Rain drain
By leaching essential nutrients from top soil, acid rain threatens forests in more ways than previously thought
Caught by the gen(i)e
Scientists develop genetically modified mosquitoes that are unable to transmit malaria parasite
Poets in lab coats
Book>> The Age of Wonder, How The Romantic Generation Discovered The Beauty And Terror Of Science Pantheon Books, New York Indian Price Rs 1,000
The man and his machine
Book>> The man who invented the computer • by Jane Smiley • Doubleday • Indian Price Rs 750
Science meets fiction
Down To Earth invites sci-fi buffs and writers to take its readers on a guided tour of the world of science fiction that throws a mirror to the …
The 2021 Nobel Prize for medicine helps unravel mysteries about how the body senses temperature and pressure
Discoveries of Julius and Patapoutian have given sensory researchers fundamental insights into how people interact with their world. But they …
Directed energy weapons shoot painful but non-lethal beams – are similar weapons behind the Havana syndrome?
If Havana syndrome is the result of deliberately targeted electromagnetic beams, employees of the US government and other nations will remain …
Researchers develop super-hydrophobic cotton for oil-spill cleanup
Both heavy and light oils can be effectively absorbed by a super-hydrophobic Cotton, developed by IIT-Guwahati, which is easy to prepare, cost-…
Why it took 20 years to ‘finish’ the human genome — and why there’s still more to do
The newly updated sequence fills in most of the remaining gaps, providing the full 3.055 billion base pairs of our DNA code in its entirety
Want to visit Mars? Zebrafish may help
Queen’s University researchers observed zebrafish in a state of induced torpor; they believe such a state could protect humans during …
First human-monkey embryos created – a small step towards a huge ethical problem
We believe monkeys to have lower moral status than humans; but what about human-monkey chimeras?
IIT-Bombay researchers make new model to accurately estimate variations in microchips
This is the first time that the experimental validation of variations predicted using physics-based modeling has been reported
Will electoral compulsions force govt to use muscular tech?
Display of technological power is being identified as a valid political tool to galvanise public sentiment
Contest to identify and nurture school students talented in science
‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan’, a national programme to nurture school students talented in science, is here again
This new photonic chip may power 5G
It can also find applications in satellite communication, RADARs, sensing and medical imaging equipment
Citizen science growing in India: Study
The concept is gaining rapid popularity in India and citizen science projects have considerable potential to contribute to environmental …
A Hippocratic Oath for data science? We’ll settle for a little more data literacy
Part of the issue is the ease with which machine learning algorithms can be applied, making data literacy no longer particular to mathematical …
India’s 5G fantasy: The future looks decidedly dim
The country is dithering over starting field trials while dreaming of securing patents in this revolutionary technology
Ancient drop of seawater shows Earth’s tectonic activity began 3.3 bn years ago
Plate tectonics is the constant recycle process of the Earth, without which the planet would look like Mars. It was previously assumed to have …
Indian scientists develop 'black gold'
New material can absorb light & CO2; potential in applications ranging from solar energy harvesting to desalinating seawater
Human atlas: An initiative for holistic understanding of human biology
The project will collate and integrate molecular information on human tissues and organs that currently lie hidden in research articles
Study throws new light on evolution of northern Indian Ocean
Scientists say a short-lived subduction event occurred around 70 million years ago in Laxmi Basin located on the western margin of the Indian …
'If humans, robots work together productivity will be higher'
Naresh Kantoor, managing director of Gurugram-based Encon Systems International, a firm that assembles industrial robots, says these machines do …
We talk about artistic inspiration all the time – but scientific inspiration is a thing too
There is a large literature on “creativity” in science, but I have found nothing that really speaks to the lack of discussion of …
Science communicators get awards for popularising subject
The award is to promote bridging gaps between scientists and lay man for better scientific communication