Category: Science

A blue hawklet in Silent Valley National Park, Keralam, August 2016. | Photo Credit: Jee & Rani Nature Photography (CC BY-SA) In the imagination of children, flying holds a special place. Folded pieces of paper become airplanes ready to be launched, eager gazes follow soaring eagles, and dragonflies are the helicopters of their fantasies. Dragonflies…

Read More “Dragonflies are bellwethers of earth’s ecosystems” »

A striped hyena in Bhigwan, Maharashtra, August 2025. | Photo Credit: Tisha Mukherjee Thanks to its unusual appearance, preference for decaying meat, and nocturnal activities, the Indian striped hyena is a tragically misunderstood animal. Estimates suggest there are around 5,000 to 14,000 striped hyenas worldwide of which some 1,000 to 3,000 are in India —…

Read More “Striped hyenas help keep India clean, but remain misunderstood” »

India’s laboratories are expanding, research funding is growing, start-ups are emerging, and Indian researchers are increasingly contributing to scientific knowledge. Amid this expansion, who is preparing scientists to become leaders? A researcher may spend years mastering experimental techniques, analysing data, publishing papers, and writing research proposals. But when that researcher becomes a principal investigator, a…

Read More “How BODH is training India’s scientists to become better lab leaders” »

Each one of us has questions throughout our life. And we know the answers to only a few. Efforts of varying degrees go into getting the answer. We can ask our parents, teachers, friends, a book, an article, the internet or an expert who helps us find the answer. The process takes time, which means many failed attempts and a lot of reflections. But since 2023, we have a new answering…

Read More “AI can finetune our research if we can challenge it constantly” »

From the musical whistles of a red-whiskered bulbul to the mechanical whirr of a barn swallow song, there is an incredible diversity to avian music. But according to a new study by researchers from France and the U.S., this vast diversity comes from just eight building blocks. Researchers analysed more than one lakh song recordings…

Read More “A hidden eight-note alphabet makes up every bird song in the world” »

(This article forms a part of the Science for All newsletter that takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Subscribe now!)  Birds have long fascinated scientists and nature lovers alike with the rich variety of sounds they produce. From melodic songs to sharp alarm calls, bird vocalisations serve a variety of…

Read More “Science for all newsletter How bird songs have evolved?” »

In the heart of the Western Ghats lies a rare conglomeration of freshwater swamps, restricted to a patch in Kulathupuzha, Kerala: it consists of plants with pneumatophores (aerial roots that grow vertically out of water) and stilt roots adapted to waterlogged conditions and they support a plethora of fauna. They are ecologically crucial in regulating…

Read More “Rare freshwater swamps in the Western Ghats are on the cusp of extinction” »

In March 2026, IIT Kharagpur—the oldest Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) that has been training thousands of minds to design bridges, cars, and computer chips for the last 75 years did something unprecedented. It formally applied to the National Medical Commission (NMC) to offer a postgraduate medical degree, the Doctor of Medicine (MD). (Sign up…

Read More “How IITs and IISc are redefining medical education in India” »

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is India’s preeminent digital payments system. In July 2026 alone, it processed 2,366 crore transactions — or around 7,600 transactions per second — in total worth nearly ₹30 lakh crore. Across the 2025-26 financial year, UPI handled 24,160 crore transactions worth ₹314 lakh crore, accounting for 85% of the country’s…

Read More “What goes on behind the screen when you pay through UPI? | Explained” »