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While the world celebrated the arrival of 2026, hundreds of families in Bhubaneswar’s Salia Sahi slum one of the city's largest informal settlements spent their nights under the open sky. In a massive eviction drive carried out last November, municipal authorities demolished over 550 homes to make way for a road project intended to ease traffic congestion. However, this pursuit of urban infrastructure has come at a staggering human cost, raising urgent questions about fundamental rights, constitutional protections, and the ethics of urban governance. The displacement in Salia Sahi was carried out without prior written notice, household surveys, or verification, leaving residents many of whom are Scheduled Tribe families residing there for decades with no opportunity for consultation....

    In a breakthrough that highlights both the immense promise and the chilling risks of modern technology, scientists have successfully used artificial intelligence to design and create complete viral genomes from scratch. While the researchers focused on bacteriophages viruses that infect bacteria rather than humans the feat demonstrates that AI can now "write" the blueprint for life, a capability that has sparked urgent debates among biosecurity experts. The Rise of AI-Designed Pathogens The core of this innovation lies in genome-language models. Much like AI models that predict the next word in a sentence, these systems are trained on thousands of existing genetic sequences to predict plausible stretches of DNA. By learning the "grammar" of viral genetics, the AI ...

    A volcano in southeastern Iran that has remained dormant for nearly 700,000 years is showing subtle but significant signs of renewed activity, according to a new scientific study that has raised concerns among volcanologists. Researchers have detected a gradual uplift of around nine centimetres near the summit of Mount Taftan over a ten-month period, a movement identified using satellite radar observations. While the rise may appear minor, scientists say it indicates increasing pressure beneath the volcano and warrants close monitoring. Mount Taftan has no recorded eruptions in human history and is often considered inactive. However, the new deformation signal suggests that internal volcanic processes are underway. The study, published in Geophysical Research Lett...

    Coral reefs, among the most biologically rich ecosystems on Earth, may be approaching a critical breaking point, with scientists warning that 2026 could mark a year of irreversible global decline. Despite covering less than one per cent of the ocean floor, tropical coral reefs support nearly a quarter of all marine species, making their survival essential for ocean health and coastal communities worldwide. Over the past few decades, an estimated 30 to 50 per cent of the world’s coral reefs have already been lost. The situation has worsened dramatically following record-breaking ocean heatwaves in 2023 and 2024, which triggered mass coral bleaching across at least 83 countries. As the planet continues to warm, scientists now fear that the next few years, particularly ...

    New Delhi: Delhi continued to remain in the grip of dense fog and cold wave conditions on Tuesday, with air quality staying in the ‘poor’ category for the second consecutive day. The worsening winter conditions prompted airlines to issue advisories, cautioning passengers about possible flight delays due to low visibility. According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app, the city’s Air Quality Index stood at 286 on Tuesday, slightly higher than Monday’s reading of 244. Out of 40 air quality monitoring stations in the national capital, 19 recorded ‘very poor’ air quality levels. East Delhi’s Anand Vihar emerged as the most polluted area, registering an AQI of 343. The India Meteorological Department said Delhi and large parts of northwest Ind...

    In the quiet village of Jhalaguda, tucked inside the Gundal Gram Panchayat of Odisha’s Kundra block, Rukmani Khilo begins her day much like generations before her. Yet, her work today goes far beyond subsistence farming. A member of the Paraja tribal community, Rukmani has emerged as a powerful symbol of sustainable agriculture, seed conservation, and women-led rural transformation in one of the state’s most marginalised regions. Her journey reflects how traditional knowledge, when supported by scientific training and collective institutions, can create resilient livelihoods. Rukmani’s turning point came in 2019, when she joined the Board of Directors of Bamandei Farmer Producer Company Limited, promoted by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Jeypore. Through t...

    Earth’s plants may not be the climate saviours scientists once hoped for. New research has revealed that vegetation across the planet is absorbing significantly less carbon dioxide than climate models have predicted for years, raising fresh concerns about the world’s ability to slow global warming naturally. For a long time, scientists believed that rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere could stimulate faster plant growth, allowing forests and other ecosystems to absorb more carbon and partially offset climate change. However, this benefit depends heavily on the availability of nitrogen, a critical nutrient that plants need to grow. The latest findings show that the natural supply of nitrogen has been seriously overestimated. The study, involving research...

    Early one morning in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh, forest officials rushed to a village after receiving a familiar distress call. A “leopard cub” had reportedly been trapped inside a cage placed near agricultural fields. Such alerts are common in this landscape, where large carnivores often move through sugarcane farms and villages. But when officials arrived, they discovered the animal inside the cage was not a leopard cub at all. It was a fishing cat. Surrounded by frightened villagers, the small wild cat had been force-fed pieces of sugarcane by people who believed they were dealing with a dangerous predator. The animal’s spotted coat and proximity to homes had fuelled panic. Forest staff intervened, rescued the fishing cat and released it into a nearby fores...

    Agricultural expansion is driving a sharp decline in wildlife across the world’s most biologically rich ecosystems, with more than 26 per cent of species disappearing from biodiversity hotspots, according to a new global study. The findings highlight how rising food production is coming at a severe ecological cost, particularly in regions that harbour rare and endemic species found nowhere else on Earth. The study, published on December 26, 2025 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment was led by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Agricultural University, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Cambridge, the University of Maryland and the University of Oklahoma. It offers one of the most comprehensive assessments ...

    As the world enters the latter half of a decisive decade for climate action, scientists warn that the window to prevent the most damaging impacts of global warming is rapidly narrowing. To keep global temperature rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius, carbon emissions must be cut nearly in half by 2030. Yet as 2026 begins, the world remains dangerously off track, with the risk of further backsliding growing even as some unexpected pockets of progress emerge. Across major economies, climate action is increasingly shaped by political, economic and technological crosscurrents. In the United States, President Donald Trump’s renewed push to roll back climate regulations and revive fossil fuel production has created fresh uncertainty for renewable energy. At the same time, soari...