The latest rage in the West is products like music, ink and cards based on DNA's atomic structure. A French biotechnology company has developed Le Biopen, a special writing instrument that uses ink

Despite hectic campaigning by the groups opposed to the Narmada dam plus a hefty boost from the anti-dam salvo fired by Bradford Morse and Thomas Berger, who formed a two-member independent review

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

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has admitted a Spanish mother's complaint that the environmental nuisance caused by an unlicensed waste treatment plant adjoining her house is a

A SEXUALLY abused child is more vulnerable to vitimisation as an adult such torture in childhood, said Shodha Srinath, assistant professor at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological

Workers in noisy coal washeries have been shown to suffer considerable hearing loss. According to one study, 20 per cent of washery workers had mildly handicapped hearing -- hearing loss becomes a

US President George Bush's refusal to sign the biodiversity treaty has failed to please those whom he claims to be protecting: the biotech community. Although Genentech chief executive officer G

The government is preparing legislation to regulate the use of tubewells because water tables in the country are falling rapidly. But the proposal could run into opposition from rich farmers.

Thanks to the foresight of an American plant collector 20 years ago, several bean varieties are today resistant to a pest scientists had given up trying to control. During a trip to southern Mexico,

Despite restrictions on harmful pesticides, their use by farmers continues. This is forcing foreign countries to reduce imports substantially of farm products from India.