Category: Science

Science

Can science’s peer-review system guarantee academic rigour?

Posted on By admin
Can science’s peer-review system guarantee academic rigour?

Reviewers, who often remain anonymous, go unrewarded and unrecognised, even though their work is an essential part of research communication.  | Photo Credit: The Hindu Peer review is a central feature of academic work. It’s the process through which research ends up published in an academic journal: independent experts scrutinise the work of another researcher…

Read More “Can science’s peer-review system guarantee academic rigour?” »

Science

Hand-held ‘electric labs’ can rapidly identify pathogens

Posted on By admin
Hand-held ‘electric labs’ can rapidly identify pathogens

Microfluidics makes use of tiny channels to speed up analyses of biomolecules such as DNA and proteins.  | Photo Credit: Thom Leach/Getty Images When you think of electric fields, you likely think of electricity – the stuff that makes modern life possible by powering everything from household appliances to cellphones. Researchers have been studying the…

Read More “Hand-held ‘electric labs’ can rapidly identify pathogens” »

Science

When for-profit companies fund research, how is science affected?

Posted on By admin
When for-profit companies fund research, how is science affected?

In May 2024, Google DeepMind released AlphaFold 3, a tool that could predict protein structures. It used an artificial intelligence (AI) model to predict how different proteins were shaped, how they might interact with each other and with DNA, RNA, and other biomolecules of merit. Nobel laureates John Jumper and Demis Hassabis built the new…

Read More “When for-profit companies fund research, how is science affected?” »

Science

Scientists and astronomers meet at Raman Research Institute to explore moon as vantage point for studying the Universe 

Posted on By admin
Scientists and astronomers meet at Raman Research Institute to explore moon as vantage point for studying the Universe 

The symposium was attended by over 60 participants including members from several notable institutions. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL AARANGEMENT Astronomers from across the country, along with scientists, researchers from ISRO and industry discussed the possibilities of studying the cosmos from the moon, as ISRO accounted yet another lunar mission in the future. In the first…

Read More “Scientists and astronomers meet at Raman Research Institute to explore moon as vantage point for studying the Universe ” »

Science

A beetle named Hitler: The case to change offensive animal, plant names

Posted on By admin
A beetle named Hitler: The case to change offensive animal, plant names

Taxonomy is the science of describing, classifying and naming organisms. It organises the vast diversity of life on Earth. Species are grouped based on shared characteristics, providing a system that allows scientists to understand and communicate about the natural world. Naming species is no simple task: a scientist doesn’t just assign a name and call…

Read More “A beetle named Hitler: The case to change offensive animal, plant names” »

Science

Science for all | Footprints of two ancient hominin species found at the same spot in Kenya

Posted on By admin
Science for all | Footprints of two ancient hominin species found at the same spot in Kenya

(This article forms a part of the Science for All newsletter that takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Subscribe now!) More than a million years ago, on the shores of what would become Lake Turkana one day in modern-day Kenya, two distinct hominin species shared a landscape teeming with life….

Read More “Science for all | Footprints of two ancient hominin species found at the same spot in Kenya” »

Science

Proba-3 mission launch delayed to December 5 due to anomaly: ISRO

Posted on By admin
Proba-3 mission launch delayed to December 5 due to anomaly: ISRO

The PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 Mission, the 61st flight of PSLV and the 26th using PSLV-XL configuration, set to carry ESA’s PROBA-3 satellites (~550kg) into a highly elliptical orbit. File. | Photo Credit: PTI Due to an anomaly detected in Proba-3 spacecraft, the PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 launch has been rescheduled to Thursday (December 5, 2024), the Indian Space Research Organisation…

Read More “Proba-3 mission launch delayed to December 5 due to anomaly: ISRO” »

Science

China scientists rush to climate-proof potatoes

Posted on By admin
China scientists rush to climate-proof potatoes

A worker wearing a protective suit harvests potato tubers at a greenhouse under Yakeshi Senfeng Potato Industry Company, where seed potatoes are farmed through the aeroponics method, in Yakeshi, Inner Mongolia, China, June 16, 2024. The company has invested in aeroponic systems where plants are grown in the air under controlled conditions, and farmers are…

Read More “China scientists rush to climate-proof potatoes” »

Science

Study flags threat to frogs from agroforestry

Posted on By admin
Study flags threat to frogs from agroforestry

The Nilphamari narrow-mouthed frog, a frog found on the lateritic plateaus of the northern Western Ghats. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement Agroforestry practices may be harmful to some species of endemic frogs while a few are less affected by modified habitats, a new study by researchers from the Mysuru-based Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF-India) and the…

Read More “Study flags threat to frogs from agroforestry” »

Science

ecDNA challenges law of genetics, groundbreaking new studies find

Posted on By admin
ecDNA challenges law of genetics, groundbreaking new studies find

Once brushed aside as a curiosity, extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) is now taking centrestage in the complex field of cancer biology. Scientists first discovered it as a small fragment of genetic material in cancer cells 50 years ago. Because it was present in only 1.4% of tumours, they didn’t consider it to be important. But more…

Read More “ecDNA challenges law of genetics, groundbreaking new studies find” »

Science