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In 2012, a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space. This coronal mass ejection (CME) travelled at over 1,450 km per second. This event is depicted in this representative image. | Photo Credit: NASA Astronomers have said they have detected a storm on…
Read More “Astronomers spot storm on another star for first time” »
File photo of ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan | Photo Credit: PTI ISRO is gearing up for one of its busiest times with seven more launches planned this financial year, even as India’s first human spaceflight remains scheduled for 2027, its Chairman V. Narayanan said. In an interview with PTI, he said ISRO is preparing for…
Read More “ISRO to triple spacecraft output, launch Chandrayaan-4 in 2028: Chairman” »
Let us begin with a basic truism. Every age wants to believe that it is uniquely doomed. There is narcissistic self-love disguised as loathing, as well as an exaggerated projection of achievement bordering on destruction in that belief. Poets, writers, film-makers, culture-pundits, all invest various vocabularies of panic to creatively design doom stories, the more…
Read More “The anxious us: decoding anxiety in contemporary cultures of health” »
When laughter is shared in a social setting, it becomes louder and more frequent. | Photo Credit: Sabbir Bhuiyan/pexels In a study conducted by the German paediatric surgeon Winfried Barthlen, clowns were asked to interact with hospitalised children awaiting surgery. Not surprisingly, these children showed less anxiety after a happy session with a clown. An…
Argha Manna. Photo: https://csd.iitgn.ac.in/ From cancer to comics, from scientist to artist, from MIT to IIT — it has been an unusual journey for Bengal boy Argha Manna, who spent a chunk of his youth peering into the microscope but who later realised it was more fun spreading science through graphic art. On Saturday (November…
Read More “Cancer to comics — Bengal researcher makes art out of science” »
Science Quiz: Kindness in the animal kingdom Visual: Name these ants famed for their size, their termite-feeding behaviour, and for carrying injured mates back from termite nests. START THE QUIZ 1 / 6 | Name these ants famed for their size, their termite-feeding behaviour, and for carrying injured mates back from termite nests. 2 /…
Chinese astronaut Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie meet the press before the upcoming Shenzhou-20 spaceflight mission, at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China. File | Photo Credit: Reuters “Three Chinese astronauts will return to Earth on Friday (November 14, 2025),” Beijing’s Space Agency said, after a delay caused when their…
Read More “China’s Shenzhou-20 astronauts to return to Earth after delay due to orbital debris” »
By November, as the festival lights of Diwali fade and winter approaches, Guwahati usually enjoys cooler evenings, lower humidity, and a calm that signals the close of the tea-harvesting season. But in recent years, this rhythm has grown uncertain. Persistent heat, delayed rainfall, and muggy air now linger well past October, blurring the boundaries of…
Read More “For Assam tea, erratic climate and stagnant prices present a crisis” »
File photo of a Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft. File | Photo Credit: Reuters Three Chinese astronauts whose return to Earth was delayed by space debris hitting their vessel last week will return to their landing site on Friday (November 14, 2025), the China Manned Space Agency said in a statement. The…
Read More “China’s Shenzhou-20 crew to return on November 14 after space debris delays mission” »
Were you able to read this without yawning? | Photo Credit: Sander Sammy/Unsplash A: Yawning may spread because our brains are tuned to mirror others. When we see or hear a yawn, circuits involved in social mirroring and empathy may prime the throat and face muscles to mirror it. This may have helped groups of…