Tag: Science

On July 20, mathematician Levent Alpöge, who works at the artificial intelligence company (AI) Anthropic, dropped a casual tweet on X. He claimed the company’s advanced large language model Claude Fable 5 had produced a counterexample to an 87-year-old open problem in algebraic geometry called the Jacobian conjecture. By working on it during the FIFA...

The U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) recently released a 125-page policy document titled ‘Science: A New Golden Age’, which presents a renewed vision for American science. It positions itself as a sequel to the American inventor Vannevar Bush’s 1945 report, ‘Science: The Endless Frontier’, which laid the foundations of the famously successful...

A new event at the California Institute of Technology, called ‘Mathathon’, pulled together by a group of undergraduate students to “promote the responsible use of AI in mathematics” quickly ran into controversy last week. Scheduled for October 30 to November 1 this year, its first round will have 100 teams of mathematicians work on open...

Among people, it is common knowledge that privilege is often inherited. But according to new findings, hyenas also inherit resources and status, and not just their forebears’ genes, from their parents. The findings were published recently in Science Advances — and they challenge the traditional evolutionary theories that assume males always face greater reproductive competition....

Scientists have discovered a new species of subterranean, legless amphibian — commonly known as a caecilian from Maharashtra. The species named Gegeneophis chandgadi has been discovered by a multi-institutional team of researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), WRC Pune, Yashwantrao Chavan Mahavidyalaya (Halkarni), Savitribai Phule Pune University, and the Mhadei Research Centre (Goa). The...

Scientists have discovered a new species of subterranean, legless amphibian — commonly known as a caecilian from Maharashtra. The species named Gegeneophis chandgadi has been discovered by a multi-institutional team of researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), WRC Pune, Yashwantrao Chavan Mahavidyalaya (Halkarni), Savitribai Phule Pune University, and the Mhadei Research Centre (Goa). The...

Quality of education, regulatory frameworks governing the biotechnology sector, economic factors, global competition and the potential of AI to democratise spaces were some of the many topics discussed in a wide-ranging conversation at the Biotech Conclave 2026, presented by VIT Chennai in association with The Hindu, on Friday (September 11, 2026). Former principal scientific advisor...

The Hindu–VIT Conclave 2026, hosted by VIT Chennai in partnership with The Hindu, brought together experts across academia, research, and investment to discuss advancements in biotechnology and healthcare. The session on technology application explored its use in medical education, healthcare, biobanking, and neuroinformatics. A second session focused on gene editing and precision medicine, highlighting their potential...

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...