Comments Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our...
Category: Science & Tech
Science Quiz: Unusual sources of energy
Science of deception: Why our brain loves to lie
The margay is a small wild cat native to South America. A few years back, biologists noticed a strange behaviour being displayed by this tree-dwelling animal. They found out the feline was imitating the call of a baby monkey. They conducted some studies and found out that the margay’s imitation game was a clever ploy...
A surgeon’s paradoxical lesson for journalists to survive the news
In an episode of the TV show Elementary, a surgeon prepares to perform a surgery. After he dons his gloves and mask, with his students watching from the back, he plays some funny music from speakers. The students are pleasantly surprised. The surgeon turns around and tells them that they will need to learn to take...
India urges clarity as ‘tipping points’ rock Bonn climate talks
At the Bonn climate talks in Germany on June 8-18, alongside the usual laundry list of contested themes like climate finance, tipping points became an unexpected source of debate and controversy. According to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, India urged care and clarity in using terms like “tipping points”, which it said would present challenges around...
Venezuela’s deadly history of earthquakes — and how they affected its politics
Two devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela within seconds of each other on the evening of June 24, reportedly affecting several of the country’s States and bringing entire buildings down in the capital Caracas. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the first quake of 7.1 magnitude had its epicentre off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast and the second, which...
Why does wet paper tear so easily?
As the southwest monsoon sweeps over India, people brace for storms, floods, and the occasional sight of a damaged bookstore or library. What makes the last a particularly sad sight is that paper tears easily when it’s wet. Paper is made primarily from wood pulp, which contains a dense network of cellulose fibers. Cellulose consists...
A black market for ‘fake patents’ is a new poison in Indian research
A worrying new trend of ‘fake patents’, in which education companies sell thousands of patents registered in the U.K. to academics from India and elsewhere, has raised concerns among research integrity experts. The issue of ‘fake patents’ was flagged in a report published in the International Journal of Educational Integrity. Its authors, from the U.K....
Watch: What is ammonia poisoning?
Comments Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our...
Kingmakers: Meet the insects that make India’s famed mangoes
More than a thousand varieties of mangoes exist in India, the popular ones being Banganapalli, Dassheri, Alphonso, Badaami, Imaam Pasandh, and Mulgoa. There is even a “Lalbagh” variety in Bengaluru. Many of us associate the fruit with a summer childhood memory, of eating it with our bare hands, the mango juice dripping on our clothes....
