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...
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June 25, 2026June 25, 2026Science & Tech
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...
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June 25, 2026June 25, 2026Science & Tech
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...
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June 25, 2026June 25, 2026Science & Tech
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....
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June 24, 2026June 24, 2026Science & Tech
Watch: What is ammonia poisoning?
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June 24, 2026June 24, 2026Environment, Science & Tech
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....
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June 24, 2026June 24, 2026Environment, Science & Tech
Need forces DR Congo gold miners to keep working despite Ebola
In the mines of Mongbwalu, the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak in the northeastern Democratic Republic Congo, gold prospectors have no choice but to overcome their fear of the virus and carry on their backbreaking work. “Ebola is real and it scares us. But if I stay at home, what are my children going to...
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June 24, 2026June 24, 2026Environment, Science & Tech
Bird flocks soar through the sky like a liquid, atomic orchestra
Birds fly in flocks, fish swim in schools. What bonds them together, without dispersal or collision? Mathematicians from New York University (NYU) explained the method to the madness: the animals move in tandem, like an orchestra with a maestro leading them. A bird’s flapping wings, for instance, produces “vortex wakes” (or travelling waves) with each...
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June 24, 2026June 24, 2026Science & Tech
Discovery of new moth genus in Kerala’s Idukki highlights Western Ghats’ hidden biodiversity
A team of researchers has discovered a new genus and species of tiger moth from the southern Western Ghats. Published in the internationally renowned, peer-reviewed Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society, the new species has been named Antaram idukki. Belonging to the tiger moth subfamily Arctiinae (Erebidae), the species was discovered in Kerala’s Idukki district. Antaram idukki...
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June 23, 2026June 23, 2026Science & Tech
BRICS space agencies meet begins in Bengaluru
The two day BRICS Heads of Space Agencies (HOSA) 2026 meet began on Tuesday in Bengaluru. India, as Chair of BRICS for 2026, is hosting HOSA and heads and senior representatives of the space agencies of the 11 BRICS member countries — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and...
