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A spinning neutron star periodically swings its radio (green) and gamma-ray (magenta) beams past Earth in this artist’s concept of a black widow pulsar. The pulsar heats the facing side of its stellar partner to temperatures twice as hot as the sun’s surface and slowly evaporates it. | Photo Credit: Reuters How fast can a…
Read More “Cosmic ‘speed camera’ reveals staggering speed of neutron star jets” »
TUBB4B controls a protein that gets integrated into filaments called microtubules that provide internal structure for cells. Image for representation purposes only. File | Photo Credit: Pixabay What do Lady Gaga, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Paul McCartney and Justin Bieber have in common with Ronald Reagan, Jimi Hendrix, Judy Garland, Fidel Castro and David Bowie?…
Read More “Why are some people left-handed while most are righties? New study sheds light” »
Questions: 1. This Jovian moon is the most geologically active planetary body in the Solar System, rendering life on this body very unlikely – but not impossible, especially since all that activity keeps it quite warm. Name this moon. 2. Data collected in 2015-2018 suggested the Solar System’s largest asteroid may have a large subsurface…
Read More “The Science Quiz | Is there alien life in the Solar System?” »
“Iseult”, the world’s most powerful MRI scanner, has delivered its first images of the human brain and is expected to provide a better understanding of its functioning and of certain neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. | Photo Credit: AFP The world’s most powerful MRI scanner has delivered its first images of human brains, reaching a new…
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On March 27, one of the pioneers of psychology and economics research, Daniel Kahneman, passed away. Kahneman was a psychologist who spent a large part of his career at Princeton University. He did some of his best known work with Amos Tversky, a mathematical psychologist who passed away in 1996. No stranger to fame Kahneman…
Read More “How has Daniel Kahneman’s work in psychology withstood the test of time?” »
On March 9, 2024, Dr Vinod Scaria wrote an article in science page of The Hindu urging for a strong regulatory crackdown to prevent Indian biological samples from being analyzed by foreign commercial entities. His chain of reasoning includes protection of privacy, anti-discrimination, and promotion of Indian biotech ventures to provide genomics access for the…
Read More “‘Underwhelming Indian genomics research, and gatekeeping’” »
The largest-ever study of bird genomes has produced a remarkably clear picture of the bird family tree. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The largest-ever study of bird genomes has produced a remarkably clear picture of the bird family tree. Published in the journal Nature today, our study shows that most of the modern groups of birds…
Read More “Bird species exploded after dinos’ doom, largest yet bird genetics study says” »
An international team of scientists, including from India, has discovered strong evidence indicating the presence of ozone on Jupiter’s moon Callisto, shedding light on the complex chemical processes taking place on icy celestial bodies in the Solar System. The study was published in the March 2024 issue of the journal Icarus. It outlines the researchers’…
Read More “Team led by PRL Ahmedabad finds ozone on Jupiter’s moon Callisto” »
In this Punnett square, the colour green in unripe pods is determined by the dominant allele ‘G’ and the colour yellow in unripe pods is determined by a recessive allele ‘g’. The little four-square grid we drew in school while learning about genetic crossing has a name: the Punnett Square. These squares are a way…
Anthropogenic climate change is turning ambient heat, a relatively banal manifestation of the sun, into an inevitable environmental hazard. In 2023, with the atmospheric carbon dioxide level reaching new heights of 425 ppm, we witnessed the warmest decade on record spanning from 2014 to 2023. Until a few decades ago, hazards of high heat largely existed…
Read More “As India’s summer begins, understanding the heat and health conundrum” »