Category: Science

Science

Malaria: is Asia-Pacific on target towards elimination by 2030?

January 23, 2026 admin

The World Malaria Report 2025, launched in December, provided a bag of mixed news, five years ahead of the 2030 global malaria elimination deadline. While the reduction in estimated cases in southeast Asia provided definite hope, of serious concern were rising cases of resistance to artemisinin-based frontline treatment for malaria, and falling funding for malaria programmes. Notably, it is the Asia Pacific region that posted much of the good news. The significant reduction was driven by 10 of…

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Science quiz: on palaeoclimatology – The Hindu

January 23, 2026 admin

Science quiz: on palaeoclimatology 1 / 6 | What’s the general name for formations like stalactites and stalagmites, which are formed when minerals slowly deposit at one location over a long period? 2 / 6 | An ___ ____ is a cylinder of ice that’s been drilled out of a larger mass. These objects have…

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A natural heater hidden in India’s ‘sacred lotus’ flowers

January 23, 2026 admin

The ‘sacred lotus’ plant is native to North and Central India and grows in ponds, lakes, and gently flowing waters. | Photo Credit: T. Voekler (CC BY-SA) Thermogenesis is the word for the way living things create their own body heat. While we usually only think of birds and mammals as being warm-blooded, all complex…

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Large genetic study finds overlaps between schizophrenia, bone health

January 22, 2026 admin

Schizophrenia is usually described as a disorder of thought, perception, and behaviour — a disease of the brain. Yet for years, researchers have noticed a quieter, more persistent pattern in the lives of people with the condition. Compared to the general population, they are more likely to have weaker bones and to suffer fractures, in…

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Study probes the vast gap between early stars and adult achievers

January 22, 2026 admin

Those who perform exceptionally well at a young age versus those who do so in adulthood are rarely the same people, according to a December 2025 study in Science. This means “most early top performers don’t become top performers at peak age, and … most top performers at peak age weren’t early top performers,” the…

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ICE Cloud promises open, secure supercomputing for complex science research

January 21, 2026 admin

“Too good to be true! Is it really possible to get our cohorts on board? Is it really free? How do we get to use the facility?”. These were some of the questions clinicians, researchers and start-up founders raised, quite surprised after the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) revealed that it was ready…

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Satellite data show India’s major deltas sinking due to human activity

January 21, 2026 admin

Dark clouds loom over the catchment area of the Cauvery. July 14, 2018. | Photo Credit: E. Lakshmi Narayanan/The Hindu An international research team has found a systemic drop in land elevation across India’s river deltas driven mostly by human activities. The researchers were motivated by the lack of high-resolution data of river deltas’ subsidence…

Science

‘The more we learn about bats, the less we fear them’

January 21, 2026 admin

The connection between bats and evil spirits is, unfortunately, a deep, cross-cultural myth that refuses to die, but did you know there is another, more fun spirit they are intricately associated with? Agave plants, the source of tequila and mezcal, depend on bats, especially the Mexican long-nosed bat, for pollination and seed dispersal, says bat…

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NASA astronaut Sunita Williams retires

January 21, 2026 admin

NASA astronaut (Retd.) Sunita Williams. | Photo Credit: PTI National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Sunita Williams — one of two astronauts stuck for months at the International Space Station — has retired. The space agency announced the news on Tuesday (January 20, 2026), saying her retirement took effect at the end of December. Williams’…

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How reusability can lead to sustainable, cost-effective access to space

January 21, 2026 admin

After four decades of government-led space exploration, the new millennium has ushered in a commercial revolution where private companies now lead and fund the industry’s most significant breakthroughs. Space is now a fast-growing industry, expected to exceed $1 trillion in value by 2030. The application of innovative technologies, notably partial reusability of rockets by these…

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