Tag: Science

Medical researchers have traditionally viewed ulcerative colitis as a disorder driven by an overactive immune response or damage to the gut’s epithelial barrier. But a new study has argued that the disease may actually start earlier, when a normally hidden layer of immune cells just beneath the gut lining begins to become thinner. Specifically, the...

A: A headache happens when tissues in and around the head that are sensitive to pain become irritated or pushed out of balance. While the brain tissue itself doesn’t feel pain, structures nearby such as blood vessels in the coverings around the brain (the meninges), nerves that carry sensation from the face and scalp, muscles...

On December 30, astronomer Jonathan McDowell posted on X.com: “The abandoned Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module, left in a 125000 x 305000 km orbit in 2024, had a bit of a tussle with the Moon in November and has now been found in a 365000 x 983000 km x 22 deg orbit”. Dr. McDowell is well-known for,...

All major discoveries in cosmology underline the maxim that the universe is not only stranger than we suppose but that it is stranger than we can suppose. The latest example of this is a study by researchers at the Yonsei University in South Korea that said the expansion of the universe is slowing down. The...

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired the Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket (LRGR–120) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Odisha’s Chandipur on Monday (December 29, 2025). Earlier in the day, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, cleared the planned procurement proposals worth ₹79,000 crore, including Long...

Astronomers from India have discovered the second farthest spiral galaxy in the depths of the universe, using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and have named it ‘Alaknanda’. The galaxy was an unexpected sight during a broader study of galaxy shapes in the early universe. The findings were published in Astronomy & Astrophysics in...

A frequency comb is a special kind of laser light whose spectrum, or set of frequencies, resembles the teeth of a comb. Instead of containing just one colour (one frequency), it emits a large number of evenly spaced frequencies. The spacing is extremely regular. One way to make a frequency comb is using a mode-locked...

The Aravalli Hills look modest today but they sit on some of the oldest and most studied rocks in India. Geologists care about them because they preserve a long record of how a piece of the earth’s crust in northwestern India was built, deformed, heated, and intruded by magma, then worn down. The Hills’ features...

Rare-earth elements are a set of metallic elements in the periodic table. Chemists usually refer to a group of 17 elements when they use this label: the 15 lanthanides from lanthanum to lutetium, and scandium and yttrium. In most classroom periodic tables, the lanthanides are shown as a separate row placed beneath the main periodic...

As India has progressed, the stereotyped image of the “land of snake charmers” has been left behind. We now have snake rescuers. However, in rural areas, snakebites still account for 58,000 deaths every year, affecting workers in paddy fields as much as subsistence farmers in dry landscapes. Snake venoms generally cause three types of damage:...