A: Thwaites glacier is a large glacier in West Antarctica, about the size of a large country. Scientists have often called it the “Doomsday Glacier” in the media. It is one of the most important places on the earth for those trying to understand how sea levels will rise in future. The glacier sits on...
Category: Science & Tech
‘Saaspocalypse’: Why did Anthropic’s Claude Cowork plugins spook markets | The Hindu Explains
1. What is it about Claude’s latest release that has spooked markets and hurt Indian IT stocks? On January 30, Anthropic released 11 open-source plugins for Claude Cowork, its AI workplace suite. Unlike conventional chatbots, Cowork functions as an autonomous digital colleague: it reads files, drafts documents, reviews contracts, and executes multi-step workflows across legal,...
When institutional reliability matters: the story of di-ethylene glycol
The government of Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Drug Control recently issued a public notice against a specific batch of Almond Kit syrup, after laboratory tests detected adulteration with ethylene glycol. This finding emerged during routine surveillance. It comes barely five months after India lost over 20 children in Madhya Pradesh last year due to contaminated...
CCMB scientists identify metabolism as new target for antifungal therapies
Fungal infections are among the most underestimated health threats worldwide, contributing to rising hospitalizations and deaths. Beyond human health, fungi also devastate crops, reduce yields, and worsen food insecurity — creating a dual crisis for both public health and agriculture. Now, researchers at the CSIR–Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad have uncovered...
What is the Zeigarnik effect?
What is it? The Zeigarnik effect is a phenomenon which hypothesizes that one has a higher tendency to remember things, actions, or events that were left unfinished than those that were completed. It is something that one probably experiences on a daily basis. The effect can be experienced when you have an unreturned phone call,...
Review by Indian researchers notes that body’s immune cells ‘betray’ it to help breast cancer spread
A growing body of research is reshaping how scientists understand breast cancer—not just as a disease of rogue tumour cells, but as one that cleverly recruits the body’s own immune system to survive and spread. A recent review by researchers from two Indian universities explains how macrophages, a type of white blood cell meant to...
The holy trinity of cancer care: biochemistry, microbiology and pathology
The role of biochemistry Cancer originates at the genetic micro-molecular level within a cell — resulting in a cascade of subtle biochemical and cellular abnormalities that escape internal patrol — and eventually manifests as a detectable disease. Onco-biochemistry involves quantifying tumour markers, enzymes, hormones and metabolites in blood and body fluids for diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring...
Rethinking battery strategy in India: the case for sodium-ion technology
Batteries have become deeply embedded in modern life. From laptops, mobile phones, wearable devices such as smartwatches and wireless earphones, to power tools, electric vehicles (EVs), and large-scale battery energy storage systems, batteries now underpin both personal convenience and critical infrastructure. A newer trend is also emerging, with batteries being integrated directly into household appliances,...
Study by Indian researchers finds that body’s immune cells ‘betray’ it to help breast cancer spread
A growing body of research is reshaping how scientists understand breast cancer—not just as a disease of rogue tumour cells, but as one that cleverly recruits the body’s own immune system to survive and spread. A new review by researchers from two Indian universities explains how macrophages, a type of white blood cell meant to...
Study maps future glacial lakes
GUWAHATI: A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) has developed a new way to identify where glacial lakes are likely to form in the Himalayas, offering a potential breakthrough in disaster preparedness for mountain regions facing rapid climate change. Their study focuses on the Eastern Himalayas, which has recorded the...
