Research

CHENNAI: Chennai start-up Agnikul Cosmos is building India’s first private small satellite rocket and will be seeking the help of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for conducting ground tests. The IIT-Madras incubated start-up received a much-needed boost with the announcement of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), an autonomous body under the Department of Space, which would help private prayers gain access to ISRO infrastructure.

The secure part of any information transfer protocol is in the distribution of the key used to encrypt and decrypt the messages. Such standard key distribution schemes, usually based on mathematical resolution of problems, are vulnerable to algorithmic breakthroughs and possibility to run new codes on the up and coming quantum computers.

Elephant population crosses 2,000-mark in Uttarakhand, around 30% rise since 2015

The Finn’s Weaver or Yellow Weaver was first spotted in Uttarakhand in the 1950s by eminent ornithologist Dr Salim Ali. The bird, usually found in areas near agricultural fields or the Terai region, has seen a decline in population since the past few decades.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, in collaboration with Shri Sankaradeva Nethralaya Guwahati, have developed a point-of-care testing device that can detect diabetic retinopathy at an early stage. The procedure does not need any invasive testing. The team has filed an Indian patent for this idea and device.

In a significant breakthrough in the battle against antibiotic resistance, a research team from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has synthesized a nanomaterial that mimics an enzyme and disintegrates the cell membranes of a range of disease-causing bacteria. The study, published in the journal ACS Applied Bio Materials, is a collaboration between researchers from the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry (IPC) and the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology (MCB).

A team of researchers at the Department of Biotechnology’s National Centre for Cell Science (DBT-NCCS) in Pune led by Dr. Shailza Singh has been exploring ways to tackle miltefosine resistance. The researchers worked with one of the species of Leishmania that causes infection, called Leishmania major. They tried to manipulate these transporter proteins in the species in a manner that would result in increased uptake of the drug and decrease in its being thrown out of the parasite’s body.

Scientists at the Institute of Nano Science & Technology (INST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, have developed a nanotechnology-based industry-friendly and low-cost method for the production of antiepileptic drug ‘Rufinamide’.

The ISRO said that the garment is a close fitting long garment, covering the torso and limbs from neck to toe as a single piece lightweight comfort inner wear over which the flight suit has to be worn

Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi have developed a herbal infusion technology as a sustainable means of income for local marginal farmers in the mid-Himalayan region.