by Aditi Mishra : Are you a fan of glitter, or how about cosmetics? The glimmer or radiant shimmer? How about a minty fresh toothpaste with crystals promising a pearly smile, or the paint of your SUV? Mica is the magic ingredient behind all of these. It is an element indispensable for modern life. It is present in electronics, in…

by Pavan Kaushik : It has been nearly four years since I dumped wet waste into garbage. Every bit of the “trash”  was converted into flying micro roombas that clean the world. I got a home composter call “kambha“. Kambha means a pillar in Kannada due to the composters resemblance to a tiered pillar. The way it works is, you…

  “Everyone thinks of changing the world but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” –Mahatma Gandhi by Anshika Singh : Today, the world has changed itself in a way which none of us ever imagined.  With the global COVID-19 crisis impacting us at  individual, community, population, ecosystem…

by Srinivas Rao : It’s really hard to believe how an obscure, creepy virus has put the entire world into panic and stress. Yes! This is a crucial period for all of us to stay safe, mentally strong and physically healthy. The pandemic has changed both work life and home life and this reminds us how cautiously we have to…

by Geetha G T – Our gardens are incomplete without a rose plant. Roses have for quite some time been cherished for their appearance and their broadly aesthetic aroma. As one of the most common flowers to grace any garden, it’s no big surprise that roses have prevailed for a long time with a range of colors and fragrances. ಯಾರಿಗೆ…

by Shannon – We are living in strange times.  I realize that under a horrific global crisis this is an understatement, but times are also extremely strange for scientists. Just yesterday I found this discussion from a relative on my Facebook feed: Now, I’m not going to discuss the efficacy of hydroxycloroquine for treating COVID-19.  As I joke to my…

by Gauri Gharpure – This pandemic and the subsequent lockdown and restrictions have had different impacts on all of us in different ways. While it is crucial to have such restrictions for containment of the infection, it also brings problems like being confined to our residences, fear and/or skepticism of the future, etc. But in spite of all this, there…

by Santosh Rajus : The grasslands of South India are beautiful and spread across different regions including the Western Ghats. Most of the time, people consider the grassland as a wasteland as it does not seem to have much vegetation. But there are a lot of animals that are dependent on this grassland ecosystem and this ecosystem is very important…

by Hinal Kharva : In the time of the pandemic, we are hearing a lot about immunity. I was wondering whether our brain plays any role in the modulation of immunity.  How do emotions affect our immunity? The interdisciplinary field of science that studies interactions among brain, behavior, and the immune system, is called “Psychoneuroimmunology”.   To understand the link between…