A good part of basic research in fundamental physics focuses on the definition, the prediction, and the measurement of quantities which put the current theory -the standard model- to the test in the…

Measurements matter in global climate affairs. "IBUKI" is the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) that has been circling the Earth since January 23, 2009.   IBUKI ('breath'…

PEPcase determinations As a key enzyme in C4-photosynthesis and Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (Kluge, 1983), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.31) has been studied intensively in several…

Calotropis procera (Ait.) Ait. f. giant milkweed ASCLEPIADACEAE Synonym: Asclepias procera Ait. General Description.—Giant milkweed is also known as sodom apple, calotrope, French cotton, small crown…

1 JATROPHA CURCAS: HIGH YIELDIG ACCESSIONS AND IMPROVEMENT. A. Kumar, A. Kumari Energy Plantation Demonstration project and Biotechnology Center Bio-Technology Lab Department of Botany University of…

My friend and colleague Stephalopod published this cool paper a couple of years ago about how deep-sea squids use their ink. The fun fact from this paper that I trot out most often in social…

1 The early colonizers : Some of the early colonizers including small ephemerals include: Polygala erioptera DC.; Polycarpaea corymbosa (L.) Lamk. ; Gisekia phamacioides L ; Mollugo cerviana (L.) Ser…

S containing bioactive cancer preventive compounds in almost all major genera and in every class of primary and secondary metabolites of Euphorbiaceae. The glucosinolates are especially abundant…

Pharmacognostical studies on Calotropis procera (Ait.) R.Br. Ashwani Kumar Calotropis procera (Asclepiadaceae) is a wild shrub, which grows upto a height of 1-3 m and its leaves are 10-13 cm wide…

Recently I was interviewed by Pouria Nazemi, Science Editor of the Jam-e-Jam Daily Newspaper.  Jam-e-Jam is the principal Iranian newspaper and is controlled by the government.  In the wake…

Simulating the brain with traditional chips would require impractical megawatts of power. One scientist has an alternative. According to Kwabena Boahen, a computer scientist at Stanford University,…

Not since RoboCop has being a cyborg seemed so very cool. University of Chicago geoscientists are developing an artificial intelligence system that future Mars explorers could incorporate into…

Interesting article in Tuesday’s New York Times. Apparently, the Iraqi security forces have taken to using divining rods to search for explosives, against the advice of U.S. trainers and advisors.…

Love and Being in Love: Love is in our mind and is fueled by chemicals and chemistry.New love produces the chemistry in love we all seek. Throughout history, mankind has deemed the heart the center…

A Rotational and Translational motion is standalone natural phenomenon For this experiment, two identically thin cylinders which are initially static to the observer are taken. These cylinders are…

A Rotation with Translation Movement is standalone natural phenomenon For this experiment, two identically thin cylinders which are initially static to the observer are taken. These cylinders…

1571 was also interesting. Galileo Galilei was then seven years old. Johannes Kepler was born on December 27. There were two solar eclipses, a total on January 25 and an annular on July 21-22.…

“Nature has been a source of medicinal agents for thousands of years, and an impressive number of modern drugs have been isolated from natural sources, many based on their use in traditional medicine…

I live in an academic bubble into which very little pop culture penetrates. I guess a few years ago there was a movie called The Squid and the Whale? I have just learned of its existence.…

BIODIVERSITY OF INDIAN DESERT Amit Kotia and Ashwani Kumar Biotechnology Lab, Department of Botany University of Rajasthan, Jaipur – 302004 INDIA ABSTRACT The state of Rajasthan is situated…