Insect behaviour

How honeybees choose nests

USING a model inspired by networks of coupled neurons, researchers from the University of Sheffield, led by Andreagiovanni Reina, have investigated th

Science & Technology

Birth of atomism

THE quest of scientific inquiry is to penetrate beyond the apparent and to perceive reality. Metaphorically speculating what will result if on

Particle Physics

Cracks in a model

The startling LHC “beauty” experiment discovery hints at a tantalising new physics that is a significant modification of the Standard Model of particl

T.V. VENKATESWARAN

Cancer treatment

Compact LINAC for proton therapy

PROTON and ion therapies are the preferred treatment for many cancers, such as tumours that are deep within the body. All of the nearly 100 worldwide

Finding brighter ‘Standard Candles’

AN international team of astronomers has, for the first time, seen a cosmic magnification of the light from a class of supernova called Type Ia. Type

Drought diagnostics

The unusual twin failure of the south-west monsoon and the north-east monsoon following immediately in the southern States in 2016 is the chief reason

R. RAMACHANDRAN

Hazards of asteroid impact

VIOLENT winds and shock waves are the most dangerous effects that would be produced by earth-impacting asteroids, according to the first ever such stu

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The dark side of the universe

It is widely accepted that the dominant fraction of the total mass-energy content in the universe consists of “dark energy”, which is pushing galaxies

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Bone-inspired steel

Load cycling of metal components leads to fatigue and ultimately failure through the propagation of cracks. Taking inspiration from bone structure, an

Fig4 leaf equation.

Explaining plant growth

Several questions in plant biology are answered with just a single trait called “leaf mass per area (LMA)”, which is dry leaf mass divided by its orig

Giant magnetic fields in the universe

Using the 100-m radio telescope at Effelsberg, Germany, astronomers from Bonn and Tautenburg in Thuringia observed several galaxy clusters. At the edg

Cooling towers emit vapor into the night sky at a nuclear power plant operated by EON SE in Grohnde, Germany, on Wednesday, Aug. 07, 2013. Germany's air pollution is set to worsen for a second year, the first back-to-back increase since at least the 1980s, after Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to shut nuclear plants led utilities to burn more coal. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Radiation from power

For members of the public, annual exposure to radiation resulting from various electricity-generating technologies is small and typically much less th