Science

Festivals in India are incomplete without fireworks lighting up the sky. But behind the sparkle lies a cloud of smoke that’s dangerous, especially for babies. Their lungs are still developing, their breathing rate is faster, and their immune defenses are weaker. The pollutants from firecrackers, such as fine particulate matter, heavy metals, and sulfur compounds,…

It’s a familiar story: the fever rises, your throat hurts, and suddenly even your favourite food looks unappetizing. You know your body needs fuel to fight the infection, yet you can barely think about eating. According to a 2016 study published in Immunometabolism: Molecular Mechanisms, Diseases, and Therapies 2016, your loss of appetite isn’t just…

For centuries, ice has fascinated scientists not just for its ubiquity but for the complex ways water molecules can arrange themselves in solid form. Recently, an international team of researchers has achieved a breakthrough by creating a new form of ice, named ice XXI, at room temperature under extreme pressure. Using advanced X-ray facilities at…

International Space Station has shone as a moving symbol of human achievement and endurance. Since November 2000, NASA and its global partners have sustained an unbroken human presence in low-Earth orbit, marking one of the longest continuous collaborations in space history. This orbiting laboratory has hosted thousands of experiments, advancing our understanding of science, medicine,…

A team of researchers at ETH Zurich has developed MetaGraph, a groundbreaking tool that allows scientists to search through vast public DNA and RNA databases in seconds, earning it the nickname “Google for DNA”. With global repositories now holding nearly 100 petabytes of genetic data, equivalent to the total text on the internet, traditional methods…

From high above Earth, satellites have captured a sight so extraordinary that scientists initially thought it was a camera malfunction. Across the deep blue expanse of the Atlantic Ocean stretches a colossal brown ribbon, twisting and turning for more than 8,850 kilometres. This is not a living serpent or a strange current, but a vast…

Starship test flight launch SpaceX conducted another test flight of its massive Starship rocket on Monday, successfully completing half a global journey while deploying mock satellites as in the previous mission.The world’s largest and most powerful rocket, Starship, lifted off from Texas’s southern edge. The booster separated and entered the Gulf of Mexico in a…

Isro opens XPoSat observatory to Indian scientists BENGALURU: Isro on Monday announced the first Announcement of Opportunity (AO) cycle for its X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat), inviting Indian scientists and researchers to submit proposals for observations using the space-based observatory.Launched on January 1, 2024, aboard the PSLV C-58 rocket from Sriharikota, XPoSat is India’s first dedicated…

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne, and Omar M Yaghi of the University of California, Berkeley, “for the development of metal–organic frameworks.“Announcing the award, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the trio received the prize for “creating new…

In a major scientific breakthrough, scientists have identified two specific types of brain cells linked to depression for the first time, offering a clearer biological understanding of the disorder. Researchers at McGill University and the Douglas Institute discovered that neurons and microglia, two key cell types responsible for regulating emotion and inflammation, show significant genetic…