Q: Name this NASA mission during which astronauts on the moon became the first to drive a lunar rover on July 31, 1971. A: Apollo 15 Q: Name the eight‑wheeled rover the Soviet Union launched in 1970, which became the world’s first robotic rover on the moon. From November 17, 1970, to September 14, 1971, … Read more
When SpaceX was negotiating a deal with the Bahamas last year to allow its Falcon 9 rocket boosters to land within the island nation’s territory, Elon Musk’s company offered a sweetener: complimentary Starlink internet terminals for the country’s defence vessels, according to three people familiar with the matter. The rocket landing deal, unlocking a more … Read more
A drone view shows a hotel under construction ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil. File | Photo Credit: Reuters The United Nations’ climate bureau held an urgent meeting on Tuesday (July 29, 2025) over concerns that sky-high accommodation prices for this year’s COP30 climate summit in Brazil could price poorer countries out … Read more
Nawada BLO conducts door-to-door distribution of enumeration forms and collection of filled forms under the Special Intensive Revision-2025 ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, on Sunday. | Photo Credit: ANI On June 24, 2025, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced a month-long Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. The stated purpose of the exercise, … Read more
A general view of Supreme Court in New Delhi on July 16, 2025. | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP Timely justice is a cornerstone of public trust in the legal system, as captured by the classic maxim ‘justice delayed, is justice denied’. Prolonged delays often deter people from approaching courts. Last year, President Droupadi Murmu … Read more
Nearly seven in 10 people in developing countries are expected to be living in cities by 2050 given rapid urbanisation. While urban growth provides greater access to jobs and essential services, it also brings challenges with it such as traffic congestion and air pollution, which significantly impact health. In India, a Lancet study reports that from 2008 … Read more
Only 16% of all senior citizens seeking cataract surgery at four LVPEI centres used any insurance, a new study has found. | Photo Credit: Mohammed Yousuf India’s population is growing older and eye problems such as cataracts already cause nearly half of all vision‑loss in people over 60. However, fewer than one in eight Indian … Read more
About 19 minutes after lift-off, the GSLV-F16 rocket will inject the NISAR satellite into a 743-km sun-synchronous orbit. Photo: X/@isro The countdown for the NISAR satellite mission started at 2.10 p.m. on Tuesday (July 29, 2025). The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with the 2,392-kg satellite is scheduled to lift off from the second launch … Read more
The countdown for the GSLV-F16 began at 2:10 p.m.. The rocket is prepared to carry the NISAR satellite into orbit, and final preparations are underway. Photo: x/@isro The countdown for the NISAR satellite mission started at 2.10 p.m. on Tuesday (July 29, 2025). The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with the 2,392-kg satellite is scheduled … Read more
Radha Krishna Kavuluru highlighted the mission’s importance as ISRO’s first major partnership with NASA for an Earth observation satellite. File Photo: X/@iamkrishradha The NISAR mission, a collaborative effort between ISRO and NASA, will demonstrate Indian space engineering capabilities for Earth observation on a global scale, a top scientist has said. The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic … Read more
For nearly two decades, no one had spotted the world’s smallest-known snake. Some scientists worried that maybe the Barbados threadsnake had become extinct, but one sunny morning, Connor Blades lifted a rock in a tiny forest in the eastern Caribbean island and held his breath. “After a year of searching, you begin to get a … Read more
In Climate Change and Climate Justice: India’s efforts to balance economic growth with green transition, The Hindu investigates India’s multifaceted response to climate change. This exclusive e-book delves into India’s unique position as the fourth largest economy in the world and one of the top polluters, its strategies for meeting rising energy demands while maintaining … Read more
At least 1,874 Palestinians have died in aid-related violence since October 2023. Of these, approximately 1,129 — about 60% — were killed in the past two months alone, coinciding with GHF’s operations in the region. Most of those killed (at least 1,597) were civilians shot by the Israeli Defense Forces while seeking aid in or … Read more
India has over 3 crore orphans, yet only around 3,000 are legally free for adoption. Why is there such a massive gap between children in need and families eager to adopt? In this episode of The Data Point, we examine India’s adoption crisis, using official data, expert interviews, and state-wise breakdowns. While a significant number … Read more
An interdisciplinary team of scientists from BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus has developed a smart wound dressing capable of killing the infection-causing bacteria and also visually signalling the presence of infection — all without the use of traditional antibiotics. The work has been published in ACS Infectious Diseases, a journal of the American Chemical Society, highlighting … Read more
Flooding events are a major hazard worldwide. According to a 2024 Moody’s report, more than 2.3 billion people are exposed to flooding every year. In India, more than 600 million people are at risk of coastal or inland flooding. However, there is a lack of comprehensive data on vulnerable communities’ flood exposure risk, especially in … Read more
If fresh fish is already a rich source of protein (17-19%) depending on the fish variety, dry fish with up to 70% protein is a far superior source of protein. Besides high protein content, dry fish is also a rich source of omega-3 fatty acid, calcium and iron. Since the protein content is high, a … Read more
A view of the NASA-ISRO’s joint satellite NISAR in Sriharikota on July 28, 2025. Photo: X/@isro via ANI Ahead of the launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite scheduled for July 30, 2025, the ISRO on Monday (July 28, 2025) announced that the satellite had been mounted on a geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle … Read more
A view of the NASA-ISRO’s joint satellite NISAR following its launch on July 30th at 5:40 p.m., in Sriharikota on July 28, 2025. | Photo Credit: X/@isro via ANI Photo Ahead of the launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite scheduled for July 30, the ISRO on Monday (July 28, 2025) announced that … Read more
(1) India and U.K. sign trade pact India and the U.K. signed a significant trade pact, reducing import tariffs, supporting cross-border service sector activity and streamlining social security payments for Indian temporary workers in the U.K. on Thursday (July 24, 2025) last week. The India-U.K. CETA, while reducing tariffs across several tariff lines, has also … Read more
The unique Earth observation satellite NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) will be launched through the GSLV-S16 on July 30, said ISRO chairman V Narayanan. Weighing 2,392 kg, NISAR is a unique Earth observation satellite and the first to observe the Earth with a dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (NASA’s L-band and ISRO’s S-band) both using NASA’s … Read more
The vagus nerve can be stimulated to manage epilepsy. | Photo Credit: Manu5 (CC BY-SA) Deep-brain stimulation (DBS) is a medical technique where doctors implant electrodes deep inside specific areas of the brain to treat certain disorders. These electrodes are connected by wires to a small device, similar to a heart’s pacemaker, which is usually … Read more
More than a century ago, a 26-year-old Albert Einstein explained Brownian motion in one of four papers he published in his annus mirabilis, the miraculous year, called because these papers shot him to fame. Brownian motion is the random jittering of small particles in a fluid, caused because they’re constantly colliding with molecules around them. … Read more
Where it all began… Did you know that a rough conservative estimate of India’s tiger population at the start of the 20the Century was around 40,000? The top end of the estimates even placed the number of tigers in the Indian subcontinent in 1900 at around 1,00,000! That number, however, nosedived to a mere 1,827 … Read more
The speculation over whether the BJP will support a TDP candidate in the upcoming Jubilee Hills by-poll signals a broader realignment in Telangana’s political landscape. The 2023 Assembly elections marked a rupture in Telangana’s political trajectory. The decade-long dominance of the BRS, formerly the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, came to an end as the Congress returned … Read more
The story so far: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the NISAR satellite from Sriharikota on July 30 onboard a GSLV Mk-II rocket. ‘NISAR’ stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar and is a joint mission of the two space agencies. It is a sophisticated earth-observation satellite designed to study changes on … Read more
Crates of tomatoes lined up at the Rayakottai mandi in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu. | Photo Credit: N. Bashkaran/The Hindu The evolution and growth of the humble tomato as an essential ingredient of our daily diet across the world is a fascinating story. Yolanda Evans writes in the June 5, 2025, issue of National Geographic magazine … Read more
The story so far: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the NISAR satellite from Sriharikota on July 30 onboard a GSLV Mk-II rocket. ‘NISAR’ stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar and is a joint mission of the two space agencies. It is a sophisticated earth-observation satellite designed to study changes on … Read more
Android smartphones around the world have been actively helping provide earthquake alerts using their acceleration sensors. Between 2021 and 2024, these phones sent thousands of successful warnings to people living in quake-prone regions in 98 countries. Since 2020, Google has included its Android Earthquake Alert (AEA) system in its phones to detect seismic P- and … Read more
M. Jayashree, second from left, receiving the President’s Medal for overall highest CGPA in B. Tech from V. Narayanan, ISRO Chairman, at the NIT-Tiruchi convocation on Saturday. NIT-Tiruchi Director G. Aghila is at right. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT India has made great strides in space technology and attained global leadership through sheer hard work … Read more