SpaceX, xAI and the Pentagon’s defense innovation unit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. | Photo Credit: REUTERS Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its wholly-owned subsidiary xAI are competing in a secret new Pentagon contest to produce voice-controlled, autonomous drone swarming technology, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. SpaceX, … Read more
(1) BNP sweeps Bangladesh elections The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by chairman Tarique Rahman, is set to return to power in Dhaka after two decades, following a landslide victory in the February 12 Parliamentary election, winning over 210 seats out of the 299 seats that were contested. The 11-party alliance led by the Jamaat-e-Islami has won 77 seats. This was the … Read more
In 1974, Antony Hewish won the physics Nobel Prize for discovering pulsars. His graduate student, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, had actually spotted the first one in the data; she’d also built parts of the telescope herself, analysed the charts, noticed the anomaly, and helped confirm that it was real. But she didn’t win the prize. At … Read more
Every instinct tells you to lean back. You’re standing at the top of a slope that drops away beneath you like the edge of the world, and every fibre of your being screams to press your weight into the mountain behind you. To hold on. To stay safe. And that’s exactly how you fall. Something … Read more
With rising temperatures, longer heatwaves, and a rapidly growing urban economy, cooling in India is rapidly shifting from a lifestyle choice to a basic need, driving up air-conditioner use in homes and workplaces. This surge is now a major part of cities’ power demand, in turn raising concerns about blackouts and higher emissions and about … Read more
Scientists noticed that loggerhead turtles are getting smaller in size, reducing their reproductive output: smaller females produce smaller clutch sizes. | Photo Credit: Brian Gratwicke (CC BY) The spectre of climate change has come to haunt one of the ocean’s most ubiquitous — yet vulnerable — turtles: the strong-jawed loggerhead, named after its exceptionally large head. These omnivorous marine reptiles have been … Read more
Genetic disorders often stem from small errors in the DNA sequence with major consequences. Many diseases like cystic fibrosis and Batten disease can be traced to changes disrupting the cell’s ability to build a complete, functional protein. One particularly common culprit is the nonsense mutation, where a single incorrect DNA letter inserts a premature stop … Read more
Clarifying the influence of genetic factors that increase the risk of experiencing clinical anxiety may, in the future, help us to identify people who are particularly vulnerable |Image used for representational purpose only | Photo Credit: DrAfter123 Researchers have found 58 genetic variants linked to an increased risk of anxiety, suggesting that the disorder is … Read more
A photo posted by @ispaceflight_in showing a a PLF (Payload Fairing) washed up on an uninhabited island near L. Kunahandhoo, Maldives, found on February 12, 2026. Photo credits: X/@ispaceflight_in Debris of a launch vehicle with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) logo and the national emblem have reportedly been found recently in an uninhabited island … Read more
For representative purposes. The story so far: Bio-based chemicals are industrial chemicals produced using biological feedstocks like sugarcane, corn, starch, or biomass residues, often through fermentation or enzymatic processes. Examples include organic acids (such as lactic acid), bio-alcohols, solvents, surfactants, and intermediates used in plastics, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Enzymes are biological catalysts widely used in … Read more
In 1960, when she was studying chimpanzees in Tanzania, the primatologist Jane Goodall observed one chimp strip a stick of its leaves and use it to extract termites from a mound. She telegraphed her observation to her supervisor, the paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. “Now we must redefine ‘tool,’ redefine ‘man’ or accept chimpanzees as human,” Leakey … Read more
India’s post-Independence service rules were designed to ensure stability through generalist administrators — an approach that was essential for nation-building. However, governance has since become increasingly shaped by science, technology, and environmental challenges. As scientists joined government service, they remained governed by rules created for a different era. This mismatch has limited the effective integration … Read more
A photo posted by @ispaceflight_in showing a a PLF (Payload Fairing) washed up on an uninhabited island near L. Kunahandhoo, Maldives, found on February 12, 2026. Photo credits: X/@ispaceflight_in Debris of a launch vehicle with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) logo and the national emblem have reportedly been found recently in an uninhabited island … Read more
An artist’s impression of the LHS 1903 planetary system. | Photo Credit: Reuters Astronomers have observed a planetary system that challenges current planet formation theories, with a rocky planet that formed beyond the orbits of its gaseous neighbors, possibly after much of the planet-forming material had been used up. The system, observed using the European … Read more
Crew 12 mission astronauts, from left, pilot Jack Hathaway, Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, commander Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophia Adenot, of France, leave the Operations and Checkout building before heading to pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 13, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP The International … Read more
Prof. LaFrance, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at Alpert Medical School, Brown University, said that neurobehavioural therapy has demonstrated measurable changes in functional and structural brain connectivity. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Functional neurological disorders, long dismissed as purely psychogenic conditions, are now understood as disorders of neural network dysfunction shaped by cognition, emotion and … Read more
Did you know that there was a time in history when diamonds were believed to exist only in India? The hardest natural material on Earth, diamonds were first discovered in India nearly 3,000 years ago. For more than a millennia, India remained the only source of diamonds for the world, a monopoly that the country … Read more
A team of physicists from various universities has teamed up with the artificial intelligence (AI) model GPT-5.2 to arrive at a new result in theoretical physics, OpenAI announced on February 13. While the result itself is obscure, although valuable to physicists working on the topic, the methods that the team and the model used to … Read more
Kadhambari S. Viswanathan, assistant vice-president, Vellore Institute of Technology, in conversation with L.V. Navaneeth, Chief Executive Officer, The Hindu Group, at The Hindu Tech Summit 2026 on Friday (February 13, 2026). | Photo Credit: B. VELANKANNI RAJ Online education is one of the biggest finds of the last decade, Kadhambari S. Viswanathan, assistant vice-president, Vellore Institute … Read more
Data and AI experts take part at a session, titled ‘Data Privacy as a Pillar of Resilience: Building Trust in a Digital Age’, at The Hindu Tech Summit 2026 in Chennai on Friday | Photo Credit: B. Velankanni Raj In a world where data are extracted from individuals with or without informed consent, data and AI … Read more
Venkatesan Vijayaraghavan, COO, Virtusa, is in a conversation with John Xavier, Tech Editor, The Hindu, at a session on ‘Managing the post Anthropic Plug-in Era’ at The Hindu Tech Summit 2026 on Friday (February 13, 2026). | Photo Credit: M. SRINATH Large enterprises have to unravel business processes to make them AI-first and to rewire business … Read more
On February 3, 2026, the US FDA issued a ‘refusal to file’ (RTF) letter to Moderna Inc. regarding their new mRNA vaccine developed against influenza. This decision generated considerable controversy worldwide, particularly given the current direction of vaccination policy in the United States towards a more conservative approach. However, that does not necessarily mean that … Read more
Science Quiz: On Charles Darwin Julia Margaret Camero, a pioneer of close-up photography who also captured the famous 1862 image of Charles Darwin with a big beard. Photo: Public Domain START THE QUIZ 1 / 5 | Charles Darwin originally went to the University of Edinburgh to study ________, but he disliked the experience so … Read more
While rural Indians began the year feeling relatively confident, their urban counterparts remained cautious, according to a reading of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s consumer confidence survey. While the rural population is driving consumption beyond essentials, urban consumers remain financially conservative, despite enjoying slightly better income stability, the survey results suggest. The conclusions are … Read more
An Asiatic lioness with her two seven-month-old cubs at Sakkarbaugh Safari breeding centre in Junagadh, May 6, 2025. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI/The Hindu — N. Ramalakshmi A: The answer is a combination of how many eggs are released or ovulated and the species’ survival strategy. Many large mammals like elephants, cows, and humans usually … Read more
Rohan Chakravarty is a cartoonist and illustrator from Nagpur. His series, ‘Green Humour’, consists of cartoons and comics on wildlife, nature conservation, environmental issues, sustainability, and all things green. Published – February 12, 2026 04:55 pm IST
A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley Quiz | Easy like Sunday morning: All you need to know about Galileo What are the Galilean moons, the first objects discovered in the Solar System using … Read more
It is not a giant balloon. It is not an airplane. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto It is not a giant balloon. It is not an airplane. Well, it is in spirit, both. A blimp is a type of airship. Airships are, simply said, lighter-than-air pressure ships. Technically, it is a powered (like how we … Read more
Prof. Bonnie Bassler delivering a lecture at IISc in Bengaluru on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J. Bacteria can get into us, make us sick, and they can even kill us – but they give us our life too. Bonnie Bassler, renowned molecular biologist and professor of Princeton University, best known for her work … Read more
Media members walk by the press site video display showing NASA’s Crew-12 astronauts in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 11, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters NASA is now aiming to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday (February 13, 2026), in another delay over weather conditions, the U.S. agency announced. It … Read more