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
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
Thirty years after bismuth emitting a proton was detected and measured in 1996, an international collaboration led by researchers at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, detected and measured the half-life of the heaviest proton emitter 188At (astatine) isotope, which decayed by emitting a proton. While isotopes often undergo radioactive decay by emitting alpha, beta, and … Read more
An electron micrograph of a cluster of Escherichia coli bacteria. | Photo Credit: Public domain Nanoplastics are bad news even though each one is only as small as a smoke particle. Research has shown that micro- and nano-plastics are present at the top of the tallest mountains, at the bottom of the deepest trenches, and … Read more
On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin launched six women – Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez – on a suborbital journey to the edge of space. The headlines called it a historic moment for women in space. But as a tourism educator, I paused – not because I … Read more
My telescope, set up for astrophotography in my light-polluted San Diego backyard, was pointed at a galaxy unfathomably far from Earth. My wife, Cristina, walked up just as the first space photo streamed to my tablet. It sparkled on the screen in front of us. “That’s the Pinwheel galaxy,” I said. The name is derived … Read more
It is the end of a long, hard work day and all you feel like doing is flop on the sofa and watch TV. Your eyes move to something on the screen and watch it for a few minutes, then you think to yourself: “I wonder what’s on elsewhere…”. So you reach for the TV … Read more