Category: Science

Rare-earth elements are a set of metallic elements in the periodic table. Chemists usually refer to a group of 17 elements when they use this label: the 15 lanthanides from lanthanum to lutetium, and scandium and yttrium. In most classroom periodic tables, the lanthanides are shown as a separate row placed beneath the main periodic…

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A spectacled cobra, one of India’s ‘Big Four’ species. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT/The Hindu As India has progressed, the stereotyped image of the “land of snake charmers” has been left behind. We now have snake rescuers. However, in rural areas, snakebites still account for 58,000 deaths every year, affecting workers in paddy fields as…

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DNA inside human cells is not free-floating. Instead, it is tightly wrapped around small protein units forming a long chain, with DNA looping around each unit before moving on to the next. This DNA-protein complex is called chromatin and allows nearly 2 m of genetic material to fit inside a nucleus only a few micrometres…

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Scientists have suspected for decades that high-flying mosquitoes could move pathogens far from where the mosquitoes first took an infected blood meal. | Photo Credit: Wolfgang Hasselmann/Unsplash Mosquitoes spread diseases such as malaria and dengue, and these diseases affect billions of people worldwide. Many public health plans assume that pathogens borne by mosquitoes spread over…

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Science quiz: Giants on whose shoulders Newton stood 1 / 5 | The work of X on falling bodies and the idea that an object in motion tends to stay in motion set the stage for Newton’s laws of motion. X is also known for trying mathematics to physical measurements in a new way. Newton…

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Along the Vaigai river in southern Tamil Nadu, archaeologists have been excavating an old settlement at Keezhadi. They have already found brick walls, channels that look like drains or small canals, floors made of fine clay, and many pieces of pottery. These finds matter because Tamil poems from the Sangam period talk about busy towns…

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Yawning has important functions for the body. | Photo Credit: Tim Bish/Unsplash A: You’ve just had a heavy meal and now you have to sit through a dull lecture. Soon you’re feeling drowsy. You yawn, and your eyes water. This happens because yawning affects the muscles and glands around the eyes. Just above each eye…

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