Category: Science

Science

IIT Bombay scientists develop solar heat battery for freezing Himalayan homes

March 11, 2026 admin

In a breakthrough that could reshape winter heating in India’s cold desert regions, such as snow-covered Leh, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have developed a solar-powered thermal battery that can store summer heat for use in the harsh Himalayan winters. This heat storage system could offer a cleaner, long-term alternative…

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Tamil Nadu needs more basic science funding to create green technology

March 11, 2026 admin

As Tamil Nadu approaches its Assembly elections, its ambition to become a $1-trillion economy and its position as one of India’s leading industrial and knowledge hubs means it’s worth examining how the State has invested in science and environmental issues in the last five years. First, the State’s strategy on environment and climate action has…

Science

The Rearview Podcast | PC Mahalanobis: India’s First Data Cruncher

March 11, 2026 admin

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1893–1972) was a Bengali statistician and institution-builder who became one of the most consequential figures in twentieth-century Indian science. Trained as a physicist in Calcutta and Cambridge, he discovered statistics almost by accident through an encounter with Biometrika, and went on to found the Indian Statistical Institute in 1931 out of a…

Science

Earth’s magnetic flips can last 70,000 years, new study finds

March 11, 2026 admin

A numerical simulation of the earth’s magnetic field. Blue lines are moving into the core and yellow lines are moving out. | Photo Credit: NASA The earth’s magnetic field aids navigation but also protects the planet from high-energy radiation from the sun. For decades, geologists believed that when this field periodically flipped, swapping the north…

Science

What is cheaper to cook with, LPG or induction?

March 10, 2026 admin

LPG cylinders being transported in a vehicle for distribution in Visakhapatnam on March 10, 2026, amid public concerns about supply and prices. | Photo Credit: V. RAJU/The Hindu As hotels, hostels, and community kitchens grapple with the unexpected shortage of LPG, those with electric cooking equipment feel they are in a safer position. Achal Sridharan,…

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Why can’t anything travel faster than light and what would happen if it did?

March 10, 2026 admin

It’s possible to travel faster than light in a particular medium. | Photo Credit: Logan Voss/Unsplash – Sai Karthikeya Duggirala Albert Einstein’s equation E = mc2 says energy and mass are linked. If you push an object to go faster, you add energy to it. At everyday speeds, this just increases the object’s velocity. But…

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Science Snapshots: March 15, 2026

March 10, 2026 admin

Why do ripening bananas produce such a unique aroma? | Photo Credit: Alistair Smailes/Unsplash Test disfavours acrylonitrile cells in Titan lakes Computer models have suggested that acrylonitrile, an organic compound present on Saturn’s moon Titan, can self-assemble into cell-like structures. When scientists mixed it with liquid methane and ethane in cryogenic conditions like those on…

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Faunal survey in Kerala’s Vazhachal adds 26 species to checklist of wildlife division in Western Ghats

March 10, 2026 admin

Great Indian Hornbill | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement An intensive faunal survey in the Vazhachal wildlife division in Thrissur, Kerala, has documented 26 species previously unrecorded from the area, highlighting the rich biodiversity of the key corridor in the Western Ghats. The survey was conducted by the Kerala Forest department in association with the Travancore…

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Science News: With lunar missions looming, scientists grow chickpeas in ‘moon dirt’

March 10, 2026 admin

If the idea of lunar hummus seems far-fetched, think again. Scientists working to cultivate the field of extraterrestrial agriculture have grown chickpeas in dirt made mostly of simulated lunar soil, a step toward enabling astronauts on ‌long-term moon missions to produce their own food. Researchers said harvestable chickpeas were grown in soil mixtures composed primarily…

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Scientists rewire bacteria to build ‘designer’ proteins on demand

March 10, 2026 admin

Researchers have found a way to hijack the natural protein-making facilities of bacteria to manufacture specific proteins of interest. They did this by turning a ‘nutrient gate’ on a bacterial cell into a Trojan horse that could ferry artificial amino acids into cells to make these proteins. The study, conducted by teams at ETH Zurich…

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