SCIENCE

Whereas ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) can observe very faint astronomical objects in great detail, when astronomers want to understand how the huge variety of galaxies come into being they must turn to a different sort of telescope with a much bigger field of view. The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) …

The Icelandic Sagas tell of Erik the Red: exiled for murder in the late 10th century he fled to southwest Greenland, establishing its first Norse settlement. The colony took root, and by the mid-12th century there were two major settlements with a population of thousands. Greenland even gained its own …

The compounds behind the perfumes and colognes you enjoy have been eliciting olfactory excitement since dinosaurs walked the Earth amid the first appearance of flowering plants, new research reveals. Oregon State University entomologist George Poinar Jr. and his son Greg, a fragrance collector, found evidence that floral scents originated in …

California has been dealing with record breaking fires for the past month and they aren’t even halfway through their fire season. The Mendocino Complex eclipsed last year’s Thomas fire which burned 283,800 acres last December 2017 in Ventura and Santa Barbara. Besides the huge and horrifying Mendocino Complex, there are …

Bird communities in the Mojave Desert straddling the California/Nevada border have collapsed over the past 100 years, most likely because of lower rainfall due to climate change, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study. A three-year survey of the area, which is larger than the state of New …

The oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere was thanks, in part, to iron and silica particles in ancient seawater, according to a new study by geomicrobiologists at the University of Alberta. But these results solve only part of this ancient mystery. Early organisms called cyanobacteria produced oxygen through oxygenic photosynthesis, resulting in …

Listening to electro-magnetic waves around the Earth, converted to sound, is almost like listening to singing and chirping birds at dawn with a crackling camp fire nearby. This is why such waves are called chorus waves. They cause polar lights but also high-energy ‘killer’ electrons that can damage spacecraft. In …

Key aspects of the ageing of human cells can be reversed by new compounds developed at the University of Exeter, research shows. In a laboratory study of endothelial cells — which line the inside of blood vessels — researchers tested compounds designed to target mitochondria (the “power stations” of cells). …

Forty-four planets in solar systems beyond our own have been unveiled in one go, dwarfing the usual number of confirmations from extrasolar surveys, which is typically a dozen or less. The findings will improve our models of solar systems and may help researchers investigate exoplanet atmospheres. Novel techniques developed to …

Children with allergies have a lower risk of developing complicated appendicitis, according to a new study from Lund University and Skåne University Hospital in Sweden. The findings, now published in JAMA Pediatrics, could pave the way for new diagnostic tools in the future. “In a study of all the children …

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that they have successfully created spinal cord neural stem cells (NSCs) from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) that differentiate into a diverse population of cells capable of dispersing throughout the spinal cord and can be maintained for long periods …

Keeping global warming to within 1.5-2°C may be more difficult than previously assessed, according to researchers. An international team of scientists has published a study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) showing that even if the carbon emission reductions called for in the Paris Agreement are met, …

The origin of organic matter found in meteorites that formed during the birth of the Solar System 4.5 billion years ago may provide key clues to understanding the birth of life here on Earth. It could also help astronomers investigate the potential habitability of other solar systems. That’s according to …

Bengaluru: Bengaluru’s Muthoot from VVS Sardar Patel PU College emerged as the topper with 597 marks in Karnataka PUC II Class 12 exam results, which were released earlier on Monday. In Commerce, Bengaluru-based Varsini M Bhat from Vidya PU College secured the top spot with 595 marks while in Arts, …

SRIHARIKOTA: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s navigation satellite INRSS-1I was on Thursday launched by PSLV-C41 from the spaceport in Sriharikota and successfully placed in the designated orbit. PSLV-C41/IRNSS-1I Mission blasted off at 4.04 am from the first launchpad at the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre. ISRO officials called it a normal …

New Delhi: The late British physicist Stephen Hawking’s final research paper before his death could open up a treasure trove of clues which could help detect other universes that reside in the cosmos besides our own. The research paper was submitted just weeks before Hawking’s death earlier this week and …

NEW DELHI: Asteroids are known to be treasure troves of precious minerals. A Nasa mission is under way to test the feasibility on a nearby asteroid, and a niche group of companies is ramping up to claim a piece of the pie. Nasa’s Osiris-Rex, launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida in 2016, has travelled …

New Delhi: After British physicist, Stephen Hawking – known for being quite vocal about his thoughts on alien encounters with humans – a theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku has passionately argued that our future lies in the stars – literally. In his new book called ‘The Future of Humanity’, …

According to British astronaut Tim Peake, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will be able to send humans to Mars by 2014. Peake, who was the first British astronaut to spend time in space in 2017 aboard the International Space Station (ISS) said that Elon Musk’s prestigious SpaceX project could accelerate time …

New Delhi: The space circuit is buzzing in anticipation of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) historical Chandrayaan-II mission, which will mark India’s first lunar landing. The cost of the entire mission is INR 800 crore – much cheaper than the cost of Hollywood’s 2014 sci-fi blockbuster ‘Interstellar’, that cost …