Researchers estimate that half of these deaths, resulting in India and China, can be prevented.

An international team of scientists from China, the USA, the UK, Hungary, Austria, Germany and India, have carried out observations of the Sun using the Goode Solar Telescope (GST) at the Big Bear Solar Observatory in the USA. Their study is published in the journal Science.

We all know that the geometric object of minimal surface area amongst all shapes with a fixed volume is the round ball, whose boundary is spherical. Water blobs try to minimise surface area and curl into spherical droplets. The physical problem of surface-area minimisation is thus quite well understood. What about the opposite problem of surface-area maximisation? Does the problem even make sense? Indeed it does. Trees try to maximise surface area to get the most of sunlight through their leaves.

In 2018, around 1.5 million people died from tuberculosis (TB) — an infectious disease that mainly affects the lungs. A major obstacle in the clinical treatment of TB is the long therapy time required to clear the infection. An infected patient needs to take antibiotics for over 6 to 9 months to prevent a relapse — a duration so long that many discontinue their medications.

In a recent study, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur have explored the use of a new blend of chromium (III) as an eco-friendly electrolyte for depositing chromium-based coatings on metallic barrels. They reinforced chromium with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and a ceramic compound called yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ), to improve the properties of the coat.

Imagine just switching on your lights and downloading a movie in a second. The world demands high-speed internet connectivity at a lower price. This increasing clamour for speed and bandwidth is opening up new avenues, and one such evolving domain is LiFi - a wireless technology that makes use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to transmit data. Light waves are 10,000 times denser than WiFi signals, so there is vast untapped potential here.

In a recent study, researchers from Sai Nath University, Ranchi, and Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, set out to quantify the impacts of natural radioactivity on the surrounding environment in the Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu. Their findings have been published in the Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences.

A recent assessment by the World Meteorological Organisation has declared heat waves as the deadliest extreme weather event in the years 2015–2019, causing more than 8,900 deaths globally. In May 2015, temperatures crossed 45°C in Odisha and Telangana in the fifth deadliest heat wave in history, with a death toll of 2,300. With 30% of the global population living in regions susceptible to 20 heat wave days in a year and the rising global temperatures, one can conclude that its toll will only increase in the years to come. In such situations, warnings about impending heat waves can be lifesavers. However, very few studies have focused on such a prediction system to date, with none looking at real-time predictions. Now, researchers have developed a prediction system to predict heat waves a couple of weeks in advance. The study, funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India, was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Avian malaria or bird malaria has been linked to significant declines in captive and wild birds, such as penguins and Hawaiian forest birds. Common blood parasites, like Plasmodium that spread through mosquitoes and Haemoproteus that are transmitted through louse flies and biting midges, cause the disease in birds.

Schizophrenia is used to describe a set of conditions that represent a fragmented psyche. People with schizophrenia often hear strange voices or see unreal visions. They may even start believing these hallucinations and have trouble expressing their emotions or rational thought in real-life situations. Schizophrenia manifests in early adulthood and may persist throughout the lifetime of an individual.