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Europa’s ice shell could be quaking
The possible presence of plate tectonics on the Jovian moon strengthens the case for a planned NASA probe
VM
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Why you should care about the mass of the top quark
In a paper published in Physical Review Letters on July 17, 2014, a team of American researchers reported the most precisely measured value yet of the mass of the top quark, the heaviest fundamental particle. Its mass is so high that can exist only in very high energy environments -
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A standout technology prize
Once a year, the Nobel Prize in physics triggers a burst of science news coverage in the media, giving some decades-old invention or discovery more than its 15 minutes' due on a channel, paper or portal that might have otherwise never bothered about it. Despite its abundant quirks, the
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Ello! I love you, let me jump in your game!
The technology and digital tools of today are very rarely created, or deployed, keeping in mind the needs of the citizen. In this setting, Ello might be just the anti-Facebook we need.
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Reconciling with fantasy
After having so vehemently derided the abject unoriginality of the Harry Potter series on many public fora over the years, it is now time for a retraction. It comes on the back of not having re-read the series but of having to re-imagine it after watching the last film based
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The transparency of public transportation
My favorite thing about New York city? The subway. The New York city subway system is very decentralized. Its stations are the only front-facing components while its technical infrastructure is obscured from view. As a result, public consciousness of the system depends on how easily navigable the subway stations are
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Curious Bends - Mars Orbiter, friendly elephants, waterless urinals and more
Special look: India's Mars Orbiter Mission 1. One small step for India may become a big step for humanity "Martin Rees, the British Astronomer Royal, expects that humans will have settlements on Mars within two centuries. But he is not sure if Western countries can achieve this.
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The dignity of human labor
My Twitter friend and compatriot @zeusisdead made a good, bristling case for why we shouldn't celebrate India's Mars Orbiter mission's frugality. Here's a telling excerpt from his piece as it appeared in Times of India: ISRO [India's space agency] did
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A "Dear ISRO" moment
Even if ISRO has launched a spacecraft to Mars, the payload limit still stands in the way of taking full advantage of scientific interest on the ground. But apparently now isn't the time to think about that...
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Alibaba IPO – A vindication of China’s Internet?
If China wants Alibaba to go international, it will find it tough to take refuge behind its current Internet governance policies. Anuj Srivas explains.
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Slideshow: Mission Mars
The Americans had the skycrane and their seven minutes of hell. This is India's ultimate so-near-yet-so-far moment. The Mars Orbiter mission better work out.
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Back to work
When I decided to quit The Hindu and leave for grad studies at New York University, my parents, relatives, their friends, my father's boss at work, his family and their friends all said that I'd made the right decision. "If you don't finish