What makes us so?
This is no longer a question for philosophers. Evolutionary biologists also dwell upon it. Manuel Massot from Laboratoire Ecologie & Evolution,…
"Polluters are today's environmentalists"
Crusader for the rights of over eight million Indian fisherfolk, Thomas Kochery , 57, made news headlines when he rejected the US $150,000 …
Eyeing the coastlines
Further dilution of the rules safeguarding the Indian coastal ecosystem has just been proposed. Under the guise of providing land to poor …
Changing climes
Climate change is a very slow process, notoriously difficult to understand. Is it happening in India? Residents of some Himalayan towns, where …
The vanishing lakes
There is more water than land in north Bihar. The rivers that ramble down from the Himalaya feed numerous depressions scattered all over the …
Lives of others
Wildlife is more of an academic concern except when the charismatic tiger is wiped out from a protected forest or our favourite fish vanishes …
Kudankulam meltdown
The spectre of Fukushima continues to haunt the world, forcing governments in most parts of the globe to rethink their plans to tap this …
Did life evolve more than once? Researchers are closing in on an answer
Has all of life on Earth evolved only once, or are different living beings cut from different cloths?
Could invisible aliens really exist among us? An astrobiologist explains
A popular suggestion for an alternative biochemistry is one based on silicon rather than carbon
We've been wrong about the origins of life for 90 years
New research suggests the "primordial soup" theory can't explain how living cells evolved to harness energy
Rare microbial predators with voracious appetite form a new branch in ‘tree of life’: Study
Learning more about these undiscovered branches of life can help shed more light on the foundations of the living world and how evolution works
Flying on the edge
Population of bar-headed geese is at risk due to loss of its natural habitat, degradation of wetlands and large-scale hunting
Life: modern physics can’t explain it – but our new theory, which says time is fundamental, might
This is perhaps the most radical departure for physics of life from standard physics, but it may be the critical insight needed to explain what …
New AI tool may help discover extraterrestrial life, solve long-standing debates on Earth
It can tell difference between molecules that originate from life and those that come from non-living sources with 90% accuracy
The environment needs painters, too
The modern onslaught: talus being pulled down. They are earthen walls surrounding plots of land, and have trees planted on them
Microbes in extreme heat and cold hold lessons about life on Earth, and beyond
Microbes have the ability to survive in extremely hot and cold conditions. This makes them invaluable tools for research: they can teach us how …
Dying on the edge
To reduce human-animal conflict, a 14-km-long wall will be built along the southern border of Corbett Tiger Reserve. But wall will cost Rs 4.5 …
Tracking Tigers
The pugmark method of counting tigers in the wild is a tedious exercise. But this method really works amidst all modern criticism and technology
Fishing in truobled water
Does India need to import exotic fish species, when the experience with them has not been particularly good? Besides, the country already boasts …
Evolution with full stops and commas
Darwinian sapience takes a beating as the notion of 'punctuated equilibrium' - which postulates that evolution occurred in sudden fits and starts -…
Life in one dimension
The missing links to the awe-inspiring blooming of an embryo into an adult animal may be at hand
Wild foods
Wild fruits in the Himalayas could well be an answer to the nutrition and energy requirements of the region
WHO, ILO lay down guidelines to tackle stress in workplaces
Depression and anxiety are thought to account for 12 billion lost workdays annually, costing the world economy close to $1 trillion
Unhearthed
Human encroachment has created imbalance in the avian ecology. Better management practices are needed for the conservation of species diversity
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