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
A schematic representation of mutational signatures associated with blue light. | Photo Credit: PLoS Genet 21(5): e1011692 Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, have found that blue light can greatly increase the number of genetic mutations in yeast. Since yeast is a popular model organism in biology, the findings suggest … Read more
Our brain depends on a finely tuned network of neurons, signals, and protective barriers to function seamlessly. This intricate setup underpins every thought, memory, and movement we make. But as we age, or under certain conditions, this system can break down. Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) slowly damage neurons and … Read more
A mother holds up a mosquito net treated with insecticide in Amhara region, Ethiopia, October 2017. | Photo Credit: Public domain Researchers reported in Nature on May 22 that they had identified compounds that could target the deadly malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum during its developmental stages in Anopheles mosquitoes, potentially enhancing efforts to control malaria … Read more
File image of an Asiatic Lioness with her two Seven-month-old cubs at Sakkarbaugh Safari breeding centre in Junagadh | Photo Credit: The Hindu The story so far: The Gujarat Forest Department this week released results from the 16th Lion Population Estimation, popularly referred to as the ‘lion census.’ This was the first such census since … Read more