Mistake uncovers miracle
A newly developed electric scooter happens to be the product of ..an accident? Well, a Japanese scientist unexpectedly discovered what he claims …
The do-it-all drug
Melatonin, the soporofic wonder drug seems to have taken the US by storm. Though the drug promises a lot, it has its sceptics. Should consumers …
Tiny buzzer
A cordless telephone, about the size of a cigarette pack is Japan's sensational new entry to the world-wide mobile phone bazaar. It is now just a …
To quake or not to quake
Earthquakes occurring below oceans have been the subject of intense speculation of seismologists across the globe. Theories of the past have …
The never-ending itch
Giving priority to combating the threat of blindness in the world's 18 million onchocerciasis sufferers has overshadowed treatment and …
Another of the same kind
Geneva Observatory astronomers Study spectral lines in the visible spectrum and detect a planet thefirst to be observed outside our own planetary …
Blindsight?
What appear to be vestigial or redundant organs need not be so, as the Spalax ehrenberghi teaches us
Strings of innovation
Researchers are developing signal filters based on the principles of nanoguitars that may find diverse applications in telecommunications
Why using AI tools like ChatGPT in my MBA innovation course is expected and not cheating
We need the various manuals of style to update their rules to include work generated by an AI
Death: How long are we conscious for and does life really flash before our eyes?
A recent research speculated about life ’flashing’ past moments before death; how sound might it be?
The horse bit and bridle kicked off ancient empires — a new giant dataset tracks the societal factors that drove military technology
Around 1000 BC, nomadic herders in the steppes north of the Black Sea invented the bit and bridle
The ghost of Christmas yet to come: how an AI ‘SantaNet’ might end up destroying the world
Scientists identified a series of behaviours by the AI general intelligence system which, though well-intentioned, could have adverse impacts on …
TIFR Swarnajayanti fellow to study plasticity for better design of materials
Plasticity enables a solid to undergo permanent deformation without rupture under the action of external forces
Three-body problem needs real, and not artificial solution
The equation that has confounded mathematicians for over 300 years needs an elegant and beautiful solution, not something where the end is there …
Eliud Kipchoge's sub-2hr marathon: It all comes down to 15 extraordinary seconds
Kipchoge must put one foot in front of the other, at the frighteningly fast average pace of 2m 52s per km
A new technique to protect copper from corrosion
IIT (BHU) researchers used a technique called ‘floating film transfer method’ to obtain ultrathin films of an organic material, …
In thunder, lightning, or... Gamma rays may warn you of the next hurlyburly
Radiation sensors can predict lightning within 10 minutes and around 2 kilometers of where they happen
‘Potentially hazardous’ space rock to fly past Earth on June 24
Named 441987 (2010 NY65), the rock has a diameter of 130 to 300 metres and will pass the Earth at a speed of more than 45,000 kilometres per …
Diamonds are forever. But where do they come from? Watch
Do you know the diamond on your finger is most likely made recycled minerals by Earth below the ocean floor?
Russia to grow 30 gene-edited plants, animals by 2027
The country aims to create 10 new varieties of such crops as well as animals by 2020; another 20 by 2027
Holding the mirror, truthfully, for 28 years
Down To Earth's mission is not hidden in reams of corporate gloss. It is open. It is a dare, writes our editor, Sunita Narain.
World Earth Day: A new landscape on the horizon
Changes in the East African rift system suggest that the African continent could split into two
Researchers convert carbon dioxide in to coal
Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia have for the first time developed a process to turn CO2 into coal. The new process uses …
Definition of kilogram set to change
Since 1879, the kilogram has been defined as the weight of Le Grand K, a cylinder of platinum and iridium weighing a little over 2 ounces and …
Meet Bandicoot India's new robot that can end manual scavenging
A robotics start-up from Kerala called GenRobotic Innovations has developed a solution to end manual scavenging