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Bundles of plastic waste after being segregated at Jothi Nagar Centre in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, on September 6. | Photo Credit: RAJESH N./The Hindu Since their synthesis by the chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland and the explanation of their structure by Nobel laureate Hermann Staudinger, and their use since the 19th century, plastics have become convenient…
Read More “Ways to conquer plastic waste and produce useful materials” »
For a long time, fungal infections have meant itchy skin, discoloured nails and sometimes hair loss. These symptoms are collectively called dermatophytosis and are caused by a group of fungi called dermatophytes. ‘’Unfortunately, immunocompromised patients can get lesions all over their body. The itchiness and the lesions can get so severe that people even get…
Read More “Why scientists are rethinking the chemical ‘arms race’ against fungi” »
Snow-covered peaks of the Himalaya are visible in Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, September 6, 2026. | Photo Credit: REUTERS The Himalaya are approaching a tipping point as glaciers melt faster than a decade ago, threatening water security as the region approaches “peak water“ by mid-century, according to a study released this month. The findings…
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Among people, it is common knowledge that privilege is often inherited. But according to new findings, hyenas also inherit resources and status, and not just their forebears’ genes, from their parents. The findings were published recently in Science Advances — and they challenge the traditional evolutionary theories that assume males always face greater reproductive competition….
Read More “Spotted hyena daughters inherit rank, resources, and a taste for power” »
On July 20, mathematician Levent Alpöge, who works at the artificial intelligence company (AI) Anthropic, dropped a casual tweet on X. He claimed the company’s advanced large language model Claude Fable 5 had produced a counterexample to an 87-year-old open problem in algebraic geometry called the Jacobian conjecture. By working on it during the FIFA…
Read More “As AI marches on math research, scholars ponder the future” »
The U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) recently released a 125-page policy document titled ‘Science: A New Golden Age’, which presents a renewed vision for American science. It positions itself as a sequel to the American inventor Vannevar Bush’s 1945 report, ‘Science: The Endless Frontier’, which laid the foundations of the famously successful…
Read More “India has a research blindspot: its own science system” »
A view of the Millikan Library at Caltech, 2013. | Photo Credit: Canon.vs.nikon (CC BY-SA) A new event at the California Institute of Technology, called ‘Mathathon’, pulled together by a group of undergraduate students to “promote the responsible use of AI in mathematics” quickly ran into controversy last week. Scheduled for October 30 to November…
Gegeneophis chandgadi, a species of legless amphibia discovered in Maharashtra | Photo Credit: Special arrangement Scientists have discovered a new species of subterranean, legless amphibian — commonly known as a caecilian from Maharashtra. The species named Gegeneophis chandgadi has been discovered by a multi-institutional team of researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), WRC Pune,…
Read More “New species of legless amphibian discovered from Maharashrtra” »
Three astronauts inside a sealed spacecraft cannot rely on Earth’s natural environment. In Episode 6 of The Scope: Gaganyaan — India’s Leap, we look at the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) that will help sustain the crew inside the Crew Module. From oxygen and carbon dioxide removal to temperature, humidity, pressure, water, waste…
Read More “Gaganyaan Episode 6: Life support: Living in space | The Scope” »
K. Vijay Raghavan, former director of National Centre for Biological Sciences, in conversation with Jacob Koshy, Science Editor, The Hindu at the Biotech Conclave 2026 in Chennai on Friday. | Photo Credit: B. Velankanni Raj Quality of education, regulatory frameworks governing the biotechnology sector, economic factors, global competition and the potential of AI to democratise…