WASHINGTON Parents who regularly read with their toddlers are less likely to engage in harsh parenting, enhancing children’s behaviour, a study has found. The study, published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, suggests that shared reading facilitates a stronger parent-child bond and less hyperactivity and attention problems inRead More

HOUSTON Scientists have discovered one of the largest water reservoirs on Mars, in the form of ice layers buried over a kilometre beneath the surface, a finding that may reveal whether the Red Planet was habitable in the past. The team from The University of Texas at Austin and theRead More

JERUSALEM Scientists have recreated an ancient beer that was served during the reign of Egyptian Pharaohs over 5,000 years ago. In ancient times, beer was an important ingredient in people’s daily diet. Great powers were attributed to beer in the ancient world, particularly for religious worship and healing properties. ResearchersRead More

LONDON Human factors such as greenhouse gas emissions and particulate pollution, and other external factors are responsible for the rise in global temperature, an Oxford study has confirmed. While this has been the consensus of the scientific community for a long time, uncertainty remained around how natural ocean-cycles might beRead More

SAN FRANCISCO To push its payments platform Google Pay in India, the search engine plans to offer cashback incentives on Android apps. Codenamed “Project Cruiser”, this in-app engagement rewards platform has been in the works since last year and it is led by Google’s Next Billion Users team. “Google PayRead More

SAN FRANCISCO Micro-blogging site Twitter plans to update its social media dashboard app TweetDeck with support for GIFs, polls and emojis. In a Twitter poll, users were asked to choose the missing features that people would most like to see incorporated into TweetDeck, The Verge reported on Friday. The companyRead More

San Francisco Apple has started rolling out its TV app in over 100 countries that includes India, which would run across devices, including iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs and all of the Samsung smart TVs that are part of its 2019 line-up. Along with India, US, Canada, Nepal, select African asRead More

LONDON Scientists have created the world’s smallest pixels, by trapping particles of light under tiny rocks of gold, that could be used for new types of large-scale flexible displays, big enough to cover entire buildings. The colour pixels, developed by scientists from the University of Cambridge in the UK, areRead More

NEW YORK People with advanced computer skills are more likely to accept and use digital healthcare services and robot doctors, says a study by an Indian-origin researcher. “There is increasing use of automated systems in the medical field, where intake is now often conducted through a kiosk instead of byRead More

TORONTO Just over one-third of the world’s 246 longest rivers remain free-flowing, according to a study which found that dams and reservoirs are drastically reducing the diverse benefits offered by healthy rivers. A team of international researchers, including those from McGill University in Canada and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), assessedRead More