In this image posted on Sept. 1, 2026, The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F17) stands integrated on the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Scheduled for liftoff on September 4, the 19th GSLV flight will place the Earth Observation Satellite EOS-05 into a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. (Image…
In 1896, American electrical engineer William Hadaway received the first patent for an electric stove, marking an important step in the development of electric cooking. His patent came just four years after Canadian executive Thomas Ahearn put together the first electric range in 1892, as cooking technology was moving beyond wood, coal and gas. According…
Thecacera sesama. Image Credit: Ho-Yeung Chan An accidental encounter by a student during a recreational dive has led to the formal description of a ‘tiny new sea slug’ from the waters of north-eastern Taiwan. ‘Ho-Yeung Chan’ first noticed the animal while diving and later helped establish that it belonged to a species previously unknown to…
In September 2007, the European Space Agency launched roughly 3,000 tardigrades into low Earth orbit aboard the Biopan-6 platform on the FOTON-M3 mission. Known as water bears, these microscopic animals were dried into a dormant state before being exposed directly to the vacuum of space, alongside doses of solar and cosmic radiation, for ten days…
Quote of the day by Richard Feynman (Image: Wikipedia) Not knowing the answer to a question can often feel like a weakness. In school, at work and even in everyday conversations, people may feel pressure to appear knowledgeable and confident, even when they are uncertain. American physicist Richard Feynman viewed uncertainty very differently. Known for…
In 1999, scientists dropped 45 tons of wollastonite over a 29-acre New Hampshire watershed A large-scale effort to restore an American forest damaged by acid rain had an unexpected environmental effect when added nutrients caused a huge increase in nitrogen flowing into nearby streams. In October and November 1999, researchers spread about 45 short tons…
Representative Image of Frederick Banting and Charles Best conducting early diabetes research in a laboratory with dogs (AI-generated image) In May 1921, Frederick Banting arrived at the University of Toronto with an idea about diabetes and little laboratory experience. Professor John J.R. Macleod gave him space in the physiology department, several dogs and Charles Best,…
Kaia Minn at the National Academy of Inventors conference. Image Credit: kaiaminn.com A discarded citrus peel is not the sort of thing most people would associate with restoring forests. But for 13-year-old Massachusetts inventor ‘Kaia Minn,’ it became the starting point for a simple idea with potentially far-reaching environmental uses. Minn has developed a ‘biodegradable…
Philip Fearnside’s research has calculated the costs of losing the Amazon on account of deforestation, dams and highways The Amazon rainforest has been described in terms of its enormous size, biodiversity and importance to the global climate. But for Philip Fearnside, understanding the forest has also meant asking a more practical question: what does it…
Representative Image of fluorescent scorpions glowing across a desert landscape after dark (AI-generated image) In 1945, an Arizona State University professor began wandering the desert at night, hunting scorpions that glowed under his black light, and few people around him understood why. That professor, Herbert L Stahnke, was already the nation’s leading authority on scorpions…