German anaesthesiologist Joachim Boldt has an unfortunate claim to fame. According to Retraction Watch, a public database of research retractions, he is the most retracted scientist of all time. To date, 220 of his roughly 400 published research papers have been retracted by academic journals. Boldt may be a world leader, but he has plenty of … Read more
(1) Israel breaks ceasefire with attack on Gaza Israel launched a barrage of airstrikes into Gaza on Tuesday (March 18, 2025), killing hundreds. This marked the end of a fragile ceasefire with Hamas, reigniting the war that began when Hamas launched an attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over a thousand people and … Read more
An undated image from NASA’s Webb Space Telescope shows an outflow from a nearby still-forming star in infrared light, with a spiral galaxy off in the distance | Photo Credit: NASA via AP The Webb Space Telescope has captured a plume of gas and dust streaming from a star in the making, with a … Read more
When we think about flood management, higher stop banks, stronger levees and concrete barriers usually come to mind. But what if the best solution – for people and nature – isn’t to confine rivers, but to give them more space? This alternative is increasingly being considered as an approach to mitigating flood risk. But allowing … Read more
Silicosis is an incurable but entirely preventable lung disease. It has only one cause: breathing in too much silica dust. This is a risk in several industries, including tunnelling, stone masonry and construction. Just last week, ABC reported that 13 workers from tunnelling projects in Sydney have been diagnosed with silicosis. It’s yet another reminder that current … Read more
US company Colossal Biosciences has announced the creation of a “woolly mouse” — a laboratory mouse with a series of genetic modifications that lead to a woolly coat. | Photo Credit: Colossal Biosciences/The Conversation US company Colossal Biosciences has announced the creation of a “woolly mouse” — a laboratory mouse with a series of genetic modifications that lead to … Read more
A grab of a handout video taken on January 26, 2025 by Condrik Research and Preserve NGO shows a humpback anglerfish near the coast of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. The video of a humpback anglerfish is a very unusual sighting, as this kind of fish lives between 200 and 2000 metres deep in tropical … Read more
We have discovered the oldest meteorite impact crater on Earth, in the very heart of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The crater formed more than 3.5 billion years ago, making it the oldest known by more than a billion years. Our discovery is published today in Nature Communications. Curiously enough, the crater was exactly where we … Read more
The researchers said an important aspect of the study was that it identified significant monsoon cycles linked to solar activity. Representational file image. | Photo Credit: V RAJU A recent study conducted by the Central University of Kerala has provided crucial insights into the historical behaviour of the Indian Summer Monsoon over the past 15,000 … Read more
Restorer Wang Nan, right patch up holes on a panel of patterned green silk with the Chinese character for “longevity” sewn into it, adding color in a process called “inpainting,” at a workshop on the sprawling compound of the Forbidden City also known as the Palace Museum in Beijing, on February 21, 2025. | Photo … Read more
A 2018 artist’s concept shows the Parker Solar Probe flying into the sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona, on a mission to help scientists learn more about the star. | Photo Credit: NASA Among the various places humans have aspired to visit in the solar system, the sun remains the most foreboding. On December 24, … Read more
Just like the government uses an Aadhaar number to uniquely identify an individual for social security purposes, a person’s DNA fingerprint can be used for biological purposes. This is why DNA analysis is such a big deal. Today, it is most often (but not exclusively) used together with technologies like PCR, capillary electrophoresis, and fingerprinting. … Read more
Permafrost melting is emerging as a unique environmental threat in the Kashmir Himalaya. A new study has found that thawing permafrost could affect 193 km of roads, 2,415 households, 903 alpine lakes, and eight hydropower projects in the mountainous region. Permafrost is any type of ground — soil, sediment, rock, etc. — that has been … Read more
Ice is seen on the Pastoruri glacier in the Peruvian Andes, Peru, May 7, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters Glaciers around the globe are disappearing faster than ever, with the last three-year period seeing the largest glacial mass loss on record, according to a UNESCO report released on March 21. The 9,000 gigatonnes of ice … Read more
Representative image | Photo Credit: Getty Images The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has completed the genomic sequencing of a third, or 10,000 samples, of the target of 32,500 samples of mycobacterium tuberculosis — the bacteria behind tuberculosis (TB)— in a bid to improve the understanding of drug-resistant TB and capture unique genomic features of the … Read more
The contributions from advanced economies towards India’s inward remittances have increased | Photo Credit: PTI The latest data indicate a decline in the Gulf countries’ share of India’s inward remittances, while contributions from advanced economies have increased. The data also reveal that States with a declining share of migrants to the Gulf countries are seeing … Read more
Why do some individuals get tattooed while others don’t? Is it because of differences in their genes? Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark in Odense recently addressed these questions. Their findings, reported in February in the journal Behavior Genetics, showed that differences in an individual’s propensity to get tattooed were not due to nature … Read more
A section of lapis lazuli rock with pyrite mined in Afghanistan in January 2008. | Photo Credit: Hannes Grobe (CC BY-SA 2.5) Lapis lazuli is a vividly blue rock, sometimes with streaks of gold, that has been known for millennia for its eye-popping colour and use as a semi-precious gemstone. It gets its colour from … Read more
This image provided by NSF’s NOIRLab shows the trails of stars above Kitt Peak National Observatory, where a telescope is mapping the universe to study a mysterious force called dark energy. Photo: NSF’s NoirLab via AP Scientists are homing in on the nature of a mysterious force called dark energy, and nothing short of the … Read more
Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore (L) and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June 2024. | Photo Credit: NASA via AP The story so far: Early on March 19 (IST), a SpaceX capsule bearing … Read more
Challenging assumptions about infant memory, a novel functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study shows that babies as young as 12 months old can encode memories, researchers report in a study published in Science. The findings suggest that infantile amnesia — the inability to remember our first few years of life — is more likely caused by memory retrieval failures rather … Read more
A study of Galápagos yellow warblers, a songbird widespread in the Galápagos Islands, are changing their behaviour due to traffic noise, with those frequently exposed to vehicles showing heightened levels of aggression. Researchers played bird songs from a speaker, simulating an intruder, accompanied by recorded traffic noise at 38 locations populated by Galápagos yellow warblers on … Read more
Unripe jackfruit has many culinary uses If the mango is described as the king of fruits, then the jackfruit will be the doctor of all fruits. Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a plant known in India and the Middle East for a long time and has been used in Ayurveda and Unani systems of medicine as … Read more
“You don’t look at the big problem all together, because I think it’s a little intimidating. You just take it one day at a time, meet the people who are going to meet with you…, and really try to do the best job that you can. That’s all teamwork, and that’s what space travel is … Read more
Influenza cases peak during monsoon season with a secondary peak during winter | Photo Credit: CDC/Douglas Jordan On March 7 and March 8, several newspapers reported a surge in influenza (flu) cases in the Delhi-NCR region, with some mentioning the “spike” as over 54%. The source of this news was a local survey (LocalCircle) of over 13,000 … Read more
Representative image | Photo Credit: The Hindu The parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers, headed by Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad, has urged the Union Fertilizers Ministry to seek additional funds for the sector at the revised estimate stage to ensure that subsidy schemes for farmers are not negatively affected. In a report on … Read more
Groundwater is a crucial but often overlooked resource that sustains India’s agriculture, industries, and drinking water supply. Stored in underground aquifers—porous rock formations that hold water like a sponge—it serves as the lifeblood of the nation. The monsoon plays a key role in replenishing these aquifers, but the delicate balance between extraction and recharge is … Read more
Photograph used for representational purposes only | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Lately in the news after United States President Donald Trump famously misstated that “USD 8 million had been spent for making mice transgender.” This was followed by House laughter and sneers from Republicans on cue, and then Trump brought up tail by claiming: “This … Read more
Water scarcity is not a new issue haunting the world; nevertheless, it is still seen as a challenge that affects billions every year. The increasing water demand, coupled with climate change and mismanagement, has made water a scarce commodity, especially in developing countries like India. Scarcity essentially occurs when there is limited availability of a … Read more
India boasts a vast and diverse surface water network. This water is an interconnected network of natural water bodies like rivers, lakes and ponds. The major rivers in India being Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Godavari along with countless lakes, ponds and traditional water tanks. These water bodies support agriculture, drinking water supply, and groundwater recharge while … Read more