All of us have had this experience at some point: you wake up, find out you’re late for a class or meeting, clean up, put on some nice clothes, and run. When you finally get to where you need to be, you’re sweating. You pull out a small deodorant bottle from your bag, give yourself … Read more
Biologists have the fruit fly. Botanists have the thale cress. Neurologists have the roundworm. These are model organisms: plants and animals that scientists in each of these fields study to make sense of almost all other plants and animals in the world. For example, in the 1990s, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered a new … Read more
Watch: What war hysteria hides The real cost of war goes beyond borders, battles, and breaking news. Following the Pahalgam massacre, military tensions had reignited — but so did a wave of online misinformation. This video unpacks the data behind the war hysteria: from rising Google searches of war-related terms and viral fake news to … Read more
(From right) U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Indian cricket player Virat Kohli, Satellite image of Pakistan’s Sukkur air base by Maxar Technologies, Justice B.R. Gavai, and an accused in Pollachi sexual assault case. (1) Operation Sindoor and India’s response to Pakistan In a swift military operation on May 7, 2025, the Indian Armed … Read more
A view of the World Health Organisation headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, January 28, 2025. | Photo Credit: Reuters Hundreds of officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO) will join donors and diplomats in Geneva from May 19 with one question dominating their thoughts: how to cope with crises from mpox to cholera without their main … Read more
The noted geneticist and evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900-1975) published an essay in 1973 in the journal American Biology Teacher, titled ‘Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution’. The title became wildly popular in scientific circles. It was even engraved in the Jordan Hall of Science of the University of Notre … Read more
PSLV-C61 rocket carrying Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-09) lifts off from the first launch pad, in Sriharikota, Sunday, May 18, 2025. After a precise liftoff, Chairman V. Narayanan said that the mission could not be accomplished as planned. | Photo Credit: PTI The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) could not accomplish its 101st launch, the PSLV-C61/EOS-09 … Read more
PSLV-C61 mission was not accomplished after it encountered an anomaly in the third stage. It lifted off successfully initially. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) could not accomplish its 101st launch, the PSLV-C61/EOS-09 mission on Sunday (May 18, 2025). Minutes after PSLV-C61 with the EOS-09 Earth observation satellite lifted … Read more
A batch of Li-ion coin cells being tested. | Photo Credit: UCL Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences Scientists have reported in Science that the key to fixing solid-state battery (SSB) failures may lie in well-documented mechanical laws, paving the way for longer operational lifetimes. A battery consists of an electrolyte sandwiched between the positive … Read more
A view of solar panels and wind turbines installed at the Adani Green Renewable Energy Plant in Khavda, Gujarat, October 2024. | Photo Credit: AFP As the sweltering heat of summer reaches its peak, our thoughts turn towards the approaching rainy season. Data collected by weather stations and rain gauges for over a century tell … Read more
Scientists have known for some time that biological matter can pack in more information for the same volume. Representative illustration. | Photo Credit: Galina Nelyubova/Unsplash In the last couple decades, the amount of physical space required to store digital data has plummeted. A 100 GB harddrive used to be a bulky contraption; today a USB … Read more
The ‘Candelabra’ hydrothermal vent on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 3.3 km underwater. In the past, scientists have found evidence of ancient life forms in the precipitates around such vents. | Photo Credit: MARUM (CC BY 4.0) Two-thirds of the earth’s surface consists of the deep ocean — parts of the surface 200 m or more below … Read more
S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu The progress made by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in developing eco-friendly launch vehicle systems reflects a strong commitment to sustainable space exploration practices, S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), has said. Dr. Nair was speaking after … Read more
ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan. File | Photo Credit: ANI Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman V. Narayanan on Friday (May 16, 2025) offered prayers at the Lord Venkateswara temple, seeking blessings for the successful launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C61/EOS-09 mission, a remote sensing satellite mission. The launch is scheduled for May 18, … Read more
Balachandra Rao. File | Photo Credit: Special arrangement The world of classical Indian astronomy and mathematics has lost one of its most distinguished voices. Balachandra Rao, a mathematician, astronomer and historian of science, was a scholar who dedicated his life to decoding India’s rich intellectual heritage while fearlessly challenging pseudoscience and advocating a scientific temper. … Read more
New investment projects worth ₹19.8 lakh crore were announced in the March 2025 quarter, the highest in at least the last six years. Though most of the announcements were made by the private sector, pledges from the government sector saw a five-fold increase in the same quarter compared to the December 2024 quarter. While a … Read more
A man inspects his house that was damaged by cross-border shelling, in Kotmaira village along the Line of Control in Akhnoor Sector, J&K | Photo Credit: Channi Anand The military escalation between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam massacre has been accompanied by a barrage of misinformation and disinformation. Data shows that concerned citizens, particularly … Read more
A picture taken at a meeting held by ISRO and JAXA for the Chandrayaan-5 mission, in Bengaluru on May 13 and 14. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all geared up for its 101st launch with the PSLV-C61 / EOS-09 mission, which is scheduled to be launched on May 18 at 5.59 a.m. from … Read more
Image used for representation only | Photo Credit: Arya P. Kumar (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!) Two-thirds of the earth’s surface consists of the deep ocean — parts of the surface 200 m or more … Read more
Union Minister of Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches two genome-edited varieties of rice by ICAR, at the Bharat Ratna C. Subramaniam Auditorium, NASC Complex in New Delhi on MAY 4. | Photo Credit: ANI The story so far: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently announced that India has become the first country in the … Read more
Discussing particle physics over a pint; debating the future of food sustainability over complimentary peanuts. Scientists hobnobbing with the public in a pub is not really what comes to mind when you think about serious science discussions. But that’s what Pint of Science wants to change. The event, started by research scientists Praveen Paul and … Read more
A quantum dot is a type of semiconductor that’s only a few nanometres wide. It has a wide range of applications, including in LED lighting, medical diagnostics, printing, semiconductor fabrication, and solar panels. They’re very small but they’ve had a big impact on our world as we know it. This is why the people who … Read more
Mariangela Hungria. | Photo Credit: World Food Prize via AP A Brazilian scientist who pushed back against the use of chemical fertilisers and studied biological approaches to more robust food production has been honoured with this year’s World Food Prize, the organisation announced on May 13. Microbiologist Mariangela Hungria has been researching biological seed and … Read more
Science quiz: Mars is more than just the red planet Visual: Name this NASA mission that definitively recorded the first quakes on Mars as well as seismic waves in a layer 5.4 km below Mars’s surface. START THE QUIZ 1 / 6 | Name this NASA mission (shown on the picture) that definitively recorded the … Read more
The Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM) system that has been deployed in the recent India-Pakistan hostilities has a Tiruchi connection. The project’s director Ramprasad Ramakrishna Panyam was a graduate of Chemical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology – Tiruchi, of the 1971-76 batch. Panyam passed away due to a massive cardiac arrest in 2012 at … Read more
Pope Leo XIV greets people of the press on May 12, 2025, in Vatican City, Vatican. | Photo Credit: Christopher Furlong Upon the passing of Pope Francis, Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected to succeed him as Pope Leo XIV. The conclave to elect the new pontiff began on May 7. The election of … Read more
Climate change is reshaping the world — and perhaps nowhere more so than in the wild. As ecosystems change, species are forced to move to new locations in search of the resources they need to live. Unlike some human-made borders that are visible as fences and walls, the wild at large has numerous borders invisible … Read more
(L-R) Air Marshal AK Bharti, DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, Vice Admiral AN Pramod and Major General SS Sharda during the press conference on Operation Sindoor, in New Delhi on Sunday. | Photo Credit: ANI In a swift and decisive military action against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the Indian armed forces … Read more
An image of the ALICE detector, which researchers used to track near-miss collisions between lead nuclei in the LHC. | Photo Credit: CERN In India and other parts of the world, some ancient natural philosophers practised an enterprise called alchemy. It was in some ways an early form of chemistry, but guided by less-than-scientific ideas … Read more
