VidBodh AcademyThe art and science of civil services preparation
Student login

Science and Technology › Basic science in news

हिन्दी — Read in Hindi

Physics, chemistry and mathematics in news

Physics, chemistry and mathematics as they reach the news: measurement and legal time, lasers and the physics of materials, chemistry, and famous problems in mathematics. Prelims has asked about the four fundamental forces and the Higgs boson.

Foundation note: The Large Hadron Collider and the Standard Model

OpenAI's Navier–Stokes claim

Copy link to OpenAI's Navier–Stokes claim

Prelims and Mains

OpenAI's claim is a proposed answer to the Navier–Stokes problem, one of the Clay Mathematics Institute's prize problems: whether a smooth flow must stay smooth for ever. The Navier–Stokes equations are Newton's second law written for a fluid, balancing pressure, viscosity and the fluid's own momentum.

  • The difficulty sits in the term where the flow carries itself along, which is not proportional to velocity and lets small swirls feed large ones.
  • Turbulence is where the equations resist analysis, which is why engineers solve them by computer rather than exactly.
  • A singularity would mean the equations stop describing a real fluid at that instant, marking the limit of the model rather than of the fluid.
  • Smoothness for all time would show the model is self consistent, and methods built to prove such a thing usually outlast the result.
  • The Clay Mathematics Institute's own rules require a result to appear in a refereed journal and to stand unchallenged for two years before a prize is considered.

  • Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness

    Open, and the subject of OpenAI's claim

  • Poincaré conjecture

    Resolved by Grigori Perelman, who declined the prize

  • P versus NP

    Open

  • Riemann hypothesis

    Open

  • Yang–Mills existence and mass gap

    Open

  • Hodge conjecture

    Open

  • Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture

    Open

Seven problems named by the Clay Mathematics Institute, each carrying a million dollar prize. Status as reported in The Indian Express, 13 September 2026.

What changed

  1. 13 Sep 2026

    • OpenAI said its artificial intelligence agents had cracked the problem.
    • Its paper builds a fluid whose velocity becomes infinite at a point in finite time while the flow's energy stays bounded, so it claims blow up rather than smoothness.
    • The proof was formalised in Lean, which checks each step mechanically, but the claimed proof is neither independently verified nor accepted.

    The Indian Express, 13 Sep 2026: OpenAI's Navier-Stokes claim: what the problem asks, and why mathematicians are uneasy (opens in a new tab)

Correct the Map resolution

Copy link to Correct the Map resolution

Prelims and Mains

Correct the Map is a non binding resolution of the United Nations General Assembly that names the Equal Earth projection as more accurate than Mercator's.

  • A globe cannot be laid flat without something being stretched, so a map projection keeps one property at the cost of the others.
  • The right choice depends on what the map is for.
From a globe to a flat Mercator mapTwo equal circles on a globe, at the equator and at 60 degrees north, become unequal on the Mercator map: the northern one is drawn twice as wide and four times the area.Two equal circles on the globelaid flat60°S30°S0°30°N60°NOn Mercator: 4 times the area at 60°

Every flat map distorts at least one of these

AreaHow large a landmass is relative to others

ShapeThe true outline of a country

DistanceThe actual space between two points

DirectionThe correct compass bearing between places

Circles drawn to Mercator's scale. Properties as defined in The Indian Express explainers, 5 and 9 September 2026.
Mercator (conformal)
  • Keeps angles and local shapes
  • Rhumb lines are straight, so it suits navigation
  • Inflates areas more towards the poles
  • Greenland looks as big as Africa, which is 14 times larger
Equal Earth (equal-area)
  • Keeps relative areas of continents true
  • Shapes stretch near the poles
  • Suits thematic maps of population, climate and resources
Winkel Tripel (compromise)
  • Keeps no property exact
  • Spreads error across area, distance and direction
From The Indian Express explainers, 5 and 9 September 2026

What changed

  1. 5 Sep 2026

    • The United Nations General Assembly adopted the non binding Correct the Map resolution, 164 to 1, with the United States alone against.
    • It names the 2018 Equal Earth projection as more accurate than Mercator's of 1569.
    • The case made was that the projection a map uses shapes how important a region looks, a matter of soft power.
    • India voted for it but said the resolution authenticates no map.
    • It said its territory, including Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, must be shown as in India's official map.

    The Indian Express, 5 Sep 2026: UN adopts Equal Earth map: Why no flat map can accurately show the globe (opens in a new tab) · The Indian Express, 6 Sep 2026: India backs UN world map resolution, draws firm line on Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (opens in a new tab)

India at FAIR

Copy link to India at FAIR

Prelims

The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) is an international particle accelerator being built in Germany, and India has been a founding member since 2010.

  • India splits the cost between its science and atomic energy departments, and the Bose Institute is its nodal body.
  • India is also supplying power converters, cables and detectors for two FAIR experiments.

What changed

  1. 7 Aug 2026BriefThe first of three Indian built beam catchers reached FAIR, designed by CSIR-CMERI (Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute) for the Super Fragment Separator, which produces radioactive beams. PIB, 7 Aug 2026: Indian-built beam catcher reaches FAIR, the international accelerator project (opens in a new tab)

Download a copy

Every article on this page, in full.