International Young Scientist Awards

  The government on Friday launched a satellite-based agricultural decision support system to provide farmers with critical data for crop management and productivity enhancement. Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Choudhary unveiled the Krishi-Decision Support System (Krishi-DSS), a geospatial platform that will offer real-time information on crop conditions, weather patterns, water resources, and soil health. "This platform is a new milestone for farmers amid growing climate challenges," Choudhary said at the launch event. Krishi-DSS, developed using technology similar to the government's Gati Shakti initiative, will utilize satellite imagery to deliver early warnings about potential disasters such as pest attacks and extreme weather events. The system will aid in crop mapping, monitoring, and promoting crop rotation and diversification. It will provide data on crop patterns across regions and track crop conditions throughout various growth stages. Agriculture S...

  The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has unveiled an extraordinary 4K image of Uranus, showcasing the planet's intricate details like never before. Renowned as the " Ice Giant ," Uranus sits 1.8 billion miles from the Sun, with a tilted axis that creates its unique sideways spin. The telescope's cutting-edge infrared imaging highlights Uranus’s rings, atmosphere, and moons in remarkable clarity, shedding new light on this distant world. Uranus’s rings, typically faint and elusive, appear vividly in the JWST’s capture. The 13 known rings , including two dusty inner rings, demonstrate subtle differences in their composition and structure. These observations provide valuable data on their origins and evolution, contributing to our understanding of ring systems across the solar system. The telescope also captured Uranus’s mysterious atmosphere , revealing bands of cloud activity and bright polar regions. These details enhance our understanding of Uranus’s extreme weat...

The year 2024 marks a pivotal moment for applied artificial intelligence (AI), as it evolves into a transformative force reshaping critical industries. Healthcare, energy, and supply chain management are among the sectors witnessing revolutionary changes, with AI delivering measurable and impactful outcomes. In healthcare, AI continues to enhance patient care and operational efficiency. From precision diagnostics powered by machine learning to AI-driven personalized treatment plans, technology is bridging gaps in accessibility and accuracy. Advanced AI models now predict patient outcomes, enabling preventive care and reducing hospital readmission rates. Moreover, robotic process automation (RPA) streamlines administrative tasks, allowing healthcare professionals to focus on patient-centric care. In the energy sector, AI-driven innovations are fostering sustainability and efficiency. Smart grids powered by AI enable real-time energy distribution, balancing supply and demand while reduci...

  India is no longer just an IT powerhouse—it is fast emerging as a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and data center infrastructure. With its unique blend of talent, scalability, and innovation, India is playing a vital role in reshaping the future of data storage, computing, and AI-driven solutions. AI: Transforming Industries And Solving Real-world Problems India’s AI ecosystem is thriving, supported by forward-looking government policies, world-class research institutions, and a dynamic startup culture. Initiatives like AI for All and private-public collaborations are driving AI adoption across industries such as healthcare, agriculture, and finance. For instance, predictive analytics in healthcare is enabling early disease detection, while AI-driven tools in agriculture are empowering farmers with precise weather predictions and optimized crop management. These solutions address local challenges but also offer scalable innovations for global markets. Globally, Ind...

The Earth's magnetic north pole has been on the move for centuries, but its recent acceleration has garnered significant attention from scientists and researchers. Traditionally located in the Canadian Arctic, the magnetic north pole has shifted dramatically over the past few decades, moving closer to Siberia at an unprecedented speed of about 50 kilometers per year. This rapid migration has profound implications for navigation, communication systems, and even wildlife, which often rely on Earth’s magnetic field for orientation. The reasons behind this shift are linked to complex changes in the Earth's liquid outer core, composed primarily of molten iron and nickel. Variations in the flow of this metallic liquid generate the planet's magnetic field, influencing the pole's location. Recent studies suggest that weakening in the magnetic field beneath Canada, combined with strengthening beneath Siberia, is driving this movement. The shift is not just a scientific curiosity...

  The Curiosity rover, NASA’s robotic explorer, has ventured into a rugged and visually captivating region of Mars, exploring a towering Martian butte. These buttes, resembling mesas found on Earth, are composed of layered rock that tell the story of Mars’ ancient environment. By studying the sedimentary layers, scientists can reconstruct the planet's history, from periods of flowing rivers to drier, wind-swept eras. This latest exploration highlights Curiosity's ability to navigate steep, rocky terrain while using its sophisticated tools to analyze rock samples and capture high-resolution images. These findings could reveal critical information about the presence of water and the habitability of Mars in the distant past. Curiosity’s journey through these geological wonders brings humanity closer to understanding the Martian surface and lays the groundwork for future missions, including the eventual goal of human exploration on the Red Planet #CuriosityRover #MarsExploration #M...

More than a third of women across 10 health care practices chose to enroll in a self-pay, artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced breast cancer screening program, and the women who enrolled were 21% more likely to have cancer detected, acco rding to research being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). AI has shown great promise in mammography as a " second set of eyes " for radiologists providing decision support, risk prediction and other benefits. Despite its promise, AI is not yet reimbursed by insurance, which likely is slowing its adoption in the clinic. Some practices have elected to offer enhanced workflows enabled by AI at additional cost, much like what was done when digital breast tomosynthesis was originally deployed. For the study, researchers investigated the impact of AI-;including a safeguard review-;as a self-pay option in screening mammography. A self-pay, AI-powered screening mammography program was offer...

Scientists used the James Webb Space Telescope to study planet formation. They observed the star cluster NGC 346. They found long-lasting planet-forming disks. These disks exist even with few heavy elements. This challenges old theories. Planets may have formed earlier than we thought. This discovery changes our understanding of the early universe. The formation of planets has long been a subject of fascination and study in the field of astronomy . For decades, scientists have sought to understand the conditions required for planets to form around stars, particularly in environments that are vastly different from those of our solar system. Recent groundbreaking discoveries, led by advanced telescopes like NASA’ s James Webb Space Telescope, have shed new light on this process. By observing distant star clusters and ancient galaxies, researchers are now uncovering surprising insights into how planets can form and survive even in the harshest conditions. These findings challenge long-st...

  India is making rapid progress for research output in the Nature Index and last year had a higher percentage growth in contributions to index journals than China, according to the latest release of calendar-year data. The Nature Index 2024 Research Leaders – previously known as Annual Tables – is a series of rankings that highlight the leading countries, territories and research institutions for output in the database. The rankings show that India has overtaken Australia and Switzerland to sit in 9th place overall. In the natural sciences, the country is now 8th. Since the Nature Index was introduced in 2014, China has been the standout country for growth in Share, a metric that measures contribution to papers in the Index by authors based in a particular location. In 2022, China overtook the United States as the leading country for natural-sciences output . In 2023, a year after health-sciences journals were added to the Index, China was top overall. India’s overall Share for ...

A team of physicists at ETH Zürich has built the first-ever working mechanical qubit. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their novel idea for creating such a qubit and how well it has worked during testing. Researchers believe quantum computers will be able to solve many types of problems that are beyond the ability of classical computers . And while much progress has been made, the goal has still not been fully realized. One of the major sticking points is the problem of virtual qubits, such as those made using electromagnetics, which produce errors that must be corrected. The research team found another way around the problem—using mechanical qubits instead. Instead of representing data with only ones and zeroes, qubits are able to store data in a superposition of both states. For this new study, the researchers built what they describe as a membrane similar to a drum skin that can hold information as a steady state, a vibrating state or a state t...

Several observatories in China have captured rare images of a falling near-Earth asteroid, formally designated as 2024 XA1. The images, along with the observation results of foreign observatories on the asteroid, mark the 11th successful early warning of an asteroid impacting Earth, and the fourth such prediction of 2024, according to China Science Daily on Friday. The asteroid has an estimated diameter of between 75 centimeters and one meter. It was first discovered by a University of Arizona telescope at 5:55 a.m. (UTC) on December 3, the report said. China played a crucial role in monitoring the event due to its strategic geographic location. The Lijiang branch of the Yunnan Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) detected the asteroid during the time from 3:10 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (UTC) on December 3 through its Lijiang 2.4-meter telescope, said Zhang Xiliang, a researcher at the Lijiang observatory. At 4:15 p.m. (UTC) on December 3, the asteroid entered Earth's...

  Wipro Hydraulics, the hydraulic cylinder manufacturing division of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, has acquired Columbus Hydraulics, a US-based hydraulic cylinder manufacturer known for custom solutions in various applications. The acquisition enhances Wipro's North American market position and manufacturing capabilities, following a strategy of growth and innovation in the hydraulics industry.                             Wipro Hydraulics, the hydraulic cylinder manufacturing arm of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, has announced its acquisition of Columbus Hydraulics, a prominent US-based hydraulic cylinder manufacturer. Founded in 1952, Columbus Hydraulics has earned a reputable status for delivering custom hydraulic solutions across various applications, including agriculture, construction, turf maintenance, and marine operations. Wipro Infrastructure Engineering's CEO and Managing Director, Mr. Pratik K...