Honda R&D successfully landed its 6.3-metre-tall experimental reusable launch vehicle after reaching an altitude of 271 metres at its test facility in northern Japan’s Taiki space town. | Photo Credit: Borui Wang/Unsplash In a pleasant surprise, Japan’s second-biggest carmaker Honda successfully tested an experimental reusable rocket, the company said, as it seeks to expand into … Read more
(In the weekly Health Matters newsletter, Ramya Kannan writes about getting to good health, and staying there. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox.) Universally, a certain class of drugs have come to be superstars in recent times. The GLP-1 class of drugs, with their capacity for weight loss, though originally conceived and developed for diabetes, has suddenly become … Read more
To define autism solely in terms of challenges is a limited and incomplete view. Many autistic individuals possess remarkable abilities in fields like mathematics, music, memory, design, and pattern recognition. Photograph used for representational purposes only | Photo Credit: AP Every year on June 18, the world observes Autistic Pride Day, a day not of mourning or sympathy, … Read more
Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own pigment-producing cells. File photograph In a world that idolises perfection, vitiligo tells a strikingly different story — one of resilience, uniqueness, and rediscovered beauty. Vitiligo is a skin condition where the body loses its pigment in patches, turning areas of the … Read more
Studies carried out in mice have demonstrated that two approved drugs — varespladib and marimastat — were effective in countering systemic and lethal effects of Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) venom either individually or in combination. The two drugs were tested against Russell’s vipers venom sourced from different States across India. Russell’s vipers are responsible for … Read more
This photo provided by Axiom Space shows Shubhanshu Shukla from India, Peggy Whitson from the U.S., Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. | Photo Credit: AP Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station has been postponed to June 22, to allow NASA to evaluate the operations on the … Read more
IIT-Delhi and DRDO scientists have successfully demonstrate entanglement-based free-space quantum communication over 1 km. | Photo Credit: X.com/@SpokespersonMoD The story so far: On June 16, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement that IIT-Delhi scientists together with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) demonstrated quantum communication over a distance of more than 1 … Read more
Ever observed cranes lifting heavy loads, excavators digging and scooping earth or the extension and retraction of landing gears in an aircraft? They all have one thing in common: they are driven by hydraulics. In all of them, the input power, from a combustion engine or an electric source, is converted into flexible mechanical power. … Read more
In the early 1800s, ‘the theory of acquired characters’ was the most widely accepted explanation of evolution. Simply put, the theory stated that characteristics that an organism developed during its lifetime, through use, disuse or environmental influence, could be inherited by its offspring. The French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck formalised this idea in two laws in … Read more
Insects surrounded by their resin seen attached on their host plant. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement In a new study, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have unravelled the mystery behind how the lac insect produces laccaic acid that is used to make lac pigment. The lac pigment is a prized commodity used … Read more