Microplastics were first reported in 2004, and the harmful effects on living organisms have echoed in conversations. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Annie Leonard, former executive director of Greenpeace of the U.S., once said, “There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere.” Large piles of plastic trash … Read more
Image for representational purposes only. The story so far: Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna recently came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government over the growing trend of ordinary civil disputes being converted into criminal cases. His remarks came during the hearing of an appeal filed by two individuals, facing a cheque bounce case, … Read more
An artist’s concept shows what exoplanet K2-18 b could look like based on science data. | Photo Credit: REUTERS The story so far: On April 16, an international research team uploaded a paper in which it reported that the distant exoplanet K2-18b may be habitable. The claim was met with cautious excitement by astronomers. While … Read more
The story so far: U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariffs and China’s retaliatory tariffs have induced fears in India about impacted countries re-routing their exports to the large consumer market. Reports say the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is wary of any potential surge in imports of farm produce from the U.S. and manufactured … Read more
Once upon a time, humans woke up, stretched, yawned, and greeted the sun. Now, they wake up, stretch, and immediately grab their phones to check WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (or X, if you want to sound fancy). The sun can wait, notifications can’t…. Social media has pulled off something remarkable — it has transformed ordinary … Read more
B.R. Gavai | Photo Credit: Illustration: Sreejith R. Kumar In March, Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, who has been recommended for appointment as the 52nd Chief Justice of India, travelled to Manipur with a team of Supreme Court judges to personally interact with the victims of the prolonged ethnic conflict. While the judges spent hours at … Read more
Sadanand Date | Photo Credit: Illustration: Sreejith R. Kumar He is “one of the brightest gems” in the galaxy of IPS officers, retired supercop J.F. Ribeiro had said about Sadanand Date, the current chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). A decorated IPS officer and survivor of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Mr. Date, who keeps … Read more
By the time Nvidia disclosed in a regulatory filing that the U.S. government had imposed new licensing requirements on the sale of H20 chips to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, the chipmaker was already reeling. The decision, delivered by the Trump administration, would abruptly end shipments of its China-focused AI chips and saddle the … Read more
Two independent clinical trials demonstrate the safety of stem cell therapies for Parkinson’s disease. The papers, published in Nature, investigate the use of cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells and human embryonic stem cells, respectively. Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by the progressive loss of neurons that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Cell therapy, specifically replenishing dopamine-producing neurons (dopaminergic) in the … Read more
CoQ9 is rich in wheat, rice, oats, barley, corn, rye, and millet. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA Enzymes are proteins that catalyse reactions in a cell, making metabolism efficient. For efficient functioning, many enzymes require some molecules as cofactors. These helper molecules are called coenzymes. Coenzymes are naturally occurring organic molecules that bind to and … Read more