Analysis
Science shouldn’t animate the need for social welfare
This is an interesting discovery:
Latest
Culture
Ricardo Bofill (1939-2022), architect
The Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill passed away on January 14, at the age of 82. I don't know most of his work, which means this note of remembrance is less about Bofill the architect per se and more about Bofill the designer of the La Muralla Roja, an
Culture
What I didn't like about 'Eternals' (2021)
I rewatched Eternals today and had some time to collect some of my thoughts on it. Spoilers ahead (including one each for The Tomorrow War and Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings). 1. Too much deus ex machina – took 55 minutes minutes to find out what the Eternals
Culture
Look away
Not something I usually blog about but boy is this funny. (At least) Star Sports has been airing an ad for an app called 'Magicpin' that I think helps you in some way when you shop for stuff. And this is how the ad goes: So… a fight
Science
Getting ahead of theory, experiment, ourselves
Science journalist Laura Spinney wrote an article in The Guardian on January 9, 2022, entitled 'Are we witnessing the dawn of post-theory science?'. This excerpt from the article captures its points well, I thought: Or take protein structures. A protein’s function is largely determined by its structure,
Analysis
On science, religion, Brahmins and a book
I'm partway through Renny Thomas's new book, Science and Religion in India: Beyond Disenchantment. Its description on the Routledge page reads: This book provides an in-depth ethnographic study of science and religion in the context of South Asia, giving voice to Indian scientists and shedding valuable
Scicomm
On anticipation and the history of science
In mid-2012, shortly after physicists working with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe had announced the discovery of a particle that looked a lot like the Higgs boson, there was some clamour in India over news reports not paying enough attention or homage to the work of Satyendra Nath
Analysis
The Print's ludicrous article on Niraj Bishnoi
The Print has just published a bizarre article about Niraj Bishnoi, the alleged "mastermind" (whatever that means) of the 'Bulli Bai' app. I know nothing about Niraj Bishnoi; the article's problem is that it has reproduced the Delhi police's profile of Bishnoi
Scicomm
Physicists observe long-expected helium superfluid phase
Physicists have reported that they have finally observed helium 3 existing in a long-predicted type of superfluid, called the ß phase. This is an important discovery, if it's borne out, for reasons that partly have to do with its isotope, helium 4. Helium 4 is a fascinating substance
Culture
Reading books, writing words
It suddenly feels like a lot more people have been reading a lot more books. Or maybe they're talking about it a lot more. I have one friend who went through more books in 2021 than there were weeks. And I've been quite jealous looking at
Scicomm
A false union in science journalism
At what point does a journalist become a stenographer? Most people would say it's when the journalist stops questioning claims and reprints them uncritically, as if they were simply a machine. So at what point does a science journalist become a stenographer? You'll probably say at
Op-eds
JWST and the imagination
When the Hubble space telescope launched in April 1990, I was too young to understand what was going on – but not yesterday, when NASA launched its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Every once in a while, the Hubble telescope team releases an image of thousands of stars packed