Science

Published on May 01, 2025 03:57 PM IST

SPA basin is one of the Moon’s largest and oldest impact features in the solar system. The Chandrayaan-3 landing site is located 350kms from the basin.

The Vikram lander on the lunar surface with the ChaSTE probe deployed. (ISRO)

BySnehal Fernandes

Researchers claim to have found colour no one has seen before. They name it…

The researchers claim that this was possible by stimulating individual cells in the retina.

Published on Apr 19, 2025 10:16 AM IST

Scientists find strongest evidence yet of life on an alien planet

SPACE-EXPLORATION/PLANET (PIX, TV):Scientists find strongest evidence yet of life on an alien planet

A graph shows the observed transmission spectrum of the habitable zone exoplanet K2-18 b using the James Webb Space Telescope MIRI spectrograph instrument. The vertical shows the fraction of star light absorbed in the planet's atmosphere due to molecules in its atmosphere. The data are shown in the yellow circles with the 1-sigma uncertainties. The curves show the model fits to the data, with the black curve showing the median fit and the cyan curves outlining the 1-sigma intervals of the model fits. The absorption features attributed to dimethyl sulphide and dimethyl disulphide are indicated by the horizontal lines and text. The image behind the graph is an illustration of a hycean planet orbiting a red dwarf star. This image was obtained by Reuters on April 16, 2025. A. Smith, N. Madhusudhan/University of Cambridge/Handout via REUTERS NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.(via REUTERS)

Published on Apr 17, 2025 07:58 AM IST

Reuters |

Scientifically Speaking: Fruit flies become ‘living robots’

The Harvard team has harnessed behaviours that are so reliable they make animals act as robots while still maintaining their biological functions.

A nano robot 3D render. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Updated on Apr 16, 2025 06:14 PM IST

ByAnirban Mahapatra

NASA will give you $3 million if you can solve their unique space toilet problem

NASA offers $3 million for innovative technology to recycle human waste in space.

NASA seeks innovators to minimize space waste, preparing for future missions.(Representational)

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Published on Apr 13, 2025 05:05 PM IST

ByMuskaan Sharma

Colossal Biosciences responds to Indian man's question on dire wolves' ‘return’

Dallas-based biotech firm Colossal Biosciences announced the ‘de-extinction’ of dire wolves, sparking massive buzz online.

This undated photo provided by Colossal Biosciences shows Romulus and Remus, both 3-months old and genetically engineered with similarities to the extinct dire wolf.(AP)

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Updated on Apr 08, 2025 12:01 PM IST

ByShylaja Varma

New study reveals why North America is slowly ‘dripping’ into Earth's mantle

Geodynamic models say deep mantle flow from the long-subducted Farallon slab is likely behind the massive underground “drips” forming beneath North America.

Researchers found that these drip-like structures extend about 640 kilometres (400 miles) underground and are located beneath a wide region including Michigan, Nebraska, and Alabama. (source: NASA)

Updated on Apr 06, 2025 10:19 PM IST

‘City-killer’ asteroid 2024 YR4 no longer threat to Earth, but may hit moon

The asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 2% chance of hitting the moon in December 2032, a slight rise from NASA’s February estimate of 1.7%.

The asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 2% chance of striking the moon in 2032.(via AFP)

Published on Apr 03, 2025 05:09 PM IST

Why the surge in earthquakes lately? Could a bigger one be next? | Explainer

The US Geological Survey (USGS) says an increase or decrease in global seismicity does not necessarily indicate that a large earthquake is about to occur.

A woman walks past destroyed buildings in Mandalay on April 1, 2025, four days after a major earthquake struck central Myanmar.(AFP)

Updated on Apr 01, 2025 09:34 PM IST

Why was Myanmar earthquake so deadly? Scientists explain

The deadly earthquake that struck near Mandalay on Friday was caused by “strike-slip faulting” along the boundary of the India and Eurasia plates.

A women goes through rubble at a collapsed building following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)

Updated on Mar 30, 2025 09:04 PM IST

Aboard the Starlink enterprise

Instead of relying on cables buried underground or towers dotting the landscape, Starlink beams the internet directly from space.

A Starlink satellite-internet communication system router. (Bloomberg Photo)

Updated on Mar 21, 2025 07:42 PM IST

ByCharles Assisi

All about SpaceX’s ‘Dragon’ capsule bringing Sunita Williams back from ISS

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule will re-enter Earth and splash down off Florida’s coast at 3:27 am IST Wednesday, with the crew heading to Houston after checks.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, two veteran NASA astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station for nine months, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA astronaut Nick Hague, manoeuvres in space following undocking from the ISS to begin a journey to return to Earth March 18, 2025 in this still image taken from video.(via REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 18, 2025 03:15 PM IST

ByHT News Desk | Written by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao

NASA's Crew-10 enters ISS today, Sunita Williams and Wilmore set to return soon

After docking, Crew-10 changed out of their spacesuits, prepared cargo, and opened the hatch to the ISS’s Harmony module at 10:35 a.m. IST on March 16.

With Crew-10's arrival, the total number of astronauts on the ISS briefly increased to 11. The new crew joined NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner.(NASA)

Updated on Mar 16, 2025 11:32 AM IST

ByHT News Desk | Written by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao

Who are Crew-10 astronauts replacing Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore? What next?

NASA schedules Crew-9 and Crew-10 overlap to allow Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to brief the new crew on station operations before their departure.

Crew-10 mission astronauts (L/R) Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain and JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building en route to launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 14, 2025.(AFP)

Updated on Mar 15, 2025 09:37 AM IST

ByHT News Desk | Written by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao

Blue Ghost captures breathtaking ‘diamond ring’ effect on the Moon

The image was taken in Mare Crisium, a vast lunar basin in the Moon’s northern hemisphere.

Named after a rare species of firefly, Blue Ghost is a compact yet sturdy four-legged lander designed for extra stability. (X/Firefly_Space)

Updated on Mar 15, 2025 04:50 AM IST

SpaceX delays ISS mission to bring stuck NASA astronaut Sunita Williams home

SpaceX cancelled the Crew-10 launch due to a last-minute launchpad issue, with no immediate clarity on the next flight schedule.

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been on the International Space Station since June last year.(AFP)

Updated on Mar 13, 2025 08:29 AM IST

ByHT News Desk | Written by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao

Scientifically Speaking: A lack of germs may be making astronauts sick

For 20 years, astronauts have orbited Earth in what is essentially a sealed bubble- a meticulously maintained environment.

Humans have co-evolved with a wide variety of microbes from birth, with early exposure to soil, animals. (Representative file photo)

Published on Mar 11, 2025 02:50 PM IST

ByAnirban Mahapatra

Harvard astrophysicist claims god is real, gives examples to drive his point

Willie Soon discussed closed curvature in spacetime without gravity, a concept in geometry that challenges how mathematics connects to real-world understanding.

Willie Soon, a Malaysian astrophysicist at Harvard University(YouTube/Tucker Carlson Network)

Updated on Mar 08, 2025 09:31 AM IST

ByHT News Desk | Edited by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao

What is hantavirus, infection behind Gene Hackman's wife Betsy Arakawa's death

Hantavirus, a potentially fatal lung infection, spreads in northern New Mexico mainly through the droppings and urine of infected deer mice.

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, and one of their dogs were found dead on February 26 in separate rooms of their Santa Fe home. (File)(AP)

Updated on Mar 08, 2025 07:05 AM IST

ByHT News Desk | Written by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao

How fish gill genes helped create your ears

Researchers used powerful tech to analyse thousands of individual cells at once, considering which genes are active and how DNA is organised within each cell.

The cells that form human ear cartilage and fish gill cartilage showed very similar patterns of gene activity, despite coming from entirely different animals. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Updated on Mar 07, 2025 11:47 AM IST

ht_print |

Scientifically Speaking: How fish gill genes helped create your ears

Researchers used powerful technology to analyse thousands of individual cells at once, considering which genes are active.

Published on Mar 07, 2025 10:50 AM IST

ByAnirban Mahapatra

Blue Ghost makes a soft landing on Moon: 5 facts about ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’

As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Blue Ghost Mission 1 delivered 10 scientific and technological instruments to the Moon.

This undated image released by Firefly Aerospace shows Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander taking an Earth selfie. (AFP)

Updated on Mar 02, 2025 02:24 PM IST

ByHT News Desk | Written by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao

US spaceship to attempt daring landing on Moon's ‘unexplored surface’ today

Blue Ghost's mission is part of NASA's CLPS programme, which deploys private robotic landers to transport scientific instruments to the Moon.

This still image taken from a February 24, 2025 video released by Firefly Aerospace shows Firefly's Blue Ghost lander on its third lunar orbit, showing the far side of the Moon and a top-down view of Blue Ghost. More than fifty years passed between the last Apollo mission and America's return to the lunar surface, when the first ever private lander touched down last February. (AFP)

Updated on Mar 02, 2025 12:54 PM IST

ByHT News Desk | Written by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao

What instruments will NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer use to search for water on Moon?

Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander will land on March 6 near the Moon’s south pole, to study and identify different forms of water on the lunar surface.

In this undated image released by NASA, Intuitive Machines’ newest lunar lander is seen attached to a SpaceX Falcon rocket. (NASA via AP)(AP)

Published on Feb 28, 2025 09:12 AM IST

‘Wild’ video of water droplets orbiting a needle in space stuns fans. Watch

Astronaut Don Pettit, aboard the International Space Station, shared a video showing charged water drops orbiting a knitting needle.

Astronaut Don Pettit shared this pic that shows overlapping frames from his video involving water droplets and a knitting needle. (X/@astro_Pettit)

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Updated on Feb 28, 2025 09:01 AM IST

ByTrisha Sengupta

Mars had an ocean, sandy beaches 3 billion years ago, scientists say

Evidence suggests Mars once had an ancient ocean, with data from China's Zhurong rover revealing coastal deposits beneath the surface.

An illustration shows a hypothetical picture of Mars 3.6 billion years ago when an ocean may have covered nearly half the planet, released February 24, 2025. The blue areas show the depth of the ocean filled to the shoreline level of the ancient, now-gone sea, dubbed Deuteronilus. The orange star represents the landing site of the Chinese rover Zhurong and the yellow star is the site of NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed a few months before Zhurong.(REUTERS)

Updated on Feb 25, 2025 12:27 PM IST

Scientifically Speaking: Sale of fake designs as patents undermine integrity

A new scheme exploits a loophole in the way University Grants Commission awards points toward promotion for international patents to academics.

Updated on Feb 25, 2025 09:22 AM IST

ByAnirban Mahapatra

Sunita Williams’ homecoming: SpaceX Crew-9 prepares for re-entry to Earth

NASA will launch the next crew on an older SpaceX Dragon capsule on March 12, allowing astronauts Wilmore and Sunita Williams to return to Earth.

Christmas on the ISS. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have now been stranded in space for exactly seven months. (NASA)(HT_PRINT)

Updated on Feb 25, 2025 12:28 PM IST

ByHT News Desk | Written by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao

Isaac Newton's chilling letter predicts when the world will end

Here's when the world will end, according to Isaac Newton's letter from over 300 years ago

Isaac Newton predicted the doomsday in his chilling 1704 letter

Updated on Feb 16, 2025 12:29 PM IST

ByArya Vaishnavi

Asteroid collision carved 2 massive ‘grand canyons’ on moon in 10 minutes

The study suggests the canyons in “Schrodinger impact basin” were carved in under 10 minutes by debris from an asteroid or comet impact 3.8 billion years ago.

An undated artistic rendering shows an asteroid or comet striking near the Moon's south pole about 3.8 billion years ago, an impact that carved out two large craters.(via REUTERS)