Number of words: 109 ‘Can A Word Be Its Own Opposite?’  Yes! They are called ‘Contronyms’—words that are their own antonyms, depending on usage. Here are a few examples  ‘Dust’ : can mean ‘to add fine particles’ or ‘to remove fine particles’.  ‘Left’ : can mean both ‘remaining’ and ‘departed’. ‘Off’ : can mean both … Read more

Number of words: 535 The deadliest time for many surgery patients isn’t when they’re on the operating table, it’s while they’re recovering in the hospital and after they go home, a new study suggests.For the study, researchers examined outcomes for more than 40,000 patients 45 and older who underwent non-cardiac surgery at 28 hospitals in … Read more

Number of words: 403 Scientists have mapped the genome of the Komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizard, discovering intriguing secrets behind the impressive speed and endurance these cold-blooded predators muster by ratcheting up their metabolism to mammal-like levels. Researchers said on Monday they pinpointed crucial genetic adaptations that may underpin the tenaciousness of these lizards … Read more

Numbe rof words: 291 *Think inside the Box* Let’s put things back  Inside the box Pull down the shutters  and bring out the locks. The processions, the garlands,  the loudness , the noise. The drum rolls , the traffic, the politician’s toys. That statue of Mary,  the frenzied whipping and blood, The colourful buntings, those … Read more

Number of words: 487 The Central Railway (CR) has come up with a novel idea to prevent people from crossing the tracks – greasing the fences that separate the tracks at railway platforms. CR began installing fencing between the tracks at its stations, and claims no trespassing deaths have been reported at Dadar station since … Read more

Number of words: 384 The household energy bills of India’s poorest city dwellers is likely to rise, posing a threat to India’s energy security due to a series of factors that lead to their greater use of electrical appliances, a new study by experts at the University of Cambridge and IIT Bombay says.The study exploring … Read more

Number of words: 359 US scientists have developed a highly compact and portable camera that can capture polarised light, help in study atmospheric chemistry and used to detect camouflaged objects.Polarisation, the direction in which light vibrates, is invisible to the human eye (but visible to some species of shrimp and insects). But it provides a … Read more

Number of words: 5,050 “It’s not true that no one needs you anymore.” These words came from an elderly woman sitting behind me on a late-night flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. The plane was dark and quiet. A man I assumed to be her husband murmured almost inaudibly in response, something to the … Read more

Number of words: 850 Scientists at Harvard University, collaborating with researchers at Bio-Rad Laboratories, have developed a new platform for rapid single-cell sequencing. The approach combines microfluidics and novel software to scale up single-cell ATAC-seq, which identifies parts of the genome that are open and accessible to regulatory proteins.Published in Nature Biotechnology, the innovation signals … Read more

Number of words: 707 Kolkata’s media, run by and addressed to, bhadralok consumers, has its pyjama strings in knots. Will a saffron wave sweep Bengal? Or will Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) dominate Lok Sabha seats, like the Left Front did before her? Bengal has 42 Lok Sabha constituencies, the third highest in India after … Read more