Page 3 - Scientists

Biden honours two Indian-American scientists with highest scientific awards

US President Joe Biden has honoured two Indian-American scientists -- Ashok Gadgil and Subra Suresh -- with the country's highest scientific awards for their contribution to the field of science and technology. Biden presented the prestigious White House National Medal for Technology and Innovation to Gadgil, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley, on Tuesday for providing life-sustaining resources to communities around the world. The award, bestowed on leading US innovators, recognises those who have made lasting contributions to America's competitiveness and quality of life and helped strengthen the nation's technological workforce. Suresh, a professor at large at Brown University's School of Engineering, was awarded the National Medal of Science for pioneering research across engineering, physical sciences and life sciences, and particularly for advancing the study of material science and its application to other disciplines. Gad

Melting J&K glaciers threaten water supply, biodiversity, warns expert

Melting of glaciers in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh is going to impact the water availability in the Himalayan region with consequent adverse effect on the dependent livelihoods, a leading scientist has warned. Studies show that glaciers in the region have dwindled by 25 per cent in the last six decades, while 48 per cent of them could vanish by the century's end even with moderate climate change. Earth scientist and glaciology expert, Shakeel Ahmad Romshoo, voiced concerns, highlighting the significance of snow and glaciers for J&K and Ladakh. "We have about 18,000 glaciers, some of these glaciers are big like the Siachen glacier which in one dimension has a length of about 65 kms. The huge glaciers we have, about 500 to 600 metres thick, are huge resources in J&K and Ladakh," Romshoo told PTI. The scientist noted that under climate change and increasing temperatures, the glaciers in the region are melting. "The other thing that is happening in this region under the climate ...

A tribute to M S Swaminathan: A true 'farmers' scientist'

Dr Swaminathan has nurtured countless minds, instilling in them a passion for learning and innovation

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 goes to three scientists; details here

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three scientists for their discovery and synthesis of quantum dots, nanoparticles so little that their size decides their properties

Who was M S Swaminathan? The father of India's green revolution

M S Swaminathan was instrumental in developing high-yielding varieties of paddy that helped ensure India's low-income farmers produce more yield

M S Swaminathan, father of India's Green Revolution, passes away at 98

M S Swaminathan was instrumental in developing high-yielding varieties of paddy that helped ensure India's low-income farmers produce more yield

My non-privileged background paved the way for who I am today: Swati Nayak

"All my life I have mostly worked in farm and rural livelihood sectors with direct engagement with men and women farmers", she said

New Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar unveiled, to be awarded on National Space Day

The Centre on Thursday unveiled a new set of national awards in science, technology and innovation, called the 'Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar', and scrapped nearly 300 awards by various science departments. An official statement said the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar will be one of the highest recognitions in science, technology and innovation, to be given across four categories -- Vigyan Ratna, Vigyan Shri, Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar and Vigyan Team. Scientists will be selected across 13 domains by a committee headed by principal scientific advisor to the government. "People of Indian Origin staying abroad with exceptional contributions benefiting the Indian communities or society shall also be eligible for the awards," it said. The Vigyan Ratna award will recognise lifetime achievements and contributions in any field of science and technology while the Vigyan Shri will acknowledge distinguished contributions. All the awards will carry a citation and a medal. The Shanti Swarup

First mission that will probe Sun's innermost part: Scientist on Aditya L-1

"It will observe the Sun in the state of an eclipse all the time. This will be the first mission, which will take a close look at the innermost part of the Sun, the Corona," she added

10 days left, race against time now: Isro scientists monitor experiments

The scientist said that "real work" starts only after a soft landing on the moon's surface

Generation of scientists contributed to Chandrayaan-3's success: Isro chief

ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Wednesday acknowledged the contribution of a generation of leadership and scientists of the country's space agency for the Chandrayaan-3 mission's success, and said the achievement is an "incremental progress" and "a huge one". Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who virtually joined from South Africa to witness the culmination of the complex mission, lauded the scientists for their efforts. "The Honourable PM called me and conveyed his greetings to each one of you and your family for the wonderful work you did in ISRO. Thanks to him for the support he is giving to us for missions like Chandrayaan-3 and missions that are in the offing. That's the great word of comfort that we are receiving for pursuing the inspirational work that we are doing for the nation," Somanath said. addressing the ISRO team at the Mission Operations Complex. Somanath thanked all those who prayed for the mission's success, and ISRO veterans like A S Kiran Kumar , the space agency's ...

Russia's Luna-25 crash will have no impact on Chandrayaan-3: Scientists

The failure of Russia's Luna-25 moon mission will have no impact on ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 lunar venture, according to top Indian space scientists. The Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said on August 20. "It does not have any impact," K Sivan, who was heading ISRO when the Chandrayaan-2 mission was launched in 2019, told PTI on Monday when asked if ISRO would be under additional pressure ahead of the soft landing, following the Russian setback. Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander module with a rover in its belly is expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon around 6.04 pm on Wednesday, ISRO had said on Sunday. "It (Chandrayaan-3 mission) is going on as per plan. It (soft landing) will be done accordingly, Sivan said. "We are hoping that this time (unlike Chandrayaan-2) it (the touchdown) will be successful". Former ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair dismissed talk in some quarters that India and Russia we

Scientists rush to understand, contain highly mutated Covid-19 strain

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization designated BA.2.86 a "variant under monitoring" on Thursday, a designation that encourages countries to track and report the sequences they find"

Isro scientists to perform unique experiment in PSLV-C56 mission launched

Scientists at ISRO, after successfully launching seven Singaporean satellites on Sunday's mission, will attempt a unique experiment using the fourth stage of the PSLV-C56 rocket. While the mission is a follow up to the PSLV-C55 TeLEOS-2 mission launched in April this year, scientists in today's mission will try to place the fourth stage of the PSLV rocket in a lower orbit. According to ISRO, after injecting all the Singapore satellites into the intended orbit at an altitude of about 536 km, the upper stage of the rocket will be placed in lower orbit to ensure its reduced orbital life at an altitude of about 300 km, ISRO said. "PS4 (fourth stage) will be de-orbited to Low Earth circular orbit in a 300x300 km, using left out propellants to reduce orbital life of spent PS4 stage," ISRO said. In April, during the launch of PSLVC55 mission in April, scientists successfully performed another unique experiment where the fourth stage of the PSLV rocket was utilised as an orbital platform t

Our scientists made India a leading nation in climate, research: Rijiju

India's scientists and research scholars have made it a leading nation in terms of climate and weather research, Union Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju said here on Saturday. Rijiju was speaking at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune. The institute signed an MoU each with Tezpur University and ARIES, Nainital, aimed at pooling expertise, resources and research capabilities to address environmental challenges and develop effective solutions. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said, Our scientists and research scholars have made India a leading nation in terms of climate and weather research. Our scientific community is a part of various international collaborations, he added. The world has great regards and trusts Indian scientists, who are big players in the global arena. Right from the Himalayan region to the peninsular area and also to the rest of the world, India is providing weather information, including tsunami warning systems, cyclone and heav

Scientists embark on expedition onboard India's research vessel Sagar Nidhi

The scientists will collaboratively research ocean data to predict and manage changes in the marine environment

Late southwest monsoon pulls down urad, arhar, soybean, paddy sowing

Arhar dal is one of the most widely consumed pulses in the country but its production is always less than domestic demand, leading to reliance on imports

Scientists warn UK govt of a new 'deadly virus' due to climate change

The scientists noted that CCHF infections may not be picked up by doctors in the NHS, as previously they hadn't been expected, the scientists informed the Committee

Scientists develop 2 new polio vaccines to help eradicate viral disease

Scientists have developed two novel oral polio vaccines (nOPVs) that they say will bolster the World Health Organization's most recent push to finally eradicate the viral disease. The two nOPVs, recently described in the journal Nature, are made from weakened poliovirus that has been genetically engineered to reduce reversion to dangerous forms of the virus. "With such variation in vaccination within and between countries, poliovirus has persisted into the 21st century, with sometimes tragic consequences," said Raul Andino, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the US. "We have designed these new vaccines using lessons learned from many years of fighting polio and believe they will help eliminate the disease once and for all," said Andino, co-senior author of the research paper. Polio is usually asymptomatic, but can cause severe disability, paralysis or death in about one in every hundred children. It spreads via fecal or oral particles, so it is ...

Anglophile scientist, ardent nationalist

Bhabha was born into a wealthy Parsi family (he was related to the Tatas). He studied physics at Cambridge and wrote several well-regarded papers