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 is now eyeing a launch on June 25, NASA announced on Tuesday (June 24, 2025). … Read more
The researchers built a real mattress with flexible plastic panels joined by thin metal strips. Representative image. | Photo Credit: Hush Naidoo Jade/Unsplash Pressure ulcers, also known as bedsores, happen when the same spots on a person’s skin are squashed for too long, cutting off blood flow and killing tissue. Today’s alternating-pressure mattresses try to … Read more
It was the clash of two intellectual titans that left behind a trail of ambiguity on the scientific and philosophical landscapes of the 20th century. It muddied the waters more than it helped clear the air surrounding the discourse about the nature and meaning of something they disagreed on: time. Both suffered blows. Albert Einstein … Read more
The year 2024 was the warmest year on record in Asia, with widespread and prolonged heatwaves, the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report states. In 2024, heatwaves gripped a record area of the ocean, the report said. The global mean temperature in 2024 was the highest on record for … Read more
The newly discovered gecko species | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement A new species of gecko, believed to be present only around Coonoor, has been discovered in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. Published in ‘Bionimina’, Dravidogecko coonoor is the formal name of the “…distinct population of Dravidogecko in Coonoor Hills of the Upper Nilgiris, Western Ghats, … Read more
Traditional livestock production systems have severe environmental consequences, including high greenhouse gas emissions, extensive land and water use, and risk of fostering antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Together with the steadily rising demand for nutrition, global and regional food systems have been exploring alternative ways to sustainably maintain their supply chains. Insect-based feed has emerged as one … Read more
India could be technologically capable of “quantum communication” using satellites in the “next half a decade” Professor Bhaskar Kanseri of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi, whose team recently reported an instance of quantum key distribution one kilometre apart — the farthest such transmission in India, without any connecting cables — told The Hindu in … Read more
Close-up view of air bubbles in a variety of shapes frozen inside a mass of ice. | Photo Credit: Dominic Bazinet/Unsplash For as long as humans have lived, they’ve found ways to store information for others to find. Cave paintings were perhaps the first examples, followed later by messages in bottles, semaphore, books, persistent URLs, … Read more
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
