Thiomargarita magnifica, the biggest bacteria have evolved to acquire complexity, becoming of eukaryotic cells. This seems to challenge the traditional idea of a prokaryote.
It was in 2009 when scientists had a strange encounter with microbial diversity that exists in...
Half a century after iconic Apollo Missions which allowed twelve men to walk on the Moon between 1968 and 1972, NASA is set to embark on ambitious Artemis Moon Mission designed not only to create long term human presence on...
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the space observatory designed to conduct infrared astronomy and launched successfully on 25 December 2021 will enable two research teams to study earliest galaxies in the universe. The research teams will use JWST’s powerful...
One of the most beautiful things about mother Earth is presence of an atmosphere. Life on Earth would not have been possible without the lively sheet of air that completely embraces Earth from all around. In the early phase...
Observation of 26 cm radio signals, formed due to hyperfine transition of cosmic hydrogen offer an alternative tool to the study of early universe. As for neutral epoch of the infant universe when no light was emitted, 26 cm...
RNA ligases play an important role in RNA repair, thereby maintaining RNA integrity. Any malfunction in RNA repair in humans seems to be associated with diseases like neurodegeneration and cancer. Discovery of a novel human protein (C12orf29 on chromosome...
India’s lunar lander Vikram (with rover Pragyan) of Chandrayaan-3 mission has safely soft landed at high latitude lunar surface on south pole along with respective payloads. This is first lunar mission to land on high latitude lunar south pole...
The first detection of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside the solar system, the first image of an exoplanet by JWST, the first image of an exoplanet ever taken at deep infrared wavelength, the first detection of...
The scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have achieved fusion ignition and energy break-even. On 5th December 2022, the research team conducted controlled fusion experiment using lasers when 192 laser beams delivered more than 2 million joules of UV...
Scientists have replicated the natural process of mammalian embryonic development in the laboratory up to the point of development of brain and heart. Using stem cells, researchers created synthetic mouse embryos outside uterus that recapitulated natural process of development...
This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded jointly to Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.”
Quantum dots are nanoparticles, tiny semiconductor particles, a few nanometres in size between 1.5 and...
Information about “family and kinship” systems (which is routinely studied by social anthropology and ethnography) of prehistoric societies is unavailable due to obvious reasons. Tools of ancient DNA research along with archaeological contexts have successfully reconstructed family trees (pedigrees) of...
Unlike conventional mRNA vaccines which encodes only for the target antigens, the self-amplifying mRNAs (saRNAs) encodes for non-structural proteins and promotor as well which makes saRNAs replicons capable of transcribing in vivo in the host cells. Early results indicates that...
Some organisms have ability to suspend life processes when under adverse environmental conditions. Called cryptobiosis or suspended animation, it is a survival tool. Organisms under suspended animation revive when environmental conditions become favourable. In 2018, viable nematodes from late...
Parthenogenesis is asexual reproduction in which genetic contribution from male is dispensed with. Eggs develop to offspring on their own without being fertilised by a sperm. This is seen in nature in some species of plants, insects, reptiles etc....
NASA’s mission update on 05th August 2023 said Voyager 2 communications has paused. Communications should resume once the spacecraft’s antenna is realigned with Earth in mid-October 2023.
On 4th August 2023, NASA had reestablished full communications with Voyager 2...
Chandrayaan-3 moon mission will demonstrate ''soft lunar landing'' capability of ISRO. This mission will also demonstrate lunar roving and conduct in-situ scientific experiments. The mission is a steppingstone towards ISRO’s future interplanetary missions.
India’s space agency ISRO has successfully launched...
Between 1958 and 1978, USA and former USSR sent 59 and 58 moon missions respectively. The lunar race between the two ceased in 1978. End of cold war and collapse of former Soviet Union and subsequent emergence of new...
During excavations in the Donau-Ries in Bavaria in Germany, archaeologists have discovered a well-preserved sword that is over 3000 years old. The weapon is so exceptionally well preserved that it almost still shines.
The bronze sword was found in...
The traditional grouping of life forms into prokaryotes and eukaryotes was revised in 1977 when rRNA sequence characterisation revealed that archaea (then called 'archaebacteria') are ‘‘as distantly related to bacteria as bacteria are to eukaryotes.‘' This necessitated grouping of living...
Non-native English speakers face several barriers in conducting activities in science. They are at disadvantages in reading papers in English, writing and proofreading manuscripts, and preparing and making oral presentations in conferences in English. With little support available at...
Extinct gigantic megatooth sharks were at the top of the marine food web once. Their evolution to gigantic sizes and their extinction are not well understood. A recent study analysed isotopes from the fossil teeth and found that these...
The United Kingdom and the European Commission (EC) have reached an agreement on the UK's participation in Horizon Europe (EU's research and innovation) programme and Copernicus (EU's Earth observation) programme. This is in line with the EU-UK Trade and...
“CRISPR-Cas systems” in bacteria and viruses identify and destroy invading viral sequences. It is bacterial and archaeal immune system for protection against viral infections. In 2012, CRISPR-Cas system was recognised as a genome editing tool. Since then, wide range of...
Bacterial dormancy is survival strategy in response to stressful exposure to antibiotics taken by a patient for treatment. The dormant cells become tolerant to antibiotics and are killed at slower rate and survive sometimes. This is called ‘antibiotic tolerance’...
