Sci &Tech

Today, October 8, marks the birth anniversary of Gopalasamudram Narayana Ramachandran (1922–2001), a pioneering Indian scientist whose work transformed the understanding of proteins and medical imaging. Despite his groundbreaking contributions, he never received the recognition he deserved, including a Nobel Prize or India’s prestigious Padma awards. Ramachandran’s work helped explain the fundamental structure of proteins,…

The story of Soyuz 11 remains one of the most tragic and haunting episodes in human space exploration. On June 30, 1971, three Soviet cosmonauts, Georgi Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev, became the only humans to die in space, beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Their mission had been a triumph: spending 23 days aboard Salyut 1,…

File photo: US scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis STOCKHOLM: US-based scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for “experiments that revealed quantum physics in action”, paving the way for the development of the next generation of digital technologies. “There is no advanced technology today…

Gold may not literally grow on trees, but a groundbreaking study from Finland suggests that nature may come close. Researchers investigating Norway spruce trees in northern Finland found tiny gold nanoparticles inside tree needles. Surprisingly, these particles appear to form with the help of microbes living inside the needles. The study, conducted by the University…

The origins of snakes have baffled scientists for decades. How did these limbless, slithering predators evolve from their distant lizard ancestors? A remarkable discovery on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, may hold the key to this evolutionary mystery. Palaeontologists uncovered the fossil of a unique Jurassic reptile, Breugnathair elgolensis, which displays an extraordinary combination of…

Snakebites remain a silent global health crisis, claiming an estimated 138,000 lives each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Victims often live in rural or underserved regions where access to antivenom is limited, and delays in treatment can be fatal. Traditional antivenoms, created using animal immunisation techniques over a century old, are species-specific,…

A recently circulated photo from NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has sparked renewed fascination with interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. The image appears to show a bright, cylindrical object moving across the Martian sky, igniting online debates about its true nature. While some speculate it could be an alien spacecraft, experts suggest the shape may result from long-exposure…

Anna Menon is an accomplished American engineer and astronaut candidate whose remarkable career bridges the worlds of NASA, SpaceX, and private spaceflight. Born in Houston, Texas, she has played key roles in advancing human spaceflight — from managing astronaut operations at SpaceX to serving as a mission specialist on the historic Polaris Dawn mission. In…

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi for their groundbreaking “discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.“The Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute announced the award on Monday, recognising the trio for their pioneering work…

Every year, the Nobel Prize in Medicine honours people who help us understand how the human body works — and how to fix it when it doesn’t. In 2025, the prize went to Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi. They discovered something remarkable: how the immune system stops itself from attacking the body it’s…