Technology

Seawater intrusion threatens drinking water source along India's coast

Bengaluru | Jan 8, 2020

The impacts of climate change on coastal areas are severe than inland as they are vulnerable to flooding and extreme weather phenomena like cyclones, tornadoes etc. As the climate crisis deepens, a quarter of India's population, who live along the coasts, have another issue to worry about – availability of freshwater. Due to unchecked pumping of groundwater for daily use and rainfall variation, freshwater sources are being depleted. Besides, saltwater from the sea is unwittingly finding its way into local aquifers through a process called seawater intrusion. Although many independent studies, conducted at different locations, have observed depletion in freshwater sources along India's coasts, there is no comprehensive study yet. Now, researchers at Anna University, Chennai, have tried to address the extent of seawater intrusion in the Indian coastal regions in a study published in journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research. The study was funded by the National Centre for Earth Sciences Studies, Earth System Science Organisation, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

General, Science, Technology, Deep-dive

An Inexpensive Approach to Patterning Cells in a Lab

Bengaluru | Jan 6, 2020

Researchers from IIT Bombay propose cost-effective techniques of making microcontact printing stamps to print protein and grow cells.

General, Science, Technology, Deep-dive

The Best of Science in 2019

Bengaluru | Dec 31, 2019

A journey through the year for science in 2019

As Newton’s famous quote, “standing on the shoulders of giants”, this year, science has made considerable advances, building on many feats achieved in the past years. New discoveries, insights and inventions in the areas of astronomy, biology, medicine, paleontology and physics marked the year. Here is a selected pick of ten such breakthroughs in science witnessed in 2019.

General, Science, Technology, Engineering, Ecology, Health, Society, Policy, Deep-dive

India's year in Science 2019

Bengaluru | Dec 30, 2019

While looking forward to 2020, the editorial team at Research Matters looks back on some of the interesting stories that we published during 2019. There were many interesting ones ranging from the first photograph of a black hole to air pollution in Delhi to using vibrations for painless injections. Here is a list to highlight India's year in science during 2019. This is in no way ranked and the order is just incidental.

General, Science, Technology, Engineering, Ecology, Health, Society, Deep-dive

Indigenous Technology for Affordable Cancer Cure

Bengaluru | Dec 20, 2019

An emerging way to treat cancer is immunotherapy, where the patient’s immune system is strengthened to attack cancer cells. It is less painful than surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and is known to lower the relapse of cancer. Now, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have developed a patented technology to leverage the patient’s immune system to cure cancer.

General, Science, Technology, Health, Deep-dive

An ‘EChO Network’ for cross-disciplinary leadership in India

Bengaluru | Dec 19, 2019

In an event today, Prof. K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, launched a national program to foster cross-disciplinary leadership in India. Named the EChO Network, it focuses on increasing research, knowledge, and awareness of Indian ecology and the environment. It is hoped that this program would develop a national network to catalyse a new generation of Indians who can solve real-world problems in medicine, agriculture, ecology, and technology.

General, Science, Technology, News

Healing graphene: Scientists at IISc devise a way to reverse defects in graphene

Bengaluru | Dec 18, 2019

Graphene, a sheet-like form of carbon, has been hailed as a wonder material owing to its many promising applications in electronics, drug delivery and more. In a recent study, a team of scientists from India and the USA, led by Prof Srinivasan Raghavan and Prof Rudra Pratap from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has paved the way for new applications of graphene by intentionally varying the defects formed during its production.

General, Science, Technology, Engineering, Deep-dive

The second Indo-Swiss Meeting on Evolutionary Biology begins today

Bengaluru | Dec 12, 2019

The Centre for Human Genetics, Bengaluru, is hosting the second edition of the Indo-Swiss Meeting Meeting on Evolutionary Biology, held in India this year. The meeting is jointly organised by the Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists, Centre for Human Genetics, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) and Swissnex India. The gathering brings together faculty and students from India and Switzerland. The three day meeting begins on the 12th of December and continues until the 14th.

General, Science, Technology, Ecology, News

ISRO scientists cotton on to North Korea’s nuclear test more accurately using satellites

Bengaluru | Dec 10, 2019

Starting in 2006, North Korea has made a series of nuclear tests in its hidden backyard. The country’s latest one was conducted in 2017 at Punggye-ri, some 3.6 kilometres northwest of its first nuclear test site. Despite its success, the test results provided loose estimates of the source parameters like the energy produced and the depth of the explosion. Since this was the most extensive test conducted by North Korea, it has evoked special attention among the scientific community in the last two years. While many studies have tried to reckon these parameters, the results were shrouded in uncertainty. Besides, the country’s political abnegation of seismometers called for an exigent need for a more accurate means of estimating the blast site’s characteristics. In a recent study, published in the Geophysical International Journal, a team of scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) seems to have done just that.

General, Science, Technology, Engineering, Deep-dive