Science

A pearl does not begin as something precious. It begins as a problem. Inside an oyster, a tiny particle slips in and settles where it does not belong. It might be a parasite, a rough fragment, or debris carried by water. The oyster cannot force it out and cannot escape it either. Instead of reacting…

There is a tendency to imagine genius as smooth and uninterrupted. As if the great thinkers moved from one insight to the next without pause. Albert Einstein does not quite fit that picture. For all his breakthroughs, he often spoke openly about mistakes, blind spots, and ideas that refused to behave. Some of those missteps…

There is a tendency to picture computers as cold, precise things, sealed away in clean rooms and humming quietly under desks. Brains feel different. Messier. Slower in places. Yet far more efficient overall. That contrast has been bothering computer scientists for years, especially as artificial intelligence grows more demanding. The human brain runs on very…

Astronomers have signalled the discovery of a planetary body roaming the Milky Way that is not gravitationally bound to the Sun or any other star. The entity is termed a free-floating planet, a class that embraces planetary mass bodies that are travelling in interstellar space independently. These bodies do not shine in a way that…

Image credit: European Space Agency As you travel from the middle of Mars toward its northern regions, the landscape changes dramatically. In an area called Coloe Fossae, long shallow grooves stretch across deep valleys, scattered craters, and rocky terrain: evidence that this part of Mars was once shaped by ice.According to ‘Science Daily’, these features…

Artificial intelligence is easily the most deceptive technological innovation of the 21st century. Its ease of use and the lightning-fast reflexes with which it spits out responses belie its enormous appetite for water and energy.ChatGPT took the world by storm when it launched in late 2023, signalling an era of intelligence demand marked by seamless,…

Mice have remained the focal point for life sciences research for the past several decades. Their universality in biomedicine lies in the fact that they present unparalleled insights into human biology. Their applicability to biomedicine can be attributed to genetic and anatomical similarities with the human body. Mice have played an invaluable role in translating…

Isro Chairman V Narayanan (File photo) BENGALURU: India’s space programme is beginning to look beyond rockets and orbits to a quieter, less visible frontier: data processing in space.Isro is studying the feasibility of establishing physical data centres in orbit for on-board processing and storage of satellite and communication data, the department of space (DoS) has…

Life on Earth relies upon an astonishingly short list of elements. Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen compose the essential structure of all living things, trace amounts of metals like iron and calcium serving specific biological roles. But gold certainly cannot be one of them. This is why scientists were left aghast by the discovery of minute…

Lightning sits at the boundary between routine weather and sudden hazard. It appears briefly, illuminates a landscape, and vanishes before the eye adjusts, yet its physical effects persist in scarred trees, damaged wiring, and recorded injuries. Advances in detection now allow individual discharges to be tracked across wide regions, revealing patterns that were once invisible….