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Among female faculty, surveys have found a decline in representation as their seniority grew.

Indian women enter STEM fields in record numbers. But why do they vanish from academic positions?

While India boasts of a 40 per cent enrolment of women in STEM fields, they make up only 16 per cent of faculty positions. What’s pushing them out?

A new study estimates that electronic waste (e-waste) created from generative AI data centers could rise to 5 million tons per year by 2030.

Artificial Intelligence

E-waste from AI computers could ‘escalate beyond control’: study

Researchers predicting a 1,000-fold increase in such e-waste by 2030 have called for recycling strategies to reduce environmental impact.

Science Notebook

A wild find on Covid’s origin; and Black Hole’s leftovers pack a punch

Evidence was found of the virus in samples from the Wuhan wet market, and astronomers solve a mystery about the source of a type of X-rays from space.

R. Ramachandran

Rohini Godbole (1952-2024): The physicist who refused to choose between science and justice

She died as she lived—pursuing both particle physics and gender justice with equal passion at the Indian Institute of Science.

Nandita Jayaraj

An artist in Florence, Italy, made a chalk drawing of the Mona Lisa using a sidewalk as a canvas.

ChatGPT novels and CG Mona Lisas: The digital deluge of mediocre art threatens to drown out quality work

Is the “unmitigated glut” of instant art erasing our cultural memory? Or are we witnessing the death of the starving artist?

Public Health & AI

AI beds to remote ICUs: How startups are plugging India’s health gaps

Health-tech firms are looking to use cutting-edge technologies to fill chronic, structural lacunae in the country’s healthcare delivery.

AI’s dark secret: It is rolling back progress on equality

AI systems all function the same way, by identifying patterns. The truth is that machine learning systems struggle with difference.

More stories from Science & Technology

During the first round of UNRWA’s oral polio vaccination drive in Gaza.

A shot of good news from Gaza; CERN’s big small find; and nature’s unexpected light show

First round of polio vaccination completed in Gaza; CERN measures ultra-rare kaon decay; and thunderclouds can produce gamma-ray bursts.

R. Ramachandran

The Dystopian Times by Appupen

‘The Dystopian Times’ by Appupen

Hopfield and Hinton will share prize money of 11 million Swedish Krona

Nobel Prize in physics: AI pioneers Hopfield and Hinton win for machine learning foundations

Nobel Committee recognises 1980s work on neural networks and pattern recognition. Prize reaffirms AI’s growing impact on science and daily life.

Frontline News Desk

A close-up view of a Nobel Prize medal at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on December 8, 2020.

The Nobel Prizes: What is the point?

Dubbed the “Mount Everest of science”, the Prize faces criticism for how it chooses winners. Is it relevant in an era of global research?

An artist’s impression of a pair of quantum-entangled pair of top quarks.

Spooky action at the Hadron Collider; the milk of human kindness; and a cosmic goliath

LHC observes top quark entanglement; breastfeeding safe post-breast cancer; and astronomers spot largest pair of black hole jets.

R. Ramachandran

Carl Linnaeus, in a 1775 painting by Alexander Roslin. Linnaeus’ system could absorb the global scatter of plants. Explorers brought back forests entire, and here at last was a method to catalogue them. Once named, plants from anywhere became Europeanised as the rightful botany of Empire.

Linnaeus’ taxonomy and the roots of scientific bias

His plant classification system, based on sexual characteristics, reinforced binary gender concepts and facilitated colonial botanical appropriation.

Lying under oath is a criminal offence, but judges and juries have no reliable ways of knowing if a witness’ memories are true or false.

False memories: How they make us who we are

Memories shape our identity. The problem is that many of our memories are false. How can we know what is real or not?

Mini Moon Marvel

The mini moon is temporary and is, reportedly, quite rare as in most cases, asteroids either miss Earth or burn upon entering the atmosphere.

Frontline News Desk

Over 6,000 Starlink satellites now operate in space. The radio waves they emit are blocking scientists’ view of space.

Starlink satellites are blinding astronomers’ view of space

These satellite networks are vital for giving high-speed internet to remote communities but unintended radiation leakages are troubling astronomers.

A health worker fumigates a slum area in Ahmedabad on July 31 to prevent the spread of the Chandipura virus, named after a small town in Maharashtra.

A decades-old virus resurges; Uncle Sam’s chip choke on China; and light-charged supercapacitors to spark an energy revolution

Chandipura virus claims 82 lives in India; US tightens tech exports to China; and IISc scientists unveil light-powered energy storage.

R. Ramachandran

A worker carries coal at a mine on the outskirts of Dhanbad, Jharkhand, on August 30. India’s reliance on coal is expected to continue for at least two more decades, so ramping up renewables while finding economically and sociopolitically palatable ways to phase out coal as rapidly as possible is a high priority.

India’s climate strategy: Balancing growth with green commitments

Public-private-academic partnerships and strategic investments in key areas are crucial for India’s sustainable development pathway.

Raghu Murtugudde

Even though AI has little to show for it in terms of applications, investors remain optimistic.

AI’s technological revolution: Promised land or a pipe dream?

Although billions are being invested in AI, the lack of marketable applications raises questions over a possible pay-off in the near future.

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