This bird’s eye view shows the severely contaminated Adyar river flowing into the Bay of Bengal after cutting through Chennai’s Marina beach. Less than half a kilometre on either side, the river mouth is flanked by urban settlements. | Photo Credit: Google Earth Through history, human civilisations almost always erupted near bountiful rivers. The waters … Read more
Watch | Rain before its time, what’s really going on with the 2025 Monsoon? | Video Credit: Sabika Syed | Shikha Kumari A | Tayyab Hussain S M The Southwest Monsoon arrived in Kerala a full week early this year—on May 24, 2025. While early rain might sound like good news, this sudden shift raises … Read more
This article forms a part of the Data Point newsletter curated by The Hindu’s Data team. To get the newsletter in your inbox, subscribe here In May 2025, the world watched India and Pakistan edge into yet another military stand-off, following years of strained ties rooted in history, politics, and trade. The Pahalgam terror attack and … Read more
Awake all night? Taken a flight across time zones? Each of these events makes us tired, grumpy and out-of-sorts. A short nap may not be enough to catch up on either sleep or a sense of wellness, because the biological rhythm of the body has been disrupted. There are many biological rhythms in nature, one … Read more
The Democracy Perception Index survey revealed that most countries have a more favourable view of China compared to the U.S. this year. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has been withdrawing from several key international commitments it had long supported and invested in. It announced its departure from the World Health Organization (WHO) and then … Read more
Major study says malaria reinfection creates special immune cells
The roots of addiction medicine began in the ancient civilisations of Africa and Europe. Special methods to care for persons addicted to alcohol were developed in ancient Egypt. There are references to individuals considering chronic intoxication as a sickness that enslaved the body and soul dating back to the fifth century BC. Native American healers … Read more
Lucknow Super Giants’ Rishabh Pant plays a shot during the IPL 2025 cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Lucknow Super Giants, Lucknow, May 27, 2025. | Photo Credit: PTI Quickly shaking the hand may briefly feel better. But depending on how hard the ball has struck the hand, instinctively shaking it may or may … Read more
In this undated photo, hieroglyphs are revealed in the three new graves of senior statesmen found in the Dra’ Abu al-Naga necropolis area in Luxor, Egypt. | Photo Credit: AP Egypt unveiled three new tombs of prominent statesman in the Dra Abu al-Naga necropolis in Luxor, officials said Monday. Egyptian archaeologists have discovered tombs dating … Read more
Representational image. File | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam The story so far: On April 17, the Tamil Nadu Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai, approved the Space Industrial Policy, thereby following Karnataka and Gujarat in formulating a State-specific document to stimulate development and woo investments in the space … Read more
The story so far: Last week, the India Meteorological Department said the southwest monsoon set in over Kerala on May 24, a week ahead of its normal onset. Since 1975, the earliest monsoon onset over Kerala occurred on May 19, 1990, 13 days ahead of schedule. Is there a secret sauce to the monsoon’s early … Read more
The share of Indians dying from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes has surged, while deaths from malaria, diarrhoea, tuberculosis, and perinatal conditions have declined. Notably, the share of deaths from fevers of unknown origin has increased over the years. In contrast, the share of deaths due to cancer has remained relatively flat. Over time, while more … Read more
An Indian army soldier stands next to artillery shells in Poonch sector of India’s Jammu region, on May 20, 2025. (Photo by Mukesh GUPTA / AFP) | Photo Credit: MUKESH GUPTA While India effectively utilised many of its indigenous defence systems during Operation Sindoor, it also relied on weapons built in collaboration with Israel, such … Read more
SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase, Texas, on May 27, 2025. | Photo Credit: AP SpaceX’s prototype Starship exploded over the Indian Ocean on Tuesday (May 27, 2025), capping another bumpy test flight for the rocket central to billionaire Elon Musk’s dream of colonising Mars. The biggest and most powerful launch … Read more
A dugong sand sculpture at Danushkodi beach to mark World Environment Day in June 2022. Waving meadows of emerald grasses part as a portly shape drifts through the shallow waters. Like a blimp led astray, the creature uses its front flippers to paddle gently as it nibbles on the seagrass that makes its home. Silt … Read more
Feng, C., Chen, B., Hofer, J. et al, ‘Genomic and genetic insights into Mendel’s pea genes’, Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08891-6 In 1856, an Austrian monk named Gregor Johann Mendel began experimenting on pea plants to understand how traits are passed on from parent to offspring. He worked diligently for eight years, experimenting on more than 10,000 … Read more
Image used for representation only. | Photo Credit: AP GUWAHATI A new study has shown that stingless bees, which produce a high-value honey with a distinct flavour, can increase the yield and quality of crops. Researchers from Nagaland University’s Department of Entomology identified Tetragonula iridipennis and Lepidotrigona arcifera, two species of stingless bees, as the most efficient among … Read more
In a January advisory, the US Surgeon General urged cancer warnings for alcoholic drinks and called for guidelines on alcohol consumption limits to be reassessed. The General’s warnings are also important in light of the addictive effects of consuming alcohol, and how contemporary society perceives that addiction and how contemporary science treats it. Most of … Read more
In a January advisory, the US Surgeon General urged cancer warnings for alcoholic drinks and called for guidelines on alcohol consumption limits to be reassessed. The General’s warnings are also important in light of the addictive effects of consuming alcohol, and how contemporary society perceives that addiction and how contemporary science treats it. Most of … Read more
When the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, it started the Space Age as the beeping metal sphere transmitted radio signals. Since then, satellites have grown in complexity but their core functions have remained surprisingly static. Most still function as passive tools: capturing images, relaying communications, beaming GPS coordinates to the earth, and … Read more
Fingerprints are personal and unique. Even identical twins do not have the same fingerprint. | Photo Credit: George Prentzas/Unsplash We use many features of our bodies to identify ourselves in government records. Fingerprints in particular are widely used, from unlocking phones with sensors to validating Aadhaar cards. But fingerprints can also be fickle. For example, … Read more
(1) India’s global outreach on Operation Sindoor The Centre on Saturday (May 17, 2025) released the list of seven all-party delegations, spanning a total of 59 MPs from various political parties, that would travel to key partner countries, including members of the United Nations Security Council and the European Union, to convey India’s message of … Read more
Watch: Technology, Science, and Policy: can they together save a warming planet? The Hindu’s deputy science editor Jacob Koshy discusses climate change with IISc professor Sambuddha Misra, Arunabha Ghosh, Founder-CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, Suruchi Bhadwal, Director, Climate Change and Air Quality, TERI. “Climate change and economics have to be tied into one … Read more
The Supreme Court of India in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: PTI With the retirement of Justice Abhay S. Oka on May 24, 2025, the strength of the Supreme Court is now at 31, from a sanctioned strength of 34 judges. Only two female judges are part of the full bench at present, of which … Read more
Representational image. File | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam The story so far: On April 17, the Tamil Nadu Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai, approved the Space Industrial Policy, thereby following Karnataka and Gujarat in formulating a State-specific document to stimulate development and woo investments in the space … Read more
Bangladesh is one of the most polluted countries in the world. According to an IQ Air assessment, the country had the second-worst air quality in 2024 worldwide, with PM2.5 concentration more than 15-times the World Health Organisation’s suggested limit. Brick kilns are a major contributor to this air pollution crisis. Previous efforts to improve the … Read more
In December 2024, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs made an important announcement as part of its 2023-2024 annual report. It said the length of India’s coastline had increased from 7,516.6 km to 11,098.8 km, and that the length is also currently under review. The 7,516.6 km figure was first recorded in the 1970s based … Read more
India has shown complete dominance during Operation Sindoor, showcasing its air power and air defence capability, said Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, former Secretary, Research and Development, and Chairman, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), while expressing happiness that the majority of them are indigenous systems. He cautioned that technology is changing very fast and the … Read more
Axiom Mission 4 crew (from left to right) European Space Agency astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. File photo: X@NASASpaceOps via PTI Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and other crew members of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) are … Read more
An artist’s reconstruction of what Mosura fentoni may have looked like. | Photo Credit: Joseph Moysiuk and Jean-Bernard Caron Scientists have uncovered a strange new Cambrian sea creature called Mosura fentoni in Canada’s famous Burgess shale. M. fentoni is a radiodont, a distant relative of today’s insects, crabs, and spiders, yet it breaks several rules … Read more