Category: Science

The view that artificial intelligence (AI) can pose an existential threat to humankind using technologies like nuclear weapons has been around for some years now. Last year, after examining such threats and risks, one study from the Rand Corporation, a global policy think-tank, argued that such risks could not be ruled out. The study also…

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Credit: Alchemist-hp (CC BY-NC-ND) Published – July 22, 2026 12:39 pm IST Read Comments Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Source link

A male Sumatran orangutan named Rakus is seen two months after self-treating a wound with a medicinal plant in the Suaq Balimbing research site, August 25, 2022. | Photo Credit: Reuters An interesting review by G. Allen et al. in Scientific Reports (16,18690: 2026)reports on how orangutans, which are still present in the Sebangu forest…

Read More “Zoopharmacognosy — when animals medicate themselves” »

This image provided by the European Southern Observatory shows the Beta Pictoris region on March 6, 2014. | Photo Credit: ESO/AP Astronomers have discovered a faint, elusive planet orbiting a young star after more than a decade of cosmic hide-and-seek. In an unusual twist, two groups working independently detected the cold gas giant a few…

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The white-bellied heron (Ardea insignis)is among the world’s most elusive birds, nesting along fast-flowing rivers lined with old growth forests. “India has a population of six to nine individuals distributed in three rivers: Noa-Dehing River, Lahm River and Lohit River,” Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bengaluru, project manager Yumlam Benjamin Bida…

Read More “India’s rarest heron faces a silent end as new dam ignores its home” »

‘Maglev’ is a portmanteau of ‘magnetic levitation’. Instead of running on wheels, maglev technology uses strong magnetic fields to lift the train and move it forward. Since the train floats above the track, there is no rolling friction during normal operations, nor are operations affected by inclement weather, like rain or snow. The result: the…

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An artist’s illustration of the system around the brown dwarf CD-35 2722 B, with the newfound moon-like object at the centre. The star (left) has about half the mass of our sun, and it is orbited by a brown dwarf (right). | Photo Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser First ‘exomoon’ found comes with a challenge Using the…

Read More “Science Snapshots: July 26, 2026” »