by Maansi Sharan – These long, slender, limbless, scaly reptiles existed millions of years ago when dinosaurs once roamed the earth. They’re found slithering through all landscapes and continents except Antarctica. Snakes can get a detailed description of the environment around them by occasionally flicking their forked tongue out. Their tongue collects chemicals from the air and ground, which is…
by Srishti Batra – My thesis defense last year marked a milestone in my decade-long research studies. Wait, I didn’t spend 10 years doing a PhD! I spent only 5 and the other half was spent on a Bachelors and Masters of Science (BS- MS) from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research – IISER, Mohali. Today I am sharing my…
by Pavan Kaushik – Flowers have fascinated humans since millennia. They have been objects of interest for lovers, philosophers, artists, priests, chemists, biologists and also flying insects. It’s beauty is surely due to its fascinating diversity in patterns, colours, shapes and smells. But, it is also valued more due to its ephemeral presence in limited geographical locations. People from diverse backgrounds…
by Aditi Mishra Recently, I participated in SkypeAScientist with seventy kindergarteners from an International School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I’ll admit, it was daunting. But by the end of this blog you would understand why this was one of the most educating experiences from grad school yet. When I had initially signed up for SkypeAScientist, I was thinking that I…
by Gauri Gharpure I recently had the opportunity to mediate at Elements, Science Gallery Bengaluru’s first pop-up exhibition, partnered with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) in October 2019 to marked the 150th anniversary of the periodic table. It featured a variety of exhibits and events to engage the visitors and…
by Santosh Rajus – The word Rain always brings joy and puts a smile on everyone’s face. For animals, it starts with the soil-dwelling bacteria that releases a sweet-smelling chemical that we relate to the smell of rain. The frogs and fishes wait in anticipation for the rains to begin their journey and move to richer grounds for mating and…
To our group – Five years ago, we started with just a box in an empty room: Now the NICE lab hosts the most passionate, the most dedicated, and the most wonderful group of scientists in the world. You are my inspiration. You are the reason I love being a scientist. Thank you for teaching me new wonders each and…
This week was very special for the NICE lab as the first student from the lab, Srishti Batra, metamorphosed into Dr. Srishti Batra by successfully defending her thesis. As part of her PhD, she worked on a promiscuous volatile, extracted from Artimesia plant, named coffee furanone and showed its function in stimulating the insect olfactory system using tools from neurophysiology,…
by Geetha We don’t really need to go into the underground sea to locate the most interesting concealed life. This short clip is a journey into a peculiar universe of small inhabitants of pond water! ಒಂದು ವರ್ಣರಂಜಿತ ಪ್ರಪಂಚವನ್ನ ಹುಡಕುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ನಾವು ಸಮುದ್ರದ ಆಳಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗಬೇಕಾಗಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಕೆಳಗಿನ ದೃಶ್ಯ ನಿಮಗೆ ಒಂದು ಹನಿ ಕೊಳದ ನೀರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವ ಜೀವಿಗಳ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಪ್ರಪಂಚಕ್ಕೆ ಕರೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ.
by Jagath V – Objectivity is the bedrock that science rests on. Scientists are often seen as torchbearers of objectivity and reasoning. Science, and scientists however, do not exist in isolation from society. Scientists are a product of society and, they inevitably carry biases and not-so objective beliefs about the world. Our social standing and the opportunities that we get…
