Tag: science news

Webb telescope confirms the universe is expanding at an unexpected rate

December 10, 2024 admin

Spiral galaxy NGC 628, located 32 million light-years away from Earth, is seen in an undated image from the James Webb Space Telescope. | Photo Credit: Reuters Fresh corroboration of the perplexing observation that the universe is expanding more rapidly than expected has scientists pondering the cause – perhaps some unknown factor involving the mysterious…

Science

4-billion-year-old crystal offers oldest evidence of water on Mars

December 5, 2024 admin

Water is ubiquitous on Earth – about 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by the stuff. Water is in the air, on the surface and inside rocks. Geologic evidence suggests water has been stable on Earth since about 4.3 billion years ago. The history of water on early Mars is less certain. Determining when water first appeared,…

Science

Can science’s peer-review system guarantee academic rigour?

December 5, 2024 admin

Reviewers, who often remain anonymous, go unrewarded and unrecognised, even though their work is an essential part of research communication. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Peer review is a central feature of academic work. It’s the process through which research ends up published in an academic journal: independent experts scrutinise the work of another researcher…

Science

Hand-held ‘electric labs’ can rapidly identify pathogens

December 5, 2024 admin

Microfluidics makes use of tiny channels to speed up analyses of biomolecules such as DNA and proteins. | Photo Credit: Thom Leach/Getty Images When you think of electric fields, you likely think of electricity – the stuff that makes modern life possible by powering everything from household appliances to cellphones. Researchers have been studying the…

Science

A beetle named Hitler: The case to change offensive animal, plant names

December 4, 2024 admin

Taxonomy is the science of describing, classifying and naming organisms. It organises the vast diversity of life on Earth. Species are grouped based on shared characteristics, providing a system that allows scientists to understand and communicate about the natural world. Naming species is no simple task: a scientist doesn’t just assign a name and call…

Science

China scientists rush to climate-proof potatoes

December 4, 2024 admin

A worker wearing a protective suit harvests potato tubers at a greenhouse under Yakeshi Senfeng Potato Industry Company, where seed potatoes are farmed through the aeroponics method, in Yakeshi, Inner Mongolia, China, June 16, 2024. The company has invested in aeroponic systems where plants are grown in the air under controlled conditions, and farmers are…

Science

About 182 million children in poor nations lack nurture; pollution, climate change risk factors: Study

November 19, 2024 admin

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), three-fourths of those aged three or four years lack — nearly 182 million children — access to adequate nurture, thereby risking healthy development, according to a new series paper, published in The Lancet journal. Child development is also affected by air pollution, climate change, and exposure to chemicals, which…

World

Svalbard seed vault evokes epic imagery, controversy because of the power of seeds

November 7, 2024 admin

Exterior view of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the secure seed bank on Svalbard, Norway, March 2, 2016. Two men who were instrumental in the “craziest idea anyone ever had” of creating a global seed vault designed to safeguard the world’s agricultural diversity will be honored as the 2024 World Food Prize laureates, officials announced…

Science

Astronomers just found complex carbon molecules in space – a step closer to deciphering the origins of life

October 30, 2024 admin

A team led by researchers at MIT in the United States has discovered large molecules containing carbon in a distant interstellar cloud of gas and dust. | Photo Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach A team led by researchers at MIT in the United States has discovered large molecules containing carbon in…

Science