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Kasturi Das

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Japan’s Shrinking Population Is Impacting Its Biodiversity – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Jul. 14, 2025) – Japan’s declining population in agricultural regions could be having a damaging impact on biodiversity, a new study suggests.
Researchers from the University of Sheffield, Tokyo City University, and Kindai University, say it is a trend that could spread through East Asia as global fertility rates fall.
“Japan’s biodiversity has long been sustained by traditional rural livelihood practices such as wet rice agriculture, forest and soil management, and the maintenan...

This New AI Method Can Speed Up Cancer Detection – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Jul. 08, 2025) – Scientists in Singapore have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI)-based method called “Fragle” that makes tracking cancer easier and faster using blood tests.
Requiring only a small blood sample, this method analyses the size of DNA fragments in the blood to reveal distinct patterns that differentiate cancer DNA from healthy DNA, helping doctors track cancer treatment response more accurately and frequently.
The research, carried out by scientists at the...

Scientists Map Stomach Tumours To Personalize Cancer Treatment – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Jun. 13, 2025) – Gastric cancer is a major global health concern, ranking as the fifth most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with close to 770,000 deaths each year. In Singapore alone, gastric cancer is among the top 10 causes of cancer-related deaths, taking about 300 lives annually.
But scientists in Singapore have now made a significant discovery to tackle the disease.
A team of researchers from the Singapore Gastric Cancer Consorti...
Mongabay Environmental News •

Churpi from mithun milk could boost farmer incomes

Churpi, a variety of hardened cheese, is a popular traditional snack in the Himalayan belt of Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and parts of northeastern India. Primarily made from yak milk, it can also be made using cow or buffalo milk, and even the milk of chauris, a crossbreed of yak and cow. Arunachal Pradesh is known for its Geographical Indication (GI) tagged churpi made from yak milk.

Recently, a farmer from the Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh has developed churpi made from the milk of mithun — a semi...
The New Indian Express •

Faraway Festival of Eclectic Esoterica

The road leading to the land of the Lisu tribe in Arunachal Pradesh is long and arduous. If one travels by road from Guwahati in Assam, it takes an overnight bus or train ride to Tinsukia, followed by a three-hour drive to Miao. From there a backbreaking nine-hour journey on a 4x4 pickup truck, through the dense forests of Namdapha National Park finally leads to Gandhigram, a remote village nestled in the easternmost corner of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering Myanmar. Also known as the Yobins, the L...

A New Immune Cell Atlas To Help Decode Disease Risk In Asians – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (May. 28, 2025) – Scientists from five Asian countries — Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, and India — have created the world’s first Asian Immune Diversity Atlas (AIDA), a comprehensive single-cell resolution map of immune cells from diverse Asian populations.
Published in Cell, this study could lead to more accurate diagnoses and personalized treatments for Asian populations.
“Creating an immune cell atlas specifically for Asian populations addresses a critical gap in glo...

Oceans Hold Key To Forecasting China’s Prolonged Summer Rains – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (May. 19, 2025) – Extreme rainfall events in China, from flash floods to devastating landslides, often leave a trail of destruction. While their frequency and intensity have been studied extensively, one crucial element has remained elusive: duration. How long it rains can be just as critical as how hard it rains. Now, a team of climate scientists may have found the key to predicting such prolonged rainfall — hidden in the oceans.
A new study published in Advances in Atmospheric S...

Heart Research Has A Gender Bias – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (May. 09, 2025) – One afternoon in 2022, when 60-year-old Lekshmi could no longer bear the chest pain she had been brushing off as gastritis for the past few weeks, she rode her scooter to a private hospital near her home in Alleppey, a city in southern India. The doctors at the hospital ran a few tests and advised her to get admitted for checkups. But Lekshmi declined. She told the doctors that she lived alone and would prefer to come back when her daughters, who lived outside Al...

Antibiotic Resistant Bug Found in Retail Chicken In Bangladesh – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (May. 06, 2025) – In Bangladesh, chicken is a common source of protein — but new research from Osaka Metropolitan University reveals that it may be carrying a hidden threat. Researchers from Japan have detected alarming rates of Escherichia albertii, an emerging foodborne pathogen, in retail chicken meat sold in Bangladesh. Their findings show extensive contamination and significant antimicrobial resistance, posing potential risks to public health.
Escherichia alberti is a less kn...

These Newly Discovered Compounds Can Delay Flowering In Plants – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Apr. 16, 2025) – As climate change continues to disrupt traditional agricultural cycles around the world, scientists in Japan have discovered new chemical compounds that can regulate the timing of flowering of crops. The findings of this research could help increase crop yields and improve food security.
Plant growth and development depends on several environmental signals, such as temperature, daylight hours and genetics. In many species, flowering in the spring only begins afte...

Ancient Earth Had Green Oceans – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Apr. 09, 2025) – When Voyager 1 spacecraft captured a photo of the Earth from six billion kilometres away, astronomer Carl Sagan famously described our planet as a “pale blue dot.” That blue hue was sunlight scattering and reflecting off of the oceans. But now, researchers in Japan have found evidence that Earth’s oceans may not have always been blue — they were green.
A group led by Taro Matsuo from Nagoya University in Japan, has found evidence that cyanobacteria, often called...
The New Indian Express •

The Birdman of Nagpur

Tewani, who lives with his wife, found himself looking for a fulfilling way to spend his days after his retirement from the Bank of India in January 2012. Two years later, while flipping through Twinkle Star, a children’s magazine published in Nagpur, he came across an article about the declining population of sparrows in the city. “I thought, why not help them myself?” says Tewani. He first started building birdhouses with materials he could find locally. This repurposing of scrap helped him ke...

The dangerous side effect of India’s dairy boom | Good Food Movement

India, the world’s largest producer of milk, contributing 25% to global production, is facing a serious challenge with antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The widespread use of antibiotics to treat cattle infections in the dairy industry is a major driver of this crisis. “AMR severely hampers the effective treatment of infectious diseases, leading to higher mortality rates, longer hospital stays, and increased healthcare costs,” says Amit Khurana, director of the Sustainable Food Systems Programme a...
The New Indian Express •

One man is an Island

Majuli has been screaming for attention. It is the world’s largest inhabited river island and a melting pot of Assam’s neo-Vaishnavite, and indigenous tribal cultures, and famous for its 22 satras (monastic centres) introduced in the 15th century. Ravaged by floods annually, and washed away by bits and pieces, the island which used to be spread over 1,250 sqkm before 1950, now barely spans 483 sqkm. Experts warn that in the next two to three decades, Majuli may vanish from the world map entirely...

She’s Got It – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Oct.11, 2024) – Growing up in India in the late nineties, 12-year-old Shayoni, whose name has been changed in the story to protect her identity, often fainted due to excruciating period pains. Brushed off by doctors and adults as “something natural that happens to most women,” she endured the debilitating pain every month for the next two decades. It was only when Shayoni, now 35, moved abroad with her husband and consulted a doctor to start a family that she discovered the under...
The New Indian Express •

Swachh Sikkim Village

Cleanliness begins at home. In 2017, Dawa Choden Bhutia, the panchayat president of Phadamchen village in Sikkim, assembled 17 women to form a group called Swachhata Sahayogi, a name that literally translates to “sanitation assistants”. Together these women decided to tackle the mounting waste crisis in the village. This, of course, was no easy task. Phadamchen’s isolated location meant the mission would require immense perseverance and motivation. The 2020 lockdown was a particularly difficult...
Asian Scientist Magazine •

Deadlier Than COVID-19, Dengue Puts Survivors At Higher Risk Of Health Issues - Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Sept. 18, 2024) – People who recover from dengue are more likely to face a higher risk of long-term health complications about a year later compared to those who recovered from COVID-19, a new study has found. The research, published in the Journal of Travel Medicine, found that dengue survivors are significantly more vulnerable to issues affecting the heart, brain and immune systems. The study, led by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore,  tracked health problems th...
Asian Scientist Magazine •

Great White Sharks May Inspire Faster Planes And Boats - Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Sept. 04, 2024) – The great white shark, one of the most efficient predators, known for its power and speed, holds the secret to designing faster aircraft and boats. A new study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, has revealed how the denticles, or tooth-like structures, on the shark’s skin help reduce friction, allowing sharks to swim with great efficiency at different speeds. This friction reduction is crucial for their speed and endurance, making them swi...
Asian Scientist Magazine •

Climate Change Is Making Cyclones More Intense And Long-lasting - Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Aug. 30, 2024) – Tropical cyclones in Southeast Asia are now forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lingering longer over land — all driven by climate change. These shifts significantly increase the risks for tens of millions of people living in coastal areas and leaving cities like Bangkok in Thailand, Hai Phong in Vietnam and Yangon in Myanmar vulnerable to unprecedented threats from more prolonged and intensified storms.
A recent study, co-led by researche...
Asian Scientist Magazine •

Scientists Find A New Clade Of Candida Auris, A Highly Transmissible Fungus - Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Aug. 28, 2024) – Researchers in Singapore have identified a new clade of Candida auris, a highly resistant and easily transmissible fungus. This discovery adds a sixth clade to the global list. Candida auris is a major global health concern due to its high transmissibility, resistance to multiple treatments and tendency to cause outbreaks.  This discovery, made by researchers from Singapore General Hospital, A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), and the Yong Loo Lin Schoo...
Good Food Movement •

Assam school swaps plastic waste for education | Good Food Movement

Following Mahatma Gandhi's Nai Talim model of experiential learning, a small school in the outskirts of Guwahati, Assam addresses the struggle to educate its most vulnerable communities. Founded in 2016 by Parmita Sarma and Mazin Mukhtar, Akshar foundation provides free education to children from underprivileged families in exchange for plastic waste.  Many of these youngsters, under 14, used to work in local stone quarries for meagre wages. Now, instead of money, they pay fees with plastic wast...
Mongabay Environmental News •

A Ladakhi podcast spurs conversations about wildlife and conservation

An initiative in Ladakh aims to raise awareness about wildlife in the region and encourage conservation efforts through a podcast delivered in the local Ladakhi language.

A year ago, Morup Namgail, a photographer, and Padma Rigzin, a researcher, launched Ladakh Si Podcast, which literally translates to “Podcast from Ladakh” in Ladakhi. This self-funded podcast weaves together narratives of ecology, culture, and discusses the impacts of climate change on the region’s wildlife.

Morup, 29, hails...
Asian Scientist Magazine •

Tai Chi Can Improve Survival Rate of Advanced Lung Cancer Patients By A Year

AsianScientist (May. 15, 2024) – Tai chi could significantly improve sleep quality and reduce fatigue in patients with advanced lung cancer, and improve their survival rate by a year, a new study has found. Patients with advanced lung cancer often experience sleep disturbances which can aggravate physical and psychological symptoms, resulting in decreased quality of life and survival.

To address these issues, researchers from the University of Hong Kong’s medical school investigated non-pharmac
Asian Scientist Magazine •

Forests Can Trap Airborne Microplastics

AsianScientist (May. 08, 2024) – In recent years, microplastics have gained global attention due to their negative impact on the environment and human health. Microplastics have infiltrated every corner of our environment, from the depths of oceans to the air we breathe and even within cloud water. However, there is some good news. A recent study has found that forests potentially serve as a vital sink for airborne microplastics.

Airborne microplastics are tiny plastic particulates – less than
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