The dramatic surge of artificial intelligence (AI) has also made visible the machines humming underneath to make its applications possible. From their origins in being able to separate data into different groups, AI today excels at too many tasks to count. Just in 2024, smartphones have started to be sold with AI models built into … Read more
Prof. Janet Thornton. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K We have come a long way in understanding the structure of proteins, but in translating that into new medicines we are just starting, said renowned computational biologist Janet Thornton in an interaction with The Hindu. Lesson from COVID-19 “We saw with the COVID-19 virus how quickly the … Read more
In the remote Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, a rare fungus grows inside dead caterpillars. In traditional Chinese medicine, this parasitic fungus is prized for its purported medicinal effects. Known as Ophiocordyceps sinensis – colloquially, caterpillar fungus or “Himalayan gold” – it can fetch astronomical prices on the herbal medicine market: up to US$63,000 per pound. Ophiocordyceps sinensis fungus is a parasite that … Read more
I began practicing psychotherapy during the Reagan administration. Thirty years went by before distress about politics became a clinical issue for any of my clients. I remember the moment it first happened: There was a long voicemail from a distraught woman requesting therapy for anxiety and depression in reaction to the 2016 presidential election of Donald … Read more
The Eaton Fire destroys a structure, January 7, 2025, in Altadena, California. | Photo Credit: AP Holding long-term global warming to two degrees Celsius — the fallback target of the Paris climate accord — is now “impossible,” according to a stark new analysis published by leading scientists. Led by renowned climatologist James Hansen, the paper … Read more
On 27 December last year, astronomers using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile discovered a small asteroid moving away from Earth. Follow up observations have revealed that the asteroid, 2024 YR4, is on a path that might lead to a collision with our planet on December 22 2032. In other words, the newly-discovered space rock poses a significant impact … Read more
The colours of rubies and emeralds are so striking that they define shades of red and green – ruby red and emerald green. But have you ever wondered how they get those colours? I am an inorganic chemist. Researchers in my field work to understand the chemistry of all the elements that make up the … Read more
I sit on an ethics review committee at the Albany Med Health System in New York state, where doctors and nurses frequently bring us fraught questions. Consider a typical case: A 6-month-old child has suffered a severe brain injury following cardiac arrest. A tracheostomy, ventilator and feeding tube are the only treatments keeping him alive. These intensive … Read more
The telescope is a project of the European Southern Observatory intergovernmental research organisation and is under construction in northern Chile. Photo credit: ESO :Q: What is the Extremely Large Telescope? A: The Extremely Large Telescope is planned to be one of the most capable astronomical observatories ever assembled. The telescope, currently about 60% complete, is … Read more
Astronomers have discovered a gigantic black hole named Gaia BH3 hiding close to the earth, the third of its kind. All three were discovered by the European Space Agency’s Gaia telescope, which has been constantly monitoring the motions of billions of stars in our galaxy since 2013. Black holes are fascinating to non-scientists and astronomers … Read more
Genetically modified polo horses stand in San Antonio de Areco, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, January 30, 2025. | Photo Credit: Reuters Argentina’s award-winning mare Polo Pureza will have her genes, or at least most of them, live on in five genetically edited horses designed to outrun the polo legend herself. Scientists at … Read more
Over the past decade, furtive commercial entities around the world have industrialised the production, sale and dissemination of bogus scholarly research. These paper mills are profiting by undermining the literature that everyone from doctors to engineers rely on to make decisions about human lives. It is exceedingly difficult to get a handle on exactly how … Read more
Variations existed between skill categories, government and private schools and States. | Photo Credit: SRIRAM MA The closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the ability of rural schoolchildren to divide three-digit numbers and read a paragraph in their regional language. The latest data for 2024, published in the Annual Status of Education … Read more
The amplifier remains a transformative invention for being able to receive the human voice and boost it so thousands of people can hear it at once. Without the microphone, politics itself may have evolved differently; the device has been ubiquitous in everything from public protests to political rallies. Amplifiers have also transformed entertainment, astronomy, search … Read more
During her time in a drug discovery lab, structural biologist Kavyashree Manjunath first started thinking about how much plastic her group used, even for a single experiment. From the smallest of tips used to draw solutions to pipettes, bottles, and more — the plastic waste from her lab alone was enough to shock the average … Read more
Ambergris, often called whale vomit, is one of nature’s most bizarre occurrences. Produced by sperm whales, this waxy substance has been prized for centuries. If you’re fortunate enough to find ambergris, you’re holding something worth millions. Known for its rarity, ambergris is highly sought after in the perfume industry, as it helps make fragrances last … Read more
Since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, investment flows into AI technologies have increased nearly eight-fold | Photo Credit: ChakisAtelier The demand for generative AI training has grown significantly among learners and enterprises, according to Coursera data, highlighted in the Future of Jobs Report 2025. India and the U.S. are leading this global trend … Read more
Cracks in paint coatings could soon become a thing of the past. In a new study, researchers from the Raman Research Institute (RRI) in Bengaluru have found a way to delay the onset of cracks after studying them in great detail. As playful as this sounds, the technique has potential applications in diagnosing diseases and … Read more
The NVS-02 navigation satellite in Sriharikota. | Photo Credit: ANI The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been unable to perform the intended orbit raising operations for the NVS-02 satellite due to a valve malfunction. The NVS-02, the second satellite in the NVS series, was launched by the ISRO on January 29 as part of … Read more
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore ahead of the first crewed flight test of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. | Photo Credit: PTI/File photo NASA has affirmed a plan it set last year to work with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in returning two astronauts from the International Space Station, saying it will do so “as soon as practical,” … Read more
Donald Trump has tasked Space X CEO Elon Musk to bring back stranded astronauts home from ISS. File | Photo Credit: Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday (January 28, 2025) said that he has tasked Elon Musk and SpaceX to bring back stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore home from the International … Read more
The return capsule containing a sample collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is seen shortly after touching down in the desert at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range in Dugway, U.S., September 24, 2023. | Photo Credit: NASA/Reuters Rock and dust samples retrieved by NASA from … Read more
You’ve seen these crown bottle caps, haven’t you? A type of bottle cap that has almost become indispensable and are found in bottles across the globe, the crown bottle cap, though small, played a big role in revolutionising the bottling industry. American inventor William Painter was the head behind these crowns. William Painter | Photo … Read more
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a ₹20,000 crore ‘Nuclear Energy Mission’ to develop indigenous Small Modular Reactors (SMR). File | Photo Credit: The Hindu Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a ₹20,000 crore ‘Nuclear Energy Mission’ to develop indigenous Small Modular Reactors (SMR). The Budget proposes that at least five of these reactors will be operationalised … Read more
Prevalence of underweight children was more rural schools, while obese children were from urban schools A genetic study of childhood obesity in about 6,400 school-going children aged 9-18 years has found that socioeconomic status significantly modulates the inherent genetic susceptibility to obesity. Unlike in the case of adult obesity, genetic studies to understand obesity in … Read more
A worker fumigating a private building surroundings to control mosquitoes and to prevent spread of dengue, in Bengaluru A study that looked at dengue deaths and meteorological conditions in Pune during the period 2004 to 2015 using both statistical tools and machine learning methods found that temperature, rainfall, and relative humidity were associated with increased … Read more
Traditional approaches to prostate cancer screening involve blood tests, MRI, and biopsies. However, in addition to being uncomfortable, some of these procedures result in overdiagnosis of low-grade cancers. In a new study, researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have clinically validated a previously developed urine test, which can potentially bypass these invasive procedures among … Read more
Unlike land mammals, dolphins and other marine mammals have limited olfactory capabilities — their sense of smell is largely nonfunctional in aquatic environments. Researchers have therefore speculated that dolphins have other ways of sensing their surroundings and detecting food. A recent study has discovered that juvenile bottlenose dolphins have specialised receptors for detecting the fatty … Read more
Union Budget 2025: What’s in it for the energy sector? | Video Credit: The Hindu A look at what the Union Budget 2025 had in store for renewable energy, solar power and nuclear energy. Video: Sabika Syed Editing: Tayyab Hussain Published – February 01, 2025 08:41 pm IST
The share of allocation to IITs in FY26 remained the same as the revised estimates in FY25. | Photo Credit: VELANKANNI RAJ B In FY26, the government is expected to spend ₹50,077.95 crores on higher education. The allocation increased by ₹3,595.6 crore, when compared with the revised estimates for the year FY25. While the allocation … Read more