Modern theories of the universe begin with the simplest of observations — that the night sky looks dark. This darkness implies that the universe is not infinitely old, as scientists once thought. If it were, starlight would already have seeped into all corners of space, thus giving a hot and uniform glow across the sky. This insight is known as …

The weather in the month of October in the Indian sub-continent is called ‘October heat’. During October and November, with the apparent movement of the sun towards the south, the monsoon trough or the low pressure trough over the northern plains becomes weaker. This is gradually replaced by a high-pressure system. The south-west monsoon winds weaken and start withdrawing gradually. …

It’s the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. According to a study, nomophobia is plaguing our 24/7 life — running out of battery, credit or losing one’s handset. About 53% of users surveyed are affected by not having network coverage. The survey revealed that men suffer more than women, with 48% of females and 58% of males admitting …

The Greek root nephos means cloud, and is found in a variety of meteorological terms such as nephology, the study of clouds; and the nephoscope, an instrument used to detect cloud motions. Nephology is a specialised and complex branch of science. Nephologists study clouds to help people understand weather patterns.

Munchausen Syndrome, also known as hospital addiction, factitious illness, afflicting those referred to as professional patients, is a repeated fabrication of clinically convincing simulations of disease for the purpose of gaining medical attention. It refers to patients who wander from hospital to hospital feigning acute medical or surgical illness and giving false and fanciful information about their medical and social …

Water We can live for some weeks without food but only a few days without water.

In Greek, phyle means tribe, and genesis means birth. Molecular phylogeny tries to reconstruct the lineage of species through study of amino acid sequences in fossils. The result of this analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree.

The mobile elbow results from using the mobile for long hours. Called the ‘cubital tunnel syndrome’, it is also called ‘cell phone elbow’. The problem occurs when the ulnar nerve, which runs across the elbow, down to the ring and little fingers, gets over-stretched and blood supply is restricted, sparked by holding a phone to the ear for long periods.

Microtomy is the technique of cutting tissues in very small sections. This technique is used for histological and pathological studies. A tissue (or small part of it) is embedded in paraffin wax and then cut using a microtome (a machine) to get thin sections. These sections are stained with appropriate dyes and observed under the microscope.

Micro-propagation is the technique of multiple production of plants in-vitro. It is used for plants that do not produce seeds or respond to normal vegetable reproduction.The process includes many steps — stock plant care, explants selection and sterilization, media manipulation to obtain proliferation, rooting, acclimatization and growing of liners. Micro-propagation’s main advantage is to produce disease-free plants in multiple numbers …