Category: Science & Tech

From its roots in Africa, the dengue-spreading mosquito, Aedes aegypti, expanded its range in the 15th century, across the world, aided by the transatlantic slave trade between Africa, America and Europe. And by the late 19th century the insect, with its great environmental adaptability, reached India: in 2024 the country recorded around 2,50,000 dengue cases. Today, Aedes...

Some 2,000 km away from their natural habitat in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra, five listless baby orangutans were found, bafflingly, in a forest in the middle of Odisha on Tuesday. Videos that were shared widely, showed the critically endangered apes, each around a year old, with limited mobility, huddled together, chomping on bananas...

Human drug use began millennia earlier than believed Researchers examined the teeth of two ancient hunter-gatherers from Sulawesi, Indonesia, dating back as far as 25,000 years, and found unusual, deep grooves in the teeth caused by sucking on betel nuts. Chemical analyses confirmed the presence of arecoline, the main stimulant in betel nuts, suggesting these...

The world’s most common childhood disability, cerebral palsy, has long been associated with birth complications like premature birth, infection, lack of oxygen, and perinatal stroke. But population studies suggest those factors account for only a fraction of cases. To fill this diagnostic void, modern medicine has routinely turned to gene sequencing to hunt for a...