THE world of technology wars has spilt over from chips to a relatively less-known and even less-understood arena of rare earths. For most who are unfamiliar with chemistry and the periodic table, rare earths seem to be some mysterious elements that have suddenly become a new tech battlefield between nations. We are now realising that not only are rare earths indispensable for a variety of devices that have entered our everyday lives, but they also form the foundation of renewable energy technologies. According to Prof.

THE National Health Service in the UK has recently approved Hemgenix. The gene therapy drug that cures hemophilia B costs around Rs 30 crores (£2.6 million) for a single injection dose. This is now the world's priciest medicine. It is an indicator of our disabled pharma system. Life saving innovations become designer commodities. Much of the development for gene therapy has come from publicly funded research. Though gene therapy drugs involve advanced manufacturing techniques, the price does not arise from that alone.

THE much awaited Preliminary Report (PR) of the investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) into the horrendous crash of Air India flight AI-171 at Ahmedabad on June 11 this year was finally released on July 11th night. This just met the one-month deadline norm set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO, normally pronounced eye-kay-oh).Besides other investigations, the PR is supposedly an initial assessment of clear and complete data downloaded from one of the aircraft’s two Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFR) found in the wreckage.

IF Israel-Iran ceasefire holds and the US President Trump, after his attack on Iran’s nuclear installations, decides that enough is enough, we might just see a glimmer of hope in the Israel-Iran war. The genocide in Gaza though continues, with its two million Palestinians offered only the choice of a quick death at the hands of Israeli forces, or a slow death by starvation. The Gaza holocaust is live on our screens every day.

THE Trump administration has started an unprecedented attack on American higher education. Using federal funds as a tool to seize control of universities and throttle academic freedom, a momentous shift in the US education and research landscape has been created. Mass grant cancellations, vicious budget cuts, and open political meddling in scientific work have been used in this attack. This has raised alarm amongst scientists and activists that there will be a wholesale dismantling of core research projects.