A Pi-FUL LIFE

• SANTIAGO SCHNELL, Theoretical and Mathematical Biologist • Pi doesn’t seem to have a practical utility outside of the world of geometry. So why does Pi - a geometrical constant - deserve a celebration? If we celebrate Pi, why don’t we celebrate any other number?  Well, Pi is different from all other numbers. It is a universal constant encoded in most processes occurring in the universe, including those in the life sciences! Pi, the number with no pattern, plays a role in the formation of pattern. Read full story...

THEORY AND OBSERVATION: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN

• PETER EGGLETON, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University • Observational error can however be quantified: the same thing may be measured a dozen, or a hundred, times with slightly different answers each time. If the measurement, along with its spread, seems to agree with the theory, we cannot say that the theory has been confirmed, but at least it has not been refuted. If the theoretical result is discrepant by many times the observational uncertainty, we can probably claim that the theory has been refuted. Read full story..

HOW DOES SANTA CLAUS DELIVER GIFTS ALL OVER THE WORLD IN ONE NIGHT? SCIENCE HAS THE ANSWER

• VICTOR INGRASSIA, Journalist & Lawyer • Millions of houses and gifts, and only about 30 hours to visit each one and deliver them. That is the expanse this mythical figure of Christmas has to cover. Mathematicians and scientists analysed the way how Santa Claus achieves this, thanks to numerous calculations. Read full story..

EINSTEIN: LIGHT OF GENIUS

• By KONRAD KLEINKNECHT, Professor, Physics, Johannes-Gutenberg University, Germany; Former scientist, CERN • In the last few years the Nobel committee has quite often awarded prizes in Physics for discoveries having solid foundation on Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity published in 1915. A century ago, although the committee decided not to award for Physics, they, however, honoured Einstein with the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1921, a year later, in 1922, for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect and, most remarkably, not for his relativity theory experimentally established by astronomers of an enemy state, which revolutionised the understanding of the universe toppling the two hundred years practice of Newton's laws of gravity. Read full story...

COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATIONS

• ANURAG ANAND, Research Associate, CTIER-Pune & PREETI BHARTI, Research Scholar, Hannam University, South Korea • After the Covid-19 pandemic, many international organizations and institutions have come together for a feasible solution. New economic and social values are being designed. This virus has given a rich lesson to every country, to learn about global scientific collaborations by using their capabilities and provide some positive solutions. Read full story,,,

SCIENTISTS UNDERSTOOD PHYSICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE 1800S – THANKS TO A WOMAN NAMED EUNICE FOOTE

• SYLVIA G. DEE, Assistant Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Rice University • Quantitative estimate of carbon dioxide-induced climate change was was understood well over a century ago. Scientific research has vastly strengthened the conclusion that human-generated emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are causing dangerous warming of the climate and a host of harmful effects. Politicians, however, have been slow to respond despite the fact, harm and costs will continue to rise. Read full story...

2020 NOBEL WORK IN PHYSICS UNVEILS A SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE AT THE CENTRE OF OUR GALAXY

• By AJIT KEMBHAVI, Emeritus Professor and Former Director, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics • When it comes to supermassive black holes, we usually associate them with active galaxies many millions of light years away. But a supermassive object has been found to be present right at the centre of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. This finding lead to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez being awarded half the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2020 while the other half of the prize went to Roger Penrose... Read full story.

THE HEAT AND DUST OF COVID-19: AN INDIAN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ENIGMA

• AMITAV BANERJEE, Professor, Dr DY Patil Medical College, Pune and epidemiologist formerly with Mobile Epidemiological team of the Armed Forces Central Epidemiological Surveillance Centre at AFMC, Pune, India • As waves of the Corona virus keep hitting India, the pandemic, effectively, follows the classical pattern of communicable disease dynamics... Read full story.

WILL COVID-19 WAVE THREE ENDANGER CHILDREN IN INDIA?

• By RAJENDRA T NANAVARE, Chest physician, GTB Hospital, Mumbai • Following the first and the second wave of the 2019-SARS-CoV-2 virus that has ravaged India, the third wave speculated to lash on the country... Read full story.

INDIA’S HEALTHCARE GONE NUMB

• By RUMELA SEN, Lecturer, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University • The collapse of India’s healthcare can not be blamed on the severity of CoViD. It is a crisis long in the making... Read full story.

A STRONG IMMUNITY CAN KEEP THE CORONA VIRUS AT BAY

Immune function in our body is an ongoing process and it is difficult to boost it in a very short time. Now that the Corona virus is knocking on the door of our immune setup, we can not make our immunity strong overnight. Lifestyle changes and de-addiction are the easiest ways to boost our immune …

BLACK HOLE – AN ENIGMA

• By AJIT KEMBHAVI, Emiritus Professor and Former Director, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics • The work on black hole was wholly theoretical and helped establish that black holes are natural and inescapable in Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity, which is known as the general theory of relativity. Penrose developed the first mathematical theorem of a series which established the result.. Read full story.

CAN A VACCINE BE DEVELOPED SO FAST?

India has kicked off the world's largest CoViD-19 vaccination drive. While vaccines generally take years to develop through series of trials, interestingly, the Corona virus vaccines India is rolling out to its citizens, took less than a year to find their way into the human body. But, speculations abound if a vaccine can be developed …

CRISPER-CAS9 : THE TOOL THAT CHANGES THE GENES

Even though the Nobel Prize is awarded decades after a discovery, the 2020 Nobel award winning technology CRISPR-CAS9, is yet in its nascent stage, and while this tool facilitates major benefits in cutting edge research in the field of biotechnology, vigorous studies, considering all the ethical and social inferences, are required to address the specificity …

THE PLIGHT OF THE COVID-19 LONG HAULERS

Long CoViD is not just with people taking time to recover from a stay in intensive care. Even people with relatively mild infections of the Corona virus can be left with lasting and severe health problems, writes RAJENDRA T NANAVARE. For most people, CoViD-19 is a brief and mild disease. While some are left to …

COVID CONTROL BLUNDERS: UNPREDICTABLE PITCHES, CLUELESS CAPTAINS

It will remain a mystery why the captains of public health policies of developing nations opted to chase, with killer lockdowns, a virus, whose lethality turned out to be much less than the endemic and neglected tropical diseases that have caused far greater number of deaths in those countries than CoViD-19, writes AMITAV BANERJEE The …

THE MORE YOU SLEEP, THE SAFER YOU ARE FROM CORONA VIRUS ATTACK

Sleep is at the root of treating an arsenal of diseases as it improves a host of health parameters, enhances body metabolism and, very importantly, the immune system significant for fighting CoViD-19, and recent research suggests, melatonin, the sleep inducing chemical, could emerge as the treatment of choice to thwart the virus, writes JAMES HAMBLIN. …

THE INDIAN CONTEXT TO THE BLACK HOLE STORY

The two purely general relativity Nobel prizes, one for detection of gravitational wave in 2017 and the current one for the discovery of black hole formation, had strong Indian trail in the seminal works of some of the Indian astrophysicists. It was Newton who famously said, "If I have seen further than others it is …

VACCINE INDUCED HERD IMMUNITY KEY TO CONTROLLING COVID-19 CONTAGION

Vaccines create immunity without causing complications. Using the concept of herd immunity, vaccines have earlier successfully controlled deadly contagious diseases. Despite attaining herd immunity through vaccination has its own drawbacks, however, writes RAJENDRA T NANAVARE, herd immunity makes it possible to protect a population from infectious diseases. The CoViD-19 pandemic is perhaps the greatest healthcare …

COVID-19: NOT JUST THE SCIENCE, SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY WILL SAVE US ALL

Serological surveys are a nation's strong indicator of the extent of virus spread. Result from these surveys would allow for mid-stream correction of tactics. Data gathered from the serosurveys for CoVid-19 spread help to understand the efficaciousness of lockdowns and calculate the real Infection Fatality Rate. Writes epidemiologist AMITAV BANERJEE, while outlining policy based measures …

HELIOPHYSICIST DIBYENDU NANDI SAYS, THE MARS SIZED SUNSPOT TURNING TOWARDS EARTH, CONTRARY TO SPECULATIONS, “WILL NOT BE DAMAGING”

Astrophysicists have reported begining of the 25th solar cycle, indicating a new 11-year period of electromagnetic activity on the Sun. In each cycle, the north and south magnetic poles of the sun are reversed leading to increased activity on the solar surface. This gives rise to sunspots. Sunspots They are manifestation of the complex, magnetic interactions …

HARVARD SCIENTISTS GIVES CLUE HOW CORONAVIRUS ROBS OUR SENSE OF TASTE AND SMELL

The loss of taste and smell has proven to be the most distinctive symptom of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2. A quarter to a half of patients report ageusia and anosmia, as the two are respectively known, a symptom at least 20 times more likely to predict a positive test …

SAFE FOR SCHOOLS TO REOPEN DURING PANDEMIC?

• JIM MORRISON • As communities struggle with the decision over whether to open up schools, the research so far offers unsatisfying answers. Every year, children are a major driver of transmission for the viruses that cause the flu and the common cold. So this March, when the CoViD-19 pandemic hit different countries across the …

CORONA VIRUS ISN’T FROM CHINA, IT WAS ALREADY EVERYWHERE, DORMANT, WAITING TO EMERGE: OXFORD UNIVERSITY SCIENTIST

Based on data from around the world, a scientist at the University of Oxford believes that the coronavirus is probably not from China. According to one of Oxford University's principal investigators, the CoViD-19 may have been dormant around the world for a long time before emerging when conditions were favorable for its growth. What if …

IN FOCUSSING ON COVID-19, FIGHT AGAINST ANOTHER SILENT PANDEMIC MUST NOT BE EASED

The alarming rate at which tuberculosis continues to strike death, technically it is no less deadly than CoViD-19, says RAJENDRA T NANAVARE on the Doctor's Day. Tuberculosis (TB) has been a major cause of suffering and death since times immemorial. Thought to be one of the oldest human diseases, the history of TB is as …

INDIA’S HEALTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS NOT FIT EVEN FOR 19TH CENTURY : THEKKEKARA JACOB JOHN

• INTERVIEW • Professor (Dr.) THEKKEKARA JACOB JOHN is a paediatrician and virologist of international repute. Professor John started his academic career as Assistant Professor in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Arizona, USA. Later he worked at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, as Professor and Head of the Departments of Clinical Virology and …

RARING TO GO SHOPPING DURING PANDEMIC? GAME THEORY TELLS THE BEST TIME

Now is not the time to go to the grocery store, to restock the pantry, to get fresh milk and eggs. Yet I need to replenish my food supplies. Well then, I should go. Wait, is everyone else thinking this same way? Then everyone would go. I shouldn’t go. But then everyone would do the same and the …

COVID-19 VACCINE AND BEYOND: CHALLENGES AND IDEAS ON EQUALITY IN GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

• AMJAD HUSAIN • CEO of Innovation and Incubation Centre for Entrepreneurship (IICE) at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal, India and an expert on viruses and oncology research. After graduating with a masters degree from IIT Roorkee, he has received his doctoral training at ICGEB, Delhi followed by the research …

IMPROVE IMMUNITY WITH TRANSFAT FREE DIET TO BEAT COVID-19

GEORGE CHERIYAN SIMI T.B. CoViD-19 penetrates more into people with low immune power. While food or dietary supplements cannot prevent or cure CoViD-19 infection, a good regular intake of healthy diet aids in building ones immune system, help stay healthy and fight the disease, writes GEORGE CHERIYAN and SIMI T.B. The CoViD-19 case first appeared in late 2019 and …

COVID-19 AND THE ROAD TO REMEDY

There are only two options left to counter the Covid-19 pandemic, either herd immunity, a painful process involving high rates of infections and deaths or a vaccine which can save lots of resources in preventing the disease, without requiring to reach the treatment phase, for which researchers, doctors and pharmaceutical companies are intensifying up their …

DO COVID-19 POSITIVE MOTHERS GIVE BIRTH TO INFECTED BABIES? NO EVIDENCE YET

Besides stray incident of a baby born with high level of ImmunoglobulinM (IgM) and death of a pregnant mother during delivery, there has yet been no evidence of vertical transmission of CoViD-19 from mother to baby, writes DATTATREYA MUKHERJEE As CoViD-19 continues to wreck havoc on human health throughout the world, contaminating and killing thousands, …

COVID-19 MAY INTERFERE WITH DECISION MAKING CAPACITY

• INTERVIEW • For the CoViD-19 patients, low level of oxygen to the brain may result in hypoxic injury that can affect decision making capacity. Before returning to any responsibility that is mind intensive, the recovered patient should have a psychometric assesment- PROF. (DR.) ROBIN SENGUPTA, OBE, in an exclusive interview to The Edition PROF. …

THE KILLER COVID-19 AND CLINICO-PATHOLOGICAL PATH TO NAILING IT

• BY RAJENDRA T NANAVARE • Chest physician & Chairperson DRTB center, Bedaquilin at GTB hospital, Mumbai, Ex-Pharmcovigilance in Drug Safety Monitoring committee for Bedaquilin at I.C.M.R and Ex-Consultant for international union against tuberculosis and lung diseases. He is also postgraduate teacher for Chest & TB in College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mumbai. He can …

ITALY, THE LAND OF THE CORONA WRECKAGE

As we observed what was happening in China, a distant, exotic country with strange eating habits and unhygienic lifestyle, anchored in a traditional society, too far from our modern democracy, what we didn't know was we were, in reality, looking at our near future. In fact, all of a sudden, the virus entered Northern Italy …

PRAY THE INDIAN ELEPHANT CHASING THE COVID-19 CAT DOES NOT FALL OFF THE CLIFF

We need to balance “lives against lives” in the economic evaluation. There are far greater health problems unaddressed in our crazy chase for the Covid-19. Better strategy would be to isolate the elderly. We have a large base of young people who can cushion the impact of this pandemic and rapidly increase our herd immunity …

TOBACCO USERS BEWARE! YOUR NEXT POUCH OR THE PUFF COULD MAKE YOU FALL PREY TO CORONA INFECTION

Tobacco usage in any form is likely to cause progression of the COVID-19 infection, possibly explained by the fact that gene expression for ACE2 which COVID-19 uses to infect human cells, is significantly higher in smokers than non-smokers, writes RAVI MEHROTRA On April 9, 2020 more than 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 infections have been …

IT’S THE HUMANS WHO TRIGGER OFF VIRUSES

Destruction of the ecological balance or consuming wild animal meat narrows down the physical space in between the human and animal population which leads to specially RNA viruses, characterised by their capacity for genetic change, to potentially infect the alternative host species and result in an outbreak, writes SUNIT K SINGH Emerging and re-emerging viral …

HOW THE VACCINE FOR CORONA VIRUS SHOULD IDEALY BE?

A CoVID-19 vaccine with a perfect balance between protective efficacy and safety will win the race, virologist NADEEM SHABIR points out. With the rapid increase in infections and fatalities caused by SARS-CoV-2 globally, there is undoubtedly an urgent need for an efficacious and safe vaccine that offers optimal protective immunity against the virus and possess …

6 FEET SOCIAL DISTANCING ENOUGH TO CONTAIN CORONA VIRUS? MIT SCIENTIST SAYS PATHOGEN TRAVELS 27 FEET IN AIR

Bourouiba said peak exhalation speeds can reach 33 to 100 feet per second and currently used surgical and N95 masks are not tested for these potential characteristics of respiratory emissions. The novel coronavirus has prompted social distancing measures around the world. One researcher believes what’s being done isn’t enough. Lydia Bourouiba, an associate professor at …

THE SCIENCE ON THE CORONA VIRUS PANDEMIC

With misinformation and deliberate disinformation running almost as rampant as the virus that causes COVID-19, here is a roundup of some of the newest science on the COVID-19 pandemic, compiled by veteran medical journalist BRIAN OWENS, straight from the science journals People with heart conditions appear to be at greater risk of complications from COVID-19, …

STUDY: 99 PERCENT ITALIAN COVID-19 DEATHS DUE TO PREEXISTING ILLNESSES

Paramedics on their way to the emergency room of the Cotugno hospital in Naples. Source: AAP The research by Italy's National Institute of Health suggests people with existing illnesses are far more likely to die from coronavirus. More than 99 per cent of people who died from coronavirus in Italy had pre-existing illnesses, according to the country's national health …

INDIA ACTS AGAINST CORONA VIRUS ONSLAUGHT

In the aftermath of large scale contamination by the Novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) and deaths in several countries, the World Health Organisation on 11 March 2020, declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic and reiterated the call for countries to take immediate actions and scale up response to treat, detect and reduce transmission to save …

REMEMBERING KATHERINE JOHNSON: THE HUMAN COMPUTER WHO HELPED NASA ASTRONAUTS SAFELY SET FOOT ON MOON

• OBITUARY • On February 24, 2020, Katherine Goble Johnson passed away at the age of 101, after a long life of learning and teaching—and quietly helping the United States reach space. As a mathematician who calculated the trajectories for some of NASA’s most important missions, her contribution to history cannot be overstated, though it …

COULD TOBACCO KILL CORONAVIRUS? EXPERTS ARE HOPEFUL

By SARAH OWERMOHLE The Pentagon's medical research arm credited the use of tobacco plants in 2012 for the quick development of 10 million doses of flu vaccine. Public health experts say infecting tobacco plants with a genetically modified coronavirus, if successful, could be scaled up quickly to respond to an international outbreak One of the most …

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ASTRONOMERS TO SCOUR THE ENTIRE SKY FOR ALIEN LIFE

By JEREMY CULLEY The most comprehensive search ever for UFOs or alien life is to be carried out by astronomers in an unprecedented hunt using 28 giant radio telescopes in New Mexico, US The move marks the most comprehensive search for alien life ever (Image: Getty Images) The entire sky is to be scoured for signs …

CANCER, NOT THE DEATH KNELL

• INTERVIEW • Cancer is a disease that is as old as mankind. It was found in the mummy of Egypt some 5000 years ago. According to scientists, two Egyptian mummies suffered from the oldest known cases of multiple myeloma and breast cancerduring their lifetime. Unfortunately, even now, many people are unaware about its nature, …

MEET THE SCIENTIST DOING THE MOST DELIGHTFUL JOB IN THE WORLD: HE STUDIES BABY LAUGHTER

Babies start laughing before they can speak, and this delicious sound just may serve as a powerful source of human communication and connection, according to psychology researcher Caspar Addyman, writes LAUREN SCHENKMAM There are few sweeter sounds in this world than a baby’s laugh. In fact, the essential ingredient is both simpler and more profound. …

PRIMITIVE SEX BETWEEN DIFFERENT HUMAN SPECIES MADE US WHAT WE ARE TODAY

It's just that we homo sapiens got some Neanderthal and Denisovan genes into our DNA. When Homo sapiens left Africa and encountered the Homo neanderthalensis in Europe, the two ancient hominins did the obvious thing and had sex with one another, exchanging life-saving genetic adaptions. That genetic exchange allowed human-hybrid children to skip the thousands of years of natural selection Neanderthals …

WORLD OCEAN WARMING AT RATE OF 5 ATOM BOMBS PER SECOND, SCIENTISTS WARN

After analyzing data from the 1950s through 2019, an international team of scientists determined that the average temperature of the world's oceans in 2019 was 0.075 degrees Celsius (0.135 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 1981–2010 average. That might not seem like a significant amount of warming, but given the massive volume of the oceans, an …

WHY IS THE MOON THERE WHERE YOU SEE IT

Nearly 50 years since man first walked on the moon, the human race is once more pushing forward with attempts to land on the Earth’s satellite. Last year alone, China had landed a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon, while India attempted softlanding of its lunar vehicle on the lunar south pole, …

MEN AND WOMEN HAVE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION STYLES, SAYS STUDY

By PAUL RATNER: New research finds how power dynamics shape the speech of men and women. It's more than a cultural trope that men and women speak different languages – a new psychology study shows us that they indeed have very distinct communication styles. A team of researchers from the San Francisco State University, led …

INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FILM FESTIVAL OF INDIA: SCIENCE FILM MAKING IS NO ROCKET SCIENCE, THEY SHOULD CONVEY SCIENCE IN SIMPLE AND ENTERTAINING WAY, SAYS DR NIMISH KAPOOR

SCIENCE • INTERVIEW In the interview Dr Nimish Kapoor talks to SUBHA DAS MOLLICK about the Science Film Festival and expresses his views on ways of orienting budding film makers to making science films and documentaries and how science can be communicated in simple terms through the silver screen. Scheduled ahead of the Kolkata International …

ASPIRIN LIKELY TO CURB AIR POLLUTION HARM: STUDY

A new study is the first to report evidence of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin which may lessen the adverse effects of air pollution exposure on lungs. The researchers found that the use of any NSAID nearly halved the effect of PM (particulate matter) on lung function, with the association consistent across all four …

INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL OF INDIA: SCIENCE IS CRYSTAL CLEAR, IT’S HOW WE PORTRAY THAT SEPARATES THE PSEUDO FROM SCIENCE, SAYS VIGYAN PRASAR DIRECTOR

SCIENCE • INTERVIEW In the interview Dr Nakul Parashar talks to SUBHA DAS MOLLICK about the Science Festival and expresses his views on women's contribution in science and the ways of discouraging pseudoscience from taking centerstage. How to connect the science in a child’s text book to the science on her food platter or the …

TRIO WINS 2019 NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMIC SCIENCES FOR WORK IN ALLEVIATING GLOBAL POVERTY

Abhijit Banarjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer have been jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm announced Monday. "This year's Laureates have introduced a new approach to obtaining reliable answers about the best ways to fight global poverty," the academy said in …

STUDY: PREHISTORIC HUMANS ATE BONE MARROW LIKE CANNED SOUP

Researchers found early humans used bones of dead animals as “cans” to preserve the bone marrow which they feasted on later. It was previously thought that humans, 400,000 years ago, consumed animal bone marrow as soon as they had stripped the carcass of the animal they had successfully hunted. But, researchers from Tel Aviv University, …

TRIO GETS 2019 NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LITHIUM ION BATTERY

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences gave the 2019 Nobel prize in Chemistry to John B. Goodenough from the University of Texas, Austin, M. Stanley Whittingham of Binghamton University, and Akira Yoshino of Meijo University. "Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized our lives and are used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles. Through …

TRIO AWARDED 2019 NOBEL MEDICINE PRIZE FOR LEARNING HOW CELLS RESPOND TO OXYGEN

US researchers William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza and Britain’s Peter Ratcliffe on Monday shared the Nobel Medicine Prize for discoveries on how cells sense when oxygen levels in the body vary. US researchers William Kaelin, Gregg Semenza and Britain's Peter Ratcliffe on Monday shared the 2019 Nobel Medicine or Physiology Prize for discoveries on how …

BIG NEWS: LIFE ON MARS MAY SOON UNRAVEL, SAYS NASA CHIEF SCIENTIST

There could be life on Mars. But people back in earth are not yet prepared to accept this extraterrestrial news. So thinks Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA. NASA's next mission to Mars will be its most advanced yet. The Mars 2020 rover, along with the European Space Agency's ExoMars rover, …

YES, THE CLIMATE CRISIS MAY WIPE OUT SIX BILLION PEOPLE

By WILLIAM ERNEST REES : “Carbon emissions may continue to rise, the polar ice caps may continue to melt, crop yields may continue to decline, the world’s forests may continue to burn, coastal cities may continue to sink under rising seas and droughts may continue to wipe out fertile farmlands, but the messiahs of hope …

Dangerous Levels Of Plastic In Children’s Bodies, Says German Study

Children from poorer families had more plastic residue in their bodies than those from higher-income homes. Rampant use of plastic is not only poisoning the environment, dangerous levels of its by-products have also started piling up in children's bodies, unleashing toxic effects. Der Spiegel, the German weekly magazine, published the findings Saturday, which were part of a …

Spain Healthiest Nation In The World: Study

Country takes the crown from Italy, while Japan ranks fourth, Britain comes in 19th, and the US takes 35th place, five spots below Cuba A Spanish classic: bread, tomato, jamón and olive oil. GETTY IMAGES Spain is the healthiest country in the world, according to a study of 169 nations by Bloomberg. After climbing six …

India’s First Civilisation Were Indigenous People And Not From The West: Study

Image courtesy: Basant Shinde The study of DNA samples of the skeletons found in Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley Civilisation site in Haryana, has found no traces of the R1a1 gene or Central Asian ‘steppe’ genes, loosely termed as the ‘Aryan gene’ raising doubts on the long held theory of Iranian invasion or migration to South …

ISRO : FROM CHURCH TO TOUCHING THE MOON

By KAUSHIK BHOWMIK : Ironic, India's space program took off from the altar of worship. No sooner Pragyan lands on the moon, snaps its selfie in the morning sunlight of 7 September and transmit the pictures back to earth, scientists at ISRO will propel to festivity on their revolutionary breakthrough in India's interplanetary science. Notably, …

WELCOME TO THE ANTHROPOCENE!

By ROBERTO DAVINI : Approaches to global warming and climate change often underline the eminently human features of the problem. A narrative that emphasizes human responsibilities, seeking political solutions to climate injustices and inequities. Even on Friday 15th March 2019, the theme of climate change as a problem of human justice resonated all over the …

HAIROIL THAT VANISHED CYCLONE

By SUBHA DAS MOLLICK : The day began on a very pleasant note. Cloudy sky and cool breeze brought a respite from the scorching May sun. But there was tension and anxiety in the air. Warning messages criss crossed the the Whatsapp network. Schools were declared closed after 1PM so that the children could be …

SATYAJIT RAY’S SCIENTIFIC IMAGINATION

On the occasion of the 98th birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray, THE EDITION reexamines some traits in the science fiction he created.  Here is an excerpt of the paper Frankenstein in the Bamboo Grove, presented by SUBHA DAS MOLLICK at the SCMS (Society of Cinema and Media Studies) Annual Conference in Seattle on March 15, …

AGE HEALTHILY WITH YOGA

By DARSHAN GOSWAMI : Modern living imposes stress on all of us - mental, physical and emotional. To avert these stresses and lead a happy life, more and more people are turning to yoga. Yoga is a magic fitness program. It acts as a natural healer to stresses and helps to break free from the …

INDIA’S SCORECARD IN SCIENCE

By ABHIJIT CHAKRABARTI : I was present in the convocation ceremony of a university located about 80 kilometers away from Kolkata. Two eminent Indian scientists were felicitated with honorary Doctor of Science. Along with them three other luminaries from Bengal - an eminent poet, a cricketer and a classical musician - were also felicitated with …

WHY INDIA LIMPS TO INNOVATE

By GAUTAM RAJ JAIN : Innovation (Drucker, 1999, identifies entrepreneurship with personalities who have strong commitment to 'systematic practice of innovation') is the process of creating demand when supply exist (old but unexploited products or existing inventions through stimulating the need for consumption among non-consumers) or creating supply for which demand exist (unmet needs, fully …

OUR AI POWERED FUTURE

By DARSHAN GOSWAMI : AI or Artificial Intelligence is a wide-ranging tool that enables us to rethink how we integrate information, analyze data, and use the resulting insights to improve decision making. The world is experiencing extraordinary advances in AI. AI powered robots and driverless cars are no longer things of the distant future. They …

TO SLOG OR LAZE LIKE A LOG

• KAUSHIK BHOWMIK • IT Analyst  based out of Kolkata, India. This article was originally published in the Financial Express, Bangladesh. Live lazy. Live long. This could most relievingly be your next mantra. And so the coming Sunday you can afford to wake up, savour the steaming sip of your favourite Darjeeling tea and roll back into your bed …

THE HIDDEN COST OF UNCORRECTED VISION

By MRINAL RAY : Vision is every human’s prized possession. However, we take sight for granted as a gift of the god that will remain with us as long as we live. Hence, we tend to be negligent with our eyes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 153 million people of all ages worldwide, …

WHEN TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTS FINANCE

By MRINAL RAY : The fintech Industry is charting a new course with every newer day. Venturing into terrains traditional finance hardly ever treaded. This industry banks a lot of business innovation backed by technology. Sometimes, these innovations disrupt existing industry structures to the extent that it completely blurs the process of creation and deliverance …

STILL IN BITS AND PIECES

By KAUSHIK BHOWMIK : As the world globalizes digitally, the currency ecosystem too has taken up a digital define. In 2008, during the financial crisis, a still unidentified pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, circulated via email a groundbreaking whitepaper, Bitcoin : A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, detailing for the first time a unique electronic method of currency …