Charon’s discovery The story of Charon’s discovery takes us back to 1978 – a time when even astronomers were still thinking that Pluto was a planet. Little was known about Pluto and its system, but all that was about to change in the decades that followed. On the morning of June 22, American astronomer … Read more
By the time Nishant Narayanasamy joined Shashi Thutupalli’s lab at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bengaluru in 2019, the lab had a new guest: a yeast colony that had seemingly grown way beyond its expected size. The snowflake yeast had been shipped from William Ratcliff’s laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology … Read more
A farmer works at a maize field in a village bordering Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, April 20, 2025. | Photo Credit: G.N. Rao/The Hindu For every 1º C rise in average temperature worldwide, the per person availability of calories will fall 4% of what’s recommended by 2100. Most major staple crops, including rice, wheat, sorghum, maize, and … Read more
The conditions required for a clear ENSO signal only emerge in early summer, so forecasts before then quickly lose value. | Photo Credit: Joshua Eckl/Unsplash A: The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a climate phenomenon with three phases: warm, cool, and neutral. Depending on the phase in a year, ENSO affects the climate in … Read more
ISRO’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-03 (SSLV-D3) leaves a trail of smoke after it lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on August 16, 2024. Photo: X/@isro via PTI The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has bagged a Transfer of Technology (ToT) deal, valued at ₹511 crore, from the Indian Space Research Organisation, to build … Read more
Scientists from IIT-Delhi and the DRDO recently demonstrated a key advance in quantum cybersecurity that stands to revolutionise how the world will communicate in the future. The world’s secrets are currently stored and communicated via channels that are protected by difficult mathematical problems. Over the years, an increasing amount of computing power available to certain … Read more
Feeling like falling Ever experienced the illusory sense of falling? When you fall asleep, you feel you’re entire body drop as the air screams past you. You may or may not know what caused this in the first place. You might have been standing on a solid floor when the ground unexpectedly gave out. You … Read more
(This article forms a part of the Science for All newsletter that takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Subscribe now!) Krill (Euphausia superba) are transparent marine organisms. Each krill is the size of a matchbox but they travel the open seas in swarms of several thousands. They are prey to … Read more
Sri Mallikarjunaswamy temple at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh. The first Indian epigraphical reference to Halley’s comet has been discovered in a copper plate inscription dated 1456 CE belonging to the Vijayanagara period and preserved at the Srisailam Mallikarjunaswamy temple in Andhra Pradesh. Dr. K. Munirathnam Reddy, Director, Epigraphy Branch of the Archaeological Survey of India … Read more
An artist gives final touches to a painting of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Amritsar on Sunday, on the eve of his swearing-in | Photo Credit: NARINDER NANU Indians continue to hold a relatively high opinion of U.S. President Donald Trump and his ability to handle immigration policies, even though confidence in his leadership has … Read more
Axiom-4 astronauts, commander Peggy Whitson of U.S., pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, mission specialist Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and mission specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary, are pictured on the countdown video clock, as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Launch Complex 39-A after a delay of its mission to the International Space Station, in … Read more
One important target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education. Within this broad goal, there are two important targets pertaining to Internet and digital skills. Target 4.4.1 talks about the share of youth and adult population who have some Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skill. Target 4.4.2 pertains … Read more
In recent years, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has changed outcomes for patients with aggressive blood cancers that no longer respond to standard treatments. In some acute leukaemias, CAR T-cell therapy has led to remissions lasting months or even years. Early-stage trials have explored its use in severe autoimmune diseases like lupus as well, … Read more
NDRF and SDRF personnel at the spot after a helicopter crashed near the Kedarnath shrine, in Uttarakhand, Sunday, June 15, 2025. | Photo Credit: PTI The latest helicopter crash in Uttarakhand — which claimed seven lives, among them a two-year-old child, during a Kedarnath pilgrimage flight — adds yet another tragic entry to the State’s … Read more
The Prayoga Institute of Education Research’s Kriya initiative aims to transform science learning for over 11,000 students across 77 schools in Karnataka. | Photo: iStock/ Getty Images In a move to enhance science education in rural India, 12 government schools in Raichur district, Karnataka, will be equipped with science lab stations to conduct experiments and … Read more
The SpaceX Starship sits on the launch pad ahead of its sixth flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on November 17, 2024. A SpaceX Starship exploded during a “routine” test late June 18 in Texas, local law enforcement said, adding that no injuries had been reported and an investigation into the cause was … Read more
With the U.S. terminating several research programmes, firing thousands of federal scientists, and cancelling important, high-value federal research grants— $8 billion already and further cuts of almost $18 billion next year for National Institute of Health (NIH), proposed cuts of about $5 billion next year to National Science Foundation (NSF), proposed cut of nearly 25% … Read more
Have you ever seen a small box on the side of your house with numbers or a screen on it? That’s an electric meter. | Photo Credit: Pexels You must have been asked to switch off lights and fans while leaving a room and lectured about how the electricity bill will skyrocket. Have you ever … Read more
Around 1847, in colonial Calcutta, an unexpected visitor arrived, likely hidden in plant crates or trade goods from East Africa. The giant African snail (Lissachatina fulica) entered India without fanfare, admired at first for its size and shell. But what seemed ornamental soon revealed itself to be the country’s most persistent invasive alien species. Thriving … Read more
Director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Vinay K Nandicoori inaugurating the Thermo Fisher Scientific Supply Centre at AIC-CCMB in Hyderabad on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) | Photo Credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR A special ‘supply center’ providing accessibility to essential research consumables for the life science research community in and around the (AIC-CCMB) Atal … Read more
Honda R&D successfully landed its 6.3-metre-tall experimental reusable launch vehicle after reaching an altitude of 271 metres at its test facility in northern Japan’s Taiki space town. | Photo Credit: Borui Wang/Unsplash In a pleasant surprise, Japan’s second-biggest carmaker Honda successfully tested an experimental reusable rocket, the company said, as it seeks to expand into … Read more
(In the weekly Health Matters newsletter, Ramya Kannan writes about getting to good health, and staying there. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox.) Universally, a certain class of drugs have come to be superstars in recent times. The GLP-1 class of drugs, with their capacity for weight loss, though originally conceived and developed for diabetes, has suddenly become … Read more
To define autism solely in terms of challenges is a limited and incomplete view. Many autistic individuals possess remarkable abilities in fields like mathematics, music, memory, design, and pattern recognition. Photograph used for representational purposes only | Photo Credit: AP Every year on June 18, the world observes Autistic Pride Day, a day not of mourning or sympathy, … Read more
Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own pigment-producing cells. File photograph In a world that idolises perfection, vitiligo tells a strikingly different story — one of resilience, uniqueness, and rediscovered beauty. Vitiligo is a skin condition where the body loses its pigment in patches, turning areas of the … Read more
Studies carried out in mice have demonstrated that two approved drugs — varespladib and marimastat — were effective in countering systemic and lethal effects of Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) venom either individually or in combination. The two drugs were tested against Russell’s vipers venom sourced from different States across India. Russell’s vipers are responsible for … Read more
This photo provided by Axiom Space shows Shubhanshu Shukla from India, Peggy Whitson from the U.S., Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. | Photo Credit: AP Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station has been postponed to June 22, to allow NASA to evaluate the operations on the … Read more
IIT-Delhi and DRDO scientists have successfully demonstrate entanglement-based free-space quantum communication over 1 km. | Photo Credit: X.com/@SpokespersonMoD The story so far: On June 16, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement that IIT-Delhi scientists together with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) demonstrated quantum communication over a distance of more than 1 … Read more
Ever observed cranes lifting heavy loads, excavators digging and scooping earth or the extension and retraction of landing gears in an aircraft? They all have one thing in common: they are driven by hydraulics. In all of them, the input power, from a combustion engine or an electric source, is converted into flexible mechanical power. … Read more
In the early 1800s, ‘the theory of acquired characters’ was the most widely accepted explanation of evolution. Simply put, the theory stated that characteristics that an organism developed during its lifetime, through use, disuse or environmental influence, could be inherited by its offspring. The French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck formalised this idea in two laws in … Read more
Insects surrounded by their resin seen attached on their host plant. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement In a new study, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have unravelled the mystery behind how the lac insect produces laccaic acid that is used to make lac pigment. The lac pigment is a prized commodity used … Read more