Decoding the Universe, One Discovery at a Time: Your Daily Dose of Indian Science From ISRO's groundbreaking missions propelling India to new heights in space exploration, to indigenous innovations tackling pressing climate challenges, abtak.com brings you the latest in science and technology shaping our nation and the world. Are Indian scientists unlocking the secrets of personalized medicine? How are advancements in AI impacting our daily lives, from agriculture to healthcare? Dive into cutting-edge research, breakthroughs in biotechnology, and the minds revolutionizing our understanding of the planet and beyond. Stay informed about the implications of scientific advancements, ethical considerations, and the future of technology right here in India. Explore the mysteries of the cosmos, delve into the intricacies of the human body, and witness the transformative power of scientific inquiry. Join us as we unravel the complexities of science and its impact on our future. What breakthroughs await us tomorrow?
Rourkela: In what could enhance both robotic and human mission planning on Mars and deepen understanding of its habitability, a collaborative research by scientists from the National Institute of Technology Rourkela, UAE University and Sun Yat-sen University in China have examined how spinning dust devils, powerful dust storms and widespread water ice clouds can infl uence the atmosphere on the Red Planet. The findings were made by the researchers through the analysis of more than two decades of satellite data with a view to improve weather prediction models for Mars. The study was recently published in New Astronomy Reviews (impact factor 26.8). Data from multiple Mars missions -- including India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) -- was used to analyse how dust and water ice interact to shape Mars' climate and temperature. Lead author Prof Jagabandhu Panda, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, co-authored the paper with NIT Rourkela research scholar Anirban Mandal. Other contributors include Dr Bijay Kumar Guha and Dr Claus Gebhardt of UAE University's National Space Science and Technology Centre, and Dr Zhaopeng Wu from Sun Yat-sen University (now at the Chinese Academy of Sciences). The study focused on three main atmospheric elements: dust devils, large-scale dust storms, and water-ice clouds, including the aphelion cloud belt and polar hood. Their formation is driven by seasonal changes and dust concentration. "Advancing weather prediction on Mars is crucial not only for safe missions but also for understanding the planet's habitability," said Prof. Panda. He also urged greater ISRO involvement and university-based investment in space research.
WarmUp Ventures Founders L to R - Rajendra Lora ,Yogesh Chaudhary , Sharad Bansal Athera Venture Partners has roped in HDFC AMC's fund of funds as an LP for its Fund IV, while Warmup Ventures is launching its second fund. HDFC AMC invests in Athera's Fund IV Tech-focused venture capital fund Athera Venture Partners, formerly known as Inventus India, on Wednesday said that HDFC's fund of funds has invested in its Fund IV, which is scheduled to close in 2025. HDFC AMC's Select AIF FoF I Scheme will be a dominant LP in Athera's Rs 900-crore fund to be invested into fast-growing tech startups ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jan 13 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 'Mission Mausam' on Tuesday to gaming to make India a 'weather-ready and climate-smart' nation. As per a statement from the Prime Minister's Office, Modi will also participate in the 150th Foundation Day celebrations of India Meteorological Department (IMD) at Bharat Mandapam here. He will also address the gathering on the occasion. "The Mission aims to achieve its aim by developing cutting-edge weather surveillance technologies and systems, implementing high-resolution atmospheric observations, next-generation radars and satel ...Read More >
Mumbai, May 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday paid tribute to veteran astronomer, science writer, and Maharashtra Bhushan awardee Dr Jayant Narlikar, acknowledging his immense contribution to popularising science through his writings. In a condolence message shared on X, CM Fadnavis said, "The news of the passing of senior astronomer and science writer Dr Jayant Narlikar is deeply saddening. He played a crucial role in spreading scientific awareness by creating rich literature on scientific subjects. For this, he received numerous accolades at the global level. H ...Read More >
Chennai, June 8 (UNI) Setting the timeline for landing of four crew members on board the Axiom Mission 4 at the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said the crew would dock after a flight journey of 28 hrs. NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX mission will take off at 8:22 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 10, as part of the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS Axiom Mission 4. The mission will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew, including those from India, US, Poland and Hungary, will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon space ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: India's Shubhanshu Shukla and three other astronauts entered the International Space Station (ISS) to warm hugs and handshakes on Thursday as the Dragon spacecraft docked to the orbital laboratory after a 28-hour journey around Earth. The new spacecraft -- fifth in the Dragon series, named Grace -- achieved a soft capture with the Harmony module of the space station at 4:01 pm IST over the North Atlantic Ocean and it took another two hours to establish communication, power links and pressure stabilisation. This is the first time an Indian astronaut has travelled to the ISS. "The ...Read More >
Bengaluru: Mysuru Dasara is set to run for 11 days this year -- a rare extension driven by celestial alignment and cultural planning -- with the inaugural ceremony on Sept 22 and the grand Jamboo Savari taking place on Oct 2, coinciding with Vijayadashami and Gandhi Jayanti.Chairing a high-level meeting at Vidhana Soudha Friday, chief minister Siddaramaiah said, "Mysuru Dasara in 2025 will be celebrated for 11 days, due to a unique astronomical occurrence -- the Panchami tithi (fifth lunar day) will appear on two consecutive days, Sept 26 and 27, a rare alignment that hasn't occurred in nearly ...Read More >
Lucknow/Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 3 (PTI) It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh to interact with India's first astronaut to reach the International Space Station, Shubhanshu Shukla, and see him floating in space playing with a ball in zero gravity. They relished it. "I was so excited and happy. We had so many questions for him, and he answered many of them in detail and showed us how they float inside the ISS," Sanghavi, a Class 10 standard student from Nayarkuzhi in Kozhikode, told PTI Videos. Students assembled at Shukla's hometown, Lucknow, and at ...Read More >
Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], January 28 (ANI): Ahead of the scheduled launch of the GSLV-F15 rocket on Wednesday, ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan visited the Chengalamma Parameshwari Temple in Tirupati and offered special prayers. The countdown for the 100th rocket launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) will begin on Wednesday at 2:53 am ahead of the scheduled launch of the GSLV-F15 rocket at 6:23 AM. Also Read | Hyderabad Murder Case: Ex-Serviceman Gurumurthy Who Killed Wife, Chopped, Boiled and Burnt Body Pieces Arrested. ISRO has completed all preparations to launch the NVS-0 ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) Rising temperatures, driven by climate change, is increasing the atmosphere's 'thirst', making droughts around the world 40 per cent more severe over the past 40 years, according to a new study. Researchers, including those at the University of California-Santa Barbara, US, explained that the atmosphere is becoming warmer, thereby increasing its capacity to hold moisture -- atmospheric evaporative demand -- and making droughts more severe, even in places where rainfall has stayed the same. Also Read | Who Is Pinaki Misra? From Age to Family Background and Net Worth, He ...Read More >
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 26 (ANI): The family members of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) pilot and Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Thursday evening. Shukla's father Shambhu Dayal Shukla, mother Asha Shukla, sister Shuchi Mishra, and brother met the Chief Minister, who felicitated them and presented them with a token of appreciation in honour of Shukla's selection for the space mission. Also Read | 8th Pay Commission To Triple Medical Allowance and Raise Minimum Salary to INR 27,000? Check Details. Speaking t ...Read More >
Bengaluru Power Cuts: Citizens of Bengaluru brace yourself for long hours of power outages from June 29 and June 30. More than 100 areas will be impacted as BESCOM undertakes its quarterly maintenance work in various of its division. Bengaluru Power Outages June 29: According to the update by BESCOM on its X handler, there will be power outages in Kittaganahalli, Palasandra, Saptagiri, Maruthinagar, Sankapur, Raghavendra Nagar, Goolarivee, Baddihalli, Kesaramadu, C.M Badawan, Kalalli and SKS village on June 29 from 10 am to 5 pm. BESCOM's executive engineer has appealed to consumers to coop ...Read More >
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 28 (ANI): Parents of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to set foot on the International Space Station (ISS), expressed immense pride and gratitude following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction with their son on Saturday evening. The Group Captain's parents shared their emotions after witnessing the conversation, which highlighted Shubhanshu's role in Axiom Mission 4 and his representation of India in space. Asha Shukla, the mother of the Group Captain, stated that they felt 'very good' after the PM conveyed his best wishe ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has undertaken a key experiment to decode muscle health in space -- crucial for astronauts undertaking long space missions as well as for people with muscle loss on Earth. Shukla last week scripted history by becoming the first Indian to reach the International Space Station (ISS), aboard the Axiom Space's mission -4 He along with three others from the US, Poland, and Hungary and seven members of the Expedition 73 led the muscle and brain research. "Shukla worked in Kibo's Life Science Glovebox checking muscle stem cell ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) The national capital wrapped up a rather warm January with Friday's maximum temperature reaching 27 degrees Celsius, making it the city's warmest day in the month since 2019. The month's average maximum temperature was 21.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the long-period average of 20.1 degrees Celsius, marking it as Delhi's warmest January since 2019. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, nighttime temperatures were also higher than usual. The average minimum temperature for the month settled at 8.5 degrees Celsius, a notch above the LPA of 7.5 deg ...Read More >
Monaco, June 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) Norway's Minister of International Development, Asmund Grover Aukrust, at a meeting with India's Minister for Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh on board the historic ship "Statsraad Lehmkuhl" in Monaco, conveyed his country's solidarity with India, in the light of the happenings in Jammu & Kashmir in recent weeks. Dr Jitendra Singh acknowledged Norway's support, in response to which Aukrust said that they eagerly looked forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Norway. From the Norwegian side, there has been a clear expression of support for India in t ...Read More >
New Delhi: New Delhi finally received its much-awaited first spell of monsoon rain on Sunday, providing relief from the scorching heat and humidity. Following the showers, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) for Monday, forecasting continued rainfall and fairly pleasant weather in the coming days. According to officials, heavy rain brought temperatures plummeting sharply. Delhi's maximum temperature stood as 32.8 degrees Celsius, roughly 4.4 degrees Celsius below normal and the minimum temperature settled 1.1 degrees Celsius ...Read More >
New Delhi: Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given the final nod to Delhi govt for cloud seeding in the city. However, the govt said that, based on suggestions from meteorologists, trials would now take place between Aug 30 and Sept 10, instead of the previously declared July 4 to 11.Delhi govt has also finalised a tentative flight plan with a map of the area over which the cloud seeding experiment will be conducted. The sorties have been planned over Alipur, Bawana, Rohini, Burari, Pavi Sadakpur and parts of Eastern Peripheral Expressway. A fully equipped aircraft, VT-IIT (Cess ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 5 (PTI) After a day off, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and others from the Axiom-4 mission on Saturday studied how bones react to microgravity conditions, an experiment that could lead to better treatment of osteoporosis on Earth. On the 10th flight day, Shukla also participated in an experiment to monitor radiation exposure on the International Space Station (ISS), which could help better protect astronauts on longer-duration space missions away from Earth. Lucknow-born Shukla (39) is part of a 14-day mission to the ISS conducted by Axiom Space. Shukla, who has the call sign "S ...Read More >
SRINAGAR: In the typically cold climatic zone of Kashmir, the heat records are tumbling due to persistent heat wave conditions with Srinagar on Saturday recording highest July temperature while tonight recorded the all-time high night temperature in July at 25.2°C. The night temperature in Srinagar was 25.2°C, which is the all-time highest minimum temperature recorded in July. According to independent weather forecaster Faizan Arif, the previous highest minimum temperature in was recorded on July 21, 1988 when the temperature had touched 25.2°C. "The 2nd highest minimum temperature in July ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: The city is in for a spell of hot and dry days, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting a gradual rise in maximum temperatures by up to 6 degree Celsius over the next five days. While the mercury is expected to cross 40 degree Celsius, no heatwave conditions are likely, officials said on Friday. According to the weather office, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung on Thursday was 38.2 degree Celsius, about 2 degree below the seasonal average. Minimum temperature stood at 25.6 degree Celsius, also slightly lower than the normal. Similar trends were observed acro ...Read More >
Srinagar, Jun 7 (PTI) Authorities on Saturday barred Eid prayers from taking place at the Eidgah ground and the Jama Masjid in the old city here, while Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq claimed that he was put under house arrest. "Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid Srinagar deeply regrets to inform that the authorities have once again disallowed Eid-ul-Adha prayers at the Eidgah as well as at the historic Jama Masjid in Srinagar by closing the gates of the mosque and deploying police personnel outside," the management of the historic mosque said in a statement. ...Read More >
New Delhi: The Axiom-4 mission piloted by Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, along with the other crew, docked at the International Space Station at around 4:01 pm on Thursday. Upon successful docking and opening of the hatch, Shubhanshu was seen greeting the crew members with hugs and handshakes. As the crew entered the space station after opening the hatches of the spacecraft successfully, they greeted themselves by hugging and handshaking after eagerly waiting for their safe arrival from Earth onboard the Dragon spacecraft. On June 25, the Axiom-4 crew successfully lifted o ...Read More >
Fresh spells of rain lashed parts of the national capital on Saturday, prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue an 'orange' alert, warning of more showers, thunderstorms, and gusty winds throughout the day. Light to moderate rainfall was reported across east, west, south, and southeast Delhi, with the IMD forecasting wind speeds between 30 to 50 km/h in the coming hours. Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 28.7 degree Celsius, 0.8 degrees above the seasonal average, whil ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday attacked the Centre and Rajasthan governments over the reported plan to redraw the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve for the reactivation of over 50 mining operations, saying the move would be "ecologically devastating". The opposition party also said that with the Rajasthan and Union environment ministers both being from Alwar, this "double engine" cannot be supporting such a move. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which claimed that a plan to redraw the boundaries of Rajasthan's ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Signalling the government's intent to move ahead with the impeachment motion of Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that main opposition parties have given their in-principle approval to support the motion in the upcoming monsoon session scheduled for July21-August 21. Rijiju said that the government is yet to decide whether the motion would be brought in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. For the Lok Sabha, signatures of a minimum 100 MPs is required. The requirement is the support of at least 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. H ...Read More >
Chennai, Dec 2: The countdown for the launch of the European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission on ISRO’s PSLV-C59 rocket begins on December 3, ahead of its scheduled launch on December 4. The mission will deploy two satellites—the 200 kg Occulter Spacecraft (OSC) and the 340 kg Coronagraph Spacecraft (CSC)—to study the Sun’s outer corona. The satellites will fly in precision formation, creating an artificial solar eclipse to study the Sun’s faint outer layer. This groundbreaking mission showcases ISRO’s expertise in complex orbital deliveries and formation flying technologies, reinforcing its rel ...Read More >
New Delhi, December 4: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rescheduled its European Space Agency (ESA) Proba-3 Sun observation mission to Thursday. The launch was postponed due to an undisclosed anomaly that occurred after the "countdown progressed smoothly". "Due to an anomaly detected in PROBA-3 spacecraft PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 launch rescheduled to tomorrow," ISRO posted on social media platform X. ISRO's PSLV-XL rocket was earlier expected to launch the ESA Proba-3 mission on Wednesday. The mission will now take flight on Thursday at 4:12 pm from the First Launch Pad (FLP) at Satish ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: The Axiom-4 crew members, who successfully floated into International Space Station on Thursday, were joined by a fifth member on their mission. It wasn't a human or a pet, but a toy. A toy swan called Joy.But it's not just a toy. It has its roots in traditions of the scientific world. The practice of taking a toy into space to signal the onset of weightlessness started with Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space, and has since evolved into a longstanding tradition in space missions.Joy is a zero gravity indicator aboard the Axiom-4 mission. It was chosen by the astronauts as a tri ...Read More >
Chennai, June 26 (UNI) Creating history, the Four astronauts have started their research mission after entering the International Space Station (ISS) today. In an update NASA said at 8:14 a.m. EDT (around 6.00 pm IST) on Thursday, the hatch opened between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station following the arrival of Axiom Mission 4. The spacecraft docked at 6:31 a.m. EDT (1600 hrs IST) to the space-facing port of the space station's Harmony module. Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, ESA ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 2: Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk, officially launched its services in Sri Lanka on Wednesday. With this launch, Sri Lanka has become the third country in South Asia -- and another of India's neighbours -- after Bhutan and Bangladesh to get access to Starlink's internet services. The announcement was made by Starlink on social media platform X, where the company said: "Starlink's high-speed, low-latency internet is now available in Sri Lanka!" Starlink is getting closer to launching its services in India. Last month, the company received a key lice ...Read More >