Category: Science

There is more to research impact than citations. | Photo Credit: Adam Bezer/Unsplash The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently proposed the Impact of Research and Innovation Scale (IRIS), a scale with which to measure the impactfulness of the effects of biomedical, public health, and allied research projects funded by the organisation. ICMR is…

Read More “While good, ICMR impact scale may deter research in public interest” »

The pattern arises from how the drop evaporates and how coffee particles move.  | Photo Credit: Glen Carrie/Unsplash A: If you spill a drop of coffee on a table, you often see a dark ring with a pale centre after it dries. This pattern arises from how the drop evaporates and how coffee particles move….

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The student filling out answers to exam test answer sheet with a pencil. School and Education. Test score sheet with answers. 21EPBS_CUET_Page 2 | Photo Credit: Golden Sikorka A paper published on July 24, 2025, by Carmelo Vicario et al., titled ‘Timing Matters! Academic assessment changes throughout the day’ in the journal Frontiers in Psychology…

Read More “What is the best time to take examinations?” »

From fingernail diaries to pizza-eating lizards, this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes once again celebrated research that makes people laugh before it makes them think. The 2025 ceremony, held virtually from Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, spotlighted oddball studies from around the world that nevertheless posed real scientific questions. Among this year’s laureates are Vikash Kumar and…

Read More “Two from India win 2025 Ig Nobel prize for engineering design” »

“At Independence, the new Government of India … made the building of big dams a central part of its strategy for transforming India, a commitment to which it adhered for decades,” historian Daniel Klingensmith wrote in his 2007 book ‘One Valley and a Thousand’. The Damodar Valley Corporation, the Bhakra Nangal, and the Hirakud in…

Read More “Is age catching up with India’s dams?” »

Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever are an increasing threat to global health. Rapid urbanisation and climate change have created ideal conditions for mosquitoes to breed — while expanding global travel has accelerated the spread of these infections to new regions and populations. A new study published last week has now added an unexpected twist…

Read More “Crosstalk: waning immunity against Japanese encephalitis worsens dengue” »

The story so far: For many decades, one of the great challenges in artificial intelligence (AI) has been teaching machines to reason. Reasoning goes beyond memorising facts or completing sentences. It’s the ability to follow steps, reflect on mistakes, and adjust strategies until the right answer is found. Humans use reasoning for everything from solving…

Read More “How the DeepSeek-R1 AI model was taught to teach itself to reason | Explained” »