A: The wisdom teeth are the third molars that sit at the very back of the jaw. They usually start forming in the teens and try to erupt in the late teens to the mid-20s, hence the name ‘wisdom’. We have wisdom teeth because of our ancestors, whose lives demanded more chewing to get through....
Tag: Science
Does India need to upgrade its biosecurity measures? | Explained
The story so far: New age biotechnologies endow powers to understand biology better and, consequently, harness biological agents to target humans. Thus, biosecurity measures need to be upgraded. What is biosecurity? Biosecurity refers to the set of practices and systems designed to deter the intentional misuse of biological agents, toxins or technologies. In other words,...
Joel Mokyr’s story of how science becomes technology is incomplete
On December 8, economic historian Joel Mokyr delivered his lecture in Stockholm as part of the ceremony in which he received his share of the special Nobel Prize for economics, for “having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress”. His talk recapitulated his long-standing argument that a self-reinforcing relationship between science and technology...
Why Joel Mokyr’s story of how science becomes technology is incomplete
On December 8, economic historian Joel Mokyr delivered his lecture in Stockholm as part of the ceremony in which he received his share of the special Nobel Prize for economics, for “having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress”. His talk recapitulated his long-standing argument that a self-reinforcing relationship between science and technology...
Why Nobel laureate Joel Mokyr’s story of how science becomes technology is incomplete
On December 8, economic historian Joel Mokyr delivered his lecture in Stockholm as part of the ceremony in which he received his share of the special Nobel Prize for economics, for “having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress”. His talk recapitulated his long-standing argument that a self-reinforcing relationship between science and technology...
How is Asia-like artemisinin resistance emerging in Africa?
In the late 1960s, at the height of the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese government was facing a serious crisis. It was losing more soldiers to malaria than to the war itself. Chloroquine, the antimalarial drug used for decades, had lost its effectiveness because Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria parasite, had become resistant to it. Desperate for...
2025 ICTP Prize awarded to Titas Chanda, Sthitadhi Roy
The 2025 ICTP Prize has been awarded to Titas Chanda of IIT-Madras and Sthitadhi Roy of the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) has said. A statement said the award “recognises the winners’ exceptional and original contributions to the theory of quantum many-body systems, at the interface of...
ISRO lines up 7 launches, including uncrewed Gaganyaan mission by March 2026
ISRO has lined up seven launch missions by March next year, including one to demonstrate home-built electric propulsion systems for satellite and quantum key distribution technologies, and the first uncrewed mission of the Gaganyaan project. The first of the seven launches is expected to take place next week. India’s heaviest rocket, LVM3, will place in...
What is ‘lunarcrete’?
Lunarcrete is an umbrella term for ‘concrete made on the moon’. As the US and China race to establish long-term lunar settlements, scientists are looking for a suitable building material to protect people from hazardous radiation and drastic temperature swings. Lunarcrete is one promising candidate: instead of sand and gravel, it uses lunar regolith, the...
How mangroves’ cells helps plants survive in saltwater
Saltwater would kill most plants, but it cannot fell the ancient mangroves species distinct for their giant stilt roots. So how do they survive on brine? International researchers and authors of a new paper in Current Biologyhave delved into their cells and discovered what makes mangrove shrubs and trees so different from all other terrestrial...
