New Fiber-Optics, Drought Prediction, Information Theory, Uranium recycling, Paddle-Wheel Sensor and more...

Weekly Newsletter | Issue #11 - 12 Mar, 2025

Mar 12, 2025

Greetings from Research Matters!

This week, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. From one of the first science-fiction storytellers in colonial India to world-renowned scientists, read our infographic to learn about six trailblazers in Indian science.

On this week's stories - a theoretical fibre-optic material better than traditional ones, difficulty in predicting droughts and why correct indices matter, extracting information from unwilling participants, recycling uranium mill tailings into bricks and a copper MOF sensor for toxic heavy metals. Check out our regional stories for stories in Hindi and Marathi. We also have a podcast in Kannada in collaboration with Janasuddi. There are also stories from other media and events happening this week. Don’t forget to check out Scidle - the science wordle, for a new science word every day. If you’d like us to cover your research or publicise any science and research-related events, talks, workshops, etc, please reach out to us.

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Stories in this edition

A theoretical fibre optic material more efficient than traditional ones | DTU, DU, Gautam Buddha University

Researchers have proposed a new solid-core photonic crystal fibre, based on computer simulations, that, on paper, performs better than traditional fibre optics.

Why are droughts so hard to predict? IIT Pallakkad study explores why | IIT Palakkad

IIT Palakkad study shows how different indices used to predict drought combined with effects fof climate change can lead to different climate predictions for the future

Study suggests strategies to extract truth from unwilling senders | IIT Bombay

Offering limited options to choose from for a multiple choice setting recovers more accurate and truthful information than presenting the complete range of options, reveals IIT Bombay study.

From nuclear waste to green bricks | BARC

Researchers from BARC have developed a unique solution to piling Uranium mill tailings: converting them into a geopolymer block for construction.

A novel IIT Bombay “paddle-wheels” sensor to detect heavy metals in water | IIT Bombay, Monash University

The low-cost sensor made of a copper-based metal-organic framework performs as well as DNA based sensor, the gold standard for water quality sensors.