Can animal studies be truly objective? In the early 20th century, a horse in Berlin captured the world’s attention with its mathematical proficiency. When asked an arithmetic question, Hans, the horse, would start tapping his hooves and stop when he arrived at the correct number. This remarkable feat elevated Hans’ status to genius. […]
Are we harming the world in our pursuit to understand it better? Around 7 pm on Mondays, Maya can be found in her natural habitat, carefully seeding a culture to be infected the next day or inoculating a batch of bacteria to be genetically transformed. This is where she is on most days, in […]
India needs the right technology and policy to realise a gallium nitride future Harshada Ahire was caught off guard as she opened the door of the Power Electronics Laboratory in the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) at IISc, as I stepped into the large room. I was with Vinod John, Professor at EE, and Utsab […]
The lensing of waves is helping us look deeper into space Arthur Eddington was growing anxious. It was nearly 2 pm on 29 May 1919. The British astronomer was standing on a plateau overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the west African island of Príncipe. A rare solar eclipse, not seen in 500 years, […]
Maths is providing new ways to make sense of biology In the early 2000s, a fierce debate was raging among health practitioners about when to start HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy. The standard approach at the time was to delay treatment until the disease had progressed to a critical stage. However, emerging mathematical models […]
Deanna Barch is a well-known figure in the field of psychiatry. She has spent over three decades studying the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying the development of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia and depression. While her research primarily focuses on adults, she also studies the risks of mental illness in children due to early adversity, such […]
Going beyond the ‘reuse, reduce, recycle’ model to curb plastic pollution I turn off the alarm on my phone, slowly wake up, turn the fan switch off, and head to the bathroom. I push paste out of a tube onto my toothbrush, and brush my teeth. Then, I scoop water out of a peach-coloured […]
Two IISc students recount their expeditions into the unknown Satya Chanakya jolted awake when he fell off his bed in the middle of the night. He felt disoriented, wondering if he was dreaming. The room was swaying around him, and he heard a series of announcements through a speaker, asking everyone to remain in […]
Late hours on campus offer serene, vibrant vibes for students to unwind The night was filled with the sounds of crickets chirping. Leaves crunched under my feet as I walked towards the nursery gates to meet up with members of IISc’s Nature Club. We were going on a walk to see some of the […]
Unique centre at IISc’s Challakere campus exemplifies sustainable construction The temperature was a sizzling 40°C on the morning of 24 April when I reached the IISc campus in Challakere. Summers in this area have become worse in recent years. The sweltering heat was becoming unbearable as I made my way past various buildings to […]
