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The Science Quiz | Ice creams

Questions: 1. In the last period of classical Japan, between around 800 and 1200 AD, people would preserve water as ice during the winter. During the summer, they would shave slivers off this ice, pour a flavoured syrup onto them, and serve them to the aristocracy. What was this dish called? 2. In the 16th century, some people found that when ____ was added to very chill water, it froze sooner.…

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Inevitable collapse: On the BJP-JJP coalition in Haryana

The coalition of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in Haryana was set for inevitable collapse as both political parties intensified efforts to consolidate their mutually antagonistic support bases. By cutting off its ties with the JJP, which draws its support largely from the agrarian class Jat community, the BJP is, yet again, focusing on the electoral…

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SpaceX Starship disintegrates after completing most of third test flight

SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket lifts off on its third launch from the company’s Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight, near Brownsville, Texas, U.S. March 14, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters SpaceX’s Starship rocket, designed to eventually send astronauts to the moon and beyond, completed nearly an entire test flight through space on its…

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Wrong messaging: On the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019  

The government’s decision to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, just days before the dates for the general election are expected to be announced seems to be a precursor to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) exploiting a polarising issue in the poll campaign. A law strongly opposed by many, especially by the Muslim community, for introducing a religion-based test for grant…

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Why spacesuits need a major upgrade for the next phase of exploration

Axiom Space chief engineer Jim Stein demonstrates a prototype spacesuit, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Houston. NASA selected Axiom Space to design the spacesuits that its moonwalking astronauts will wear when they step onto the lunar surface later this decade. | Photo Credit: AP Humans have long dreamed of setting foot on the Moon and other planetary bodies such as Mars. Since the 1960s, space…

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Rhinos can’t sweat, making them vulnerable to overheating

Now, the first study of how climate change affects rhinos in southern Africa has found that they will cease to exist in the region’s national parks by 2085 if the world takes the worst-case scenario climate change pathway.  | Photo Credit: The Hindu Southern Africa is home to 22,137 of the world’s 23,432 white and black African rhinos. But they’re facing grave threats because of a warming…

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Heart of the matter: On the Prime Minister’s visit to Kashmir and after

Prime Minister Narendra Modi painted a rosy picture of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) during his first visit to the Union Territory that was formed by the bifurcation of the erstwhile State, and also stripped of its special constitutional status, in 2019. Mr. Modi’s speech, on March 7, at a rally in Srinagar and his interaction with local entrepreneurs who have benefited from central schemes, were…

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Dubious response: On the State Bank of India and the Electoral Bond scheme

It has barely been three weeks since a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India unanimously struck down the Electoral Bond scheme as unconstitutional for violating the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The scheme, which was notified in 2018, facilitated anonymous political donations. The judgment also stipulated that the State Bank of India (SBI), the sole…

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Going to Mars? Speak to a psychologist first

Because these communications travel at the speed of light and can’t go any faster, experts are coming up with ways to improve communication efficiency under time-delayed conditions. Source link

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Nobel laureates sound alarm as Argentina cuts science funding

Argentina’s President Javier Milei attends the opening session of the 142nd legislative term, at the National Congress, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 1, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters Sixty-eight Nobel laureates in chemistry, medicine, economics, and physics sent a letter on Wednesday to Argentine President Javier Milei voicing concern that cuts to science and technology funding will hinder…

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Why ASML’s new chip-making machine is a scientific marvel | Explained

Computers denote data in bits – the famous 0s and 1s – using semiconductors. These are small physical devices that store these values and perform mathematical operations on them. The sum of all these operations is what allows the computer to compute. We have powerful computers almost everywhere around us thanks to a technology called semiconductor lithography – the science of printing intricate…

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SpaceX launches eighth long-duration crew for International Space Station orbit

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off in this time-exposure photo, from Launch Pad 39A Sunday, March 3, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts are beginning a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara) | Photo Credit: Chris O’Meara A SpaceX rocket safely lifted off from Florida on Sunday night carrying a crew of three U.S. astronauts and…

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In snake genes, study finds they evolved 3x faster than other reptiles

The sci-fi writer David Brin built his fictitious ‘Uplift Universe’ in a series of novels for two decades from 1980. In the series, a patron race uplifts species of a future universe to a higher order of life. Something similar happened in the earth’s distant past when many species went through bursts of evolutionary innovation, taking giant leaps and incorporating extraordinary diversity in…

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Vulnerable to criticism: On the ED and a possible violation of federal principles  

The structure of the law against money laundering is bound to throw up perplexing questions about the possible violation of federal principles. One such question has arisen in Tamil Nadu, where the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is trying to find out whether illegal sand mining in the State is due to corruption and if the “proceeds” are being laundered. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)…

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Research paper warns against nationwide switch to natural farming without proper studies

Image for representational purposes only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images An academic paper published by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) has cautioned the Centre against “a complete switch” to natural farming, on the ground that it can hamper national food production. The paper is…

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The Science Quiz | How well acquainted are you with your face?

The Science Quiz appears thrice a week in the daily Science page. The page is available to read on all days except Saturday in the epaper. Questions: 1. ______ is the strongest muscle in the human body relative to its size and is located in the jaw. What is the name of this powerful jaw muscle? 2. While our nose and ears continue to grow throughout our lives, there’s a part of our face that…

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An extra berth: On the Rajya Sabha election results  

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 30 of the 56 Rajya Sabha seats which are set to fall vacant in April, from 15 States, with the results announced on February 27. The party won two more seats than what its numbers in the State Assemblies would have allowed, by brazenly engineering cross voting by legislators from the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Congress in Himachal Pradesh. One…

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