A new study, a first of its kind in the Indian subcontinent, has revealed how the diet composition of threatened vulture species varies across different landscapes. Using a novel metabarcoding technique, a team of scientists from National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR), Bombay Natural History Society, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Karnataka Vulture Conservation Trust, and Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology, have been able to examine faecal samples from vultures, to identify the DNA of diet species whose carcasses the vultures likely consumed.

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Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) has a longstanding tradition of honouring staff and students annually for their exemplary service and work during the Foundation Day celebrations, which is held on 30th October in TIFR, Mumbai. On this occasion, staff members who have served for 25 years at TIFR institutions are honoured. This time, three members of the NCBS family- Prof. R. Sowdhamini, Senior Professor, Mr. Prashanthmurthy, Administrative Officer-Hospitality Services and Mr. Ravindra Munshi, Engineer-Quality Control, were honored for their services.

Novak Djokovic

Bengaluru, 15 January 2024: Scientists from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS- TIFR), Bengaluru, in collaboration with researchers from Indian Foundation for Butterflies Trust, Bengaluru, have identified a new butterfly species, the Conjoined Silverline (Cigaritis conjucta), from the Western Ghats (a biodiversity hotspot) in Karnataka. Prof. Krushnamegh Kunte, along with PhD scholars Ujwala Pawar and Viraj Nawge from NCBS, contributed to this discovery, recently documented in the journal Zootaxa.

Prof. Vatsala Thirumalai was honoured with the Distinguished Alumni Award 2023 by Alagappa College of Technology (AC TECH), Anna University, Chennai. She is one among the only two women alumni to receive this award.

A trio of researchers- Suman Attiwilli, Ravikanthachari and Krushnamegh Kunte, from the Biodiversity Lab at NCBS have tested and confirmed a new field technique to monitor butterfly populations, that is more effective and less complex than the ones that are more widely used.  The study titled “A Comparison Between Time-Constrained Counts and Line Transects as Methods to Estimate Butterfly Diversity and Monitor Populations in Tropical Habitats” is published in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity.

“This morning I saw the countryside from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big”, writes Van Gogh in a letter to his brother, Theo. The famous oil-on-canvas painting ‘Starry Night’ was inspired by this view from the window of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in southern France where he spent the year 1889. He suffered from mental illness most of his life.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the major causative agent of cervical cancers.