Topic: Biodiversity
Bird species today are dying out a hundred times faster than we thought
Based on Red List numbers, the expected lifespan of a species living today is only about 5,000 years — this is six times worse than the historical rate.
Extinction is normal but plants going extinct 350 times faster should alarm us
Earth is seeing an unprecedented loss of species, which some ecologists are calling a sixth mass extinction. More recently, 571 plant species were declared extinct.
33 years after nuclear explosion, Chernobyl has become a wildlife paradise
The biodiversity in the Chernobyl exclusion zone shows wildlife is more resistant to radiation than previously thought.
‘Plant a tree, save the climate’ isn’t good enough
Many countries seem to assume that commercial tree plantations or planting trees amidst crops is enough. Yet only natural forests trap ample quantities of CO2.
The microbes inside your garden wall have clues to ancient earth’s biological evolution
The amoebae can be predators, but they can also be grazers, or even harbor symbiotic algae that produce their food, making them primary producers.
This researcher has named his latest find after Modi govt’s top science official
Zeeshan Mirza, a researcher at the NCBS, has over 35 discoveries to his name but says he’s always had trouble with academics.
Study traces how the British ruined Western Ghats, one of India’s most unique ecosystems
A biodiversity hotspot, Western Ghats continue to be done in by the British belief that its grasslands were wastelands.
Prince William shows conservation still has a problem with ‘white saviours’
Decades after independence of many countries in the Global South, conservation still has this (neo-)colonial undertone.
How football can help protect wildlife
A society of wildlife conservation is using football and naming teams after local animals, to foster affinity for wildlife in the African nation of Cameroon.
Global deforestation is accelerating and nature is alerting us this is urgent
Despite mounting efforts to protect tropical forests, deforestation is reaching a scale of global catastrophe.
Covid-19 put brake to academic activity, but digital libraries can ensure continuity
Covid-19 has paced up the transition to distance learning. While institutes are racing to shift courses online, students are engaging en masse with e-books.
Can India balance its domestic pharma needs and also be a global player in Covid-19 fight?
India has lifted the ban on the export of 24 pharmaceutical ingredients, including anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
Defence
Masala tikka-flavoured snacks to AK-47s: What 5 slain Lashkar terrorists brought from Pakistan
Indian Army calls Pakistan's complicity in aiding and abetting infiltration, especially at a time when the world is fighting coronavirus, 'reprehensible'.
Poke fun at taali, thaali, diya and mombatti all you want. Modi couldn’t care less
Modi knows who he needs to speak to, who he should toss, who he can address in kind. People accuse him of infantilising his voters, but it’s a winning strategy.