Vasudevan Mukunth

Southern Asia

Deputy Science Editor at The Hindu

I don't unmix science and politics. Deputy science editor, @the_hindu: mukunth dot v at thehindu dot co dot in. Also on https://t.co/GGa5C0gECA.

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Articles

Science Quiz | The world’s oldest lifeforms

1 week ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

Science Quiz | The world’s oldest lifeforms 1 / 6 |Scientists widely believe X are the first lifeforms on the earth that produced oxygen, and thus filled the atmosphere with this gas during the Great Oxidation Event around 2.4-2 billion years ago. Name X. 2 / 6 |This particular form of rock is created when X (from Q1) forms large colonies where each member is connected to the next in thin tendrils.
Iran’s nuclear programme | An atomic tug of war

1 week ago | thehindu.com | Stanly Johny |Vasudevan Mukunth

The U.S. and Iran have started talks about the latter’s controversial nuclear programme. After Donald Trump, in his first term, unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran had maintained that it would not hold direct talks with the U.S. There were multiple rounds of indirect talks in Vienna after Joe Biden became President in 2021, but those efforts were inconclusive.
Science Quiz | A reference point where water meets earth

2 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

Science Quiz | A reference point where water meets earth 1 / 6 |The first step to scientifically understanding the earth’s sea level is to determine the _____ — the shape that the surface of the ocean would take under the influence of gravity and the planet’s rotation and minus the effects of tides and wides. Fill in the blank. 2 / 6 |In 1948, geophysicists discovered an anomaly in the _____ _____ in the form of a 3 million sq.
Daily Quiz | On 76 years of NATO

2 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

Daily Quiz | On 76 years of NATO YOUR SCORE Copy link Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit 0/5 RETAKE THE QUIZ 1 / 5 | The construction of the ______ ____ in 1961 tested the strength of the alliance between European countries and the US, especially against an invasion by the Soviet Union. One important outcome was France withdrawing from NATO’s Military Command Structure in 1966. Fill in the blanks. Answer : Berlin Wall DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO SHOW ANSWER 2 / 5 | One of...
Laser allows long-range detection of radioactive materials

3 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

In a new breakthrough, a team of physicists from the U.S. has successfully demonstrated a new way to detect radioactive materials using carbon-dioxide lasers — from a distance. The potential applications of this innovative technique span national defence and emergency response, where rapid, accurate detection from safe distances is paramount. At the core of the new technique is a phenomenon called avalanche breakdown.
Centrifuge: getting to the good uranium

3 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

The enrichment centrifuge is a device used to extract uranium-235 isotope from a sample of natural uranium. U-235 is fissile and thus useful to generate nuclear power and to build nuclear weapons. Natural uranium consists of 99.3% U-238 and 0.7% U-235. Nuclear power reactors need the uranium fuel to contain 3-20% U-235, depending on the reactor design. Nuclear weapons need U-235 to be enriched to around 90%. The first step for both technologies is to enrich uranium in a centrifuge.
"Who are we?"

3 weeks ago | rootprivileges.net | Vasudevan Mukunth

From '‘The physics community has never split like this’: row erupts over plans for new Large Hadron Collider', The Guardian, March 29, 2025:However, if the FCC were given the go-ahead, it could lock up funds for decades and end up dictating the direction that particle physics will have to take for much of the century, [DESY Hamburg researcher Jenny] List added.
Laser allows long-range detection of radioactive materials

4 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

(This article forms a part of the Science for All newsletter that takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Subscribe now!) In a new breakthrough, a team of physicists from the United States has successfully demonstrated a new way to detect radioactive materials using carbon-dioxide lasers — from a distance. The potential applications of this innovative technique span national defence and emergency response, where rapid, accurate detection from safe distances is paramount.
Does walking in space lead to weight loss?

1 month ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

Are you trying to lose weight? Because in space you are already weightless. However, it is interesting to think about how astronauts can exercise in space, which they need to do to keep from losing muscle mass. Work is defined by a force displacing an object by some distance. When you lift a 5-kg dumbbell on the earth, you work to move it through the air. The amount of work depends on the amount of force exerted in this activity.
Lapis lazuli: earth’s best blues

1 month ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

Lapis lazuli is a vividly blue rock, sometimes with streaks of gold, that has been known for millennia for its eye-popping colour and use as a semi-precious gemstone. It gets its colour from the presence of an unusual mineral called lazurite (25-40%). Its blueness depends on the amount and structure of sulphur in this mineral. The presence of calcite can reduce the blueness while the golden sparkle comes from the presence of pyrites.