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The field of material science has immensely contributed to our progress and has arguably been a very important driving force behind all the scientific achievement that mankind boasts of today. With the discovery of conductors, superconductors, insulators and semiconductors, there has been a revolution in the field of electric engineering, computer science, electronics, aerospace and others. Now, a new class of materials to this list is topological conductors, which promises to conquer great frontiers in the field of quantum computers and others.  A new research has now shown that amorphous materials like glass can also become topological conductors, thus finding a myriad of applications in different fields. 

India is home to not just a huge number of people, but also a myriad range of animals and plants. So it isn’t surprising when scientists discover new species of these animals and plants every now and then. And to add to the list of new discoveries, three geckos have now been identified by a team of researchers. For the first time, after 130 years, the discovery of these geckos have take the total number of geckos found in India to 11. Found in various habitats and across many parts of the country, the discovery of the geckos adds to the ecological richness around us and gives more insights into these lizard-like organisms and their lives.

Since our young days as kids, we have been told that vegetables are healthy and that we should eat them. Then, we were told that raw vegetables are even better because they have more fibre and also cooking them will lead to destruction of some vital nutrients. Thanks to all this, now we have a wide range of salad recipes floating on the Internet and elsewhere!

The incidence of prostrate cancer, affecting the prostate gland in men, is one of the increasingly growing types of cancers and the cause of death across the world, particularly in developing countries. While traditional anti-cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy promise hope, they often come with undesirable side effects. In a new research, scientists have shown the possibility of natural extracts from two plants found in tropical regions of the country to be effective against prostate cancer. This research definitely promises to bring in new hopes in those battered with cancer, hope the scientists.

Rainfall extremes have had devastating effects in the country, including floods in Gujarat and landslides in Darjeeling, both of which claimed many lives. With a warming climate, such extreme rainfall events are only going to increase.

Termites are renowned architects whose mounds have inspired many building designs around the world. But did you know how termites build their mud castles? A new study has tried to understand how termites use boluses -- a combination of mud and saliva acting as bricks -- to build their mounds. The study also throws light on the properties of materials the termites prefer to use to build mounds and discusses reasons behind the same. This study, the researchers claim, is a first towards understand the unique procedure followed by nature’s best architects in building some of the finest castles. 

Coacervation is a phenomenon where in two liquids that are mixed together, driven by the difference in the electrostatic charge of the different molecules of the two liquids, separate out into two layers.

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), a joint mission of NASA and German Aerospace Center, was launched in 2002 and has been making a detailed map of earth’s gravity field anomalies. By studying these anomalies, one can show how mass is distributed on the planet’s surface.

Space missions come with an unprecedented excitement of open a Pandora’s box of unknown facts, mysteries and phenomenons. It is hardly a surprise that New Horizons, NASA’s mission to explore Pluto and beyond has caused a great excitement in the field of planetary science. Launched in 2006, New Horizons has already provided mankind with the most intimate images of Pluto till date and is now cruising towards the Kuiper Belt beyond our Solar System. Read all that you should know about this space mission, its latest findings and its future stops as it progresses toward new horizons of space in an interview with Prof. Henry Throop.

Tigers, a well-known member of the cat family and India’s national animal is unique in many ways. Once found abundantly in the tropics of Asia, tigers today have little to call home or family. Their numbers have seen a sharp fall in the recent years, thanks to habitat destruction and poaching. While conservation efforts are on to protect this endangered species, there is still a long way to go before these shy cats can roam the jungles as kings. Today, on the event of International Tiger Day, here is a snapshot on what’s troubling them and how we know about it.