A look back at the fifteen key stories of the year on Research Matters, showcasing the ingenuity and dedication of the Indian scientific community in 2025.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science design a compact and fast piezoelectric crash sensor.
The beauty of nature lies in its resilience. A testament to this is Japan’s Pale Grass Blue Butterfly, Zizeeria maha. It’s ability to become radiation resistant by undergoing adaptive evolution is a metamorphosis catalysed by tragic beginnings.
Researchers described a close association between microbes and plants that they live in, and how this relationship benefits both. The association, called the ‘rhizophagy cycle’, involves friendly bacteria and fungi that live in the roots of specific plants and help in nutrient transfer.
Researchers from ICAR-NDRI, Karnal and the ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar, described how some proteins present in the saliva of a female buffalo might help in detecting their estrus or mating stage.
Researchers from IISER Pune, have reported that environment and evolution can influence the ‘dispersal syndrome’ in fruit flies. This study was supported by the DST, Government of India.
An international team of researchers phylogenetically classified the world’s tropical forests into five principal floristic regions.
In a recent announcement, Dr Shekhar C. Mande, the current Director of the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune has been appointed as the new Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), India. He succeeds Dr Girish Sahni, who retired on 31st August 2018. CSIR is one of the world’s largest publicly-funded research and development organisations and is known for its contributions in diverse areas of science.
Researchers from RRI, Bengaluru and their collaborators at Leiden University, Netherlands, and the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, delved into the lives of nuclear stars, and how gravity influences their orbits. They have identified instabilities, driven by the gravitational interactions between the stars themselves and the central black hole, this can drive a disc full of stars on nearly circular orbits into a state where the disc has more elongated orbits.
“Can this wait? I haven’t had my coffee yet.”
“I have a headache, and I need some coffee.”
“You look tired! Can I get you some coffee?”
In a recent study, scientists have reported that the extract of the plant Toxicodendron pubescens, commonly called the Atlantic poison oak, could help alleviate neuropathic pain caused by nerve damage. The study included researchers from the R. C. Patel Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, SVKM’s Institute of Pharmacy, Janmangal Homeopathy and Wellness Centre and UAE University.