Number of words: 730 K Thilagarajan spent two days with an old coconut tree climber at Sholavandan learning to make a “bug that buzzes”. The 50-year-old school teacher from Madurai is a populariser of toys made from palm and coconut leaves. He travels across the State sharing with children the joys of making fans, fish, … Read more

Number of words: 721 Reddit is a great forum for raising scientific questions, but the fact that it’s discussion-based makes it difficult to know when a debate has settled on the best answer, objectively speaking. Exhibit A concerns the value of lying down with your eyes closed. How much does it do for you compared … Read more

Number of words: 1,135 Tree squirrels are the Olympic divers of the rodent world, leaping gracefully among branches and structures high above the ground. And as with human divers, a squirrel’s success in this competition requires both physical strength and mental adaptability. A newly published study shows that squirrels leap and land without falling by … Read more

Number of words: 1,772 Those who pay attention to business news have probably noted an interesting and curious phenomenon over the past few months: China is smashing its internet companies. It started — or at least, most people in the U.S. started noticing it — when the government effectively canceled the IPO of Ant Financial, then … Read more

Number of words: 500 Earlier in March this year, the 18 Space Control Squadron (18SPCS), a body that detects, tracks, and identifies artificial objects in Earth’s orbit reported that the Chinese satellite, Yunhai 1-02 had broken up in space and it was tracking 21 pieces of the debris. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell recently came across the likely cause … Read more

Number of words: 915 Sea snakes are total nightmare fuel, but new research suggests their frequent “attacks” on scuba divers are in reality botched attempts to get lucky. Many scuba divers who explore tropical coral reefs in Australia and New Guinea are all too familiar with the highly venomous Olive sea snake (Aipysurus laevis). These … Read more

Number of words: 757 Titles of research papers usually don’t surprise us, but this one did. It is called Primitive eusociality in a land plant?. The reason for the surprise is that eusociality, so far as we know, is restricted to the animal kingdom. Many animals live in social groups of varying degrees of complexity. The … Read more

Number of words: 487 President Xi Jinping put China’s wealthiest citizens on notice Tuesday, offering an outline for “common prosperity” that includes income regulation and redistribution, according to state media reports. Since Xi took office in 2012, the ruling party has made it a priority to end poverty and build a moderately prosperous society, goals … Read more

Number of words: 440 For discussion of the motivations which impel one to pursue the goals of science, no example is better than that of Johannes Kepler. Kepler’s uniqueness derives from the position he singly occupies at the great crossroads where science shed its enveloping dogmas and the pathway was prepared for Newton. Kepler, in … Read more

Number of words: 2,201 The theory that SARS-CoV-2 may have originated in a lab was considered a debunked conspiracy theory, but some experts are revisiting it amid calls for a new, more thorough investigation. Paul Thacker explains the dramatic U turn and the role of contemporary science journalism For most of 2020, the notion that SARS-CoV-2 may … Read more