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It’s not easy finding food at sea. Seabirds often stay aloft, scanning the churning waters for elusive prey. Most seabirds take fish, squid, or other prey from the first few metres of seawater. Scavenging is common. But there are other tactics. Frigatebirds, skuas, and gulls rely on the success of other seabirds. These large, strong…
Read More “How skuas, frigatebirds, and gulls are helping spread avian influenza” »
In recent years, the landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly within the realm of natural language processing (NLP), has undergone a remarkable transformation. We have witnessed the rise of powerful large language models (LLMs) made by OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, among others, and generative AI (Gen-AI), characterised by its unparalleled ability to generate data based…
Read More “How quantum computing can make large language models even better” »
Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser. A group of eminent scientists, all former recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Awards, have written to the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) for clarification on whether the selection process employed to select winners of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) was “fully fair, transparent and free of…
The moment you hear the words “extinct” and “bird”, the dodo is probably the first creature on your mind, probably from an image in a school textbook you knew from years ago. The dodo’s significance transcended the boundaries of natural history. It has entered popular culture, immortalised in literature as a whimsical character with a…
Read More “New research rescues the dodo’s reputation from confusion and myth” »
The ANC built into headphones and earphones for individuals is cheaper than that required for larger spaces. | Photo Credit: Noman Khan/Unsplash Deepavali is the festival of lights but it has become synonymous with loud firecrackers — and it’s a month and a half away. If you’d like to protect yourself from loud noises, your…
(FILES) This undated handout picture from Nasa released on July 2, 2024 shows NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts (from top) Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. | Photo Credit: HANDOUT On June 5, 2024, seasoned astronauts Butch…
Read More “How Sunita Williams ended up stranded in space: The unexpected ordeal” »
Mission Muasam will involve a major upgrade of instruments used by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (in picture), and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. www.ncmrwf.gov.in The story so far: On September 11, the Cabinet cleared a ₹2,000 crore programme called Mission Mausam to upgrade infrastructure used…
Read More “Will Mission Mausam help tackle weather better?” »
While natural and grammatical language is used in prose, poetic language is figurative and symbolic UNICEF has declared March 21 of every year as World Poetry Day, with a chosen theme. It is devoted to supporting linguistic diversity using poetic expression. In 2022, the theme was ‘environment’. Last year it was ‘Always a poet, even…
Outdoor light at night could be a significant risk factor in Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study. Light pollution has already been associated with increased risk of some disorders and diseases. Based on light intensity, researchers divided people into different groups. In the five groups, they found that light intensity was correlated with Alzheimer’s…
Read More “Can light pollution be a new risk factor for Alzheimer’s?” »
A new study finds that a trilobite species with exceptionally well-preserved fossils from upstate New York has an additional set of legs underneath its head. The research, led by the American Museum of Natural History and Nanjing University in China, suggests that having a fifth pair of head appendages might be more widespread among trilobites…
Read More “Trilobite fossils from upstate New York reveal extra set of legs” »