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Kasturi Das

Independent journalist & Photographer

How Fukushima’s Abandoned Pigs Reshaped Wild Boar Genetics – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Mar. 24, 2026)–When the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident forced residents to evacuate in 2011, abandoned farmland and forests became an unexpected ecological laboratory. Domestic pigs left behind on farms escaped into the wild, where they encountered and interbred with native wild boar.
Hybridization between domestic animals and wildlife is a growing concern worldwide, particularly as feral pigs and wild boar increasingly overlap. Such hybridization has often been l...

Gut Bacteria Linked to Migraine Severity in Children, Study Finds – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Mar. 18, 2026) – Differences in gut bacteria may influence how often children experience migraines and how severe their headaches become, according to a new study. Researchers found that children with migraines had lower levels of certain beneficial microbes in their gut, and early tests suggest that restoring these bacteria could help reduce headache frequency and intensity.
For many children, migraine is more than just a headache. The recurring pain can disrupt school, limit da...
Mongabay Environmental News •

What wild poop can teach children about ecology [Book review]

For human beings, the topic of excreta is considered a subject of disgust and embarrassment. The Big Book of Wild Poop, written by Shweta Taneja, sets out to change the narrative of how humans, children in particular, view poop. In the animal world, excreta is not waste but information, food, camouflage and defence, the book says. For a dung beetle or a worm, it is a source of multivitamins. Some spiders disguise themselves with it to escape predators, while hoopoe mothers use it to protect thei...

The Chemistry Behind Civet Coffee’s Distinctive Flavour – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Jan. 18, 2026) – Civet coffee, better known as kopi luwak, is a premium and highly-priced coffees globally, known for its unique aroma, taste, and nutritional value.
The beans, which can sell for as much as USD 1,000 per kilogram, are harvested from the faecal matter of civets — usually Asian palm civets (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus)  — which eat ripe coffee berries and digest the pulp whilst the beans inside pass through the digestive system.
Although this type of coffee has been...

Rising Pollution Moves Rainfall From Land To Sea In Southeast Asia – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Dec. 24, 2025) – Rising pollution levels are pushing storms away from land and intensifying rainfall over the ocean in Southeast Asia.
Biomass burning, urban pollution, and industrial emissions produce tiny particles called aerosols that can dramatically alter rainfall, cloud formation, and atmospheric stability. Now, a new study conducted by researchers of Pusan National University, Korea, has revealed that aerosols profoundly impact rainfall patterns over the Maritime Continent...

Simple DNA Switch Lets Butterflies Change Wing Spots – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Dec. 23, 2025) – Scientists in Singapore have discovered a simple genetic mechanism that helps tropical butterflies to change their wing patterns with the seasons. The discovery of this tiny DNA “switch” that responds to temperature, offers fresh insights into how insects evolve the ability to sense and adapt to environmental changes.
Insects often adapt in surprising ways to their surroundings. Some butterflies, for example, change their colours with the seasons. This seasonal f...

This Ancient Spice May Hold The Key to Tomorrow’s Antivirals – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Nov. 26, 2025) –Long celebrated for its aroma and flavour, cardamom might soon spice up the world of medicine too. Scientists from Japan’s Shinshu University have discovered that cardamom seed extract can trigger the body’s antiviral defenses at a cellular level. Their findings reveal that cardamom seed extract and its main bioactive compound, 1,8-cineole, stimulate the production of antiviral molecules known as type I interferons via nucleic acid ‘sensors’ inside cells, that hel...

Scientists Grow Ureter Tissue, Edge Closer To Lab-Made Kidneys – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Sep. 29, 2025) – Chronic kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting about 10 percent of the world’s population. Today, an estimated 2.6 million patients rely on renal replacement therapy, through dialysis or kidney transplantation – a number projected to double by 2030.
To meet this growing need, scientists have turned to regenerative medicine. But building fully functional kidneys in the lab has remained elusive, largely because one crucial part of the urinary s...

Late-Night Dinners And Skipped Breakfasts Linked To Weaker Bones – Asian Scientist Magazine

AsianScientist (Sep. 27, 2025) – Osteoporosis, a skeletal disorder marked by weakened bones and a higher risk of fracture, is typically associated with aging, hormonal changes, and lifestyle factors such as exercise, alcohol consumption and smoking. However, much less is understood about how dietary habits contribute to the risk of osteoporotic fractures.
Now, new research from Japan suggests that everyday eating patterns, such as skipping breakfast or eating late at night, could also raise the...
Mongabay Environmental News •

Fragmented forests and food scarcity threaten capped langurs

The capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus), a leaf eating primate with a distinctive ‘cap-like’ hairstyle, is the second most commonly seen primate in Assam after the rhesus macaque. Once thriving in the tropical rainforests of the Upper Brahmaputra Valley, the only colobine primate (characterised by their leaf-based diet) in the region, is now in a precarious situation.

The Valley was once covered by a vast lowland tropical rainforest. However, over the years, agricultural expansion, deforest...

Book reviews

Mongabay Environmental News •

What wild poop can teach children about ecology [Book review]

For human beings, the topic of excreta is considered a subject of disgust and embarrassment. The Big Book of Wild Poop, written by Shweta Taneja, sets out to change the narrative of how humans, children in particular, view poop. In the animal world, excreta is not waste but information, food, camouflage and defence, the book says. For a dung beetle or a worm, it is a source of multivitamins. Some spiders disguise themselves with it to escape predators, while hoopoe mothers use it to protect thei...

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