Moon is shrinking, causing moonquakes
In the past millions of years the Earth’s natural satellite has shrunk by almost 46 meters
Space Race 2.0: Littered backyard
There have been about 70 anti-satellite missile missions by four countries, but only a few have been catalogued for creating debris
Notre-Dame de Paris: From searing emotion to the future rebirth of a World Heritage Site
Of all the historic monuments on earth, Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the “superstars”: its unique history, exceptional architecture …
How did gold and silver come into existence?
As we celebrate Dhanteras, auspicious for purchasing gold and silver, here's some perspective on where these metals originated
Ice Man of Ladakh: Chewang Norphel who builds artificial glaciers
Mr. Norphel is a retired civil engineer from Ladakh. He is popularly known as 'Ice Man of Ladakh' as his innovative method of water conservation …
Seeking a fair price for drugs
The WHO is working on finding a fair pricing model for medicines but will Big Pharma accept it?
Watch: an atlas for the visually impaired
National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) released an atlas for the visually impaired earlier this month. Down To Earth enquires …
Sister Solar System and Earth's cousins
After discovering Earth-like planets in 2014 and 2015, the NASA took a step towards finding life outside our own solar system by discovering a …
Wannabe Noahs
Scientists are trying to bring back extinct animals from the dead, throwing open the Pandora's box
Bet your brain
The market is flooded with brain boosters, even though there is little evidence to show for it
An ode to the cloudy skies
We asked our readers to send photographs of clouds. In response, we received a stunning collection of evocative clicks with clouds as the …
India's first CNG kit for scooters and motorcycles
Sriram M Bhat, Director of iTuk—the company that manufactures CNG kits for two wheelers—talks to Down to Earth on the advantages of …
Unbuttoning the gender straitjacket
Attempts at subverting the delusions of gender should begin with a progressive fashioning of young minds
Cutting-edge superconductors
Experiments aim at developing materials that are superconductive at close to room temperature
Methane's metal link
Fresh evidence suggests that the presence of certain metals is essential for the natural production of methane
Curtain falls over aurora borealis
The aurora borealis is caused not by solar flares but by gigantic portions of the corona flowing out of the Sun
On Stygian shores
Technology is opening up new vistas for the world's underworld, as crooks learn to manipulate it to outwit their pursuers and captors
A will where there is a hill
Ants have found ways by which to make up for the loss of the queen. The perpetuation of the species and the continued use of the elaborate nests …
Mighty magnets
Smaller and more powerful than the conventional, 'neo' magnets may capture half the world market for permanent magnets by AD 2000
Many-faced workers
A British inventor has come up with a concept which could lead to robots that can build cars, bridge rivers and even explore Mars
The file drawer bust
Daniele Fanelli, researcher at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, probes the problem of quantity versus quality in scientific research. …
2008 A lunar odyssey
From a pariah after Pokhran II to scientific self esteem, India raced its way to the moon. Archita Bhatta tracked the nation's voyage to find …
Scientific researchers must maintain integrity
These soldiers of science must understand that they may not have taken the Hippocratic Oath to serve patients, but their research determines the …
The Chinese patent juggernaut
China has toppled Japan from No 2 spot and is set to become the leader in global patent filings, specially in future technologies
A case of tolerance
Studies on heat shock protein synthesis in mosquitoes leads on to significant pointers to pesticide use and transmission of diseases