Child malnutrition in Gujarat became the subject of a debate in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday (March 12, 2026). During a discussion on the budgetary demands of the Women and Child Development Department, with Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani raised an issue saying, “Despite this BJP government with more than 150 seats and 28 years of … Read more
The NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) and GPS (Global Positioning System) logos, along with a satellite model, are shown on the map in this illustration. File | Photo Credit: Reuters The last atomic clock aboard the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)-1F satellite has failed, ISRO has said in a … Read more
Image used for representation purpose only. Stock photo | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Pi Day is observed every year on March 14, marking the significance of the mathematical constant π (pi). The day is commemorated by mathematics enthusiasts around the world in recognition of the subject’s enduring legacy. March 14 is chosen because the first … Read more
The most commonly prescribed antibiotic to treat infections outside hospitals in Sweden – penicillin V – was linked to more short-lasting microbiome changes. Photograph used for representational purposes only | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto We have always known that antibiotics, life-saving drugs in serious infections, affect the composition of our gut microbiome (community of bacteria living … Read more
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/John Holmes (CC BY-SA) Published – March 10, 2026 11:13 am IST Read Comments Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit
A January report in the journal Current Science authored by scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has turned radioactive with one of India’s leading nuclear scientists characterising the conclusions of the report as “misleading.” The study compared the relative merits of different mixes of nuclear-power-grade uranium and concluded that a mix of concentrated … Read more
In the industrial town of Morbi in Gujarat, the air usually hums with the roar of gas-fired kilns producing millions of square metres of ceramic tiles. Today, however, nearly a quarter of the town’s ceramic units have gone silent. Nearly a thousand kilometres away in Ludhiana, Punjab, one of India’s largest hosiery and knitwear clusters … Read more
A whisper. A few slurred words. For those who suffer from dysarthria, a motor speech disorder, basic communication is a challenge, indelibly affecting both their professional and personal life. But now a new innovation based on artificial intelligence (AI) and developed in India could be life-changing. Led by associate professor Vineet Gandhi of the International Institute … Read more
When the U.S. President Donald Trump took office for his second term in January last year, he claimed that his proudest legacy would be that of a “peacemaker and unifier”. In the initial months after inauguration, Mr Trump also openly lobbied for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet, contrary to his words, the legacy of … Read more
After launch, NASA diagrams indicate Artemis 2 will circumnavigate Earth before leaving orbit to travel to the Moon, without landing, for a lunar flyby before returning to Earth and splashing down in the ocean. | Photo Credit: AFP NASA said on Thursday that the long-delayed launch of Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to … Read more
ISRO said that long duration human space missions such as Bharatiya Antariksh Station and crewed missions to Moon offer unique medical challenges due to the extreme space environment and microgravity. | Photo Credit: Reuters The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences … Read more
Anna Mani | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Researcher and writer Asha Gopinathan remembers asking children to name a female scientist when working on science popularisation programmes with the Alliance Francaise in Thiruvananthapuram in March 2015. After several moments of silence, a hand went up and a voice said ‘Marie Curie’. “I realised then that something … Read more
A numerical simulation of the earth’s magnetic field. Blue lines are moving into the core and yellow lines are moving out. | Photo Credit: NASA The earth’s magnetic field aids navigation but also protects the planet from high-energy radiation from the sun. For decades, geologists believed that when this field periodically flipped, swapping the north … Read more
In the industrial town of Morbi in Gujarat, the air usually hums with the roar of gas-fired kilns producing millions of square metres of ceramic tiles. Today, however, nearly a quarter of the town’s ceramic units have gone silent. Nearly a thousand kilometres away in Ludhiana, Punjab, one of India’s largest hosiery and knitwear clusters … Read more
A long-standing intervention by the Assam government to reduce crop depredation by elephants in its forest regions, piloted and designed by environmental non-government organisation World Wildlife Fund (WWF), is actually associated with more accidental elephant deaths, a study in Conservation Biology has reported. Launched in 2003 in Sonitpur district, the anti-depredation squads (ADS) of Assam … Read more
As Tamil Nadu approaches its Assembly elections, its ambition to become a $1-trillion economy and its position as one of India’s leading industrial and knowledge hubs means it’s worth examining how the State has invested in science and environmental issues in the last five years. First, the State’s strategy on environment and climate action has … Read more
The Centre’s rollback of the revision to India’s earthquake zoning by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), follows a major challenge to the methodology used, which some engineers believe are out of sync with site-based evaluations. Yet, the reversal is driven largely by the massive cost and execution implications, as the decision impacts urban planning, … Read more
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1893–1972) was a Bengali statistician and institution-builder who became one of the most consequential figures in twentieth-century Indian science. Trained as a physicist in Calcutta and Cambridge, he discovered statistics almost by accident through an encounter with Biometrika, and went on to found the Indian Statistical Institute in 1931 out of a … Read more
It’s possible to travel faster than light in a particular medium. | Photo Credit: Logan Voss/Unsplash – Sai Karthikeya Duggirala Albert Einstein’s equation E = mc2 says energy and mass are linked. If you push an object to go faster, you add energy to it. At everyday speeds, this just increases the object’s velocity. But … Read more
Researchers have found a way to hijack the natural protein-making facilities of bacteria to manufacture specific proteins of interest. They did this by turning a ‘nutrient gate’ on a bacterial cell into a Trojan horse that could ferry artificial amino acids into cells to make these proteins. The study, conducted by teams at ETH Zurich … Read more
LPG cylinders being transported in a vehicle for distribution in Visakhapatnam on March 10, 2026, amid public concerns about supply and prices. | Photo Credit: V. RAJU/The Hindu As hotels, hostels, and community kitchens grapple with the unexpected shortage of LPG, those with electric cooking equipment feel they are in a safer position. Achal Sridharan, … Read more
The Election Commission of India’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls — a large-scale exercise aimed at updating voter lists — is being carried out across 12 States and Union Territories covering close to 51 crore voters. The enumeration phase of the exercise began in November 2025. Among these States and UTs, Tamil … Read more
The ongoing conflict involving Israel, United States and Iran has begun affecting domestic supply chains, with disruptions in commercial LPG supply | Photo Credit: PERIASAMY M The war between the U.S.-Israel and Iran has put stress on the country’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply, which was already heavily import dependent and in need of government … Read more
Great Indian Hornbill | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement An intensive faunal survey in the Vazhachal wildlife division in Thrissur, Kerala, has documented 26 species previously unrecorded from the area, highlighting the rich biodiversity of the key corridor in the Western Ghats. The survey was conducted by the Kerala Forest department in association with the Travancore … Read more
For much of the late 20th century, discussions of India’s future were framed by a single anxiety: population growth. The assumption was that rapid fertility would outpace the economy’s ability to generate food, infrastructure, and public services. The infamous “Population Bomb” thesis of Paul and Anne Ehrlich was a key text that informed public policy … Read more
If the idea of lunar hummus seems far-fetched, think again. Scientists working to cultivate the field of extraterrestrial agriculture have grown chickpeas in dirt made mostly of simulated lunar soil, a step toward enabling astronauts on long-term moon missions to produce their own food. Researchers said harvestable chickpeas were grown in soil mixtures composed primarily … Read more
An artist’s impression of an asteroid that orbits closer to the sun than the earth’s orbit, showing its dark side. | Photo Credit: NOIRLab/J. da Silva NASA has officially ruled out the possibility of asteroid 2024 YR4 colliding with the moon in 2032. This update settles concerns that first surfaced after the asteroid’s discovery in … Read more
A file photo of visitors at an exhibition at Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) in Bengaluru. All these projects will be overseen by the Bengaluru-based IIA. | Photo Credit: File photo The construction and upgrade of the four major astronomical facilities, which was announced in the Union Budget, is expected to cost about ₹3,500 crore, … Read more
Last week, nine wild African cheetahs were tranquilised in Botswana’s savannah, quarantined for a few weeks in the country, and then taken on a 10-hour flight over the Indian Ocean by the Indian Air Force to Gwalior. From here, the big cats were flown in helicopters to large quarantine enclosures in Kuno National Park in … Read more
An indigenous pressurised heavy water reactor under construction at Kakrapar, Gujarat, 2016. | Photo Credit: Reetesh Chaurasia (CC BY-SA) Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) researchers have reported that a new kind of nuclear fuel, touted for being able to allow India to take advantage of its vast thorium reserves, will not fit in the country’s … Read more