Science

In a laboratory in Norway, scientists have achieved something that sounds like science fiction: turning industrial waste gases into clean, usable fuel. Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) added specialised bacteria to a reactor and watched as carbon dioxide and hydrogen transformed into nearly pure methane, exceeding 96 per cent purity. This…

Representative image (Picture credit: AP) NEW YORK: Two bright green comets are streaming through the skies and are visible to skygazers in the Northern Hemisphere. Both hail from the outer edges of our solar system – possibly what’s known as the Oort Cloud, well beyond Pluto. Comet Lemmon will have its closest brush with Earth…

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has captured the attention of scientists and space enthusiasts around the world. Renowned Professor Brian Cox describes this comet as truly remarkable, offering a rare window into the early universe. Discovered on 1 July 2025 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), it is only the third confirmed interstellar object to…

SAN JUAN ISLAND: As dawn broke over San Juan Island, a team of scientists stood on the deck of a barge and unspooled over a mile of fibre-optic cable into the frigid waters of the Salish Sea. Working by headlamp, they fed the line from the rocky shore down to the seafloor – home to…

For centuries, humans have gazed at the stars, trying to understand what lies beyond the familiar planets we know. From Mercury’s blazing orbit near the Sun to Neptune’s icy edge, our Solar System has always seemed well-mapped. But now, scientists are wondering if something else is quietly circling far beyond the known worlds. They call…

For centuries, humanity has looked to the stars and wondered, if intelligent life exists elsewhere, why haven’t they reached out? Now, a NASA astrophysicist believes the answer might be far simpler and stranger than anyone imagined: aliens might have just gotten bored. Dr Robin Corbet, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center,…

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have uncovered what may be the first physical remnants of “proto-Earth,” the original version of our planet that existed before a massive collision reshaped it into the world we know today. The discovery, published in Nature Geosciences, reveals a rare chemical signature in ancient rocks that appears…

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…