Tag: Science

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have mapped a neural circuit in the brain involved in the complex relationship between itch and stress. Their findings, published in Cell Reports, reveal how specific neurons activated during stress can directly regulate itch. IISc said that itch and pain are both unpleasant sensations triggered by harmful...

A committee that includes K. VijayRaghavan, former Principal Scientific Advisor, and S. Somanath, former Chairman, India Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will probe “systemic issues” underlying the successive failures of ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). While technical committees probe and submit ‘failure analysis reports’ when mishaps occur, this committee, The Hindu has reliably learnt, will...

In many animals, sex is decided by obvious physical differences in the chromosomes. But in ants, bees, and wasps, sex is often decided in a more unusual way: by whether an embryo carries two different versions of a specific DNA region or two matching ones. Two studies, one in Science Advances in 2024 and the...

Scientists find bouba-kiki effect in three-day chicks Humans often match “bouba” with round shapes and “kiki” with spiky ones. Researchers raised baby chicks, then played the sounds while showing them the two shapes. Three-day-old chicks chose the round shapes more often when they heard “bouba” and spiky shapes more often when they heard “kiki”. The...

In a 1953 experiment, two scientists named Stanley Miller and Harold Urey attempted to recreate the conditions of the early earth long before life existed. They showed that organic molecules such as amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, could form spontaneously in the conditions that prevailed on a primitive earth, 3.5-4 billion years ago....

A group of quantum researchers has issued a manifesto urging colleagues to resist what it calls the “militarisation” of quantum science. The authors, who describe themselves as “Quantum Scientists for Disarmament”, say they oppose military uses of quantum research, reject military funding for academic work, and want universities to disclose which quantum projects take defence...

For decades, fluorescent proteins have been among the most powerful tools in biology. They glow when illuminated, allowing scientists to see where molecules are inside cells and how they move. From tracking cancer cells to mapping neural circuits, these luminous markers transformed the life sciences, work recognised with a Nobel Prize in 2008. Now, two...

A: Sometimes wildfire smoke in the stratosphere collects into a compact bubble of smoke that spins in a coherent vortex, clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Two new studies, published in Weather and Climate Dynamics and presented at a recent meeting of the American Meteorological Society, have found why. The...

There aren’t many everyday routines that are both overtly essential, while at the same time almost a form of art. Cooking, however, is one such routine that blends creativity, skill, and science to transform individual ingredients into dishes that are not just essential for our consumption and living, but also double up as unique, flavourful...

NASA chief Jared Isaacman on Saturday (February 21, 2026) ruled out a March launch for Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, citing technical issues. Workers detected a problem with helium flow to the massive SLS rocket that will “take the March launch window out of consideration,”...