For a few precious months each year, the brightest and most photogenic region of the Milky Way rises high enough above the horizon to create one of nature’s most spectacular night-time displays. June marks the beginning of peak Milky Way season across much of the Northern Hemisphere, offering photographers their best opportunity to capture the…
A vast area of Antarctica that should be covered in winter sea ice is instead lying largely exposed to the ocean, alarming scientists and raising fresh concerns about the future of the frozen continent. Satellite observations show that roughly 650,000 square kilometres of sea ice, an area comparable to the size of France, has failed…
A glance at the evening sky this month reveals an unusual amount of activity packed into a relatively short stretch of time. Bright planets are gathering low in the west after sunset, the moon is moving through several eye-catching encounters, and the June solstice is approaching. For anyone who enjoys stepping outside after dark, the…
For centuries, plants have been associated with daylight, photosynthesis and the natural rhythms of the Sun. Now, researchers in China have taken a step that seems drawn from science fiction by creating plants capable of glowing after dark. It involves complex technologies such as biotechnology, material sciences, and plant engineering, and this is used to…
Climate change is often framed as a story of ecological loss, but scientists have uncovered an unexpected consequence unfolding nearly 2,500 metres beneath the Arctic Ocean. As glaciers in Greenland and parts of the Russian Arctic destabilise, increasing numbers of debris-laden icebergs are drifting through the Fram Strait before melting and releasing vast quantities of…
For generations, farmers have relied on a combination of manual labour, herbicides and pesticides to protect crops from weeds and pests. Now, artificial intelligence is offering a radically different approach. In California’s Salinas Valley, often called America’s Salad Bowl, autonomous robots equipped with AI, high-resolution cameras, lasers and UV light are helping growers tackle some…
Some scientists make discoveries. Others create entirely new ways of understanding the universe. Harish-Chandra belonged to the latter group. Born in Kanpur in 1923, he began his academic career as a physicist and earned his doctorate at the University of Cambridge under Nobel laureate Paul Dirac. During this period, he identified a mathematical error in…
A volunteer donates blood during the World Blood Donor Day, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. (PTI Photo) Can blood be created in a laboratory for transfusion? The answer may eventually be yes, but not yet.In November 2022, scientists in the United Kingdom carried out the world’s first transfusion of lab-grown blood as part of a clinical…
Blaise Pascal (Image: Wikipedia) Not every disagreement begins with a lack of facts.Sometimes two people know the same information and still walk away with completely different views. It happens among friends discussing a career choice. It happens between parents and children talking about the future. It happens in offices when colleagues look at the same…
For decades, much of what the world knew about human genetics was built from datasets that scarcely reflected the diversity of South Asia. Yet one of the most significant pieces of the human story may have been hiding in plain sight. Across India’s mainland and island communities lies an extraordinary genetic record stretching back tens…