Renowned astrophysicist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat Dr. Jayant Narlikar, one of Indiaâs most distinguished astrophysicists who combined profound theoretical insight into cosmology with a lifelong commitment to science communication, passed away at his residence in Pune on Tuesday (May 20. 2025). He was 86. Describing what made Dr. Narlikar one of…
Jarosite crystals from Sierra PeĂąa Blanca in Mexico. | Photo Credit: Robert M. Lavinsky (CC BY-SA) Jarosite is a yellow-brown mineral that contains potassium, iron, and sulphate â and researchers have found it could serve as a natural geological clock on Mars. Recently, a team of researchers from around India sampled six jarosite veins from…
The health departments of Singapore and Hong Kong had last week notified about an increase in COVID-19 infections, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the wake of reports about the surge in coronavirus cases, India had convened a review meeting on Monday. Should we be concerned about this current “wave” of COVID-19? What is…
Astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Eminent astrophysicist, science communicator, and Padma Vibhushan awardee Dr Jayant Vishnu Narlikar passed away in Pune on Tuesday (May 20, 2025), family sources said. He was 87. A towering figure in Indian science, Dr Narlikar was widely known for his pioneering contributions to cosmology, his efforts to…
All of us have had this experience at some point: you wake up, find out youâre late for a class or meeting, clean up, put on some nice clothes, and run. When you finally get to where you need to be, youâre sweating. You pull out a small deodorant bottle from your bag, give yourself…
Biologists have the fruit fly. Botanists have the thale cress. Neurologists have the roundworm. These are model organisms: plants and animals that scientists in each of these fields study to make sense of almost all other plants and animals in the world. For example, in the 1990s, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered a new…
A view of the World Health Organisation headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, January 28, 2025. | Photo Credit: Reuters Hundreds of officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO) will join donors and diplomats in Geneva from May 19 with one question dominating their thoughts: how to cope with crises from mpox to cholera without their main…
The noted geneticist and evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900-1975) published an essay in 1973 in the journal American Biology Teacher, titled âNothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolutionâ. The title became wildly popular in scientific circles. It was even engraved in the Jordan Hall of Science of the University of Notre…
Over the years, several researches have showed that regular physical activity can lower the risk of cancer. A recent study at the University of Oxford found that walking 7,000 steps a day could help reduce the risk of developing cancer by 11%. According to the research involving more than 85,000 people in the United Kingdom,…
