Abhishek Kumar Singh

Everyone has a kettle in their kitchen, but few brew herbs in water that has just had an electric discharge passed through it. That's exactly what researchers did with neem and tulsi leaves — plants used for centuries in India as natural remedies. First, they 'activated' the water with plasma: they sent a glowing electric discharge through it, like a miniature lightning bolt.

A wheat seed is like a traveler sleeping in cold soil: to wake up, it needs a warm rain. Scientists from India have found a way to wake it without chemicals — using cold plasma, the same stuff that glows in neon lamps. Plasma is a gas in which some atoms have lost electrons. It slightly scratches the seed coat, letting water penetrate faster.

An orchestra where each musician plays their own part but hears only the neighbor. One wrong note, and a wave of errors rolls through the hall. That's how Ising machines work — special devices for solving problems where you need to find the best option among many.