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
Data suggests that cancer care places a disproportionately heavy strain on the resources of the poor. | Photo Credit: Rima Das Mukherjee The most expensive disease just got a little more affordable to treat in India. Cancer treatment costs are three times higher than the hospitalisation expenditure for any average ailment in the country. Its … 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
In early 2021, as COVID-19 vaccines were being rolled out across the world, reports began to surface of a rare but alarming complication. Some people who received the shots were developing unusual blood clots. The cases were first identified in Europe and later in the U.S. Notably, they were reported mainly among recipients of the … Read more
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar set to resign, Governors transferred, Iran-U.S. war updates and more: The week in 5 charts
Coronae glow on the tips of spruce needles. These weak electric discharges subtly singe the tips of leaves and needles, and new observations indicate they may occur ubiquitously across treetops under thunderstorms. | Photo Credit: William Brune/AGU Thunderstorms create large amounts of electricity that we see as lightning. Under these storms, scientists believed that electricity … Read more
Dalit voting in State Assembly elections often diverges from national trends. Representative image | Photo Credit: – Hindu Dalit voters have long been an important vote bank in Indian elections, shaping party strategies, coalitions, and welfare policies. Their choices influence the outcomes of both national and State level elections, yet their political alignment remains fluid. … Read more
ISRO says that this event highlights the strength of the long-term cooperation in place since 1978 and subsequent renewal in 2002 between two globally significant space research organisations. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have jointly signed an agreement on ‘ESA-ISRO Arrangement concerning Joint … Read more
Students carrying umbrellas stand on the dry riverbed of the Jialing Rivera, a tributary of the Yangtze, in China’s Chongqing Municipality, August 19, 2022. | Photo Credit: AP A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters has confirmed that global warming has entered a phase of significant acceleration. For decades, the earth’s temperature rose at … Read more
Meet D. Indumathi, a physicist who has spent decades exploring some of the universe’s most elusive particles, neutrinos. Recently retired, she built her career in high-energy physics, asking questions that most of us wouldn’t even know how to frame. Physics is often seen as intimidating — abstract, mathematical, distant. But Indumathi approaches it with clarity … Read more
Rosalind Franklin | Photo Credit: Special arrangement While the death of James Watson on November 6, 2025, closed a famous chapter in the history of DNA, it also opened a necessary conversation about who we choose to remember, how, and why. The discovery of the double helix structure of the DNA remains a scientific triumph … Read more
Healthcare is entering a phase where the boundaries between medicine, technology, and data are rapidly dissolving. Digital health, once confined to electronic medical records and teleconsultations, now underpins diagnostics, drug development, population health management, chronic disease care, and patient engagement. This has not only transformed how care is delivered, but also significantly widened the range … Read more
Girls and women represent half the population of the world yet their participation in scientific research is lagging. In many countries, this disparate contribution starts as early as school. In the U.S., for example, girls are less likely to take advanced calculus, physics, mathematics, and biology at high school level. In many other countries, the … Read more
A transmission electron micrograph of Deinococcus radiodurans. | Photo Credit: Public domain Supertough bug may also survive colliding worlds The bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans is famous for being able to survive extreme radiation and dryness. Researchers have found it can also survive the intense pressures of being blasted off of a planet’s surface: 14,000-24,000 earth atmospheres. … Read more
A radiologist uses a magnifying glass to check mammograms for breast cancer. File | Photo Credit: AP Kolkata Breast cancer cases in India have more than doubled over the past three decades, experts said at an international oncology conference in Kolkata on Friday (March 7, 2026), while warning that gaps in access to treatment continue … Read more
Marilyne Andersen, Director General, GESDA, speaks during an interview at the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi on March 6, 2026. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar Quantum computing is in a nascent stage of development and therefore this is a time that experts in the field and scientists should be engaging with diplomats to be … Read more
Imagine you are given three gumballs of different flavours. You are told that one of them is heavier than the others, and one is lighter. But which is which? Your task is made difficult by the fact that these gumballs weigh nearly nothing. And sometimes they swap flavours. Oh, and when you try to pick … Read more
Marilyne Andersen, Director General, GESDA, speaks during an interview at the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi on Friday. March 6, 2026. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar Quantum computing is in a nascent stage of development and therefore this is a time that experts in the field and scientists should be engaging with diplomats to … Read more
Akatsuki is the Japanese orbiter that captured images of a 9,700-km-long stationary wave in Venus’s upper atmosphere in 2015, revealing a link between the surface and high-altitude weather. Credit: 江戸村のとくぞう (CC BY-SA) Published – March 06, 2026 05:08 pm IST
