A glance at the evening sky this month reveals an unusual amount of activity packed into a relatively short stretch of time. Bright planets are gathering low in the west after sunset, the moon is moving through several eye-catching encounters, and the June solstice is approaching. For anyone who enjoys stepping outside after dark, the…
For centuries, plants have been associated with daylight, photosynthesis and the natural rhythms of the Sun. Now, researchers in China have taken a step that seems drawn from science fiction by creating plants capable of glowing after dark. It involves complex technologies such as biotechnology, material sciences, and plant engineering, and this is used to…
For generations, farmers have relied on a combination of manual labour, herbicides and pesticides to protect crops from weeds and pests. Now, artificial intelligence is offering a radically different approach. In California’s Salinas Valley, often called America’s Salad Bowl, autonomous robots equipped with AI, high-resolution cameras, lasers and UV light are helping growers tackle some…
Some scientists make discoveries. Others create entirely new ways of understanding the universe. Harish-Chandra belonged to the latter group. Born in Kanpur in 1923, he began his academic career as a physicist and earned his doctorate at the University of Cambridge under Nobel laureate Paul Dirac. During this period, he identified a mathematical error in…
A volunteer donates blood during the World Blood Donor Day, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. (PTI Photo) Can blood be created in a laboratory for transfusion? The answer may eventually be yes, but not yet.In November 2022, scientists in the United Kingdom carried out the world’s first transfusion of lab-grown blood as part of a clinical…
Blaise Pascal (Image: Wikipedia) Not every disagreement begins with a lack of facts.Sometimes two people know the same information and still walk away with completely different views. It happens among friends discussing a career choice. It happens between parents and children talking about the future. It happens in offices when colleagues look at the same…
For decades, much of what the world knew about human genetics was built from datasets that scarcely reflected the diversity of South Asia. Yet one of the most significant pieces of the human story may have been hiding in plain sight. Across India’s mainland and island communities lies an extraordinary genetic record stretching back tens…
The world’s first trillionaire has promised to take you to Mars, but can he?Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is no longer just looking at Earth, but straight at the little red planet: Mars. The SpaceX founder has an interstellar dream: not just to visit the red planet, but to help build a permanent human…
Quote of the day by Max Planck (Image source: Wikipedia) There are moments in education when everything suddenly feels heavier than expected.A student who once solved problems quickly begins to slow down. Pages take longer to finish. Concepts that once looked familiar stop behaving the same way when the numbers change or the conditions shift….
James Clerk Maxwell (Image: Wikipedia) In 1928, a Scottish farmer named Hugh Fleming noticed something unusual in his laboratory. A dish containing bacteria had been contaminated by mould. Normally, that would have been a reason to throw it away and start again.Instead, he stopped and looked more closely.The scientist, better known to history as Alexander…