Environment

Wind energy is order of the day in Germany and India is not lagging behind. However the constrains are girds which could store the energy when its in excess or when it is not produced due to lack of proper winds. An alternative to this is establishing small generators run on natural gas if its available ( USA) or on biomass in developing world. Another possibility could be using wind energy to generate hydrogen gas which could be fuel for cars for future. Its hypothetical to assume that electrical cars dont produce pollution. Generation of electricity itself is pollution producing process.…

As far as humanity goes, we live in a whopper of a different world than our ancestors did. Want something to eat? Chances are pretty darned good that it's only a few steps away in the refrigerator or cabinet. Cabinets empty? Go to the store, or a diner. Refrigerator empty? Same advice. It's pretty simple really. Nowadays, we can pretty much have whatever we want as long as we can pay for it. Biology and Agronomy can be brutally frustrating to those of us who have grown accustomed to immediate gratification. Not only do we expect, nay demand immediate gratification, we have come to expect that…

Okay, today's the big day I dive into the world of blogging alongside a bunch of other science type bloggers, most of whom I would probably nod at blankly if we were involved in a deep conversation at a cocktail party. Perhaps it's a function of psychology. No matter how smart I am, I always feel dumb around people who like using big words that end with "ogy" and start with a group of letters that are nearly unpronounceable when put in that particular order. Since the entirety of my psychology training consisted of analyzing the motivating thought processes of attractive young women after…

Taxonomical studies have been undertaken in British India by famous botanists Duthies ( Duthies flora of Upper Gangetic plains in several volumes) , Flora of Punjab etc. Royal botanical garden of Calcutta ( now named Kolkatta) and the adjoining Botanical Survey of India herbarium along with Kew gardens of Kew, London and adjoining Herbaria have world’s best collections Taxonomy was studied by botanists as well as people from other disciplines. Taxonomist tracked thousands of miles across the country. Students of botany were trained to identify the plants and study floral structures. Now…

Out of 2.5 millions to 3.5 million plnats and microbe species ihabiting our earth all life depends hardly on 250 plants out of which only 40 are important. Out of this list only 10 plants make staple food including wheat rice, maize, soybean and some more. Although vedic literature lists 4000 plants of medicinal value but how many are documented in proper manner. Human life depends on almost 40 to 50 plants for its food and another 40 to 50 plants for its oil . If these plants become susceptible to some disease or vanish from earth can man survive. I cant even imagine life without eating…

Great efforts are made to protect the Tiger wild cat and a large number of animals. There are several groups like prevention of cruelty to animals etc. There are no groups on preventing cruelty to plants. People cut trees and uproot them . Nobody says dont uproot the tree. Tree is also living. Plants provide us food, shelter, medicine and fodder, all the edible oil and now biofuel also. They are the only living organisms on this earth which can convert the solar energy into chemical energy. But I feel very sad each year large number of plant species are going extinct but there are not a sigle…

There is debate going on under the carpet why not we go ahead with nuclear fuel energy instead of biofuel energy. Its obvious that our energy needs are growing and one of the option is nuclear energy. I am not proponant of nuclear energy. However all things have to be weighed in present context future requirements. I can only talk about plants . Plants are the only source to provide the natural oxygen or recycle carbondioxide to produce oxygen again . No other mechanism can provide oxygen as far as I know. What will happen if there is excess of carbondioxide and green house effect and global…

Worldwide energy consumption is projected to grow by 59 % over the next two decades, according to International Energy Outlook 2001 (IEO 2001), released by theUS Energy 2Information Administration (EIA). One half of the projected growth is expected to occur inthe developing nations of Asia (including China, India and South Korea) and in Central and South America, where strong economic growth is likely to spur demand for energy over the forecast period. Renewable energy use is expected to increase by 53 % between 1999 and 2020, but its current 9 % share of total energy consumption is…

Time and again people doubt about the traditional medicines and their useful news in modern world. Traditions can we wrong but if they are right they have whole lot of science behind it. However three things are very important. 1. Idendtify that drug ( it could be mixture of several plant ingredients which should be identified correctly) 2. Identify the plants used in drug or traditional medicine. 3. Ensure that what you are using is botanically correct and its also correct part of the plant and it also has required contents. 4. Even if 1 to 3 are correct there is no criteria of shelf life of…

People may say that some countries are rich because nature has gifted them with good weather. It is not true. Germany practices water harvesting systems though it had enough rains. When floods come to tropical countries all the water flows down the sea There are no proper water management systems developed by them so they lose water. Plants are the best conservator of water. Professor Nathawat , famous ecologist from Rajathan who is no more now used to tell that the vegetation on the hills of Jaipur region was so dense that once the rain will fall the water will trickle for several days in to…