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A LEGO building blocks set — complete with bricks, cars and bridges — is the highlight of my toddler’s toy cupboard. It has been in my family for over three decades, surviving rough play among cousins, flooded homes, and years locked away in an attic. Its continued usability is no accident: LEGO is made from tough,…
Read More “Earth Day 2026: India’s plastic crisis and blame game” »
Low- and middle-income countries where new pathogens often emerge, are expected to proactively share biological materials and genomic data with the world. However, countries that develop life-critical vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics using that material are under no obligation to reciprocate with fair and timely access to these clinical products. Image used for representational purposes only…
Read More “Pathogens without payback: when sharing isn’t caring” »
Scientists have found two species of octopus that lived 100-72 million years ago and could have been as long as the height of a six-storey building. | Photo Credit: Yohei Utsuki/Hokkaido University Invertebrate Cretaceous ‘krakens’ were apex predators The earliest finned octopuses were top predators that rivalled giant marine reptiles. By analysing large fossilised jaws,…
A 2024 Norway-funded study identified 16,000 chemicals present or used in plastics. | Photo Credit: Getty Images In 1957, an Indian plastic-packaging maker chronicled the happy fate of a hosiery brand that had begun wrapping its products in plastic. The result, he wrote in an Indian daily, was a 65% jump in sales. Paper, wood,…
Read More “Unwrapping India’s plastic packaging problem: from boom to crisis” »
Genetically modified crops have been grown and consumed safely for decades now | Photo Credit: AFP This article is part of Examined World, a contemplative series exploring what the sciences reveal about us. Our debates and discussions on technology are currently dominated by artificial intelligence (AI). Conversations around this subject are rarely about whether AI…
Read More “Societies embrace gene therapy but resist genetic change in crops” »
A farmer uses a combine harvester in a wheat field in Amritsar, April 15, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI Extreme heat is pushing global agrifood systems to the brink, threatening the livelihoods and health of more than a billion people, according to a new report by the U.N.’s food and weather agencies. The United Nations…
Read More “Extreme heat threatens global food systems, UN agencies warn” »
Science Quiz on rivers and cities Name this iconic city of 32 million in China located where the Jialing and Yangtze rivers come together. START THE QUIZ Published – April 22, 2026 05:05 pm IST Read Comments Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Source link
A view of the earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026. | Photo Credit: NASA/REUTERS The NASA Apollo 8 mission to the moon captured the iconic earthrise image the same year in which U.S….
A new genome-wide study examined 516 lipid metabolites in 3,000 Punjabi Sikhs. | Photo Credit: Getty Images With 1 in 10 adults in India living with diabetes, and 62% of all deaths in the country due to cardiovascular disease, research has now begun to focus on tracing the genetic mechanisms that predispose Indians to type…
Read More “New molecular pathways contributing to cardiovascular disease in Indians found” »
Cases of severe cystitis (bladder infections) and even tooth decay have been identified as accelerants that could trigger a dementia diagnosis after a few years, as per a recent study. Image used for representational purposes only | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto For decades, medical science has viewed dementia as a slow-burning fire fuelled by genetics…
Read More “UTIs, tooth decay: how common infections may be fast-tracking dementia” »