new breed of detectives has come up in the USA - the forensic entomologists. Detectives were stumped at the discovery of a 34-year-old man's decomposing body,'with a bullet through

THIRTY years of deforestation in the temperate regions has caused more pollution than 140 years' use of forests in the tropics. When' temperate forests were cut down in the 19th century by the

AN octopus can learn tasks simply by watching other octopuses at work. This observation has surprised researchers who believed such mental capacities to be the sale preserve of higher

WHILE rice transplantation is a traditional practice in Asia, maize transplantation, a fairly recent technique, is now gaining ground in many countries. The technique helps farmers harvest a

MERCK and Co's "hair raising" research involves Proscar, its experimental prostate shrinking drug, which holds out a promise of greening the bald heads of men. Scientists believe Proscar

MANUFACTURERS of hydraulic hammers are being forced to make them quieter, largely following environmental legislation which originated in Germany a decade ago and is rapidly spreading.'Most of them

TWENTY-ONE members of Parliament have petitioned the Prime Minister to save Chilka Lake, a major wetland in the country. They have protested against the state government giving advance

THE US National Cancer Institute plans to test nationwide a drug called taihoxifen that might prevent breast cancer, lower the number of deaths from heart attacks and reduce the number of broken

SCIENTISTS are now advocating that harvesting locally used medicinal plants from tropical forests could be more lucrative than clearing the land for farming or growing timber. When compared to other