downtoearth.org.in

India’s sudden baby bust

Bay of Bengal depression weakens, but rain threat spreads across India and Nepal

Frank Zappa at 6,000 metres: How vapour becomes spectacle over Kangchenjunga Watching a cap cloud over Kokthang becomes a meditation on mountain weather, deep time and perception. The essay traces vapour rising over Kangchenjunga, forming a fleeting ‘moustache’ cloud shaped by smooth storm winds, revealing how orographic cap clouds are moving.

Species of our making: The speed of AI development raises serious concerns on consciousness and whether machines can ever gain it The story explores whether rapidly advancing AI could ever become conscious, revisiting Alan Turing’s question of machine thought. It contrasts fears of a future “silicon species” and existential risk with arguments that consciousness may be biologically bound.

Will the village survive? Question that haunts everyone after landslide at Rimbi in West Sikkim

Maharashtra reels under drought-like conditions, nearly half of tehsils likely to be classified as affected

Simply Put: India‘s drought crisis

Typhoon Dujuan: How 832 mm of rain flooded Japan in 48 hours

The global electrification agenda: Low-hanging fruit, with high-hanging costs that must be addressed COP31’s “35-by-35” electrification pledge seeks to lift electricity’s share of final energy demand from 23% to 35% by 2035, a shift the IEA deems economically feasible. Yet weak grids, indebted utilities and costly finance in developing regions threaten progress.

Now that India can see its farms, what next?