Feng, C., Chen, B., Hofer, J. et al, ‘Genomic and genetic insights into Mendel’s pea genes’, Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08891-6 In 1856, an Austrian monk named Gregor Johann Mendel began experimenting on pea plants to understand how traits are passed on from parent to offspring. He worked diligently for eight years, experimenting on more than 10,000 … Read more
Image used for representation only. | Photo Credit: AP GUWAHATI A new study has shown that stingless bees, which produce a high-value honey with a distinct flavour, can increase the yield and quality of crops. Researchers from Nagaland University’s Department of Entomology identified Tetragonula iridipennis and Lepidotrigona arcifera, two species of stingless bees, as the most efficient among … Read more
In a January advisory, the US Surgeon General urged cancer warnings for alcoholic drinks and called for guidelines on alcohol consumption limits to be reassessed. The General’s warnings are also important in light of the addictive effects of consuming alcohol, and how contemporary society perceives that addiction and how contemporary science treats it. Most of … Read more
In a January advisory, the US Surgeon General urged cancer warnings for alcoholic drinks and called for guidelines on alcohol consumption limits to be reassessed. The General’s warnings are also important in light of the addictive effects of consuming alcohol, and how contemporary society perceives that addiction and how contemporary science treats it. Most of … Read more
When the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, it started the Space Age as the beeping metal sphere transmitted radio signals. Since then, satellites have grown in complexity but their core functions have remained surprisingly static. Most still function as passive tools: capturing images, relaying communications, beaming GPS coordinates to the earth, and … Read more
Fingerprints are personal and unique. Even identical twins do not have the same fingerprint. | Photo Credit: George Prentzas/Unsplash We use many features of our bodies to identify ourselves in government records. Fingerprints in particular are widely used, from unlocking phones with sensors to validating Aadhaar cards. But fingerprints can also be fickle. For example, … Read more
(1) India’s global outreach on Operation Sindoor The Centre on Saturday (May 17, 2025) released the list of seven all-party delegations, spanning a total of 59 MPs from various political parties, that would travel to key partner countries, including members of the United Nations Security Council and the European Union, to convey India’s message of … Read more
Watch: Technology, Science, and Policy: can they together save a warming planet? The Hindu’s deputy science editor Jacob Koshy discusses climate change with IISc professor Sambuddha Misra, Arunabha Ghosh, Founder-CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, Suruchi Bhadwal, Director, Climate Change and Air Quality, TERI. “Climate change and economics have to be tied into one … Read more
The Supreme Court of India in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: PTI With the retirement of Justice Abhay S. Oka on May 24, 2025, the strength of the Supreme Court is now at 31, from a sanctioned strength of 34 judges. Only two female judges are part of the full bench at present, of which … Read more
Representational image. File | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam The story so far: On April 17, the Tamil Nadu Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai, approved the Space Industrial Policy, thereby following Karnataka and Gujarat in formulating a State-specific document to stimulate development and woo investments in the space … Read more
Bangladesh is one of the most polluted countries in the world. According to an IQ Air assessment, the country had the second-worst air quality in 2024 worldwide, with PM2.5 concentration more than 15-times the World Health Organisation’s suggested limit. Brick kilns are a major contributor to this air pollution crisis. Previous efforts to improve the … Read more
In December 2024, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs made an important announcement as part of its 2023-2024 annual report. It said the length of India’s coastline had increased from 7,516.6 km to 11,098.8 km, and that the length is also currently under review. The 7,516.6 km figure was first recorded in the 1970s based … Read more
India has shown complete dominance during Operation Sindoor, showcasing its air power and air defence capability, said Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, former Secretary, Research and Development, and Chairman, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), while expressing happiness that the majority of them are indigenous systems. He cautioned that technology is changing very fast and the … Read more
Axiom Mission 4 crew (from left to right) European Space Agency astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. File photo: X@NASASpaceOps via PTI Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and other crew members of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) are … Read more
An artist’s reconstruction of what Mosura fentoni may have looked like. | Photo Credit: Joseph Moysiuk and Jean-Bernard Caron Scientists have uncovered a strange new Cambrian sea creature called Mosura fentoni in Canada’s famous Burgess shale. M. fentoni is a radiodont, a distant relative of today’s insects, crabs, and spiders, yet it breaks several rules … Read more
A schematic representation of mutational signatures associated with blue light. | Photo Credit: PLoS Genet 21(5): e1011692 Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, have found that blue light can greatly increase the number of genetic mutations in yeast. Since yeast is a popular model organism in biology, the findings suggest … Read more
A mother holds up a mosquito net treated with insecticide in Amhara region, Ethiopia, October 2017. | Photo Credit: Public domain Researchers reported in Nature on May 22 that they had identified compounds that could target the deadly malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum during its developmental stages in Anopheles mosquitoes, potentially enhancing efforts to control malaria … Read more
Our brain depends on a finely tuned network of neurons, signals, and protective barriers to function seamlessly. This intricate setup underpins every thought, memory, and movement we make. But as we age, or under certain conditions, this system can break down. Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) slowly damage neurons and … Read more
File image of an Asiatic Lioness with her two Seven-month-old cubs at Sakkarbaugh Safari breeding centre in Junagadh | Photo Credit: The Hindu The story so far: The Gujarat Forest Department this week released results from the 16th Lion Population Estimation, popularly referred to as the ‘lion census.’ This was the first such census since … Read more
There are some inventions and discoveries that have an instant impact, changing our ways immediately and having a marked effect quickly. There are others that take time to make their presence felt so as to say, time during which we humans figure out the actual usefulness and put it to action in a better way. … Read more
The far side of the moon (shown) is more cratered than the near side. | Photo Credit: NASA The earth’s moon is tidally locked: one side always faces the earth and the other side always faces away. So when scientists got their first look of the moon’s far side, they were surprised to find it … Read more
Image for representation only | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStock For several weeks, research scholars spanning a range of Central and State universities and scientific disciplines across India, have been pleading with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for their research stipends. The forum for their complaints are primarily X and LinkedIn, and their prime … Read more
Daily quiz: On Nuclear science In 1954, the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, a Soviet facility became the world’s first nuclear power plant to generate electricity for a power grid (about 5 MW). START THE QUIZ 1 / 5 | The ___ and the _________ methods are both used to generate supercriticality in a process known … Read more
Tête de Moine cheese. | Photo Credit: Tête de Moine AOP, Fromage de Bellelay (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!) The Tête de Moine cheese from the Bellelay region of Switzerland is iconic because of the … Read more
Army soldiers take position as they patrol along border fence at India-Pakistan Line of Control (LoC) on the forward post of Gowhalan, Uri. Except in Gujarat, exports from most western border districts of India were already minimal and stagnating, and reductions in poverty levels were significantly slower. Recent India-Pakistan tensions and cross-border shelling along the … Read more
In 2020, 58-year-old Viswanathan, recovering from a stroke, sought physiotherapy from an Ayurvedic practitioner, hoping to regain mobility. However, this treatment caused wounds on his leg. As a diabetic with an already weakened immune system this marked the beginning of his battle with antimicrobial resistance (AMR). After a year of battling infections, he was given … Read more
M.R. Srinivasan being laid to rest at the Wellington crematorium in Coonoor on Tuesday with full state honours. | Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M The mortal remains of eminent nuclear scientist and former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission M.R. Srinivasan were laid to rest with full state honours at the Wellington crematorium in Coonoor on … Read more
CART-T cell therapy, these cells are engineered to recognise and target the specific cancer cell, thus using the immune system to fight the disease. Photograph used for representational purposes only | Photo Credit: File Photo An ICMR-funded trial led by CMC Vellore demonstrated that CAR-T therapy, which uses a patient’s own T cells to fight … Read more
Why some States are upset with the Centre over revenue sharing: Part 1 | Video Credit: The Hindu Almost every State — including those ruled by the BJP — is calling for a change in the current revenue-sharing formula with the Central government. To understand this growing demand, it’s crucial to first unpack how the … Read more
Trained only on historical data, Aurora was able to correctly forecast all hurricanes in 2023 more accurately than operational forecasting centres [File] | Photo Credit: REUTERS Microsoft has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that beats current forecasting methods in tracking air quality, weather patterns, and climate-addled tropical storms, according to findings published Wednesday. Dubbed … Read more