These 6 NASA images capture the beauty of the Universe of galaxies | See Pics

 Our planet Earth is part of a solar system located in the Milky Way Galaxy. Many other galaxies are situated millions of light years away from our home. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shared several images of our neighbouring galaxies and those located far beyond our reach.

Catch a glimpse of a few galaxies out of one hundred billion galaxies in our Universe with these NASA images.

NASA images of galaxies

The image captures the spiral arms of the nearby galaxy Messier 81

The image of nearby galaxy Messier 81 was captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The galaxy is located in the northern constellation of Ursa Major (which also includes the Big Dipper). Skygazers who wish to enjoy the sight of this galaxy can spot this neighbour with the help of binoculars or a small telescope. 

M81 is located at a distance of 12 million light-years. It was one of the first publicly released datasets soon after Spitzer's launch in August 2003. 

Centuraus A, also known as NGC 5128 or Caldwell 77, is a galaxy located in constellation of Cenaurus.© Provided by Live Mint

The image was formed with the help of the data collected by the European Southern Observatory and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Thousands of lines shown in the image are the magnetic fields observed by NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). These magnetic fields are shown as streamlines over an image of the galaxy taken at visible and submillimeter wavelengths by the European Southern Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (orange).

Cartwheel Galaxy© Provided by Live Mint

The spectacular image of Cartwheel Galaxy is the result of intricate details captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The image reveals star formation and the galaxy’s central black hole. Webb’s powerful infrared gaze produced this detailed image of the Cartwheel and two smaller companion galaxies against a backdrop of many other galaxies.

View of neighbouring spiral galaxy Andromeda, also called M31,

The NASA image unveils a spectacular view of the neighbouring spiral galaxy Andromeda, also known as M31, in ultraviolet light. Scientists have formed this image with the inputs of 330 images from Swift’s Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope. Some 20,000 ultraviolet sources are visible in the image, including M32, a small galaxy in orbit around M31.

The view of field of galaxies known as Cosmos field.coloured dots are galaxies that host black holes emitting lower-energy X-rays. 

7 British dishes inspired from Indian cuisine

 

7 British dishes inspired from Indian cuisineProvided by Deepak kumar blogs

When it comes to India and Britain, both countries share a deep historical and cultural connection. Indian cuisine has influenced the Western style of cooking in many ways. It was during the 18th century, when the English soldiers learned the Indian way of cooking and since then, the British have adopted the various flavours and cooking techniques. Here is a list of 7 British dishes that owe their origin or inspiration to Indian cuisine, highlighting how cultural exchange has shaped food in the UK.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Perhaps, one of the most famous examples of an Indian-inspired dish is Chicken Tikka Masala, which is a staple of British curry houses. Although its exact origin is debated, it is widely accepted that this dish was developed in Britain to cater to local tastes. The story goes that a British customer found his chicken tikka too dry, so the chef, possibly in a Glasgow restaurant, added a creamy tomato-based sauce to the dish. Today, Chicken Tikka Masala is often considered a British national dish, representing the fusion of Indian flavours with British preferences for milder, creamier curries.

Balti

Originating in the 1970s in the Birmingham area, the Balti is another Indian-inspired dish that was developed in Britain. The term “Balti” refers to the steel bowl in which the curry is cooked and served. Though the dish borrows heavily from North Indian and Pakistani cuisine, it has been adapted for British palates. A Balti is typically cooked with chunks of meat or vegetables in a tangy, spiced curry and served with naan bread. It is known for being a lighter, quicker, and slightly tangier version of traditional Indian curries, making it uniquely British-Indian.

Coronation Chicken

A dish fit for royalty, Coronation Chicken was created in 1953 to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This cold dish consists of chicken dressed in a creamy curry sauce made with mayonnaise, yoghurt, and mild Indian spices. Although it was developed in Britain, the dish takes inspiration from Indian flavours and spices, reflecting the British fascination with Indian food. Coronation Chicken became an iconic British dish served at picnics, parties, and even in sandwiches.

Mulligatawny Soup

The name Mulligatawny is derived from the Tamil words ‘Milagu Tanni’, meaning "pepper water." Originally a South Indian dish, this thin and spicy broth was adapted by the British during the colonial era. Over time, Mulligatawny Soup evolved into a heartier, Anglo-Indian dish, often made with chicken, rice, lentils, and a variety of spices. Today, it is a popular choice in British kitchens and restaurants, particularly during the colder months, offering a taste of Indian warmth.

Kedgeree

If there is one dish that defines the adaptation of Indian cuisine to British cuisine, it’s the ‘Kedgeree’ which they call their own. Believed to have originated from the Indian dish Khichdi, a simple dish of rice and lentils—Kedgeree was adapted during the British Raj to include smoked haddock, boiled eggs, and cream. This savoury breakfast dish became a beloved staple of British households, offering a fusion of Indian spices with British ingredients. Even today, Kedgeree remains popular as a comforting breakfast or brunch option.

Samosa

Although Samosas are widely recognised as a traditional Indian snack, they have become an integral part of British food culture. Introduced to Britain by Indian immigrants, samosas were quickly embraced as a savoury pastry filled with spiced potatoes, peas, and sometimes meat. British supermarkets now sell countless varieties of samosas, often with fillings that reflect British tastes, such as cheese and onion or Chicken Tikka. This adaptation has allowed samosas to become a popular party snack and street food across the UK.

Phaal Curry

This is one of the lesser-known curries made in England, but is spicier than you can think of! Phaal Curry is not a dish you will find in traditional Indian households, but it is a well-known part of British curry culture. It was initially prepared in the Bangladeshi-owned curry houses of Birmingham and is said to be the hottest curry available in the UK, and while its heat level might be excessive for many Indian diners, it has found a dedicated following among those in Britain who love a fiery challenge.

HAL is ICICI Securities’ top pick: 4 reasons for the big upgrade

 

HAL share price: The share price of HAL has risen 3.77% in the past five trading sessions.(Image: HAL/website)

Hindustan Aeronautics was in trouble after the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) chief called out HAl for delay in deliveries of orders. To that, HAL in its response said, GE Aerospace didn’t supply engines for the light combat aircraft Tejas.

ICICI Securities on HAL: Upgrades to Buy from Hold

However, two days back GE Aerospace delivered the first of 99 F404-IN20 engines to HAL for the light combat aircraft Tejas Mk 1A, which will help ramp up execution. Following this, ICICI Securities in a research note upgraded the rating to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ on the stock. Plus, it raised the target price by 23% to Rs 5,000 from Rs 4,065. “We see this is a vital development that allays execution risk concerns” said ICICI Securities in a research note. 

ICICI Securities on HAL: New orders to leg up order book

The recent order of 97 Tejas Mk 1A and 156 LCH Prachand will leg up the company’s order book. “We expect revenue growth of 25–28% through FY27, based on the order book estimated at more than Rs 1.3 lakh crore,” said ICICI Securities. This may result in earnings per share growth at a compounded annual rate of 39% by FY27 from FY25. 

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While the company can manufacture 24 Tejas Mk 1A, the brokerage house estimates only a gradual ramp-up from 10 in FY26 to 24 by FY30.

Besides, HAL aims to complete the assembly of the first Tejas Mk-II aircraft by October 2025 and achieve its maiden flight by the end of March 2026 (HAL Nears Completion of First Tejas MkII Aircraft as Assembly Progresses Swiftly – Indian Defence Research Wing). 

IAF was not confident on HAL

Coming back to trouble, during Aero India 2025, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh criticized the company for the delays in the delivery of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk1A. “You have to alleviate (our) worries and make us more confident. At the moment, I am just not confident of HAL, which is a very wrong thing to happen,” Singh said.

HAL’s stock performance

The share price of HAL has risen 3.77% in the past five trading sessions. The stock has given a return of over 35% in the last one month. However, it has fallen 5.5% in the previous six months. The defence stock has raised investors’ wealth by 22.8% in the last one year. 

'West is becoming more of a scam': European student asks why Indians want to leave the country, questions migration wave

 

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'West is becoming more of a scam': European student asks why Indians want to leave the country, questions migration wave

In a thought-provoking Reddit post that has sparked debate, a European student voiced skepticism over the increasing number of Indians aspiring to move to the West, questioning whether Western countries are still the promised lands they once appeared to be.

The post, which appeared in a popular migration-related subreddit, expressed concerns about the economic challenges in Western nations. The author pointed to soaring housing costs, stagnating wages, and intense job market competition as signs of a declining Western dream.

"Housing is getting super expensive, and its price is growing at a higher rate than salaries. Many fields are facing a crisis, and even highly educated locals struggle to secure jobs. How can you, coming from India, believe this is a land of milk and honey where you will succeed in all your endeavors?" the student asked.

The discussion highlights a growing sentiment among some Westerners who question why skilled professionals from booming economies like India continue to seek opportunities abroad. The Redditor pointed to India’s rapid GDP growth, its thriving corporate sector, and a lower cost of living as compelling reasons to stay.

"Looking at it from the outside, India is a country where GDP is growing at such a fast rate, and its prospects for the future look great. Wouldn’t an ambitious Indian have more to gain from starting their own business or working in corporations within its rapidly growing economy?" they added.

Acknowledging their lack of firsthand experience in India, the student emphasized their desire for an open discussion.

The post quickly gained traction, eliciting a range of responses from Indian users who shared personal experiences and counterarguments. Some pointed to systemic issues like bureaucracy, corruption, and limited opportunities for cutting-edge research as reasons for seeking jobs abroad.

"India is growing, but so is its population. The competition here is brutal, and opportunities are limited if you’re not from a privileged background," wrote one user.

Another pointed out the appeal of Western work cultures: "It’s not just about money; it’s about work-life balance, better infrastructure, and personal freedom. Those things still matter."

However, others agreed with the European student’s perspective, emphasizing the potential of India's domestic market. "The cost of living in the West is insane. I earn well in India and enjoy a far better quality of life than my friends who moved abroad and are drowning in rent and expenses," noted one commenter.

The debate underscores the complexity of migration decisions, revealing a mix of economic aspirations, cultural preferences, and individual career goals. While the West still attracts many for its opportunities and stability, India's rise as an economic powerhouse is making some rethink the necessity of leaving home.

'World's oldest 3D map' discovered in Paris basin is 13000 years old!

 Throughout history, human beings have been a living examples of intelligence, hard work, and consistency no matter what resources were available to them, may it be the modern man or the early men who lived in the caves. Our early ancestors were far more advanced than we often give them credit for. They were experts at using available resources for survival and developing tools and techniques that laid the foundation for modern civilization. From detailed cave paintings that depicted their daily lives and beliefs to the creation of tools for hunting and gathering, our ancestors were creative and had problem-solving skills.

Recently researchers have unearthed the alleged world’s oldest three-dimensional map, which was hidden within a quartzitic sandstone megaclast, or a big fragment of rock having carvings on it, in the Paris Basin. This came to the limelight from the Ségognole 3 rock shelter, a site that has been known since the 1980s for its artistic engravings of two horses in a Late Palaeolithic style on either side of a female pubic figuration. The latest discoveries show that this site also has a miniature representation of the surrounding landscape, created by Palaeolithic people around 13,000 years ago.

'World's oldest 3D map' discovered in Paris basin is 13000 years old!

The research was led by Dr. Anthony Milnes, from the University of Adelaide, and Dr. Médard Thiry from the Mines Paris-PSL Centre of Geosciences. According to their study, part of the shelter's sandstone floor was shaped and adapted as a representation of the natural water movement in the region and the geomorphology. According to Dr. Milnes, this three-dimensional miniature does not represent a map in the modern sense, with the correct measure of distances and directions, but instead depicts the functioning of a landscape, showcasing runoff from highlands into streams and rivers, the convergence of valleys, and the formation of lakes and swamps downstream.

The study also says that water flow direction and landscape feature identification were likely more fundamental for Paleolithic humans than concepts like time or distance. This study makes us understand that these early forebears actually had the intellectual capacity, imagination, and skill to mold their environment in the manner they thought was necessary according to their needs.

'World's oldest 3D map' discovered in Paris basin is 13000 years old!

Dr. Thiry's observation of the Fontainebleau sandstone showed him that his fine and detailed morphological features were not naturally there in the surroundings. These characteristics could only have been altered by our predecessors, and their purpose (whether illusory or real) was probably to impart specific pathways of water flow while carving a path and guiding the rain along in some specific path for the water course.

This is no less true in defining macrobehavior of water courses setting the course ofwater floww. The hydraulic functions used in the rock shelter bring to light the cognitive intelligence of our ancestors.

The value of the discovery lies in its greater, and probably mythological relationship with water, as the proximity of the two hydraulic installations inside the shelter seems to convey. They stand about two or three meters away from one another and seem to convey a profound knowledge regarding life and nature, which yet remains concealed to us for now.

Published by the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, this study shows the importance of interdisciplinary work. Milnes mentions that the most productive results in research are often found where disciplines intersect. For such reasons, field-based research needs to be reconsidered and done by frequent site visits, followed by new and ever-changing observations and interpretations presented for a lively interdisciplinary discussion.

Before this discovery, The oldest three-dimensional map was a portable rock slab dating back to the Bronze Age around 3,000 years ago, which marked a local river network while some earth mounds also dominated part of it. But now, the concept of mapping out an area seems to distort significantly as the investigation reaches deeper into the past, giving us improved information for better understanding through this relic from paleolithic human beings.

The fact that our ancestors could perceive and manipulate the milieu in this more intelligent manner really proves that they were better than us in terms of the quality of intelligence they had, considering the resources available to them.

Scientists crack the code, reveal what transported seeds of life to Earth

 

Scientists crack the code, reveal what transported seeds of life to Earth

How did life emerge on Earth? The age-old question has intrigued experts for years and now a study has hinted that rocky guests who visit us frequently might have carried the seeds of life. 

Meteorites likely brought the building blocks of life to the primordial Earth from space, as per new evidence. Scientists are intrigued by the finding as this means that alien life exists somewhere in space.

The study says that these meteorites are the fractured remains of early "unmelted asteroids," a type of planetesimal, small rocky bodies considered the main building blocks of the planets in our solar system.  

They came into existence around 4.6 billion years ago, forming in the disk of dust and gas around a young sun. Several particles swirled around our star which started to stick together eventually, adding more mass and making progressively larger bodies.

A team of researchers worked to determine the origin of Earth's "volatiles" and tracked the chemical element zinc in meteorites. They include six common chemicals vital for living things, including water.

"One of the most fundamental questions on the origin of life is where the materials we need for life to evolve came from," lead author of the study. Rayssa Martins, from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge in England, said in a statement. 

"If we can understand how these materials came to be on Earth, it might give us clues to how life originated here and how it might emerge elsewhere," Martins added.

Where did zinc come from?

The team, including researchers from Cambridge and Imperial College London, decided to look for zinc because when it is formed in meteorites, it has a unique composition that can help understand about the origins of volatiles.

Earlier, the team found that zinc on Earth came from different regions of the solar system. Nearly half of it came from the inner region of the solar system. However, the rest of it likely originated from beyond Jupiter. 

Planetesimals are of different types. Those that formed in the earliest era of the solar system were exposed to high levels of radiation from the infant sun. They lost volatiles through vaporisation because of melting due to the heat. 

However, those that were born later weren't exposed to a lot of radiation, and so were held on to most of the volatiles. The team studied zinc in different meteorites originating from different planetesimals. They traced the arrival of zinc to Earth over tens of millions of years.

They found that melted planetesimals made up for around 70 per cent of our planet's total mass but only delivered about 10 per cent of its zinc content. This meant that 90 per cent of Earth's zinc originated from "unmelted" planetesimals. 

Researchers believe that these unmelted space rocks likely also delivered a lot of volatiles to the forming Earth.

Denmark Strait Cataract: World's Tallest And Largest Waterfall Hidden Under Water

 

An astonishing volume of water flows through this cataract in the Atlantic Ocean that is 20 to 40 times more than the volume discharged into the Atlantic by rivers.

Watching water cascade from a high waterfall is an exhilarating and adventurous experience. People commonly recognise Venezuela’s Angel Falls as the tallest waterfall in the world, while Victoria Falls, located on the border of Zambia-Zimbabwe in Africa, is known as the waterfall with the biggest water flow. However, the tallest and largest waterfall in the world is the Denmark Strait Cataract, and the surprising part is that it exists underwater.

The Denmark Strait Cataract lies in the Arctic Circle between Greenland and Iceland. Spanning an area of 480 km, it reaches a height of 3,505 metres. This makes it the tallest and largest waterfall in the world. Its actual height is said to be 2,012 metres, but even this is enough to secure its title.

Underwater Waterfall

Despite being submerged, it behaves like a traditional waterfall, flowing from top to bottom. If you’re wondering how a waterfall can exist underwater and where the water flows, here’s the explanation.

The phenomenon of water flowing underwater is rooted in simple science. Cold water is denser than warm water. In the Arctic, during colder seasons, dense cold water sinks to meet the warmer water below. As a result, approximately 3.5 million cubic metres of water flow downward every second.

An astonishing volume of water flows through this cataract in the Atlantic Ocean that is 20 to 40 times more than the volume discharged into the Atlantic by rivers. The amount of water flowing per second is one-and-a-half times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

A Hidden Gem

The Denmark Strait Cataract remains relatively unknown to the world. This region, dotted with icebergs, is frequented by fishermen, and even the Nazi army ventured here in May 1941. Yet, none of them ever witnessed this underwater marvel.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States, no visible waterfall on Earth matches the magnitude or power of underwater waterfalls.

Water Speed

Despite its grandeur, the speed of the water is relatively slow. The flow rate is just 50 cm per second, equivalent to 1.8 km per hour. However, due to its immense width, the volume of water remains exceptionally high.

A Critical Natural Process

The Denmark Strait Cataract is not only visually captivating, it also plays a crucial role in Earth’s natural systems. It is part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a component of the global ocean conveyor belt. This system regulates warm and cold water currents across the oceans. The Denmark Strait Cataract contributes to the north-to-south currents in the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists first discovered this remarkable system when they studied the Denmark Strait in the 1960s.

A Fragile Giant

This colossal underwater waterfall may not last forever. Scientists warn that climate change poses a significant threat to AMOC, causing the cataract’s flow rate to slow down. According to NOAA, while it is uncertain if the waterfall will eventually stop, such an event would have catastrophic consequences. Rainy regions could shift southwards, transforming vast areas into deserts. If this happens, Angel Falls and Victoria Falls may reclaim their respective titles.