The mantis shrimp is a colourful, 10-cm-long resident of the ocean whose appearance belies its reputation as one of the most fearsome predators on the planet. These unassuming crustaceans use a hammer-shaped appendage called the dactyl club to strike their prey at a blistering 23 m/s (about 50-times faster than the blink of an eye), … Read more
A scientist walking in a tunnel inside the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) Large Hadron Collider, during maintenance works on July 19, 2013, in Meyrin, near Geneva. File | Photo Credit: AFP The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment at CERN — Europe’s premier research centre for particle physics and home to the world’s largest … Read more
GUWAHATI An informal network of individuals and organisations working together to foster the knowledge and practice of ecological restoration of natural ecosystems in India is releasing a first-of-its-kind seed germination database on Wednesday (April 16, 2025). This free-access database, an initiative of the Ecological Restoration Alliance-India (ERA-I), offers more than 1,000 germination techniques for 465 … Read more
A: To keep our torso stable and conserve energy, we swing our arms backwards and forwards while walking. When you swing, say, your right leg forward to take a step, you provide a rotational moment about the central vertical axis of your torso. By the principle of conservation of angular momentum, an opposite reactionary moment … Read more
Primates, which include humans, apes, monkeys and lemurs are diverse in traits like brain size, diet, locomotion and habitat. Using insights from recent advances in primate genomics and studying the DNA of over 500 primate species, scientists have uncovered the genetic secrets behind their evolutionary success and ecological flexibility. A global team of scientists, including … Read more
Primates, which include humans, apes, monkeys and lemurs are diverse in traits like brain size, diet, locomotion and habitat. Using insights from recent advances in primate genomics and studying the DNA of over 500 primate species, scientists have uncovered the genetic secrets behind their evolutionary success and ecological flexibility. A global team of scientists, including … Read more
A SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida, U.S., on March 18. | Photo Credit: NASA The recent safe return of NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore after a nine-month stay onboard … Read more
One of the most powerful objects in the universe is a radio quasar – a spinning black hole spraying out highly energetic particles. Come too close to one, and you’d get sucked in by its gravitational pull, or burn up from the intense heat surrounding it. But ironically, studying black holes and their jets can … Read more
The invention of silicon chips revolutionised communications. Even today they are the cornerstone of the technologies we use to move information around the world. The way they work has changed significantly, however. They have become better: for a long time this was because experts improved its hardware to operate as efficiently as possible. But more … Read more
(1) Supreme Court gives verdict on Tamil Nadu Governor withholding assent to Bills The Supreme Court in a two-judge bench verdict approved 10 Bills for which the Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi had withheld assent and fixed a 90-day maximum time period within which the Governor must take action on Bills sent to him by … Read more
In one way or another, all living people on the earth can trace their ancestry to Africa and therefore carry some portion of African ancestral DNA — some to a significant degree, others less so. If we all originated from the same African ancestors, why do we look so different? Imagine two grains of paddy, … Read more
Leptobrachium aryatium, a new-to-science frog recorded from a reserve forest on the edge of Guwahati. Photo: Special Arrangement GUWAHATI A study spanning 21 years has yielded a new species of frog named after an Assam college that helped a locality shed its identity as a hub of country liquor production. Guwahati’s Aryanagar used to be … Read more
Since Donald Trump regained the U.S. presidency, he has coveted Greenland. Trump has insisted that the U.S. will control the island, currently an autonomous territory of Denmark, and if his overtures are rejected, perhaps seize Greenland by force. During a recent congressional hearing, senators and expert witnesses focused on Greenland’s strategic value and its natural … Read more
For her PhD research, bat biologist Kadambari Deshpande made overnight recordings of bat echolocation calls in the Western Ghats. A “good night” would generate about 30 GB of data from 11 hours of recording with a bat detector. To process the data, Deshpande would go through several one-minute recordings, scanning every millisecond for bat calls, … Read more
Did you know that the word “atom” originates from the Greek word “atomos”? The Greek word means uncuttable or indivisible and the choice of the word comes more from philosophical concepts than from scientific studies. Atoms, as you might well have studied in school, comprise subatomic particles. The first nuclear transmutation of one element … Read more
Two old African elephants, Bully (left) and Susi, stand inside the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, March 27, 2025. | Photo Credit: AP At the Barcelona Zoo, a 40-year-old African elephant places her foot through the metal barrier where a zookeeper gently scrubs its sole — the beloved pachyderm gets her “pedicure”, along with apple slices … Read more
Representative image | Photo Credit: Getty Images The story so far: The preliminary findings of the GenomeIndia project, which attempted to study whole genomes of 10,000 healthy and unrelated Indians from 83 population groups, were published in the journal Nature Genetics on April 8. After excluding two populations, the published findings are based on the … Read more
A study which examined the spatial rainfall trends across India has found that the amount of rainfall per day in certain parts of India has increased during the last decade 2011-2020 compared with the previous decade (2001-2010) while certain other parts have witnessed a reduction in the rainfall amount. The study has used the GSMaP-ISRO … Read more
The rt-LAMP assay is a molecular test with high sensitivity and specificity | Photo Credit: CDC/ Ray Butler, MS Researchers at the Thiruvananthapuram-based Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) have developed and tested a novel, cost-effective, real-time LAMP (rt-LAMP) assay for early diagnosis of TB. Much like GeneXpert and Truenat, the … Read more
Researchers have found that besides sharks, bees and platypus, even fruit fly larvae can sense electric fields and navigate toward the negative electric potential using a small set of sensory neurons in their head. Researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara immersed a fruit fly larva in an electric field and they found … Read more
Local climate can be used to predict the venom characteristics of Russell’s viper, a deadly snake that is widespread in India, helping clinicians to provide targeted therapies for snake bite victims, according to a study published by IISc researchers on April 10 in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) is found across … Read more
The NOAA logo is seen behind Florida governor Ron DeSantis as he talks to the media during a news conference as Hurricane Dorian approaches the U.S. state, August 29, 2019. | Photo Credit: Reuters The administration of President Donald Trump aims to eliminate the arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that oversees research … Read more
Jared Isaacman, billionaire, CEO and nominee to become the next NASA administrator, faced questions on April 9, 2025, from members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation during his confirmation hearing for the position. Should the Senate confirm him, Isaacman will be the first billionaire – but not the first astronaut – to … Read more
When the natural environment is stretched beyond its ability to meet basic human needs for food, clean air, drinkable water and shelter, it is not just a humanitarian concern for the world community. Research shows that these crises are a matter of national security for the U.S. and other countries. The Pentagon and the U.S. … Read more
Typhloperipatus williamsoni was spotted in the Siang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement A team of researchers at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and The Environment (ATREE) had reported rediscovering a long-lost species of the velvet worms (phylum Onychophora), one of the oldest living fossils in the world, after 111 … Read more
A majority of police personnel believe in using intimidation as a law enforcement tool. Misuse of force by the police has long been a contentious issue in India. It often surfaces in public discourse following high-profile cases of custodial deaths or excessive violence. India lacks a specific law to prevent torture, but there is an … Read more
Colossal Biosciences is an American company with an unusual marketing line: combining genomics with conservation — not in its traditional form, but through de-extinction, which is resurrecting species extinct for thousands of years. Leading this project is Harvard geneticist George Church, a prominent promoter of the company, who aims to bring back the woolly mammoth, … Read more
The telescope structure itself is a mix of fiberglass, wood, and steel — materials carefully selected for their strength and practicality. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Two groups in Kolkata related to astronomy have created what they claim to be the largest handmade telescope in the city — a 14.5-inch f/5 Dobsonian that is low-cost, … Read more
In the ongoing debate on delimitation, a conflict between a principle of democracy and one of federalism has become apparent. ‘One person, one vote, one value’ is a principle of India’s electoral system. What this should mean in practice, at a minimum, is that all Lok Sabha constituencies should have roughly the same number of … Read more
Survey reveals that four in 10 police personnel believe that reporting of custodial torture should be mandatory In recent years, concerns over police brutality and custodial torture have intensified, fuelling debates about justice, accountability, and human rights. The findings from a recent study on the ‘Status of Policing in India Report’ conducted by Lokniti-Centre for … Read more