• In early August, indigenous artists from the Australian state of Queensland collaborated in an exhibition. They wove thousands of metres of discarded fishing nets into sculptures. Much marine life gets trapped in these nets. • Switzerland

THERE are some pathogens that disguise themselves and prevent detection by the host

FORTY-FOUR people died of Japanese encephalitis, a viral infection, at the Assam Medical College Hospital in Dibrugarh on July 28. The same day another 68 patients suffering from the viral disease were admitted to the hospital that receives patients from across the state. T R Borborah, principal of the medical college, confirmed the deaths. Health officials in Assam said the disease has

ON AUGUST 8, a stretch of National Highway (NH)-33 caved in due to an underground coal fire. The road connects Ranchi in Jharkhand with Bihar

FAT in the liver is the new marker for obesity-related complications such as diabetes, heart diseases and strokes. People trying to reduce belly fat to avoid these diseases will have to rethink their lifestyle. The finding is good news for metabolic scientists who have hypothesized for long that liver fat is the most important metabolic disruptor of the body but there were

VIEW FINDER NOT A USUAL EXERCISE Soldiers smell the ground to detect bodies of flash flood victims in Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot battered the island"s southern region in the second week of August. The typhoon, which Met officials call the deadliest in 50 years, also triggered mudslides; one such mudslide

OCEANS ARE DYING: Ocean deserts where very few organisms can survive due to scanty supply of nutrients are expanding. These vast stretches of barren sea could affect the marine food chain, and in turn the global fish stock, said scientists from North America who analyzed satellite data between 1997 and 2007. There are five ocean deserts, one each in the North and South Pacific, North

THE United States Environment Protection Agency has a four-day testing period to evaluate a pesticide

ON JULY 22, villagers of Londa in Karnataka