A BRITISH laboratory and a US firm are collaborating to produce artificial blood after scientists overcame two obstacles that had hampered this effort. Attempts to use haemoglobin isolated from the

GUAYULE is an arid-zone crop that is one of only two species yielding rubber in quantities substantial enough for commercial use. Unlike the rubber tree, guayule can be cultivated in marginal lands

ZOOLOGISTS have always wondered why the females of two African antelope species repeatedly mated with only certain males. A further clue was provided by James Deutsch and Rory Nefdt of Cambridge

NEXT YEAR, a longer-lasting and more efficient bulb known as the electronic light, or "E-Lamp," will hit the US market. A magnetic coil generates a radio signal that interacts with the gas inside the

Annual rainfall is declining in some parts of the country and increasing in others. While the overall effect may be negligible, such trends could result in significant changes locally.

Farmers in India are using 25 times the amount of water that agricultural scientists say is needed to produce paddy. Improper irrigation methods and misconceptions are the stated reasons for the high wastage of a scarce resource.

STAR MOSS, a primitive organism without roots or a vascular system that is common in the forests of North America, contains genes that could be used to engineer drought resistance in crops. Molecular

Scientists are fighting the uzi fly, a parasite of the silkworm, with a wasp like insect that can help reduce that menace of the uzi fly, a parasite of the silkworm.

An Oxford biologist says sexes exist to prevent chaos within cells during reproduction. And why only two sexes? Because life would get too complicated otherwise.

Can earthquakes be forecast? After investing one billion dollars in a 30-year earthquake prediction programme, Japanese scientists have virtually admitted failure (Nature, Vol 358 No 6835). A