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.

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Articles

What are muscle cramps?

10 hours ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

A: A cramp is a sudden, involuntary tightening of a muscle or a group of muscles that a person can’t immediately relax. Because the muscle locks up all at once, it often feels like a sharp knot and can hurt for a few seconds to several minutes. Muscle cramps occur in parts of the legs or hands as a result of dehydration, exercise or low potassium or magnesium levels. Menstrual cramps in the uterus are hormone-driven contractions to expel the uterine lining.
What is next for Iran’s nuclear programme?

20 hours ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

After its recent airstrikes against Iran’s facilities in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan, the U.S. has been claiming it has set back the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons ambitions by decades and nullified the country’s ability to make a nuclear weapon of mass destruction (WMD).
Daily Quiz | On the Russian battleship Potemkin

1 day ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

Q: Name the war the Russian Empire was fighting at the time the crew of the Potemkin mutinied. Russia suffered heavy losses during one particular battle in this war, forcing it to sue for peace and sending crew morale in its naval fleet plummeting. This was one of the causes of the mutiny.
Is India plumbing the depths of groundwater?

1 day ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

India is the world’s largest groundwater guzzler. It extracted around 245 billion cubic metres (BCM) for irrigating cropland alone in 2011 – about 25% of the world’s groundwater consumption. More recently, as of 2023, the annual groundwater recharge was around 449 BCM while the extraction rate was 241 BCM, meaning India is drawing roughly 60% of whatever groundwater is available every year.
Why does the Axiom-4 mission need 28 hours to reach the ISS?

2 days ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

At 12.01 pm IST on June 25, a crew capsule containing four astronauts, including India’s Group Capt. Shubhanshu Shukla on his first spaceflight, lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s spaceport in Florida. The lift-off marked the start of the long-awaited Axiom-4 mission. The launch was smooth. By the time the rocket’s two stages had completed their work, the crew capsule — called Dragon — was travelling at several thousand kilometres per hour.
Science for all: New research opens doors to upcycling plastic waste into paracetamol

2 days ago | thehindu.com | Rohan Chakravarty |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!)Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have found a way to make a classic lab reaction, called the Lossen rearrangement, happen safely inside living Escherichia coli cells — thus opening a potential new path to recycling plastic waste into valuable products.
What is a blowout?

5 days ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

A blowout is a type of accident that happens at a natural-gas or oil well when the underground pressure pushing gas upward suddenly overpowers the equipment meant to contain it. In the normal course, workers drill down to reach gas trapped under rock. They pump a thick substance called drilling mud down and use powerful valves called blowout preventers to hold the high pressure back.
What is a blowout?

5 days ago | flipboard.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

NowThe best portable air conditioner I tested Best portable air conditioner: Black+Decker 14,000-BTU Smart Portable Air Conditioner BPACT14WT The best portable air conditioner might just help you survive the coming summer months, especially if you have an antiquated unit and no way of installing a newer …
NPT | For the sake of peace, at the cost of war

6 days ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

Through history, Iran’s relationship with nuclear weapons has had four phases. In the first, it was a model state. When the UN opened the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) for signatures on July 1, 1968, Shah Reza Pahlavi signed it on the first day and ratified it two years later as part of his efforts to increase access to nuclear power in Iran under the White Revolution. Also Read: Data | 50 years of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons treaty: will disarmament be achieved?
What is IIT-Delhi’s quantum communications breakthrough? | Explained

1 week ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

The story so far: On June 16, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement that IIT-Delhi scientists together with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) demonstrated quantum communication over a distance of more than 1 km in free space. The development was hailed as a breakthrough in quantum cybersecurity. What is quantum communication?