Japan ordered 147 F-35s, making it the largest foreign buyer. Israel recently doubled its planned fleet to 100 custom F-35I jets. Britain currently owns 47 F-35Bs, but its original order of 138 has stalled.

How many F-35s does Britain, Japan and Israel have?

Over 19 nations are purchasing the F-35 Lightning II for its unmatched stealth and sensor fusion. With prices falling to USD 80 million, the fifth-generation jet offers allied air forces seamless interoperability and future-proof technology.

Why so many countries want the F-35 fighter jet

Bangladesh leads the world with 60.6 per cent of its national territory classified as arable land, closely followed by Denmark and Ukraine. World Bank data reveals a stark global divide, highlighting severe water scarcity in the Middle East and massive fertile plains in South Asia.

‘Not the US or China’: These are the countries leading the world in arable land

From Chris Gayle to Punit Bisht, here's a look at the top five batters with the most sixes hit in a T20 innings. This list also includes Finn Allen and Sahil Chauhan

Meet top 5 batters with most sixes in a T20 innings

Janhvi Kapoor to Ananya Panday, these actresses have delivered fashion moments that feel straight out of a fairy tale. Read on to know more. &nbsp;

Ananya Panday to Sharvari: 5 actresses serving major princess vibes

Gamma Ursae Minorids: When To Watch This Meteor Shower Peak?

Gamma Ursae Minorids occur when Earth passes through the debris left behind by a comet. The debris that creates this specific meteor shower enters Earth's atmosphere at speeds of 67,000 miles per hour, which then burns up less than 100 miles above the surface of the Earth.

The shower will reach its peak on January 19 at around 11:00 am EST, hence it is best to catch a glimpse of the shooting stars either before dawn or after dusk on Thursday when the sky is dark.

To capture the best sight of the Minorids, it is suggested to travel to a location away from city and street lights, as well as air pollution. Give your eyes 30 minutes to adjust to the dark and you'll have a clear chance of catching Gamma Ursae Minorids.

The Gamma Ursae Minorids will be visible from India too at around 9:30 pm IST. The meteor shower will make a slight appearance in India on January 19 which can be seen up to midnight.

Here is everything you need to know about Gamma Ursae Minorids Meteor Shower:

How Scientifically Accurate is Nolan's 'Interstellar'?

Released in 2014, Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" is perhaps one of the best sci-fi movies ever made. It features Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Michael Caine in lead roles. McConaughey, who plays the role of ex-NASA pilot Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans when Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future.

Movie Garnered Respectable Status in Scientific Community

Over the years, Interstellar has gained massive respect in the scientific community with how realistic it is. But how much of this movie is rooted in actual science is still debatable.

Nolan's movie accurately depicted black holes five years before the first real proof of how they looked came out. According to a report by Screen Rant, visual effects supervisor Paul Franklin and his team pulled off the depiction so well that it resembled photos of the actual black holes captured by the  Event Horizon Telescope in 2019.

A Physicist Guided Nolan to make the Movie

Nolan took guidance from Caltech theoretical physicist Kip Thorne who had served as Interstellar's official science consultant and an executive producer. One of the most respected figures when it comes to astrophysics, Thorne is a recipient of the Nobel Prize in 2017 for his research on gravitational waves. Nolan relied on Thorne’s research to figure out changes in the space-time continuum for the movie.

Neil deGrasse Tyson liked Interstellar over Another Sci-Fi Epic

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is widely known for simplifying the study of space, praised Interstellar over Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. In an interview with NBC, Tyson praised Interstellar's accurate exploration of concepts, such as Einstein’s theory of relativity and about curvature of space.

LHS 1140b: A Nearby Exoplanet That Might be a Life-Friendly Water World

A new study has revealed that exoplanet LHS 1140b might be a life-friendly water world, Space.com reported. According to NASA, LHS 1140b is a super Earth exoplanet that orbits an M-type star. The exoplanet is around 50 light-years away from Earth.

LHS 1140b was discovered in 2017. Since then, the exoplanet has been observed by multiple telescopes. Its mass equals 6.38 Earths, and it takes 24.7 days to complete one orbit of its star.

The observations first convinced researchers that LHS 1140b is a rocky planet around 1.7 times wider than Earth. However, a new analysis of all available observations showed that the exoplanet was not dense enough to be purely rocky and must either contain much more water than Earth or have an extensive atmosphere full of light elements. 


Scientists cannot yet tell whether LHS 1140b is a rocky planet or a life-friendly water world. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) might find this answer in the coming years. If the exoplanet is a water world, it will be the number one target in the search for life outside the solar system. 

Five Rare Astronomical Events Before 2100

Asteroid Apophis will fly past Earth in 2029. According to NASA, Apophis quickly gained notoriety as an asteroid that could pose a serious threat to Earth when astronomers predicted that it would come uncomfortably close five years later. However, additional observations showed that there was no risk of an impact.

On Sept 8, 2040, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter will align in the sky. Some planets like Jupiter and Venus will be clearly visible.

Brightest Supermoon of the 21st Century: Year 2052

The brightest supermoon of the 21st century will occur on Dec 6, 2052. The Moon will be as much as 17,000 miles closer to us than usual.

Comet 15P/Finlay to fly past Earth in 2060

Comet 15P/Finlay will fly past Earth on Oct 27, 2060. 15P/Finlay orbits the sun every 2,380 days (6.52 years).

In Nov 2084, Earth and the Moon will pass by the Sun, looking like bright silhouettes. The last time such an event happened was in 1984.

The Most Terrifying Things in the Universe 

All images: NASA, Shutterstock (For representative images)

Space exploration began in the late 1950s. From there till now, we have explored only five per cent of the universe and the rest 95 per cent remains a mystery with unknown celestial objects and forces. The universe known to us has many terrifying things. Here’s a look at some of them: 

According to NASA, a black hole is an astronomical object with a gravitational pull so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape it. The universe has around 40 quintillion black holes. The biggest of them is Phoenix A - which is located 5.8 billion light years away from Earth. This black hole is about a staggering 100 billion times more massive than the Sun. 

Boomerang Nebula: The Coldest Place in the Universe 

The Boomerang Nebula is a young planetary nebula and the coldest object discovered in the universe so far. With a temperature of -272 degrees Celsius, it is only 1 degree warmer than absolute zero (the lowest limit for all temperatures). 

Himiko Cloud is the largest object in the known universe. Himiko is half the size of our galaxy - the Milky Way. It is 12 billion light years away from Earth. 

Facts about strange exoplanets discovered in the universe

HD 189773b: An Exoplanet that Rains Glass

To the human eye, HD 189773b looks bright blue, quite similar to Earth. However, this exoplanet has deadly weather. According to NASA, winds on HD 189773b blow up to 2 kilometres (km) per second. Rain on this exoplanet will cause death by a thousand cuts. HD 189773b rains glass—sideways—in its howling winds. The exoplanet is located 64 light years away from Earth.

55 Cancri e: An Exoplanet Made with Diamonds

55 Cancri e is one of the weirdest exoplanets ever discovered by scientists. It is made up of diamonds and is located 41 lightyears away from Earth. 55 Cancri e orbits a G-type star similar to our Sun.

KELT-9b, a gas giant 2.8 times more massive than Jupiter, is hotter than many stars. It has a dayside temperature of more than 4,315 degrees Celsius. A year on this exoplanet lasts less than a day and a half.

A Look at the Stunning Images Captured by Voyager 1 and 2

NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 space probes, which were launched within days of each other in 1977, captured some stunning images of planets in our solar system before starting their journey towards interstellar space.

According to NASA, the photography of Jupiter started in January 1979. Voyager 1 completed its Jupiter encounter in early April, after taking almost 19,000 pictures. Voyager 2 picked up the baton in late April and its encounter continued into August. Both probes clicked over 33,000 images of the solar system's biggest planet.

The Voyager 1 and 2 Saturn encounters occurred nine months apart, in November 1980 and August 1981. Here again, the probes clicked multiple images of the planet.

On Jan 24, 1986, Voyager 2 came within 81,800 kilometres of Uranus' cloud tops. The probe clicked thousands of images and gathered extensive data on the planet's moons, rings, atmosphere and magnetic environment.

In 1989, Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to observe Neptune, passing nearly 5,000 km above its north pole.

''Pale Blue Dot" is perhaps one of the most iconic space photographs ever taken. Voyager 1 was speeding out of the solar system when mission managers commanded it to look back towards home a final time. And this is when the image of the Pale Blue Dot was captured.

Olympus Mons: The Largest Volcano in the Solar System 

Olympus Mons is Three Times the Size of Mt. Everest 

Olympus Mons, which is on Mars, is the largest volcano in our solar system. The Martian mountain towers high above the surrounding plains of Mars and is three times the size of Mount Everest. 

According to NASA, Olympus Mons is 624 km in diametre, 25 km high, and is rimmed by a 6 km high scarp. The volume of Olympus Mons is 100 times larger than that of Mauna Loa, which is the largest volcano on Earth. 

Olympus Mons is a shield volcano. This means that rather than violently spewing molten material, a shield volcano is created by lava slowly flowing down its sides. 

Olympus Mons Last Erupted 25 Million Years Ago 

Olympus Mons last erupted 25 million years ago, and some reports suggest it may still be an active volcano. 


What is Earth's Rotation Day? History, Significance and More

Every year, January 8 is recognised as Earth’s Rotation Day. On this day in 1851, French physicist Leon Foucault proved that the Earth revolves on its axis, which was a major breakthrough in the world of science and geography. 

During pregnancy, Vitamin B12 is crucial for properly developing the fetus’s brain and nervous system. A deficiency of B12 in pregnant women can increase the risk of complications such as preterm birth and low birth weight.

The goal is to celebrate the phenomena as well as learn more about Foucault’s well-known experiment. Children all throughout the world are motivated to learn about this phenomenon in detail. Some teachers even demonstrate Foucault’s experiment to children. 

Earth rotates on its axis from west to east, and the Sun and the Moon appear to move from east to west across the sky. The spinning of the Earth around its axis is called ‘rotation’. One rotation of Earth completes one day, that is 24 hours. 

The Earth’s rotation creates the diurnal cycle of lightness and darkness and is also a reason for changes in temperature and humidity from time to time. It also causes tides in the oceans and seas. 

Here's everything you need to know about Earth's Rotation Day:

Quadrantids 2024: When to Watch Year's First Meteor Shower?

The Quadrantids meteor shower has been active since December 12 and will continue to be active till January 12. There is a high chance that they will peak on January 4.

The predicted peak of the year's first meteor shower is expected on Thursday (Jan 4) at around 7:53 am EST (12:52 GMT), as per EarthSky. As many as 25 shooting stars per hour are expected to grace the night sky during the Quadrantids.

Packed with iron, spinach is a great leafy green to add to salads, smoothies, and stir-fries.

The Quadrantids have the potential to be the strongest meteor shower of 2024, according to the American Meteor Society. Though it will last for just six hours, it will be a mesmerising spectacle.

Yes, the meteor showers will be visible in India. The best time to watch them from India will be around 12:07 am on each night till January 12. To watch the peak of Quadrantids, the suitable time would be around dawn on January 4.

Here is everything you need to know about the Quadrantids meteor shower 2024:

7 Upcoming Astronomical Events in January 2024 

The Quadrantids meteor shower will peak around midnight of Jan 3 or early morning of Jan 4. Quadrantids are above average showers with up to 40 meteors per hour at their peak. 

The Moon will be located on the same side of Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This phase occurs at 11:59 UTC. It is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere. 

On two nights, the waxing crescent moon and the iconic, ringed planet will be very close to each other in the sky. On the evening of Jan 13, the moon will appear above Saturn and on the next night, Saturn will be on top. The duo will be visible to the naked eye. 

With the moon in a waxing gibbous phase, Jupiter will sit to the left of earth’s natural satellite on Jan 17 and below it on Jan 18. The bright gas giant will be visible throughout the month, rising in the southeastern sky at its onset. 

Gamma-Ursae Minorids Meteor Shower Peak - Jan 19 

The second meteor shower of January, the Gamma-Ursae Minorids, may produce only three meteors per hour. The radiant point in the sky is the constellation Ursa Minor, which is the smaller celestial bear that contains the Little Dipper. 

Comet 144P/Kushida’s Closest Point to Sun - Jan 25 

The Comet 144P/Kushida will make its closest approach to the sun on Jan 25. It is a short-period comet that takes just 7.6 years to orbit the sun, and this month it will be visible with the help of strong binoculars or a telescope. 

January’s full moon, the first of the year, is traditionally known as the ‘wolf moon’. On Jan 25, the completely illuminated moon will rise in the northeast around sunset and make a majestic appearance. 

7 Spectacular Astronomical Events Coming Up in January 2024

Multiverse: A Space Theory That Baffles Scientists


All Images: NASA, Shutterstock, Freepik (For representative images)

Our universe is gigantic. While its actual size is not known, the observable universe has a diameter of 28.5 gigaparsecs (93 billion light years). But is our universe the only one, or are there other universes out there? This question has baffled scientists.

The multiverse is a hypothetical set of all universes. This concept has been discussed throughout history and has evolved. Now, the concept focuses on if there is a multiverse, will it have different laws of nature compared to ours?
Speaking to Forbes in March, Welsh astrophysicist Geraint F. Lewis said, "Some suggest the burst of inflation in the early stages of our universe might be eternal, with individual universes crystallising out of it, each written with its own unique laws of physics."



There is no direct evidence of a multiverse. So far, the evidence supporting the idea of numerous universes is theoretical.


Experts are divided on two sides when it comes to debating the existence of a multiverse. As per a report by Nat Geo, some experts have argued that it might have been a coincidence that the Big Bang forged a perfectly balanced universe that is just right for our existence.
However, others have said it is more likely that any number of physical universes exist, and we simply inhabit the one that is right for our survival.

All Images: NASA, Shutterstock, Freepik (For representative images)

A mouse may be a troublemaker for all our homes, but the creature is super-interesting. These bizarre facts about mice will convince you:


The dwarf bamboo (Sasa borealis) in Japan flowers, seeds, and dies off on huge scale once in 120 years. This is food for mice the population of whom spikes once every 120 years.


Monica from 'Friends' is a cleaning and organisation freak, right? Mice have similar urge when it comes to organising things.


Common household mice may run away from water but some species in Africa are semi-acquatic, which means they can swim in water quite easily.


They might be icky but are intelligent. Mice can recognise themselves in mirror, which is not a common trait in animals.


Scientists have found that some mice species communicate using 100 different notes. Males serenade females with their tunes and communicate among themselves using 'conversational' songs



5 Crazy Facts About Mice


Rewind 2023: Moments That Rivalled Science Fiction


The year 2023 saw some pretty ‘out there’ moments that at first glance seemed like something right out of a sci-fi book. 


On June 18th, Titan, a submersible carrying five passengers, embarked on a fascinating expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic, a ship known for its tragic end. However, merely 1 hour and 45 minutes into the dive, the submersible lost contact with its mother ship, the ‘Polar Prince’. Four days later, its debris was found 500 metres (1,640.42 ft) from the bow of the Titanic.


On September 13, journalist and UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan presented the specimens at a Mexico congressional event on UFOs or FANIs in Spanish. At the time, Maussan said that the bodies believed to have been found near the mysterious ancient Nazca lines in Peru were not related to life on Earth. 


September was truly a month of extraterrestrials. Apart from the Peruvian mummies in the month, NASA also unveiled a report on UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects), or UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena). 


In October, NASA successfully brought to the Earth the largest soil sample scooped from the surface of an asteroid called Bennu. The materials, dating back around 4.5 billion years, were collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe in 2020. 


You’ve heard of car crashes, but 2023 was the year of a space crash. In August, Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years failed, with the Luna-25 spacecraft spinning out of control and crashing into the moon. 


Soon after Russia’s failure, India succeeded in landing on the South Pole or the dark side of the moon. On August 23, the Chandrayaan-3 mission, with its lander Vikram and rover Pragyan, made the historic achievement, making India the first country to touch down on the unexplored side of the Earth’s satellite. 


In October, NASA announced that it had found evidence that points towards the existence of life on Mars… once upon a time. 


The year 2023 saw some pretty ‘out there’ moments that at first glance seemed like something right out of a sci-fi book.

The Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission became the first to reach the lunar south pole, an unexplored region where reservoirs of frozen water are believed to exist.

ChatGPT went viral in 2023. The jostling to take the lead in the new "generative AI" dominated the news cycle.

The year 2023 is set to be the hottest year on record, just seven years after the previous hottest year in human history. Warmer seas and a warmer atmosphere pushed the world into a never-before-seen era of Climate Change events.


4. Gene editing treatment for beta Thalassaemia


In a world-first, a gene editing tool, Casgevy, was approved for the treatment of disease. The therapy has been shown to relieve episodes of pain in sickle cell disease by removing the need for red-blood-cell transfusions in thalassaemia for at least a year.

In June, a number of papers described the possibility of lab cultures of stem cells with structures that resemble early post-implantation human embryos. While it raised many ethical questions, notably, the best of the models are not the same as normal human embryos — just as yet.

From India's Chandrayaan glory to the impact of climate change, here are the top five science stories of 2023.

7 Jaw-Dropping Photos Taken from Space

Proxima Centauri is the closest star known to us, located roughly 4.24 light-years from Sun. It is a red dwarf, the most common type of star found in the Milky Way. 

Proxima Centauri has siblings and they are Alpha Centauri A and B, located in the same Alpha Centauri three-star system. They are slightly farther away than Proxima, at about 4.37 light-years.

Another red dwarf, Barnard's Star is located 5.96 light-years from Earth. It was discovered by American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard.


In a blender, add the soaked coconut and 2 cups of warm water. Blend for 3-4 minutes on high speed. 

Located in the southern part pf the Ursa Major constellation, Lalande 21185 is around 8.29 light-years away from Earth.

5 Nearest Stars To Earth

Ursid Meteor Shower to Put on Last Celestial Show of 2023

Ursid Meteors are last meteor showers of the year 2023. The meteor shower has started and will peak overnight on Thursday (Dec 21) through Friday (Dec 22). 

Ursids are formed from 8P/Tuttle, a comet that takes 13.6 years to orbit the sun. It was last seen in the inner solar system in 2021 and id next due back in 2035. 

Garnish with additional nuts and serve the beetroot halwa warm.  

The best time to witness these "shooting" stars in midnight and after that. As per the American Meteor Society, they will shoot around 10 meteors per hour at the peak. 

They occur when dust and dirt strike the Earth's atmosphere. Usually, the source of this dust and dirt is a comet- 8P/Tuttle. The comet was found to be 2.8 miles (4.5km) in diameter and had a peanut-like shape.

Last Meteor Shower of 2023: How to Watch Ursid Meteors?

Despite once being considered the ninth planet in our solar system, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). 



Pluto is incredibly cold, with surface temperatures dropping to about -240 degrees Celsius. 


 

A distinctive heart-shaped region on Pluto’s surface was captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its historic flyby in 2015. 

Pluto has a thin and tenuous atmosphere primarily composed of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide. 

Pluto has five known moons. Charon, the largest moon, is so large in comparison to Pluto that the two bodies are often considered a binary system. 



Pluto has a unique orbit that is more tilted and elliptical compared to other planets in our solar system. 


 

Some regions on Pluto’s surface appear to contain vast plains of frozen methane. 









Pluto is situated in the Kuiper Belt, a region beyond Neptune. Its distance from Earth varies from about 4.67 to 7.4 billion miles.

Here are eight interesting, lesser-known facts about the dwarf planet of our solar system- Pluto.

8 Interesting Facts About Pluto 


Voyager 1 Faces Major Glitch as NASA Rushes to Fix It

NASA's Voyager 1, which was launched nearly 50 years ago, has experienced a glitch. A report by Science Alert said the space probe was sending repetitive jumble of 1s and 0s that didn't make any sense. NASA has been desperately trying to fix the glitch.

Despite the glitch, Voyager 1 was able to receive commands from Earth. However, messages to interstellar space required approximately 22.5 hours of travel.
This meant it would take days before experts know if their attempts to restore the probe worked or not.

According to Science Alert, the glitch came from a disruption in communication in one of the three computers onboard the Voyager 1, called the probe's flight data system (FDS), and one of the probe's subsystems- the telemetry modulation unit (TMU).

Last year too, a similar telemetry glitch was seen in Voyager 1 when the probe started returning some of its data through a broken computer onboard, corrupting the outgoing messages. NASA was able to resolve the glitch, but it took several months.

1. This Sharp-Clawed Dinosaur Ate Plants


This is what the top discoveries have been, right from the Earth's Jurassic world.