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Image for representational purposes only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images An academic paper published by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) has cautioned the Centre against “a complete switch” to natural farming, on the ground that it can hamper national food…
Anthropocentric activities have steadily eaten into the natural habitats of wild animals and increased the instances of man-animal conflict. Two of the many animals that are constantly in the news these days for unhappy encounters with the humankind are the elephant and the tiger. India has the largest number of wild Asian Elephants, estimated to…
Read More “Understanding the Impact on Elephants and Tigers in India” »
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Gaganyaan Mission astronauts-designate Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Prathap and Shubanshu Shukla at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram on February 27, 2024. Photo: PMO via PTI The story so far: On February 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicised the final shortlist of candidates to be astronauts on…
Read More “What will Gaganyaan change for India? | Explained” »
At a ceremony during an official visit to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on February 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed the names of the four astronaut-candidates for the first human spaceflight mission, a.k.a. Gaganyaan, of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). They are group captains Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, and…
Striped marlin are some of the fastest animals on the planet and one of the ocean’s top predators. When hunting in groups, individual marlin will take turns attacking schools of prey fish one at a time. Now a new study (Current Biology) explains how they might coordinate this turn-taking style of attack on their prey to avoid injuring…
Read More “Predatory fish use rapid colour changes to coordinate attacks” »
The proposed Pennar-Palar-Cauvery link canal connects the Mahanadi and Godavari rivers with the deficit rivers further south These days, the term Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere. The public has come to view it with mixed perceptions. On one side, it is a problem-solver: AI has helped in monitoring heart problems and eye conditions…
The article on high-risk pregnancies in The Hindu on February 17 astutely drew public attention to a matter of great concern to the obstetrics and gynaecology community, but often overlooked by the rest of the country. India has great strides in decreasing maternal mortality — from an MMR of 130/100,000 live births in 2016-2018 to a MMR…
Read More “The power of choice: a case for life-saving modern contraception” »
The Science Quiz appears thrice a week in the daily Science page. The page is available to read on all days except Saturday in the epaper. Questions: 1. ______ is the strongest muscle in the human body relative to its size and is located in the jaw. What is the name of this powerful jaw muscle?…
Read More “The Science Quiz | How well acquainted are you with your face?” »
This image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/Takara Tomy/Sony Group Corporation/Doshisha University shows an image taken by a Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2) of a robotic moon rover called Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, on the moon. File. | Photo Credit: AP Japan’s Moon lander has been put back to sleep…
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1. It is common knowledge that there are 365 days in a calendar year. However, 365 days is an approximation: the earth actually takes 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to go around the Sun once in its orbit. What is the latter length of time called? 2. Over four years or…