Science & technology

In a first, scientists have successfully grown functional version of the human food pipe using stem cells, paving the way for new ways to study and test drugs against gut disorders. The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell , shows how human oesophageal tissue could be grown entirely …

U.S. restaurateur is hoping to use marijuana to get the crustaceans high before putting them into boiling water, but health inspectors and experts question its legality Your death is imminent. It will be painful. Minutes beforehand, your executioner hands you… a joint. “If somebody offered me that option and said, …

India successfully conducted an interceptor missile test from Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha on Sunday night, achieving a major milestone in developing a two-layer Ballistic Missile Defence system. The Prithvi Defence Vehicle mission is for engaging targets at an altitude of above 50 km of the earth’s atmosphere, a DRDO …

Details process to flag complaints Under pressure to clamp down on fake messages, WhatsApp has appointed a grievance officer for India and has detailed out the process for users to flag concerns and complaints, including those around fake news. Meeting one of the key demands that India had put forward …

Rescue efforts on to get back Navy Commander who was part of the Golden Globe Race In a positive development in the massive global search and rescue effort for Commander Abhilash Tomy of the Indian Navy, injured and stranded in his sailing vessel in the Golden Globe Race (GGR), a …

Using metal-organic framework (MOF) made of cadmium chloride and synthesised under ambient conditions, a research team has been able to detect organophosphorus pesticides such as azinphos-methyl, chlorpyrifos, and parathion both in water solution and in apples and tomatoes. The MOF is highly sensitive such that the presence of pesticides as …

The battery is made from lithium metal, carbon and an electrolyte that the researchers designed Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new battery made partly from carbon dioxide captured from power plants. While still based on early-stage research and far from commercial deployment, this battery could …

Animal poop may seem inconsequential but it supplies scientists with precious information: from a tiger’s identity to elephant stress levels. Most recently, faeces of Royle’s pika – a small rabbit-like mammal found in India’s Himalaya – reveal that these animals survive almost entirely on specific plants that grow only in …

This column writer recently had a severe attack of very bad cold and cough, and no amount of swallowing antibiotics and vitamin C helped. His wife, Shakti, then recalled her mother’s traditional treatment, ground up a little jaggery and raw ginger, and asked him to have it three times a …

Museum celebrates weird inventions A gadget to “translate” dog barks for humans, a “babypod” that plays music inside the mother’s vagina for unborn babies and the world’s first self-colonoscopy method were among the whacky inventions on show Friday at a new Tokyo exhibition. The museum celebrates weird and wonderful inventions …

Smart speaker boasts improved sound and design From the kitchen to the car, Amazon is seeking to make its Alexa digital assistant and online services a bigger part of people’s lives with an array of new products and partnerships launched on Thursday. Updates to the Internet giant’s Alexa-infused Echo smart …

The robots are expected to collect minerals that may throw light on the origin of the solar system A Japanese space probe on Friday released a pair of exploring rovers towards an egg-shaped asteroid to collect mineral samples that may shed light on the origin of the solar system. The …

Dickinsonia had oval-shaped bodies and came in a variety of sizes A strange fossil that looks a bit like a giant leaf, or a fingerprint the size of a coffee table, has intrigued scientists for decades. Thousands of the fossils have been found over the past seven decades, revealing that …

Roadmap to put Indian crew in space The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is setting up a third launch pad at Sriharikota to undertake the Gaganyaan manned space flight programme, an ISRO official said on Friday. In addition, ISRO is scouting for a location on the western sea coast near …

We didn’t have a choice on offset partner, says Hollande Former French President Francois Hollande has claimed that the Indian government suggested industrialist Anil Ambani’s company as the offset partner for the €7.87 bn deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets. Mr. Hollande was the French President at the time …

“As oxygen masks popped, we yelled for cabin crew” The sudden drop in cabin pressure on board the Jet Airways flight 9W 697 caused a situation of panic on Thursday, as people suddenly started feeling pain in their head and nose, with some of them bleeding from the nose and …

Jet Airways passengers suffer nosebleed, headache after cabin pressure drops Nearly 30 passengers on board a Jet Airways plane bound for Jaipur suffered nose-bleed and many others complained of headache during takeoff from Mumbai on Thursday after the pilots allegedly forgot to switch on a button that helps maintain cabin …

Yusaku Maezawa is a fashion tycoon A Japanese billionaire and online fashion tycoon, Yusaku Maezawa, will be the first man to fly on a monster SpaceX rocket around the moon as early as 2023, and he plans to bring six to eight artists along. Mr. Maezawa, 42, will be the …

The Army, which is inducting the indigenously developed Akash short-range surface-to-air missile (SRSAM) system, will get an upgraded variant. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) gave its procedural approval to the variant on Tuesday. The Army has already inducted two Akash regiments, and ordered two more last year after a global …

Agartala gets space technology incubation centre The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched a space technology incubation centre in Tripura capital Agartala on Tuesday. It is the first of six such centres planned nationally to build capacity in new locations. More such space research activities will be splashed in a …