Science

The Burmese python has become a symbol of two completely different conservation battles. In Florida, wildlife managers search for and remove the giant snake because its introduced population is threatening native wildlife in the Everglades. Thousands of kilometres away in Bangladesh, researchers are putting radio transmitters on the same species to understand where it moves,…

One of the world’s most difficult plastics to recycle could soon have a far more valuable second life. Scientists at Virginia Tech have developed a chemical method that converts polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, into polyalphaolefin, an important material used in high-performance lubricants including engine oil. The approach tackles a longstanding problem with PVC, which is…

Gisat-1A is the programme’s second attempt, and its success finally gives India the capability that Gisat-1 was meant to establish. BENGALURU: When Isro’s GSLV-F17 lifted off from Sriharikota early Friday and successfully placed Gisat-1A or EOS-05 into its intended orbit, the mission did more than add another Earth observation satellite to India’s growing fleet.It ended…

​Representative Image of fluorescent scorpions glowing across a desert landscape after dark (AI-generated image) In 1945, an Arizona State University professor began wandering the desert at night, hunting scorpions that glowed under his black light, and few people around him understood why. That professor, Herbert L Stahnke, was already the nation’s leading authority on scorpions…

In 1999, scientists dropped 45 tons of wollastonite over a 29-acre New Hampshire watershed A large-scale effort to restore an American forest damaged by acid rain had an unexpected environmental effect when added nutrients caused a huge increase in nitrogen flowing into nearby streams. In October and November 1999, researchers spread about 45 short tons…

In September 2007, the European Space Agency launched roughly 3,000 tardigrades into low Earth orbit aboard the Biopan-6 platform on the FOTON-M3 mission. Known as water bears, these microscopic animals were dried into a dormant state before being exposed directly to the vacuum of space, alongside doses of solar and cosmic radiation, for ten days…

Pic credit: Misha Krassovski/ORNL,U.S. Dept. of Energy Swamps and peatlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle and, consequently, in the global climate. Scientists wanted to know if there was a link between climate change and carbon loss in peatland ecosystems. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory looked at…

In this image posted on Sept. 1, 2026, The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F17) stands integrated on the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Scheduled for liftoff on September 4, the 19th GSLV flight will place the Earth Observation Satellite EOS-05 into a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. (Image…

damselflyRepresenative image from Canva For much of the 20th century, the Santa Cruz River that winds through Tucson, Arizona, existed more as a memory than a living waterway. Groundwater pumping, drought and urban growth drained the riverbed, leaving long stretches of dry sand and scattered pools. Then, in a quiet but transformative experiment, treated wastewater,…

PC: LinkedIn Profile of Aadit Krishna A Union County teenager has developed a floating water-purification system designed to tackle PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a class of persistent chemicals called ‘forever chemicals’. Aadit P. Krishna, whose research focuses on decentralised water purification, developed HelioPure as a solar-powered platform that can operate on surface water. The…

The Amazon River is one of the world’s largest and most powerful river systems, carrying an extraordinary volume of freshwater across South America before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. Its immense flow is closely connected to the vast Amazon basin, which receives water from rainfall, tributaries and sources in the Andes. The river carries approximately…

Centuries after people forced a Cumbrian river into a straight, artificial channel, nature has reclaimed its original course in the Lake District, bringing endangered wild fish back to historic spawning grounds almost immediately. In the summer of 2016, conservationists restored a 1.1-kilometre stretch of Swindale Beck near Haweswater by putting its natural bends back into…