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The story so far: The Supreme Court, in Kattavellai @ Devakar v. State of Tamil Nadu, recently issued guidelines to maintain the integrity of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples in criminal cases. The court directed the Director Generals of Police of all States to prepare sample forms of the Chain of Custody Register and all other necessary documentation…
A regulator has approved a world-first vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia infections, which are causing infertility and death in the iconic native species that is listed as endangered in parts of Australia. The single-dose vaccine was developed by the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland state after more than a decade of research…
Read More “Australia approves world’s first vaccine to save koalas from chlamydia” »
In 1905, German physician and microbiologist Robert Koch was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis.” At a time when TB claimed millions of lives, Koch’s identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the causative agent transformed medical science and confirmed that the disease was infectious, not…
Fashion is a part of our lives, we breathe it every day. Look around, and you’ll find garment stores everywhere: from small roadside stalls to giant malls, from local shops to global brands. Fashion never goes out of trend. But have you heard of the term fast fashion? Let’s find out what it means. What…
Is Science the only route to getting into high-growth careers these days? Contrary to popular belief, it is not. The world isn’t divided into Science vs. everything else anymore. From apps that track climate change to the psychology behind user-friendly design, today’s problems need minds that are creative, analytical, and tech-aware, regardless of whether they…
Read More “Why STEM isn’t just for Science students anymore” »
In 1994, a landmark paper in Science reported the isolation of an antibody called b12from an HIV-infected individual. The study showed that while pooled plasma containing billions of antibodies from HIV patients could neutralise viruses isolated from only 3 of 12 patients, b12 alone achieved similar neutralisation in 8 of the 12, and that, with…
Read More “HIV strains in India resist some top broadly neutralising antibodies” »
Science quiz: Most powerful non-nuclear bombs A railgun runs a strong electric current through parallel rails, using the resuting electromagnetic forces to accelerate a projectile to extreme speeds. START THE QUIZ 1 / 5 | Eighteen years ago, Russia tested a weapon it called the “Father of All Bombs.” It was a ___________ weapon because…
Solar System in the galaxy illustration September began with bang with the Full Moon also known as Corn/Harvest moon and a total Lunar Eclipse on September 7 that was visible throughout Asia and Australia and the central and eastern parts of Europe and Africa. Now, get ready for the next half. New Moon: The Moon…
Modern computing banks on conventional electronics and algorithms to process data. But because the hardware operates according to the laws of physics, data processing has a physical speed limit. The availability of power further constrains this speed, especially if the software being run is a power-guzzling artificial intelligence (AI) model. Thus one major preoccupation of…
Read More “The physics of light-based computers can change the way AI works” »
The first colour image of Mars transmitted by the Viking 1 lander. | Photo Credit: NASA/JPL A: Since the previous century, scientists have been reporting signs of life on Mars. In 1976, a Viking mission experiment reported signs of metabolism but another detector found no organic molecules. In 1996, the meteorite ALH 84001 was presented…