(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
A sailor’s experiment In 1747, Scottish naval surgeon James Lind conducted what is now considered the world’s first controlled clinical trial aboard HMS Salisbury. Scurvy, a deadly disease causing bleeding gums and fatigue, was devastating for sailors. Unaware of vitamins, at that stage, Lind divided 12 affected sailors into six pairs, each receiving a different … Read more
DRDO and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-Delhi) successfully demonstrated Quantum Entanglement-based free-space Quantum Secure Communication over a 1 km range, marking a major breakthrough in quantum cybersecurity and secure communications, on June 16, 2025. | Photo Credit: X/@SpokespersonMoD via PTI Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) at IIT Delhi … Read more
New Railway Tatkal rules: Can users beat bots and illegal agents? In this episode of The Data Point, The Hindu Data Team uncovers why booking a Tatkal ticket is challenging for Indian users, often outpaced by unauthorized bots to the finish line | Video Credit: Sambavi Parthasarathy, Shivaraj S. Tatkal bookings on IRCTC are a … Read more
(1) Israel-Iran conflict On June 16, Iran and Israel exchanged missile fire for the fourth day after Israel struck several targets in Iran targeting its nuclear facilities and military a couple days earlier. Israel’s offensive also targeted Iranian military leaders and several nuclear scientists, killing top leaders in the military command structure. Israel-Iran conflict live … Read more
An artist’s concept of the NISAR satellite in earth orbit. The radar antenna reflector is deployed on top. | Photo Credit: NASA Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a way to make sharp pictures even when it’s dark or cloudy. Instead of using visible light like a regular camera, SAR systems send out microwave pulses and … Read more
While online booking has help reduce the long queues at reservation counters, it has also become a double-edged sword, especially in the context of Tatkal tickets. The recent changes to the Tatkal ticket booking system are significant and necessary. Under the new rules, OTP authentication using Aadhaar will be mandatory for all Tatkal bookings made … Read more
The region called Arabia sits at the heart of the earth’s driest deserts, stretching from the Sahara in the west to India’s Thar Desert in the east. It holds the distinction of being the largest biogeographical barrier on the planet. Over millennia, the arid conditions of the Saharo-Arabian Desert are expected to have prevented hominins … Read more
With the launch of Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s mission to the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled for June 19, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is coordinating with Axiom Space to refresh time-sensitive experimental specimens. | Photo Credit: Reuters With the launch of Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s mission to the International … Read more
A pod of sperm whales. | Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons When archaeologists were digging a new library site at Valencina de la Concepción in southwest Spain in 2018, they uncovered an unusual item: half of a large sperm-whale tooth lying in a 4,000-year-old pit. Because nothing like it had ever been reported from Copper-Age Iberia, … Read more
Successful test trials of rocket launch systems were conducted in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, as part of the preparations for a student competition in model rocketry scheduled to be held in October this year. The launch trials were conducted on Saturday and Sunday (June 14 and 15, 2025) by the Astronautical Society of India in association … Read more
More than four years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the disease remains a global health concern — not because of new surges but because of what persists. Long COVID, or technically post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), refers to symptoms that continue for weeks or months after the initial illness clears. These include fatigue, breathing … Read more
India stands at a pivotal juncture in its quest to harness artificial intelligence (AI) for biotechnology innovation. On one hand, initiatives like the BioE3 Policy and the IndiaAI Mission reflect a bold vision to position the country as a global leader in AI-driven biomanufacturing and ethical AI development. On the other, fragmented regulations and lagging … Read more
Sarcopenia affects millions of people and contributes to frailty, slow recovery, and hospital readmissions in older adults. | Photo Credit: Alan Calvert/Unsplash As we age, it gets harder to recover from a fall, injury or even a tough workout because the body’s muscle-repair system starts to falter. Muscle stem cells (MuSCs), the in-house repair crew, … 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
Space agency ISRO successfully conducted a rocket launching test here, marking the first time a payload was launched via a rocket from the soil of Uttar Pradesh, officials said. The test conducted on Saturday in collaboration with Thrust Tech India Limited saw the rocket ascend 1.1 km at 5:14:33 p.m., a complete success. Indian Space … Read more
To rebuild public trust, scholars at large have recommended research groups and journals adopt open-data policies and preregister studies. | Photo Credit: Dan Dimmock/Unsplash As if political broadsides weren’t enough to undermine public confidence in science, a deep-seated issue became apparent from within science itself in the 2010s: the replication crisis. Researchers began to realise … Read more
Vegetable oils of the kinds used in our daily cuisine contain organic fatty acids like linolenic and oleic acids. | Photo Credit: Joyce Romero/Unsplash In families across the world, silver is used as a precious metal, next to gold. Happy occasions in most families are celebrated with gold and silver garlands and rings. Silver is, … Read more
Lasers are used to position a patient model wearing a face mask in a CT scanner to obtain images of a tumour before radiation therapy. Representative image. | Photo Credit: USNCI A team of experts in the U.S. has successfully used a technique called step-and-shoot spot-scanning proton arc therapy (SPArc) to treat a patient’s adenoid … Read more
In May 2024, OpenAI released HealthBench, a new benchmarking system to test the clinical capabilities of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. On the surface, this may sound like yet another technical update. But for the medical world, it marked an important moment—a quiet acknowledgement that our current ways of evaluating medical AI are … Read more
A Falcon 9 rocket stands at the pad before its upcoming launch of the Axiom-4 crewed mission to the International Space Station at Launch Complex 39-A in Cape Canaveral, Florida. | Photo Credit: Reuters The much-delayed Axiom-4 commercial mission to the International Space Station, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others, is now targeting … Read more
Soft materials’ behaviour is on the border between solids and liquids. | Photo Credit: Shali/Unsplash Soft matter is the branch of science that studies materials that can be shaped, stretched, squished or flowed by applying small forces. Everyday examples include curd, toothpaste, shampoo, soap bubbles, and living cells. Unlike hard crystals like quartz or steel, … Read more