Yashpal: a people’s scientist
Instead of going in for easy option like importing equipment, Yashpal pushed the envelope and developed indigenously the technology for satellite …
Beyond DNA
Maurizio Meloni's book is a fascinating social and political history of human heredity spanning over 150 years
Rare plant species rediscovered in Western Ghats after more than 100 years
The wild plant was redicsovered in a biosphere reserve in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu
Holy cow! So many patents
ICAR and CSIR laboratories are helping a Nagpur cow research institute to patent therapies based on cow excreta
Have scientists stumbled upon the brain of a plant?
Scientists have shown how a 'decision making centre' of a plant that assesses environmental conditions and determine when seeds will germinate
Bittersweet feeling as Cassini mission embarks on its ‘grand finale’ ahead of death plunge
One of the most successful space exploration missions of all time still has a lot left to uncover
Water, water, everywhere in our Solar system but what does that mean for life?
It should be no surprise that water played a key role in the formation and evolution of our planetary system
The brew of `post-truth'
Popular opinion can now be engineered using fake news grapevines spawned by new technologies. Here's how
From the world to worlds
Orbits of TRAPPIST-1’s seven plant system are compact, yet they are not roasted wastelands like Mercury
Clean technology: overcoming the growth v environment debate
Sustainable development is a multi-dimensional concept with three interacting aspects—ecology, economics and ethics
Yoshinori Ohsumi wins Nobel Prize for experiments on cell recycling system
Ohsumi’s experiments helped us understand that mutations in autophagy genes can cause diseases like cancer
No consensus on consciousness
Despite fanciful theories by psychologists, physicists, neuroscientists and computer scientists, consciousness remains an abiding mystery
The `feeling' in nature
Andrea Wulf resurrects the forgotten intellectual explorer, Alexander von Humboldt, whose work has left a lasting imprint on our understanding of …
The fine science of copying
Scientists and academics in India plagiarise liberally and come up with ingenious excuses for unethical practices
What's the best way to go to the toilet – squatting or sitting?
Pauline Hanson’s concern about the ATO installing squat toilets to cater for its increasingly diverse workforce has prompted debate about …
Monsoon to arrive on time in A&N islands; weakening El Niño may increase rainfall
As neutral conditions are restored after a strong El Niño event, hopes for a better monsoon increase
Call the bluff
The JNU episode must force us to decipher the modus operandi of the modern `truth-telling' information machinery
Hawaii to begin construction of mega-telescope on July 15
Thirty Meter Telescope got delayed over planned site of construction atop Mauna Kea, a sacred mountain to native Hawaiians — already home …
Indian astronomers find evidence of supernova remnants
The evidence of explosion in a star-forming region, called G351.7–1.2, is in the form of a high velocity jet of atomic hydrogen
How this bacterial strain from mosquito gut may help combat dengue
Researchers have been artificially infecting mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacteria that prevents replication of disease-causing virus in the guts …
This new composite material can absorb electromagnetic radiation
A team of Indian scientists has now developed a new room temperature composite that exhibits high absorption of EMI in the high-frequency range
Rakesh Sharma on space exploration and technology
Wing Commander (retired) Rakesh Sharma recently completed 35 years of being the first Indian to have ever set foot in space. He talked to Down To …
AstroSat unveils star that regained its youth by feeding on its companion
Using AstroSat, India's dedicated space observatory, scientists have discovered that something similar was behind the prolonged youth of a star …
Why science matters so much in the era of fake news and fallacies
Science and facts are the foundational basis for rational and logical disputation and the possibility of reaching some truths
Early Indians: Joining the dots and burying the myths
Tony Joseph debunks the myth of India being the homeland of the Aryans and offers a scientific chronicle