On 26th of January 2001, India was gearing up to celebrate the country’s 51st Republic Day, when an event that lasted a little longer than 2 minutes, devastated the country. Kutch region in Gujarat was hit by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. The death toll was estimated to be around 13,000, with wide scale devastation to property. The incident flattened many villages and destroyed many historic and heritage buildings.

Life as we know it on Earth is possible because of water. Hence, the presence of water on our neighbouring ‘red planet’, Mars, was an important discovery. Taking forward the search for water on Mars, scientists from the Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, Sharda University, India, Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Spain and Centro de Astrobiología, Spain, have now discovered the widespread presence of liquid water on Mars using the latest technology. 

Humans have used nanoparticles since antiquity. Stone age workers, artists during the renaissance, and ancient metallurgists have all used nanoparticles either for decorations or to enhance the properties of materials.

Responsible for 1.5 to 5 million deaths per year, around the world, Diabetes mellitus is a very serious disease. India is considered the diabetes capital of the world with as many as 50 million people suffering from type 2 diabetes. This World Diabetes Day, the Research Matters team caught up with Dr. Milind Watve, a professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune and an expert in the field, to find out about the new insights into how better to treat the disease.  

The Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) is an animal with soft reddish-brown fur, is only seen in the temperate forests of the Himalayas that includes parts of India, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.

Nature is full of mind boggling interactions, some that seem they are straight out of a fiction novel! Studying a host-parasite-hyperparasite interaction between a species of moth and two species of wasp, scientists from the Ecology lab at the Department of Animal Science, Central University of Kerala, explore how wasps control the behaviour of moth larvae and also contribute to controlling their population.

The word “drug” is a taboo in the society. People shun the so-called drug users and abusers. However, little do they know that they themselves are consuming a drug on a daily basis! Befuddled?

“Mom, can I have a cup of coffee?”

YES! Coffee! Or more specifically, caffeine.

There are plenty of activities we as humans perform each day, which requires incredible amount of coordination between the different parts of our body. A simple act of lifting a book requires, first your eye to pin-point the book, next it guides your hand to clasp the book and then lift it up. Sounds complicated. Yet, each day, we can lift things up, catch fast moving objects, and ride very fast on the bike, hardly noticing what our hands our doing, while swerving through the traffic.

‘Riboswitches’ like the name suggests are like on and off switches for genes. These are present in all living things, from the smallest bacteria to the largest trees. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata have sequences the genomes of 2785 bacteria to understand their function and origin.

Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesviruses (EEHVs), is a highly widespread herpes virus commonly found in Asian and African elephants. Of the 130 types of herpes viruses found worldwide, only some are known to infect humans, yet 90% of the human population is infected with some form of herpes virus. The rest can infect organisms as diverse as cats, birds, horses and fish.