Number of words: 855 One hundred and eighty bright, idealistic young men and women are selected every year in the Indian Administrative Service – arguably the most selective career choice in India. The prestige of being selected for IAS is so high that parents even boast of their sons’ and daughters’ mere attempt to appear … Read more

Number of words: 340 A space rock the size of a golf ball contains microscopic clues that could offer a peek into the evolution of life’s building blocks on Earth, NASA scientists have said. The rock, now known as meteorite Asuka 12236, was picked by a team of Japanese and Belgian researchers during a 2012 … Read more

Number of words: 7,918 Let me tell you the story of two investors, neither of whom knew each other, but whose paths crossed in an interesting way. Grace Groner was orphaned at age 12. She never married. She never had kids. She never drove a car. She lived most of her life alone in a … Read more

Number of words: 492 Adent present on the protective magnetic shield over the surface of Earth is widening and has raised concerns among scientists. In a report, Nasa has said the widening dent in the magnetic shield has far-reaching effects on satellites, space missions and navigation. The dent, which has been present over South America … Read more

Number of words: 540 As part of a wave of solar water purifier research, scientists say they can turn even brackish groundwater into drinkable fresh water in about 30 minutes. The filtration uses a metal-organic framework, or MOF, which is a highly porous polymer made by combining metal particles with “coordinating” organic pieces called ligands. … Read more

Number of words: 2,302 My name is Hannah. And that is a palindrome. That is a word you can spell the same forwards and backwards, if you can spell. But the thing is — my entire family have palindromic names. It’s a bit of a tradition. We’ve got Mum, Dad — Nan, Pop. And my … Read more

Number of words: 400 Jimmy Lai, the media mogul who owns the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, warned investors not to buy his Next Digital Ltd. media empire’s stock because the company’s fundamentals don’t justify its recent rally. Moments later, the shares resumed their climb in Hong Kong. “People with very little money just want to … Read more

Number of words: 313 In a breakthrough for fertility science, scientists have shattered the universally accepted view of how sperm ‘swim’. This is an optical illusion, according to the new study. “Human sperm figured out if they roll as they swim, much like playful otters corkscrewing through water, their one-sided stoke would average itself out, … Read more

Number of words: 4,042 There is a century-old magic trick that Jim Steinmeyer finds particularly fascinating. It involves a burglar, a safe, and mind-reading, and it unfolds like this: A group of random audience members file on stage and each place a personal possession inside a sturdy, commercial-model safe, out of view of the magician, … Read more

Number of words: 260 Scientists, while conducting genetic tests on tissue samples of anglerfish, came across an interesting fact about the immune system of the species. A study, conducted by researchers from Germany’s Max Planck Institute and the University of Washington, revealed that when male and female anglerfish connect they share a single respiratory and … Read more