Tag: Science

Ask Indrakshi Raychowdhury what a quantum computer is bad at, and she points to arithmetic. “If you try to add two numbers, a classical calculator does it easily, whereas doing it on a quantum computer is incredibly difficult,” she said in a conversation with The Hindu. “But simulating a highly complex, interacting quantum system (where...

Quantum computing is becoming more popular – both as a field of study and in the public imagination. The technology promises more speed and more efficient problem-solving abilities, challenging the boundaries set by classical, conventional computing. The hype has led to inflated expectations. But whether or not it can meet them, the raison d’être of...

In a paper published in the Journal of Statistical Physics in 1980, the American physicist Paul Benioff described what is now called the quantum Turing machine: a model of a computer that operated according to the laws of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour of matter and light...

There’s no doubting that the human species is now the most dominant one on planet Earth. That said, it does not go without saying that we shoulder that dominance responsibly. In fact, there’s growing evidence to the contrary.  The debate as to whether it was humans or climate change that led to the extinction of...

Researchers from the U.S. have estimated how long photosynthetic life will last on the earth. As the sun ages, it also becomes brighter, eventually emitting a colour too hot for plants to survive. Previous studies had tried to answer this question using simplified climate models, finding the biosphere’s twilight could occur in 100 million to...

In chronic kidney disease, the kidneys gradually lose their ability to filter waste from the blood. While diabetes is one of its leading causes, many patients develop the condition because of high blood pressure, autoimmune disorders or other conditions that damage the kidney’s filtering units. Doctors can slow the disease using medicines that lower blood...

Mission Drishti, the world’s first OptoSAR satellite developed by Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye, which was launched in May, encountered an anomaly following a geomagnetic solar storm during the final stage of the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP). Mission Drishti is also India’s largest privately developed Earth observation satellite. On July 7, GalaxEye provided an...

A diamond jewellery creation mounted on an aluminium base plate and a miniaturised artwork cast in the shape of a rocket using 18K gold are among the payloads which will be launched by India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket, Vikram-1. Vikram-1 is expected to be launched some time between July 12 and August 4. On...

Vikram-1 will carry two payloads celebrating creativity and India’s scientific heritage. These include Cosmic Bloom, developed by Cosmos Diamonds, featuring a diamond jewellery creation mounted on an aluminium base plate, and Microart by Ajay Kumar Mattewada, an 18K gold rocket holding micro-sculptures of Sir C.V. Raman, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, and Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam —...

The Euclid space telescope has spotted the oldest quasars — the brightest objects in the universe — ever discovered, deepening a cosmic mystery that has been puzzling scientists. A quasar is the intensely luminous core of a distant galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole. As gas spirals into the black hole, extreme amounts of...