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The winged vehicle, Pushpak, was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook Helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) completed the third Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Landing Experiment (LEX) on June 23 at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka. This is the…
In the history of toys, there haven’t been many that have met the craze and frenzy created by the Hula-Hoop. | Photo Credit: Andrew David Newdigate / flickr When do you grow up? Is it when you become tall enough that you can reach the highest shelves, even fetching stuff for others in the household…
A new study presents video evidence that at least one species of terrestrial leech can jump, behaviour that scientists have debated for more than a century, published the footage and corresponding analysis in the journal Biotropica. During two separate expeditions to Madagascar in 2017 and in 2023, lead author Mai Fahmy, a postdoctoral researcher at Fordham University…
Read More “First conclusive evidence that a terrestrial leech species can jump” »
A new study has found that chimpanzees appear to consume plants with medicinal properties to treat their ailments. The researchers combined behavioural observations of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) with pharmacological testing of the potentially medicinal plants they eat. They monitored the behavior and health of 51 chimpanzees in the Budongo Central Forest Reserve in Uganda…
Read More “Do wild chimpanzees seek out medicinal plants to treat illness and injuries?” »
Health appears to improve when one listens to music The annual world music day was held on June 21, 2024. It is an occasion to look back at how music and rhythm have evolved from ancient times. As the study by Hattori and Tomonaga points out, when a rhythmic piece was played to a group of…
Slamming the recently published paper by Dr. Jacob Puliyel from the International Institute of Health Management Research, New Delhi, on rotavirus vaccine safety, microbiologist Dr. Gagandeep Kang says: “If you do 20 different analyses, one of them will appear significant. This is truly cherry picking data, cherry picking analysis, changing the data around, adjusting the…
Read More “Rotavirus vaccine: tortured data analyses raise false safety alarm” »
E. woodii is a member of the cycad family, heavy plants with thick trunks and large stiff leaves that form a majestic crown. | Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons “Surely this is the most solitary organism in the world,” wrote palaeontologist Richard Fortey in his book about the evolution of life. He was talking about Encephalartos woodii (E. woodii), a plant…
Read More “Scientists search for a female partner for world’s ‘loneliest’ plant” »
Neanderthals, the closest cousins of modern humans, lived in parts of Europe and Asia until their extinction some 30,000 years ago. Genetic studies are revealing ever more about the links between modern humans and these long-gone relatives – most recently that a rush of interbreeding between our species occurred in a relatively short burst of…
Read More “The mysterious fate of the Neanderthal Y chromosome” »
Muslim pilgrims gather at the top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, June 15, 2024. | Photo Credit: AP Each year, millions of Muslims from across the world embark on the Hajj…
Read More “Climate change has made the Hajj pilgrimage more risky” »
In parts of South Australia, long stretches of beach are often blanketed in large patches of pink sand. Strong swells can dump drifts of reddish grains of garnet along the shore – but the origin of these colourful crystals has until now been a mystery. Garnet is rare in beach sand, as it is destroyed…
Read More “Australia’s enigmatic pink sand was born in Antarctic mountains: new research” »