r/Science_India

Marine photosynthesis makes about half of Earth's annual oxygen flow. The number is real, but it measures production rather than a net annual refill of the atmosphere.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ocean-oxygen.html

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.281.5374.237

https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/what-are-phytoplankton/

https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/a-sea-aswirl-with-chlorophyll-154699/

https://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/bitstream/doc/1159190/1/Biogeochemical-cycles.pdf

https://scienceblog.com/t-earth-has-five-named-oceans-but-they-form-one-connected-system-covering-71-percent-of-the-planet-moving-heat-carbon-and-nutrients-between-basins-on-currents-that-can-take-a-millennium-to-circle-the/

Like most jellyfish, Turritopsis starts as a fertilized egg, becomes a tiny swimming larva, settles on a rock and grows into a polyp colony. That colony buds off free-swimming medusae, the bell-shaped adults we picture when we hear the word jellyfish. Adults spawn, and the cycle begins again.

What the student saw was an adult medusa, stressed and starving in its dish, sinking to the bottom, collapsing into a blob of tissue and then reorganizing itself into a polyp. It had gone backwards. A few days later the polyp began budding out new medusae, each genetically identical to the adult that had dissolved. The American Museum of Natural History describes it as the animal hitting a reset button.

The mechanism is called transdifferentiation. Specialized adult cells such as muscle or nerve are converted directly into other cell types, without passing through a stem-cell stage. In principle a Turritopsis medusa can do this every time it is injured, starving or simply getting old, which is why it picked up its nickname. In practice most individuals in the wild are eaten or diseased long before they get the chance.

https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/immortal-jellyfish

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-008-9296-0

https://stories.tamu.edu/news/2026/02/19/a-tiny-jellyfish-may-be-hiding-the-blueprint-for-eternal-life/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis\_dohrnii#:\~:text=Turritopsis%20dohrnii%2C%20commonly%20known%20as,in%20temperate%20to%20tropic%20waters.

Artificial intelligence has designed viruses that can infect bacteria and reproduce – a first that shows AI is beginning to do more than analyse the genetic code of living things. It can write new versions of it, too.

The viruses in question are bacteriophages, or phages – viruses that infect bacteria rather than people, animals or plants. Researchers used AI to design hundreds of new versions of a well-studied phage, then built the viruses from scratch in the laboratory.

Of 285 AI-designed genomes that the team tested, 16 produced working phages capable of infecting E coli.

The result is an important step for a field sometimes called generative biology, in which AI is used to design new biological molecules and organisms. But it is also important to understand what the researchers have – and have not – demonstrated.

Phages are essentially bacterial predators. They are among the most abundant and diverse biological entities on Earth and have evolved alongside bacteria for billions of years.

Most phages are highly specialised. They recognise molecules on the surface of a bacterium, attach themselves and inject their genetic material inside. The phage then takes over the bacterium’s molecular machinery, using it to make new copies of itself. Eventually, the infected cell bursts, releasing the new phages.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec2657

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance

For millions of Indians, railway stations are places where a basic need is taken for granted: finding safe drinking water. A recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit, however, has raised questions about whether that assumption is always justified. Water samples from water coolers at eight railway stations across four zones tested positive for E. coli, according to the audit findings. The stations were Coimbatore and Palakkad Junctions in Southern Railway, Hyderabad in South Central Railway, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bhiwandi Road, Kalyan and Lonavala in Central Railway, and Madhupur in Eastern Railway.

https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/PDF/MX-M464N\_20230628\_143346.pdf

https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/Environment\_Management/2025/pp.pdf

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/centres-auditor-cag-flags-e-coli-in-drinking-water-across-railway-stations-11915441

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240121225

https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/php/technical-info/

https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/Environment\_Management/2025/pp.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/signs-symptoms/index.html

https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/signs-symptoms/hus.html

https://www.ndtv.com/health/doctor-explains-how-water-quality-impacts-gut-health-immunity-and-long-term-disease-risk-10453746

https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/PDF/MX-M464N\_20230628\_143346.pdf

https://www.ndtv.com/health/doctor-explains-how-water-quality-impacts-gut-health-immunity-and-long-term-disease-risk-10453746

Population size and genetic diversity respond on different timescales. A population can grow explosively in a few thousand years while carrying variants descended from a far smaller group. New mutations accumulate slowly. Genetic drift, the random loss of variants as generations reproduce, can remove diversity much faster when a population is small.

The 1000 Genomes Project cataloged more than 88 million variants across 2,504 people from 26 populations, which sounds like enormous variation. It is enormous in absolute terms, yet any two human genomes remain overwhelmingly alike. That combination is possible because a genome contains billions of positions. A small percentage difference still amounts to millions of variants, while leaving humans less diverse than several other primate species.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature15393

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq7487

https://scienceblog.com/early-ancestral-bottleneck-couldve-spelled-the-end-for-modern-humans/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11708913/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11848514/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02323-x

https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/43/7/msag157/8723835?login=false

A new paper in Science Advances cites an “incomplete” or “insufficient” enzymatic metabolism of the proposed last universal common ancestor (LUCA) as evidence for “independent origins of unrelated enzymes for the same reaction” in two of the basic domains of life, Archaea and Bacteria. The breadth of genomic evidence surveyed in this study is impressive, and their finding is striking because, when properly understood, it strongly contradicts the expectations of universal common ancestry.

The basic idea is that certain enzymes common to all members of Bacteria perform the same basic functions as enzymes in Archaea. However, those enzymes are so fundamentally different (i.e., non-homologous) that they could not be derived from some common ancestor enzyme that was present in LUCA. These enzymes aren’t trivial — they perform fundamental functions in both domains of life. As the paper puts it, they are “required for the synthesis of amino acids, cofactors, and nucleobases.”

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aef3128

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last\_universal\_common\_ancestor

Against the annual addition of patients cited by Dr Kumar, India performs around 14,500 kidney, over 5,100 liver, 239 heart and over 200 lung transplants a year. There is also unmet demand for pancreas and intestine transplants.

https://notto.mohfw.gov.in/

https://orbo.org.in/

A rare snake spotted at Singapore’s MacRitchie Reservoir has caught the attention of scientists for an unusual reason. This animal is both venomous and poisonous.

The snake was identified as a blue-necked keelback, a locally vulnerable species found in Singapore’s forests and nature reserves. Recent image captured showed the snake with what appeared to be partially swallowed prey still protruding from its mouth.

The image quickly sparked discussion among wildlife enthusiasts. Singapore’s National Parks Board confirmed the sighting on August 4 and urged people not to approach or handle the animal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhabdophis\_rhodomelas

https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/app/uploads/2017/06/2008nis109-111.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371674189\_First\_report\_of\_albinism\_in\_the\_Blue-necked\_Keelback\_Rhabdophis\_rhodomelas\_Boie\_1827\_from\_Singapore

An international study led by a team from the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos), Kochi, has revealed a new species of seahorse in the Indian Ocean. The new species, Hippocampus amandavincentae, has been named after Amanda Vincent, a global authority on seahorses, one of the world’s foremost marine biologists and the founder of Project Seahorse.

The study revealed that the thorny seahorse is not a single species but three. Published on Tuesday in the leading taxonomy journal Zootaxa, the work demonstrates that the thorny seahorse (Hippocampus histrix), historically believed to be widespread from the Red Sea and East Africa across the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific, actually comprises three distinct species.

These findings end more than 150 years of taxonomic confusion and provide an important foundation for future conservation of seahorses.

“Accurate species identification is a crucial first step towards understanding distribution, population status, and developing effective conservation strategies. This discovery reveals the hidden biodiversity in the Indian Ocean and highlights the importance of documenting and protecting its unique species and the critical habitats they depend on,” said Shalu Kannan, the lead author of the paper.

https://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1902884

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/411360174\_A\_new\_species\_of\_spiny\_seahorse\_Hippocampus\_amandavincentae\_with\_redescription\_of\_H\_histrix\_and\_H\_jayakari\_Teleostei\_Syngnathidae

Humans have become one of the world's greatest evolutionary forces. To survive our cities, animals from urban foxes to glass-climbing lizards are responding with extreme adaptation.

https://academic.oup.com/evolut/article-abstract/70/5/1009/6851798?redirectedFrom=fulltext

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.3918

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28565449/

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01289.x

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11546863/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534702000447

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13211

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mam.12264

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292817029\_Human-wildlife\_interactions\_in\_urban\_areas\_a\_review\_of\_conflicts\_benefits\_and\_opportunities

https://ualr.edu/news/2025/10/16/raccoons-show-early-domestication/

https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wlb3.01513

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ele.70074

https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/abstract/S0169-5347(22)00197-5

https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol3/iss1/11/#:\~:text=Abstract,.;%20and%20Conner%2C%20L.

https://climate.isws.illinois.edu/statecli/general/averages.htm

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20712517/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259325976\_Avian\_Vocal\_Production\_in\_Noise

https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article-abstract/23/5/960/232442?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false

https://dcmp.org/media/9294-evolution-in-action-the-campus-juncos-at-uc-san-diego

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347206000285

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/ucla-sparrow-population-blueprint-for-urban-wildlife-vitality

https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abe7389

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2685865/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27940876/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534798013780

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29146123/

Oaks are key species in forest ecosystems. They help hold soil in place, shape forest canopies, and provide food and shelter for wildlife as well as local communities.

However, more than half of their natural habitat is under increasing pressure from human activities.

The report found that agriculture is the biggest threat, affecting about two-thirds of the species studied. Other major threats include commercial logging, wood pulp plantations, land development, climate change, and very small remaining populations.

https://www.bgci.org/news-events/conservation-gap-analysis-of-select-native-asian-oaks/

Many threatened or understudied oak tree species are at risk of extinction in Southeast and East Asia, where more than half of their native range is subject to sharply increasing human pressure. Should these species of oak disappear from the wild, most of them do not have a single backup in a managed botanical collection anywhere in the world. Those are among the findings in the first Conservation Gap Analysis of Select Native Asian Oaks, conducted by scientists at The Morton Arboretum alongside collaborators in the region.

Oaks are a crucial species that anchor entire ecosystems, and by addressing vast disparities in data about these at-risk trees, this report informs the most practical next steps for conserving them. “Southeast Asia is a biodiversity hotspot for oaks,” said lead author Kate Good, the Arboretum’s global tree conservation research manager. “There are more threatened species of oak in Asia than anywhere in the world, and yet many of these species are not adequately represented in protected areas or in botanic gardens.”

The most commonly reported threat to existing oak habitat in this region is agriculture, including wood and pulp plantations, cited for two-thirds of the species. Others include development, climate change and extremely small populations. The report analyzed 54 species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species assessed as either threatened or Data Deficient within the study area of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Of those 54, 40—or 74%—are not currently held in botanical collections. For perspective, the Arboretum’s conservation gap analysis of U.S. oaks identified only one species of 91 studied not in collections (1.1%), and of Mesoamerican oaks, 22 of 59 (37%). “There is an urgent need to increase the number of threatened Southeast and East Asian oaks in managed botanical collections within their native country,” Good said. “While protection of species in their native habitat is ideal, botanical collections play an important complementary role in conservation, particularly as a genetic repository for research and future reintroductions.”

“With so many species at risk of extinction, this report will help prioritize oak species for conservation in Southeast and East Asia,” said report co-author Silvia Alvarez-Clare, Ph.D., director of the Arboretum’s Global Tree Conservation Program. “By identifying the species that have very little protected area coverage, are not held in any managed botanical collections and experience high human pressure, we can focus efforts on the species and regions in which our work will have the greatest impact”.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/411039597\_Conservation\_Gap\_Analysis\_of\_Select\_Native\_Asian\_Oaks

https://mortonarb.org/science/projects/conservation-gap-analysis-of-select-native-asian-oaks/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak

Botanists in Kerala have unearthed five new species of spiked rock-grass (Polycarpaea), locally known in Malayalam as Acharamkolli. These delicate plants belong to the carnation family (Caryophyllaceae).

https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.749.2.7

Polycarpaea apetala, a new species from the coarse soil area near the forest outskirts of Kottur forest area of Thiruvananthapuram District (Kerala, SW-India) is described and illustrated. P. apetala is morphologically similar to P. aurea from which it differs in the absence of petal and stipules (vs. present in P. aurea), oblong bracts (vs. ovate lanceolate, and seed surface architecture (ovoid with no striations vs. reniform with irregular striations).

In a landmark discovery for wildlife conservation in the Western Himalayas, researchers have recorded the first-ever photographic evidence of a snow leopard inside the Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh.

Often called the "Ghost of the Mountains" because of its elusive nature and remarkable camouflage, the snow leopard has long been associated with the sanctuary.

In fact, the species features on the sanctuary's official logo despite never having been photographed within its boundaries, until now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow\_leopard

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/snow-leopard/

https://snowleopardindia.org/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.mongabay.com/2025/06/snow-leopards-frequently-cross-nepal-india-china-borders-study-finds/amp/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/401125280\_Snow\_Leopard\_Panthera\_uncia\_Status\_in\_India&ved=2ahUKEwji3qa9goyWAxXiSGwGHSp2GS8QFnoECEsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0gCAyjZWIYs2xlua3vAZGu

https://images.assettype.com/ncfindia/2021-04/20ba641b-992f-4b4c-9368-e8d4d77168da/SPAI\_compressed.pdf

https://moef.gov.in/uploads/2018/03/Project-Snow-Leopard-2008.pdf