real flab: Researchers in the US have found that artificial sweeteners are more fattening than sugar as the consumption of the low-calorie substitutes makes it harder for people to control their

THE FACULTY AND STUDENTS OF MAHINDRA United World College of India have created a unique biodiversity park and reserve spread over 170 acres in Pune. Inaugurated on 9 February, the project aims to enhance the flora and fauna in the reserve on the Western Ghats, which itself is a global biodiversity hotspot. The second part of the project covers about 95 acres and consists of a conservation reserve. The forest department will add 80 acres of forest land to the reserve.

The Endangered Species Act has become unwieldy. Time for a change

there is little chance for a new bird or butterfly being discovered in the Western Ghats now, says a recent study. It has, however, not ruled out the discovery of frogs and grasses. First

new evidence suggests that evolution of birds and mammals in the temperate zone is faster than in the tropics, contrary to an earlier theory that said tropics were more favourable. It has been

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora convention has passed a resolution backing conservation of Asian big cats. It has asked China to restrict captive breeding of tigers. "We oppose any proposal to farm wild carnivores, which are easy to breed in captivity but difficult to release in the wild. Promoting farming to satiate the demands of oriental medicine would lead to laundering of wild specimens,' said Rajesh Gopal, secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority in India.

through genetic analysis, scientists have established that the clouded leopard found on Borneo island is a new species

For better brain A team of scientists in the US has found that exercise has links to brain cell regeneration. The team first looked at the brains of exercising mice using magnetic resonance imaging