News on Science, Technology and Research in India
Plant cell fermentation is a biotechnology process in which living plant cells are grown in a controlled bioreactor environment to produce useful compounds such as phytochemicals, herbal biomass, and bioactive extracts with greater consistency and year-round reliability.
A quantum ecosystem is the full network that allows quantum science to grow into an industry. It includes universities doing advanced research, startups building hardware and software, large companies investing in use-cases, government funding and policy support, skilled talent pipelines, testing and fabrication infrastructure, and real-world sectors such as defence, healthcare, finance and communications that can use quantum technologies.
According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, SARAL AI is being designed to convert technical research into podcasts, short videos, posters, business briefs, presentations and social media content in 18 Indian languages. The idea is to bridge the gap between laboratories and the public by presenting scientific outcomes in simpler formats that citizens can understand and use.
The new sensor is based on an iron metal-organic framework, or Fe-III-MOF, designed in the form of microscopic nanospheres. Researchers said the material contains tiny pores that can trap nicotine-related molecules. These Fe-MOF nanospheres were synthesised through a solvothermal process and then tested for safety and performance.
The female cheetah, identified as KGP12, is the second cub from Gamini’s first litter and is around 25 months old. According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, she had been living in the wild for more than a year before successfully delivering the cubs under natural conditions at Kuno.
The accreditation confirms that CARI Bengaluru’s clinical laboratory meets globally accepted standards for accuracy, safety, and reliability in medical testing. According to the Ministry of Ayush, the laboratory now holds NABL accreditation for 50 test parameters and provides a wide range of services, including blood glucose, HbA1c, liver and kidney function tests, lipid and thyroid profiles, electrolyte analysis, and complete blood counts.
The research was carried out by a team from the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bengaluru, in collaboration with the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), both autonomous institutions under the Department of Science and Technology. The scientists studied naphthalene diimide, an amphiphilic molecule that can organize itself in water through supramolecular self-assembly, forming nanostructures with functional properties relevant to electronics, photonics and biomedical devices.
The work was carried out by researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology. Unlike many existing neuromorphic systems that depend on separate sensing and memory components, this device integrates sensing, synapse-like processing and temporary information storage in one platform, drawing inspiration from the way biological sensory systems operate.
The research addresses a long-standing challenge in palaeoecology and archaeology. Cereal crops such as wheat, rice, barley and millets belong to the grass family, and their pollen often looks very similar to that of wild grasses under a microscope. Because pollen preserved in sediments can reveal patterns of cultivation, deforestation and settlement across the Holocene period, the ability to reliably separate crop pollen from wild grass pollen is crucial for understanding ancient land use and human activity.
This test is part of a series designed to validate the parachute-based recovery system of the crew module—the capsule that will carry astronauts. The system is crucial because it ensures that astronauts can return safely to Earth after re-entry.
