Species of the deep ocean may seem as strange as aliens from another planet but these creatures are products of the same biochemistry that impels other animals. Driven by the need for food and to avoid predators, deep-sea marine animals – especially tiny free-floating zooplanktons – swim up to the surface at night. The daily, synchronized movement of marine animals between the surface and deep layers of the open ocean is called diel vertical migration (DVM). It's also known as diurnal vertical migration. The timing of this migration is tuned to the natural rhythms of sunrise and sunset. This type....Read More

In a bid to boost forest cover in the coal belt region of Chhattisgarh, Coal India Ltd subsidiary, South Eastern Coalfileds Ltd (SECL) will undertake plantation using the Miyawaki method for the first time in its operational areas. The plantation using the Miyawaki technique will be carried out over a period of two years in which about 20,000 saplings will be planted. The plantation will include big plants such as Bargad, Peepal, Aam, Jamun etc, medium plants such as Karanj, Amla, Ashok etc, and small plants such as Kaner, Gudhal, Trikoma, Ber, Anjeer, Nimbu etc. It was developed in the....Read More

Climate Club was launched at the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. ABOUT CLIMATE CLUB It is an initiative aimed at cooperation between countries in decarbonising the industrial sector. It was first proposed by Germany during a G7 summit meeting. Led by Germany and Chile, the Club has garnered support from 36 member countries including Kenya, the European Union, Switzerland and others. India is not a member. The Club is claimed to currently represent 55 per cent of the global economy. The Climate Club aims to make decarbonisation of industries successful for....Read More

On the opening day of the COP28 summit of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Dubai, a loss and damage fund to help vulnerable countries cope with the impact of climate change has been officially launched. ABOUT LOSS AND DAMAGE FUND The loss and damage fund is a global financial package to ensure the rescue and rehabilitation of countries facing the cascading effects of climate change. The term refers to the compensation that rich nations, whose industrial growth has resulted in global warming and driven the planet into a climate crisis, must pay to poor nations, whose carbon....Read More

Astronomers at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have used the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT) in Hanle, Ladakh, to photograph the Comet P12/Pons-Brooks. The Himalayan Chandra Telescope in Hanle, Ladakh, is a part of IIA’s Indian Astronomical Observatory, and is operated remotely from the IIA CREST Campus in Hoskote, Karnataka. According to IIA, this comet has revealed many outbursts of gas and dust and has been dubbed the Devil Comet or the Millennium Falcon due to its appearance. The comet will become brighter in the coming months and may even become a naked eye comet. Comet P12/Pons-Brooks was discovered in....Read More

Rising sea temperatures due to climate change are causing tropical marine species to move from the equator towards the poles, according to a study. The research also shows that temperate species are receding as it gets too warm, they face increased competition for habitat, and new predators arrive on the scene. This mass movement of marine life, termed tropicalisation, is changing the ecological landscape of oceans and leading to a cascade of consequences for ecosystems, biodiversity, and potentially the global economy. The warm-water boundary currents are heating faster than the global seawater average, facilitating the poleward movement of species, and....Read More

The tiger which had killed a woman at Balluruhundi close to Hediyala range of Bandipur National Park was darted and captured recently. A massive combing operation involving more than 200 forest department personnel and tribals from the local villages, was launched soon after the woman was killed. ABOUT BANDIPUR TIGER RESERVE It is situated in two contiguous districts (Mysore and Chamarajanagar) of Karnataka and located at the tri-junction area of the States of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. When Project Tiger was launched in 1973, Bandipur was among the first nine reserves to be brought under the flagship programme ‘Project....Read More

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has told the state government to resolve within six months the issues that have led to the delay in the notification of eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) status for the Shettihalli wildlife sanctuary. The draft notification for the sanctuary was issued in 1974 and the final notification came in 1977. However, confusion over the boundaries of the sanctuary has led to delay in the identification of the ESZ. ESZ is a designated area around a protected area where certain activities are regulated to minimize human impact and protect the surrounding environment. The delay has led to an....Read More

UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) has published its first ever report on the Ethics of Climate Engineering. It proposes a comprehensive global ethical perspective on climate engineering technologies and lists specific recommendations for their possible use. ABOUT CLIMATE ENGINEERING Climate Engineering, also known as "geoengineering," is the intentional large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climate system to counter climate change. Climate engineering is classified into two groups of techniques- Carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which removes and stores the emitted carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. CDR is expensive, involves five approaches. These include direct air....Read More

Saurauia Punduana plant has been recorded for the first time in Manipur’s Tamenglong district. ABOUT SAURAUIA PUNDUANA Flowers of Saurauia Punduana turn white to pink on maturity. Petals are pink, ovate to obovate curled at the tip. Its fruits are spherical shining white, and are used in veterinary medicine. The native range of this species is from Bhutan to Southeastern Tibet. It is a critically endangered species as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.Read More