Beneficial bioactive peptides in fermented food

by Hansraj Agrawal | Aug 25, 2025 | Science

The study found that traditional foods such as yoghurt, idli, miso, natto, kimchi, and fermented fish contain high levels of these peptides.
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A study on population-specific responses to fermented foods shows that the health effects of their bioactive peptides differ across groups and can help personalise nutrition for India’s diverse population.

Bioactive peptides (BAPs) — short protein fragments of 2-20 amino acids — are gaining global attention for their role in regulating blood pressure, blood sugar, immunity, and inflammation.

A recent study by the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati highlights this link.

Published in Food Chemistry (2025) and led by Prof Ashis K Mukherjee and team, the study found that traditional foods such as yoghurt, idli, miso, natto, kimchi, and fermented fish contain high levels of these peptides.

Formed during fermentation, they interact with biomolecules through electrostatic forces, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions to exert antimicrobial, antihypertensive, antioxidant, and immune-modulatory effects.

Their benefits extend to cardiac, metabolic, and immune health, but effectiveness varies with genetic polymorphisms, gut microbiota, diet, and health status.

For instance, variants in genes like ACE and IL-6 may influence individual responses. This underscores the importance of precision nutrition tailored to India’s genetic and dietary diversity.

The research also notes challenges such as variability in fermentation methods, peptide stability, and interactions with microbiota. It advocates promoting traditional fermented foods in public health strategies, while pushing for omics-based research and rural innovation to position India as a global leader in personalised nutrition.

Published on August 25, 2025

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‘Ligand’ catalysts show promise in quest for green hydrogen

by Hansraj Agrawal | Aug 25, 2025 | Science

A catalyst’s effectiveness is indicated by its ‘overpotential’ and ‘turnover frequency’. Lower overpotential and higher frequency suggest a productive and energy-efficient catalyst
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Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda is reported to have recently said that one electric vehicle (EV) causes as much pollution as 3 hybrid vehicles put together. Given the catastrophic impact of climate change that is already upon us, green fuels such as hydrogen are likely the way forward.

But if the process of splitting hydrogen from, say, water, releases carbon into the atmosphere, then it won’t contribute to ‘clean’ energy. And, current methods of producing truly green hydrogen are expensive.

A research team from Ashoka University focused on electrocatalytic hydrogen production – i.e., the process of producing hydrogen by using catalysts to help split water (H₂O) molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

The performance of electrocatalysts is crucial in making the process energy-efficient. Electrocatalysts are materials that speed up chemical reactions and the more efficient ones need less energy for these reactions.

Currently, the most effective electrocatalysts are based on platinum, which is expensive and not easily available. This has driven researchers to find more affordable alternatives, particularly those derived from the likes of nickel, iron, cobalt, copper, and zinc.

Says Assistant Professor Dr Munmun Ghosh of the research team, “We designed a ligand, combined it with different metals to see how each such complex behaved.”

What is a ligand?

In chemistry, a ligand is a molecule that bonds with a metal ion to form a complex. In biochemistry, a good example of a ligand is in haemoglobin. Oxygen that we breathe in combines with iron and this complex helps transport oxygen – which acts as the ligand – from the lungs to other parts of the body.

And this, says Dr Ghosh, is where her background in biomimetic research helped. “I see what nature has and from there I try to mimic those for scientific purposes.”

In the experiment with metal ligands, the research team found that the nickel-ligand combination showed the most promise in efficiently producing hydrogen gas. Other complexes tested include copper, cobalt, zinc and iron.

Overpotential and turnover frequency

A catalyst’s effectiveness is indicated by what scientists call its ‘overpotential’ and ‘turnover frequency’. Overpotential is the additional electrical energy needed beyond the minimum to drive the reaction. A lower overpotential means the catalyst is more energy-efficient.

Turnover frequency measures how quickly the catalyst can produce hydrogen. A higher frequency signals a more productive catalyst.

Why ligand at all?

Why not use just the metal? Why use ligands to bond with the metal? Says Dr Ghosh, “My overpotential will be much higher with just the metal. A ligand helps decrease the overpotential and make the process more efficient.”

The team showed that the nickel-ligand complex’s catalytic rates were “comparable to some of the best; and in terms of overpotential, it performs better than certain previously reported nickel and iron systems”.

Put simply, nickel was the best among the metals tested, in efficiency terms. However, cobalt is best in overpotential which was at 200 millivolt, which, Dr Ghosh says is comparable to good catalysts. Platinum has an overpotential measure of 30 millivolt. Without a ligand, a metal-only catalyst may touch overpotential levels of up to 1 volt, which is too high in such processes, points out Dr Ghosh.

Assistant Professor Dr Deepak Asthana, a member of the research team, says that experimental evidence showed that the ligand, rather than the metal, was the key ‘participant’ in the hydrogen production process. The metal itself could have done the job but it’s like doing a lot of hard work single-handedly, which results in high overpotential (or requiring a lot of energy) to accomplish the task. The metal-ligand combine helps bring down the energy requirement. That’s why, says Dr Ghosh, “Ligand design is very important.”

Now, why electrochemistry, is a natural question to ask, says Dr Ghosh. “Electrochemistry helps achieve high atom economy or atom efficiency – meaning all or most of the input material is used in the end product, resulting in minimal waste,” she points out.

“But if I don’t have ligand, it’s only metal. Just look at that. How much pressure on that metal that I have to do everything. However, if I have ligand then it can help always,” she adds.

Designing the ligand is key, she says. That means several things. But the simplest way to describe it is that the design helps researchers achieve the end-result. “You can design the ligand in such a way that it releases electrons to the metal, or such that it accepts electrons from the metal. It depends on what you wish to achieve. The ligand plays a role in keeping the metal component stable. Without stability, the catalyst doesn’t survive,” she says.

The study is only the first step, points out Dr Asthana. “What we have learnt from the study is that narrowing down on nickel-ligand combination is a good first step. It’s not the best solution yet. But it’s competitive. The study shows promise that we can work on the design, modify it and potentially come up with a system that is as efficient and stable as costly, metal-based systems.”

Published on August 25, 2025

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From aviation to finance: The strategic value and risk of AI nudges

by Hansraj Agrawal | Aug 25, 2025 | Science

A study tested if LLMs could design effective nudges to shift traveller behaviour.
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Customers say they value sustainability, but their wallets often tell a different story. Consumers express concern about climate change, yet when asked to pay a premium for greener choices, uptake collapses. Airlines illustrate the issue vividly: voluntary carbon offset programmes have been available for years, but participation remains low. Most passengers acknowledge the environmental cost of flying, yet few voluntarily add a charge they may not fully trust.

A new research paper, ‘Large Language Models Enable Personalised Nudges to Promote Carbon Offsetting Among Air Travellers’, by Vladimir Maksimenko, Qingyao Xin, Prateek Gupta, Bin Zhang and Prateek Bansal suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) could alter this equation. The authors tested whether large language models (LLMs) could design more effective nudges to shift traveller behaviour. The results were modest in percentage terms but significant at scale.

Say-do gap in sustainability

The researchers focused on the decoy effect: adding a third, less-attractive option to make another choice look more appealing. In flight booking, the baseline choices are a standard ticket with no offset and a carbon-neutral ticket with offsetting included. The study introduced a decoy (a partially offset ticket priced higher than the full offset) which made the carbon-neutral option appear the rational middle ground.

Crucially, the decoys were personalised. Using demographic and attitudinal factors such as age, income and, most importantly, trust in offsetting, the team asked an LLM to generate customised nudges. These were tested in surveys of 3,495 travellers across China, Germany, India, Singapore and the United States.

Where the study innovated was in the use of the LLM. The model was not exposed directly to travellers. Instead, it was used as a design engine to generate variations of the decoy option. Researchers fed in demographic and attitudinal data (age, income, environmental concern and, most importantly, trust in offsetting) and prompted the model to produce ticket descriptions and price structures that would make the full offset more attractive to each type of traveller.

The results

Carbon offset purchase rates increased by 3 to 7 per cent when AI-generated personalised nudges were used. That may appear incremental, but across the five countries studied, it translates into around 2.3 million tonnes (mt) of additional CO₂ mitigated annually.

The most important finding was who moved. The greatest effect came from travellers who were sceptical of offsetting programmes: those who lacked trust in their effectiveness. This group accounts for an estimated 81 mt of CO₂ each year, roughly 8 per cent of total global aviation emissions. That is equivalent to the annual emissions of a mid-sized country.

Strategic takeaways

First, the sceptics are the segment that matters most. The study shows that shifting even a fraction of distrustful consumers creates far greater impact than reinforcing the behaviour of the already committed. That lesson applies well beyond aviation: whether in utilities, retail or finance, the real strategic prize lies in moving the reluctant.

The consumers who matter most – the sceptics – are also the ones where companies face the highest risk. Used wisely, LLMs can help engage them, turning hesitation into measurable impact. Used poorly, they could deepen mistrust and expose businesses to new reputational hazards. Businesses face the risk of regulatory intervention, reputational damage, and consumer backlash if AI-driven nudges are seen as coercion or “dark patterns”.

Second, LLMs are best seen as prototyping tools. They are not ready to be embedded directly into consumer journeys. Their value lies in running low-cost simulations of consumer responses, narrowing down interventions worth testing in the field, and focusing resources where they have the greatest leverage. For firms under pressure to make sustainability progress while managing costs, this is a practical advantage.

From a risk perspective, the LLMs application of interventions worked more effectively in the US, Germany and Singapore than in India or China. That reflects the bias of models such as GPT, trained largely on Western data. A nudge that resonates in Frankfurt may fall flat, or even backfire, in Mumbai. Businesses cannot assume global AI tools translate seamlessly across markets.

Published on August 25, 2025

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From aviation to finance: The strategic value and risk of AI nudges

by Hansraj Agrawal | Aug 25, 2025 | Science

Customers say they value sustainability, but their wallets often tell a different story. Consumers express concern about climate change, yet when asked to pay a premium for greener choices, uptake collapses. Airlines illustrate the issue vividly: voluntary carbon offset programmes have been available for years, but participation remains low. Most passengers acknowledge the environmental cost of flying, yet few voluntarily add a charge they may not fully trust.

A new research paper, ‘Large Language Models Enable Personalised Nudges to Promote Carbon Offsetting Among Air Travellers’, by Vladimir Maksimenko, Qingyao Xin, Prateek Gupta, Bin Zhang and Prateek Bansal suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) could alter this equation. The authors tested whether large language models (LLMs) could design more effective nudges to shift traveller behaviour. The results were modest in percentage terms but significant at scale.

Say-do gap in sustainability

The researchers focused on the decoy effect: adding a third, less-attractive option to make another choice look more appealing. In flight booking, the baseline choices are a standard ticket with no offset and a carbon-neutral ticket with offsetting included. The study introduced a decoy (a partially offset ticket priced higher than the full offset) which made the carbon-neutral option appear the rational middle ground.

Crucially, the decoys were personalised. Using demographic and attitudinal factors such as age, income and, most importantly, trust in offsetting, the team asked an LLM to generate customised nudges. These were tested in surveys of 3,495 travellers across China, Germany, India, Singapore and the United States.

Where the study innovated was in the use of the LLM. The model was not exposed directly to travellers. Instead, it was used as a design engine to generate variations of the decoy option. Researchers fed in demographic and attitudinal data (age, income, environmental concern and, most importantly, trust in offsetting) and prompted the model to produce ticket descriptions and price structures that would make the full offset more attractive to each type of traveller.

The results

Carbon offset purchase rates increased by 3 to 7 per cent when AI-generated personalised nudges were used. That may appear incremental, but across the five countries studied, it translates into around 2.3 million tonnes (mt) of additional CO₂ mitigated annually.

The most important finding was who moved. The greatest effect came from travellers who were sceptical of offsetting programmes: those who lacked trust in their effectiveness. This group accounts for an estimated 81 mt of CO₂ each year, roughly 8 per cent of total global aviation emissions. That is equivalent to the annual emissions of a mid-sized country.

Strategic takeaways

First, the sceptics are the segment that matters most. The study shows that shifting even a fraction of distrustful consumers creates far greater impact than reinforcing the behaviour of the already committed. That lesson applies well beyond aviation: whether in utilities, retail or finance, the real strategic prize lies in moving the reluctant.

The consumers who matter most – the sceptics – are also the ones where companies face the highest risk. Used wisely, LLMs can help engage them, turning hesitation into measurable impact. Used poorly, they could deepen mistrust and expose businesses to new reputational hazards. Businesses face the risk of regulatory intervention, reputational damage, and consumer backlash if AI-driven nudges are seen as coercion or “dark patterns”.

Second, LLMs are best seen as prototyping tools. They are not ready to be embedded directly into consumer journeys. Their value lies in running low-cost simulations of consumer responses, narrowing down interventions worth testing in the field, and focusing resources where they have the greatest leverage. For firms under pressure to make sustainability progress while managing costs, this is a practical advantage.

From a risk perspective, the LLMs application of interventions worked more effectively in the US, Germany and Singapore than in India or China. That reflects the bias of models such as GPT, trained largely on Western data. A nudge that resonates in Frankfurt may fall flat, or even backfire, in Mumbai. Businesses cannot assume global AI tools translate seamlessly across markets.

Published on August 25, 2025

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PixxelSpace-led consortium picked for ₹1,200 crore earth observation satellite project

by Hansraj Agrawal | Aug 12, 2025 | Science

Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe

Chennai

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) on Tuesday announced the selection of a consortium led by Google-backed PixxelSpace to design, build and operate India’s first fully-indigenous commercial Earth observation (EO) satellite. The consortium also includes Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India and Dhruva Space.

The consortium will invest more than ₹1,200 crore over the next five years to launch a constellation of 12 EO satellites equipped with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral, and microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors.

The EO constellation will be deployed in a phased manner over the next four years. It will deliver analysis ready data (ARD) and value-added services (VAS) for applications in climate change monitoring, disaster management, agriculture, infrastructure, national security and urban planning among other sectors.

Global reach

“This initiative signals the coming of age of India’s private space industry in the space sector. It demonstrates the capability and confidence of Indian companies to lead large-scale, technologically advanced, and commercially viable space missions that serve both national and global markets,” said Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe.

The consortium was selected after the assessment of the bids submitted by three consortia including Astra Microwave Products Limited, Hyderabad (with Bharat Electronics Ltd, Sisir Radar and Spectragaze Systems), GalaxEye Space, Bengaluru (with CoreEL) and PixxelSpace India Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru (with Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India, and Dhruva Space).

“Being the winning proposal to build India’s national EO constellation is a major milestone for Pixxel and our consortium members in India’s space story. We’re grateful to IN-SPACe and the Government of India for trusting our consortium with this historic mission. We look forward to building world-class space-tech capabilities that serve the whole planet from Indian soil,” said Awais Ahmed, CEO of Pixxel.

Published on August 12, 2025

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Rosatom tweaks nuclear plants powering icebreakers to design small reactors

by Hansraj Agrawal | Aug 11, 2025 | Science

Russia’s nuclear energy company, Rosatom, whose subsidiaries built the Kudankulam nuclear power plants in Tamil Nadu, says it has rich experience in ‘small modular reactors’ (SMR), which are the in-thing in clean energy today. The company says its SMR technology can be integrated into regions with limited grid infrastructure or phased-out coal plants. Edited excerpts from interview over email with Vijay Joshi, Head of Business, Rosatom South Asia:

There are many SMR designs globally. What are some of the common features?

SMRs are gaining global momentum, with over 70 designs currently under development across various countries. These compact, flexible nuclear reactors are designed for contexts where large-scale nuclear power plants (NPPs) may not be practical, such as remote locations, islands, or areas with limited grid connectivity. SMRs vary in terms of coolant type (such as pressurised water or gas), deployment models (including onshore, offshore, or submerged), and power output, which typically ranges from a few megawatts to around 300 MW.

What makes SMR NPPs particularly attractive is their combination of lower capital investment and shorter construction timelines. Their modularity and the ability to scale up generation capacity by adding reactor modules as needed allow for quicker deployment and cost efficiency. Many SMR NPPs are also designed to operate in a load-following mode, complementing intermittent renewable energy sources. Beyond electricity generation, they serve multiple purposes such as district heating, seawater desalination, and providing thermal energy for industrial processes.

Describe Rosatom’s SMRs?

Rosatom’s SMR NPP offering is led by the RITM-200 series, a new-generation integral pressurised water reactor (PWR) with an electrical capacity of 55 MW and thermal capacity of 190 MW. Building on decades of experience in operating small reactors in Russia’s nuclear icebreaker fleet, the RITM-200 design has been deployed on icebreakers such as the Arktika, Sibir, Ural and Yakutia. It is now being adapted for both onshore and offshore civilian energy applications, making it the cornerstone of Rosatom’s SMR NPP portfolio.

The RITM-200 reactors have a design life of 60 years and offer long refuelling cycles — six years for land-based installations and up to 10 years for floating variants. With a capacity factor of 90 per cent and fuel based on low-enriched uranium (20 per cent), these reactors provide a stable, low-carbon energy source.

Safety is a central feature of the RITM-200 series, which employs a defence-in-depth approach incorporating both active and passive systems. These include natural circulation-based residual heat removal, hydraulic accumulators for loss-of-coolant accidents, and redundant containment cooling mechanisms. Designed for rapid deployment and scalability, Rosatom’s RITM-200 series stands out as one of the most commercially advanced SMR NPP technologies available.

SMRs are typically designed for “passive safety” — internal metal lining, water and boron flows in case of an accident. Do Rosatom’s designs incorporate these?

Rosatom’s RITM-200 series reactors stand out for their robust, multi-layered safety architecture, rooted in decades of accident-free operation across both land-based VVER reactors and compact nuclear reactors used in Russia’s icebreaker fleet, amounting to over 438 reactor-years of experience. This deep operational legacy directly informs the safety-first design of the RITM-200 and its land-based variant, the RITM-200N.

The RITM-200N reactor integrates active and passive safety systems. Passive systems such as natural circulation-based residual heat removal and hydraulic accumulators can operate independently of external power, maintaining safe conditions for at least 72 hours in the event of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) combined with a complete station blackout, a scenario like Fukushima. These are complemented by active safety mechanisms to provide redundancy, while the reactor’s defence-in-depth design includes multiple physical barriers and containment systems to prevent radioactive release.

Rosatom also incorporates probes in the primary circuit to detect coolant loss and uses control samples made from the same steel as the reactor vessel to monitor material integrity over time, an additional layer of diagnostics rarely seen in commercial reactor fleets.

Importantly, the RITM-200N design includes protection against natural hazards and man-made threats, including the impact of a commercial aircraft crash.

The safety record is validated by real-world deployments.

For instance, the Akademik Lomonosov floating power unit, located less than a kilometre from the port city of Pevek, has had no impact on local radiation levels. Similarly, the Bilibino plant has safely operated for over four decades just 4.5 km from the nearest town.

How is the fuel cycle handled

Rosatom’s approach to the SMR NPP nuclear fuel cycle is designed for efficiency, long-term autonomy, and non-proliferation compliance — crucial for remote, offshore, or small-grid deployments. The RITM-200N uses high-assay low-enriched uranium (19 per cent enriched HALEU fuel), aligning with international safety and non-proliferation standards.

Each reactor core contains 199 cermet fuel assemblies and is engineered to achieve a refuelling cycle up to six years for land-based SMR NPPs. This reduces the frequency of refuelling and minimises the logistical and safety risks associated with transporting nuclear material, especially critical in isolated regions.

Rosatom draws on its proven nuclear fuel supply chain, which already services its global fleet of large-scale VVER reactors. The company provides partner countries with predictable, safe, and accountable handling of nuclear material throughout the reactor’s lifecycle — from fresh fuel fabrication to spent nuclear fuel utilisation.

Additionally, the fuel used in RITM SMRs is already in use in the KLT-40S reactors aboard the Akademik Lomonosov floating power unit, reinforcing its reliability. The fuel rod cladding is made of a corrosion-resistant alloy, enhancing safety and durability during extended operation and load-following conditions.

How does Rosatom intend to drive the SMR movement?

Rosatom is advancing the global SMR NPP movement through the parallel development and deployment of multiple reactor technologies tailored for remote and off-grid applications.

The Central to this effort is the RITM-200N, currently under construction in the Ust-Kuiga settlement in Yakutia region, is scheduled for commissioning in 2028, to support the development of the Kyuchus gold deposit, one of Russia’s largest. The project is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of SMRs in isolated power systems.

In addition to the land-based initiative, Rosatom is also building four floating power units based on the same RITM-200 technology, further showcasing the reactor’s adaptability across geographies and deployment models.

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