Category: Science

A health worker prepared a dose of a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in Barboursville in the U.S., November 4, 2021. | Photo Credit: Sholten Singer/AP The ideal vaccine offers nearly complete protection against infection and mild disease in just one dose. It is simple to administer and doesn’t have any adverse effects. The protective immunity lasts…

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A flock of pelicans flies over a frothy sea. | Photo Credit: Aaron Burden A: Sea foam needs two ingredients: something to increase the surface tension of the water, like a bubble bath, and something to froth it up, like water running into a tub. In the ocean or sea, the bubble bath is usually…

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Nature’s bounty has provided humans with a wide diversity of plants that we consume daily as food. In some Indigenous knowledge systems such as Ayurveda the same plants are also recognised as medicines. Throughout the 21st century, researchers discovered novel compounds and drugs from plants used in traditional medicine; today, the world is mining the…

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A view of the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica. | Photo Credit: David Vaughan/AP Carbon credits are an important new instrument of climate finance. The green-coloured piece of paper printed by the Reserve Bank of India and circulated by the government is worth 20 rupees. The person who possesses it can buy a packet of biscuits…

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has taken centre stage in basic science. The five winners of the 2024 Nobel Prizes in chemistry and physics shared a common thread: AI. Indeed, many scientists – including the Nobel committees – are celebrating AI as a force for transforming science. As one of the laureates put it, AI’s potential for…

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There has been no documented human-to-human transmission of the virus so far. | Photo Credit: File photo The emergence of a new clade of Avian Influenza H5N1 (2.3.4.4b) in late 2020 has led to a swift and widespread global outbreak, carried by migratory birds. Since then, the highly contagious clade has spread quickly across the…

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