Culture
TV ads are becoming creepy
Have you watched the new ads of Magicpin, Instamart, Rapido and PharmEasy?
VM
Analysis
The paradoxical virtues of primacy in science
Primacy is a false virtue imposed by the structures of modern science – yet it is also necessary to right some wrongs.
Scicomm
Better nuclear fusion – thanks to math from biology
A new study discusses a way to make nuclear fusion devices more efficient by applying equations used in systems biology.
Uncategorized
Intro to NFTs
A far-too-simplified introduction to cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
Culture
Lord of the Rings Day
War is on our minds, and in Tolkien's Middle-Earth saga, there were many of them.
Culture
A Brahmin wedding
I was at a wedding this weekend. It had a distinct Omelas-like quality throughout. For most of the elders present, it was an oru naal koothu — a single-day celebration that has been many weeks in the making. But the bride, whom I knew, didn’t want to get married, especially
Culture
Climate change, like quantum physics, will strain language
One of the defining features of quantum mechanics is that it shows up human language, and thought supported by that language, to be insufficient and limited. Many of the most popular languages of the world, including Tamil, Hindi and English, are linear. Their script reads in a line from one
Analysis
Must war have consequences for scientists?
The Journal of Molecular Structure has temporarily banned manuscript submissions from scientists working at state science institutes in Russia. The decision extends the consequences of war beyond the realm of politics, albeit to persons who have played no role in Putin’s invasion and might even have opposed it at
Scicomm
'Aatmanirbharta through science'
The Week magazine distinguished itself last year by picking Indian Council of Medical Research chief Balram Bhargava as its 'person of the year' for 2021. And now, ahead of National Science Day tomorrow, The Week has conducted an "exclusive" interview with science minister Jitendra Singh. Long
Science
NSD II
That the Modi government has been able to coopt National Science Day as well as it has speaks only to the occasion’s moral vacuity. India’s National Science Day is the day on which physicist C.V. Raman discovered the optical effect named for him, and the government zeroed
Analysis
Art is something for cryptocurrencies to con
Cryptocurrencies have emerged as a way to fund art, and therefore supposedly support artists, using the Trojan horse of NFTs.
Scicomm
For colours, dunk clay in water
It's not exactly that simple, but it's still a relatively simple way to produce a lovely palette of colours. Researchers from Norway and Germany have reported that when a synthetic clay called Na-fluorohectorite is suspended in water, the material separates out in thin nanosheets – i.e.