Category: Science

Science

Smooth operation of Liquid Apogee Motor engine critical to Aditya-L1 success

August 30, 2023 admin

Liquid Apogee Motor engines are used for orbital adjustment manoeuvres of satellites/spacecraft in orbit. Photo: X/@ISRO via PTI A small but powerful engine going by the acronym ‘LAM’ will have a critical role to play in the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) upcoming Aditya-L1 mission meant to study the sun. The successful operation of LAM,…

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Echolocation: What goes around comes around

August 30, 2023 admin

A bechstein´s bat in flight at night. The mouth is wide open using echolocation for orientation. What do bats, dolphins, and submarines have in common? They use the same technique to get a sense of their surroundings: echolocation. Here, an animal or a device emits sound waves, and listens for their reflections by objects in…

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Chandrayaan-3 | ‘Smile, please!’ Pragyan’s cameras capture Vikram

August 30, 2023 admin

These photos of Vikram lander were taken by Pragyan’s Navigation Camera on August 30, 2023. Photo courtesy ISRO The Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover has captured an image of the Vikram lander. Pragyan’s Navigation Camera on Wednesday clicked the image of Vikram. “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Smile, please! Pragyan Rover clicked an image of Vikram Lander this morning. The image…

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Rare blue supermoon brightens the night sky this week in the closest full moon of the year

August 30, 2023 admin

Representational file image. | Photo Credit: Rajeev Bhatt Stargazers are in for a double treat this week: a rare blue supermoon with Saturn peeking from behind. The cosmic curtain rises Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it’s considered blue. It’s dubbed a supermoon because it’s closer to Earth than…

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Pragyan rover confirms sulphur at moon’s south pole, searching for hydrogen

August 29, 2023 admin

An illustration of Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover roaming on the lunar surface. Photo: X/@chandrayaan_3 via PTI Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover has confirmed the presence of sulphur on the moon’s surface, near its south pole, and is still searching for hydrogen, the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Tuesday. The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-3’s…

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Can India’s One Health Mission help tackle the rising number of infectious diseases? | In Focus podcast

August 29, 2023 admin

Over the past few years, we’ve heard the names of a lot of new diseases – we had the Zika virus, the Nipah virus and even an Ebola scare, while the coronavirus pandemic rocked the country. Scientists estimate that about 60% of all known infectious diseases are zoonotic, meaning they spread from animals to people….

Science

What scientists find when they find nothing

August 29, 2023 admin

Say you have a friend who asserts that they can smell water. You are sceptical, yet also curious. To test their claim, you fill up 50 cups out of 100 with water and instruct your blindfolded friend to sniff away. If your scepticism – the null hypothesis – is justified, the odds of your friend…

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Race for Sun heats up: These are various solar missions

August 29, 2023 admin

ISRO to launch Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun, on September 2nd, 2023, at 11:50 Hrs IST from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. | Photo Credit: ANI As the Indian Space Research Organisation set to launch its solar mission Aditya-L1 on September 2, following are some important missions launched by space agencies of…

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Cyclone frequency may rise over Indian coast from the warming of Pacific: study

August 28, 2023 admin

Tropical cyclones that originate near the Equator, while being devastating, have been unusually subdued in recent decades. | Photo Credit: S. Mahinsha Tropical cyclones that originate near the Equator, while being devastating, have been unusually subdued in recent decades. The last major cyclone of this kind in the Indian neighbourhood was the 2017 Cyclone Okchi…

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Skyroot expects to double rocket launches amid Chandrayaan-3’s success

August 28, 2023 admin

Skyroot Aerospace’s logo is seen in this picture illustration. File | Photo Credit: Reuters Skyroot Aerospace, which launched the country’s first private rocket in 2022, aims to double its planned launches starting next year on a likely boost to the country’s fledgling private space sector from the success of the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission. The Hyderabad-based…

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