r/Science_India

Soumya Swaminathan has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, one of the world’s most prestigious scientific honours. Known for her work in tuberculosis, HIV, and global public health, she also made history alongside her father, M. S. Swaminathan, as the first father-daughter duo from India to receive the honour. A Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) is a scientist chosen by top peers for exceptional contributions to science and research, joining the ranks of legendary scientists like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.

The Oriental pied hornbill is not native to Delhi. It is largely a Terai and Himalayan foothill species, with historical records noting only scattered sightings in the 1940s and early 1970s. After decades of silence, isolated reports began surfacing again after 2013. According to birder Sudhir Vyas, these birds may be long-lived escapees from captivity or wandering vagrants that have dispersed unusually far south into the Indo-Gangetic plains.

Delhi now appears to have at least two — both believed to be females. One is frequently spotted around Jamia Millia Islamia; the other has transfixed birders at Lodhi Garden.

On Friday morning, observers watched the female pied hornbill arrive repeatedly at the nest cavity, regurgitating berries and fruit into the narrow slit. Two beaks emerged from inside to accept the food. Moments later, the resident male grey hornbill would arrive and feed the chicks in turn. The coexistence was not always peaceful: during one feeding round, the pied hornbill aggressively chased the male grey hornbill around the tree before returning to the nest herself.

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian\_grey\_hornbill

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental\_pied\_hornbill

So india doesn't have a dedicated B.Sc in Astronomy unlike universities abroad, which means if you want to become an astronomer or astrophysicist here, you're going through Physics whether you like it or not. and honestly i find the earthy side of physics pretty dry, my real obsession is space, the universe, the big stuff. but here we are.

i've been looking at every realistic route and somehow managed to fall short on all of them 🥀

1. JEE Mains for NITs was a no because NIT's don't offer BS Research, except Hamirpur and Calicut which have Engineering Physics but i couldn't touch the 96-97 percentile needed.

2. JEE Advanced would've opened IITs, IISc and IIST for BS Research and Engineering Physics but i scored 57.4 percentile so that door closed too.

3. IAT for IISERs is what i'm preparing for right now with 20 days left, this is the one still alive.

4. CUET happened but i misread how seriously i needed to take it, didn't give a single mock (kyuki cuet toh easy hote hai), and Delhi University's North or South Campus programs are basically out of reach now, Off campus aren't that good though.

5. Merit-based colleges like Ferguson need 85 to 90 percent in boards and i have 68%age so that's a wall too.

So genuinely asking, for someone who wants to end up in Astronomy or Astrophysics, where do aspiring astrophysicist in india actually land their bachelor's when the obvious routes don't go as planned? what did you do or what would you do? What'd you guys gonna do...?

Not sure why I'm posting this today. Just had a conversation with my father and it hit me.

He worked in a government textile mill in Tamil Nadu. The mill shut down when I was really small — maybe 4 or 5. He never got a stable job after that. Sold cattle feed. Did whatever came.

Two daughters. My mother at home. No fixed income for years.

He never pulled us out of school. Never missed a single fee payment. I only understood later how much that cost him.

I just finished my PhD in Medical Microbiology from one of India's top institution. First person in my entire family to even finish a degree.

But here's the thing that's been sitting with me that my father, who gave up everything for me to study science, takes whatever tablet the doctor gives him without knowing why. Last week someone told him a certain food was good for diabetes and he just... believed it. No questions.

I spent years studying exactly this stuff. And the people I love most have zero access to it.

Anyway, one thing I'll say that Paracetamol, the Crocin or Dolo most of us pop for every fever, shouldn't cross 4 grams a day. Long term overuse silently damages the liver. Most people have no idea.

Does anyone else feel this gap with their parents? Where you've learned something and wished they knew it years ago?

In a rare medical event, a woman gave birth to four babies - two boys and two girls - over a span of five days through normal delivery at a private hospital here, doctors said on Friday.

According to officials at the Teerthanker Mahaveer University Hospital in the Lodhipur area, Amina, a resident of Ovari village in Sambhal district, delivered her first child on May 9 at the facility. She later gave birth to three more babies on May 14.

Doctors delivered all four babies -- two boys and two girls -- without a Caesarean section, despite the pregnancy being categorised as 'high-risk'.

In a rare wildlife event, a female elephant has given birth to healthy twin calves in the Garjiya tourism zone of Corbett National Park, marking an extraordinary occurrence that has drawn the attention of wildlife experts, park officials and nature enthusiasts.

The mother elephant and her two calves were spotted during a jungle safari by noted wildlife enthusiast Sanjay Chimwal, who captured the sighting on video. The footage has since gone viral, with experts describing it as a remarkable sign of the region’s thriving ecosystem.

Dr Saket Badola, Director of Corbett Tiger Reserve, said the successful birth reflected the strength of the landscape.

"The Corbett Tiger Reserve and the entire Shivalik Elephant Reserve are crucial for elephant conservation," Dr Badola told TNIE. "Uttarakhand hosts a significant population of elephants in the Corbett landscape, with over 1,200 individuals recorded. The birth of twin calves is a positive indicator of a healthy, secure wildlife environment."

He further elaborated on the biological rarity of the event, stating, "Elephants have a gestation period of approximately 22 to 24 months. After such a long period of development, the arrival of twins is a unique event. Generally, elephants give birth to a single calf, making the birth and survival of twins an exceptional anomaly."

https://moef.gov.in/uploads/2022/08/Elephant-Reserve-of-India-an-atlas\_final.pdf

https://www.corbettnationalpark.in/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian\_elephant

Twin elephant births are an incredibly rare biological phenomenon, occurring in less than \(1\%\) of all elephant pregnancies. Because elephant gestation lasts roughly 22 months, carrying two calves is physically taxing. Consequently, twins face a high risk of being born prematurely, being rejected by the mother, or struggling to survive in the wild.

https://www.google.com/search?q=twins+in+elephants&client=ms-android-realme-terr1-rso2&hs=wXtp&sca\_esv=ffa8f2a440a92ee0&biw=360&bih=663&sxsrf=ANbL-n5dHmnW3u45bfCSsRPwFDun1CHp4Q%3A1778860281847&ei=-UAHatyzM\_6-4-EPx-LzwA8&oq=twins+in+elep&gs\_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIg10d2lucyBpbiBlbGVwKgIIADIFEAAYgAQyBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yCxAAGIAEGIYDGIoFMgsQABiABBiGAxiKBTILEAAYgAQYhgMYigUyCxAAGIAEGIYDGIoFSPA0UKIKWIgtcAJ4AJABAJgBxAKgAfsXqgEIMC4xLjExLjG4AQHIAQD4AQGYAg-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&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#lfId=ChxjMe

As reported by Onmanorama, the organism discovered in Karakurussi was identified as Sclerotium stipitatum, a little-known subterranean fungal species. Reports suggest that around 20 underground fungal structures were recovered from the site during the digging process.

Unlike ordinary mushrooms that appear above the soil after rainfall, this fungus develops mostly underground. That hidden growth pattern makes it difficult to detect and even harder to study in natural conditions. Researchers say this may explain why the species rarely appears in biodiversity records despite existing in certain regions for generations.

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

https://journaljpri.com/index.php/JPRI/article/view/3672

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi

https://academic.oup.com/botlinnean/article-abstract/9/39/417/2916187

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://stthomas.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Executive-Saummary-Anto-P-V.docx&ved=2ahUKEwj\_pvy6m62UAxU22TgGHUddAaQQFnoECFQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw22SvywR9ExUTRRQkhh0iY7

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273124710\_On\_the\_taxonomic\_identity\_of\_a\_fungal\_morph\_used\_in\_traditional\_medicine\_in\_Kerala\_State\_India