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