How inevitable was the collapse of talks at the World Trade Organization? How engineered was it? CLIFFORD POLYCARP reports from the streets and conference centres of Cancun

That tames late blight

Down to Earth begins a series of previews of the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference 2003 in Cancun, Mexico

An agricultural scientist discovers why some rotis are tastier than others

With its awe inspiring architecture and remarkable concepts of astronomy, the Maya was undoubtedly one of the greatest civilisations of Mesoamerica. At the peak of its glory, around 800 ad, the civilisation extended from Mexico s Yucat n peninsula to Hond

Southern Mexico's Chiapas state boasts of a bizarre export: radiated flesh-eating flies. Chiapas' capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez, is home to an unusual screwworm factory which breeds millions of insects

What exactly is lost when a language dies? Do we also lose a biotic world-view, the local knowledge and wisdom of which a language is a repository? Is it a coincidence that areas of linguistic and ethnic

The centuries-old silver mines of Mexico are even today lethal traps of toxic mercury. Workers who helped recover mercury and silver from the over 400-year mine waste from around a dozen old Spanish

Mexico City streets wore a deserted look on September 19 as the first pollution alert in almost three years was declared in the region. Hundreds and thousands of cars were ordered off the road after

Ozone hole over Antarctica is smaller in size this year due to atmospheric conditions

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