R Ramachandran-Frontline

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A woma python in the wild.

Snakes can hear better than we thought

Researchers find that snakes respond to airborne sound and that the reactions depend on the genus.

R. Ramachandran

The ice extent on February 21 was 1.79 million km2. The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average for that day.

Extent of Antarctic sea ice reached a record low in February

This minimum is the lowest in the 45-year satellite record and has beaten the previous record low.

R. Ramachandran

Astronomers used the JWST to reveal the location of the source powering colliding galaxies. It lies outside the galaxies’ main parts and is not visible using UV light.

James Webb Space Telescope finds ‘engine’ powering the merger of galaxies

The engine is responsible for up to 70 per cent of the total infrared emission of the system.

R. Ramachandran

These sulphurous plumes in Laugavegur, Iceland, are not recorded by satellite observations but by ice core analysis, which shows that the plumes have a much larger effect on the level of aerosols in the atmosphere than previously believed.

Even quiet volcanoes release a lot of sulphur into the air

This finding will help scientists improve global climate models.

R. Ramachandran

Just one moderate-to-severe concussion, or traumatic brain injury, can have a long-term impact on brain function, including memory.

Head injuries affect brain function in later life: study

Each additional reported concussion was linked to progressively worse cognitive function.

R. Ramachandran

Resonance in supercooled colliding molecules observed for the first time

The findings suggest that scientists could one day steer and control certain chemical reactions.

R. Ramachandran

A child being given pulse polio drops, in Palakkad, Kerala, in 2022.

nOPV2: A new hope in battle against vaccine-derived polio

The new vaccine will reduce the risk of vaccine-derived outbreaks of polio.

R. Ramachandran

Part of the experimental set-up used to make medium-density amorphous ice.

New form of ice with density close to liquid water raises new questions

On earth, ice is mostly crystalline, but elsewhere in the universe, it is likely to be amorphous.

R. Ramachandran

A depiction of the life cycle of the malaria parasite showing the various stages relevant to vaccine design. (1) The mosquito vector, used in experimental protocols to immunise people with irradiated sporozoites administered by mosquito bite; (2) the sporozoite, the target of several vaccines; (3) the liver stage, usually targeted by vectored vaccines; (4) the blood stage, usually targeted by the protein in adjuvant vaccine candidates; (5) the gametocyte that along with the ookinete, formed after fertilisation in the mosquito mid-gut, is the source of parasite antigens used in sexual-stage transmission-blocking vaccines. Pre-erythrocytic vaccines, which target the sporozoite and the liver-stage parasite, are intended to prevent infection and disease while blood-stage vaccines are intended to prevent clinical illness and death.

Finally! A safe and effective vaccine against malaria

In African adults who previously had malaria, PfSPZ provided 52 per cent efficacy.

R. Ramachandran

A team of researchers from IIT Madras has developed a treatment process involving solar thermal energy to recycle concrete waste. Here, at the trial site in Rajasthan, with the solar reflectors in the background.

A new process uses solar thermal energy to recycle concrete debris

The recycled concrete aggregate produced met the requirements for typical structural applications.

R. Ramachandran

The illustration shows detection of the lensed 21 cm atomic hydrogen emission signal from a distant galaxy.

Radio signal emitted by atomic hydrogen in distant galaxy detected

Atomic hydrogen is the basic fuel required for star formation in a galaxy.

R. Ramachandran

Kevin Sivula in his laboratory.

Solar-powered artificial leaf produces hydrogen fuel out of thin air

Similar to photosynthesis, the process harvests water from the air to produce hydrogen gas.

R. Ramachandran

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