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Daily Quiz: On sign languages What does this gesture in the Indian Sign Language represent? START THE QUIZ 1 / 6 | How many sign languages currently exist in the world? 2 / 6 | In a particular country’s sign language format, a well-formed question requires a specific eyebrow position. For instance, the eyebrows should…
Silverio, a white rhino calf, pictured next to its mother Hannah, during the calf’s presentation at Buin zoo in Santiago, Chile, on April 7, 2024. | Photo Credit: AFP The rhinoceros population across the world has increased slightly but so have the killings, mostly in South Africa, as poaching fed by huge demand for rhino…
Read More “The number of rhinos is slightly up but poaching has increased too” »
The Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech. File photograph An open letter written to vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech International Ltd and to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has called Bharat Biotech’s defamation suit filed against the authors of a research paper that studied the long-term effects of Covaxin, “short-sighted and punitive.” The…
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the great crises of the 21st century, and Staphylococcus aureus is an important bacteria species leading this charge. In 2019, for example, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) — a strain that can resist several antibiotics — was responsible for more than 100,000 deaths. Fortunately it is still significantly vulnerable to vancomycin,…
Read More “Vancomycin may not be able to treat MRSA infections for long” »
Representative image. | Photo Credit: Aarn Giri You’re likely to have heard about the butterfly effect and just as likely to have heard the example of a butterfly flapping its wings in one place and causing a tornado thousands of kilometres away. The discovery of the effect has its origins in the work of the…
All four antibiotics tested were capable of breaking down the mucus barrier. | Photo Credit: Getty Images Besides causing antimicrobial resistant bacteria, irrational use of antibiotics can also act directly on host cells. A recent study published in the journal Science Advances has found that even a short-course treatment of mice with antibiotics twice a day for three days…
Read More “Are antibiotics responsible for inflammatory bowel diseases?” »
A study has found that voluntary dunking of heads in water maintained at 22 degree C by dogs with limited water ingestion is the most effective method for rapid cooling after exercise. It reduces core body temperature within five minutes. Dunking of heads in water is a viable option when whole-body water immersion is not due…
Read More “Can heat-related illnesses be prevented in dogs?” »
A few days ago, Sujatha Rao, former Union Secretary of the Health Ministry, quit the Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System. In 2020, the Union government intensified its efforts to privatise health care in India when NITI Aayog proposed and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her budget speech that district hospitals will…
Read More “Commercialisation of health services can be a recipe for disaster, says Sujatha Rao” »
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman Samir V. Kamat with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. | Photo Credit: File photo Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman Dr. Samir V Kamat said that there is an aversion to risk and intolerance of failure in India due to which people end up taking less challenging projects….
ISRO Chairman S Somanath addresses a press conference on the Chandrayaan-4 mission at the National Media Centre in New Delhi on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: ANI Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S. Somanath said on Friday (September 20, 2024) that the space agency will take all precautions by carrying out a sufficient number of…
Read More “ISRO will take all precautions before manned Gaganyaan mission: Somanath” »