Episode 65: AI spots toxic plastics

Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince GeorgeHow would it be if the next cosmic mystery was found by volunteers peering into radio maps?And what if plants carry a 500-million-year-old switch to survive heat waves?Those are the two stories we will talk about today. Welcome to This Week in India’s Science. I’m Subhra Priyadarshini — let’s explore a community-driven cosmic discovery and a molecular secret plants use to beat the heat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince GeorgeRiver Ganga’s story of drought stretched a thousand years — right now is this river’s worst chapter yet?What if the next revolution in green transport began not with batteries, but with a single converter?What if the sea’s gentlest mammals were quietly absorbing our pollution?And what if elephants made decisions the way we do — by thinking, feeling, and remembering?This is This Week in India’s Science on the Nature India podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince GeorgeA device to transform dairy health — plus, snowflake fractals, molecular antibodies, and ageing skin in a dish.What if snowflakes could cage electrons? What if your skin could tell its age before wrinkles appear? What if fighting disease started when antibodies acted like architects, not just guards? Can a handheld gadget spot mastitis in milk before farmers even see the signs?All this in This Week in India’s Science. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we’ve got four stories that move from the microscopic world inside infants’ guts to the liquid-electrons in graphene, and from AI picking up disease early to plants healing themselves after damage.Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince George Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ancient crops may guide future farming — plus, a soda-can satellite sniffs pollution, a new pest threatens jasmine, and DNA ties India to Sri Lanka.Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince GeorgeThis Week in India’s Science, we’ve got four fascinating stories — from plants rooted in tradition to microscopic satellites and tiny pests — that together tell a larger story about resilience, discovery, and adaptation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince GeorgeThis Week in India’s Science: we’re venturing out into forests with Indian ecologists, uncovering why migrants are missing from climate plans, introducing an AI app that spots early cervical cancer, and exploring a rare airborne route in Nipah outbreaks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince George*****This Week in India’s Science, we'll explore how AI is peeking inside plastics, how tiny raindrops teach us about storms, why India is moving away from animal testing, and how a rare form of silicon might just light up future technology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince George*****Never miss an episode: Subscribe to the Nature India Podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Acast or your favourite podcast app. Head here for the Nature India Podcast RSS feed.In today's episode: Weight gain is increasingly a shared journey in Indian homes; carbon farming could turn Indian croplands into climate allies; a nasal COVID booster may strengthen our frontline immunity and uranium’s flow into groundwater can now be predicted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rising retractions prompt national reform – plus, a promising snakebite antidote, rise of biofoundries and why Ladakh glows in auroras.Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince George*****Welcome to This Week in India’s Science.Four big stories this episode — why rising paper retractions are forcing national reform, a potential region-specific solution for snakebite treatment, India’s sprint into biofoundries, and why a strange sequence of solar eruptions lit up Ladakh in red auroras last year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host: Subhra Priyadarshini; Sound editing: Prince George*****Welcome to This Week in India’s Science on the Nature India podcastThis week, we bring you three stories that speak to our changing world — and how we choose to understand it.We’ll start with a look inward, at the state of science journalism itself. Why is it so often reactive, underfunded, and seen as optional — a side dish in newsrooms — when the stakes have never been higher? Then we head to space — where ISRO and NASA have just launched their first Earth-mapping satellite together. It's a big step for science diplomacy and for the way we track climate change, disaster zones, and land use. And finally, back on the ground — to Kolkata, where researchers have created glowing nanoparticles that hunt down cancer cells with striking precision. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.