In a new study, scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have demonstrated how cells can sense and respond to invisible mechanical patterns—like built-in tensions around them. The research led by Professor Abhijit Majumder, was published in Cell Reports Physical Science. The findings not only add to the fundamental understanding of how cells … Read more
The RBI Bulletin (May 2025) provides foreign direct investment (FDI) figures for the fiscal year 2024-25. Two contrasting narratives have emerged from it. Focusing on the headline number, government sources and many media outlets have reported that India received an unprecedented $81 billion of gross inflows. Looking closer at the same data, others have highlighted … Read more
This handout image released courtesy of SpaceX and taken on September 11, 2024 shows Ax-4 crew members (L/R) Tibor Kapu, Shubhanshu Shukla, Peggy Whitson and Slawosz Uznanski posing inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at an undisclosed location. Photo: SpaceX via AFP SpaceX has said that it is standing down from Falcon 9’s launch of Axiom … Read more
The city Deggendorf in Germany is about 350 km by road from Karlsruhe. Yet when the spectrometer of the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino Experiment (KATRIN) was constructed in Deggendorf in 2006, it took an 8,600-km detour to Karlsruhe. Of this, only 7 km was by land, transported on a truck with great care and police protection. … Read more
In humans, fertility begins to decline in the early 30s, with a sharper drop in the 40s, reducing chances of conception and increasing the risk of miscarriage or chromosomal disorders. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Researchers at the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB) have made a significant discovery that could pave the way for … Read more
Gravity is a property of spacetime. | Photo Credit: Johnson Martin/Unsplash A: For a long time, people wondered what makes the planets go around the sun and why anything thrown up comes down. The English scientist Isaac Newton probed the origins of this mysterious force and came up with the laws of gravitation. According to … Read more
(1) 11 die in stampede at RCB cup celebration What began as a day of rapturous celebration over the IPL victory of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) turned into one of crushing tragedy in Bengaluru on Wednesday (June 4, 2025) evening when 11 people died and 33 were injured after a massive build up of fans … Read more
Today, almost every keyboard we use — whether it’s on your personal computer or phone — follows the QWERTY layout. But did you know this arrangement wasn’t the obvious choice when typewriters were first invented? The origins of the typewriter The story of the QWERTY layout begins with the invention of the mechanical typewriter in … Read more
Shubhanshu Shukla | Photo Credit: Visveswaran V Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force is set to be the first Indian in over four decades to travel to space and board the International Space Station (ISS), with liftoff scheduled for June 11 as part of Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission. The flight, launching from … Read more
The Axiom-4 mission, carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station, has been postponed to June 11 due to weather conditions. | Photo Credit: JOE RAEDLE Even as the launch of Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has once again been postponed, agencies associated with launch activities are … Read more
Manzoor, U., Mujica Roncery, L., Raabe, D. et al, ‘Sustainable nickel enabled by hydrogen-based reduction’, Nature 641, 365–373 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08901-7 Nickel powers everything, from gadgets to green technologies. But getting it currently involves a far from green, in fact, a dirty process. However, a new study has revealed what its authors have said is a … Read more
The team focused on what the BBX32 gene does in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Representative photo. | Photo Credit: Markus Spiske/Unsplash Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal, have found that a single protein helps plants time their first step from darkness into light. When a seed sprouts in … Read more
Heeng or asafoetida (Ferula assa-foetida) is an essential ingredient in many Indian cuisines. A pinch of heeng is typically added to hot oil before other constituents when cooking. Despite the great diversity of India’s cuisines, most of them have recipes with heeng. There are mentions of heeng in ancient Indian texts including the Mahabharata and … Read more
As per the earlier plan, the crew was scheduled to dock with the space station on June 11 at approximately 12:30 p.m. ET. Photo: X/@SpaceX The launch of Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has once again been postponed. The Axiom-4 Mission to the ISS, which was scheduled on … Read more
The strawberry supermoon rises behind the village of Imerovigli on Sandorini’s caldera, in Greece’s Cyclades islands, on June 14, 2022. | Photo Credit: Petros Giannakouris The Strawberry Moon, traditionally named after the strawberry harvest season in North America, will peak at 3:44 a.m. EDT on June 11, 2025, equivalent to 1:14 p.m. IST. Although the full phase … Read more
A pair of cryo-electron microscopes at the University of Leeds. | Photo Credit: Hiramano92 (CC BY-SA) Scientists use a powerful technique called cryo-electron microscopy to see the 3D shapes of biological molecules, but it normally needs the molecules to be extremely concentrated in a sample first. But for rare molecules this is hard to achieve. … Read more
The world needs to lower its dependence on fossil fuels. Countries have done so in fits and starts: issues like war, poverty, disease, and inflation have often left climate mitigation on the back burner. Today, greenhouse gas emissions are increasing worldwide. In this situation, some researchers have proposed the use of technologies to directly cool … Read more
Mr. Shukla heaped high praise on his crewmates, describing them as a “fantastic” squad, saying they would be his “friends for life”. File | Photo Credit: AFP Ahead of his historic journey to the International Space Station (ISS), Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has termed the preparations for the Axiom-4 mission an “amazing journey” and that … Read more
Artificial intelligence (AI) is booming. Various AI algorithms are used in many scientific domains, such as to predict the structure of proteins, search for materials with particular properties, and interpret medical data to provide a diagnosis. People use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, NotebookLM, DALL-E, Gemini, and Midjourney to generate images and videos from text prompts, … Read more
Transmission electron micrograph of multiple bacteriophages attached to a bacterial cell wall. | Photo Credit: Graham Beards (CC BY-SA) If one has a urinary tract infection, for instance, the pathology lab will identify the bacterium to be, say, Escherichia coli. It will also determine the pathogen’s sensitivity to over a dozen antibiotics. It is fine … Read more
Bengaluru: Ambient air pollution is responsible for 7.2% of deaths in major Indian cities every year. There’s reason to believe airborne particulate matter can cut the life expectancy of Indians by up to five years. But traffic-related pollution is usually much worse than what urban sensors report. Researchers have estimated commuting takes up only around … Read more
A young traveller, an able administrator The son of a pastor, Christian Goldbach was born on March 18, 1690 in Konigsberg – the historic German and Prussian name of the city we now know as Kaliningrad, Russia. Growing up in that city and attending university there, Goldbach studied some mathematics (don’t raise your eyebrows), but … Read more
This handout photograph taken on September 12, 2024 and released by private aerospace company Axiom Space shows assigned and backup Ax-4 crew members (L to 2nd R) Shubhanshu Shukla, Tibor Kapu, Gyula Cserenyi (partly obscured), Slawosz Uznanski, and Prasanth Nair reviewing materials during emergency fire training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. … Read more
Representative image | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Amid complaints from scientists on sub-standard equipment affecting their research, the Finance Ministry has rolled back restrictions imposed on how scientific labs procured equipment, through a circular issued on Thursday (June 5, 2025). The first significant change was allowing affiliated scientific institutions to bypass the Government e-marketplace (GEM), … Read more
Anyone can develop an allergy. And in times like these, when the weather keeps fluctuating unpredictably, it becomes even more crucial to stay informed. Understanding the facts about allergies can help you or your loved ones recognise symptoms early, avoid common triggers, and manage flare-ups better. So, how allergy-aware are you? Here’s a small quiz … Read more
Type specimen of the new wasp species, Losgna occidentalis collected from Chandigarh. At a time when habitat loss and climate change threaten countless species, the discovery of a new species of parasitic wasp – named ‘Losgna Occidentalis’ from Chandigarh has drawn attention to the unexplored richness of India’s biodiversity. A recent study published in Zootaxa, … Read more
When Sharadindu Ghosh* was young, he was taught not to speak about his father’s leprosy. He, like many others, grew up in the lanes of Jamuria Leprosy Colony, in West Bengal, facing stigma and discrimination. Today, years after his father’s passing and an endless struggle through poverty, Ghosh is an electrical supervisor and a mentor … Read more
Data Point: Student Visa Crackdown in US | Video Credit: The Hindu The U.S.’s move to pause all new student visa interviews is just the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration targeting international students and universities. Just a few days ago, the administration tried to stop Harvard from enrolling international students. … Read more
SpaceX chief Elon Musk said he would begin “decommissioning” his company’s Dragon spacecraft. File | Photo Credit: Reuters SpaceX chief Elon Musk said on Thursday (June 5, 2025) he would begin “decommissioning” his company’s Dragon spacecraft — vital for ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station — after U.S. President Donald Trump … Read more
A model of the lunar lander “Resilience”, operated by ‘ispace’, is displayed at a venue where employees of ‘ispace’ monitored its attempted landing on the Moon, in Tokyo, Japan, June 6, 2025. | Photo Credit: Reuters A private lunar lander from Japan crashed while attempting a touchdown Friday (June 6, 2025), the latest casualty in … Read more