A new review reveals that rising global temperatures, increased pollution, and extreme weather events are driving a global surge in eye diseases, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities and challenging healthcare systems.

Research Matters

Scientists gather evidence for water having existed on Mars using remote sensing

Using space-borne remote sensing instruments, scientists from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) have detected evidence for hydrous and hydrated minerals on the Martian surface. An excess of such minerals were found associated with impact craters on Mars and could be a result of either pre-existing ancient hydrothermal systems or hydrothermal systems that were created due to the impact by meteors, asteroids and comets.

Navigating with the tongue, the Egyptian fruit bat way!

Bats use high frequency sounds waves to echolocate their food. While most bats move their heads, nose, ears or mouth to change the direction of the sound waves they produce, Egyptian fruit bats do so without any visible movements in their head or body. Scientists from IISER Pune and University of Washington, USA, Johns Hopkins University, USA explore how they pull off this feat.

Televisions, computer screens and other such visual stimuli induce gamma waves in our brain, study shows

Our brain is a ballroom echoing with humming footsteps of exquisite dancers a.k.a 'brain waves'. Synchronised electrical pulses from neurons communicating with each other produce these brain waves that ricochet throughout the brain. They skillfully route information in a way that allows the brain to choose which signals should be considered vital.

How does a bacterium move? Researchers trace its path

Have you ever wondered how a tiny bacterium enters your body from the surroundings and causes havoc? A simple explanation could be that it enters your body when you take in the contaminated air or water or through contact. But, how exactly does it move around once inside the body, or even in air or water? It does so in two ways; it either wiggles around with the help of flagellum—a lash-like appendage that protrudes from the body, or uses its body weight (specifically, its head) to propel itself. So what path does it trace when it moves?

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