Monthly Archives: March 2019

The informedness problem

Posted on March 8, 2019 by

The following is the text of a speech I prepared to deliver at the 11th Young Investigators’ Meeting in Guwahati on March 8, 2019. I wanted to use this opportunity to speak about education, which is one of science communication’s … Continue reading →

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Scicomm by scientists

Posted on March 6, 2019 by

Warning: profanity There are scientists who don’t want other scientists to communicate their work to the masses. There are scientists who want to but don’t have what they need to do it. And there are scientists who want to and … Continue reading →

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Lightning strikes and sex

Posted on March 6, 2019 by

No, not that sex. Biological sex. In the past eight years, an astounding 80 percent of those killed by lightning strikes have been men. This astonishing statistic is from an article in Bustle, from 2014 – but it quickly stops … Continue reading →

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Reading Manto

Posted on March 5, 2019 by

What is a short story? If you were to visualise the completeness of a ‘long-story’ as arcs of different lengths on a circle, then I would say a finished novel could be 90% of the circumference. Or an epic fantasy … Continue reading →

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A critique of Gaganyaan

Posted on March 5, 2019 by

Arup Dasgupta’s incisive article about ISRO’s human spaceflight mission, published on The Wire Science yesterday, is drawing a lot of civil, critical engagement from our readers. While this is good news from the newsroom’s perspective – civil engagement is always … Continue reading →

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Singin’ in the rain, Vadivelu version

Posted on March 2, 2019 by

Stanley Donen, who co-directed the famous 1952 Hollywood film Singin’ in the Rain with Gene Kelly, passed away on February 21. Though it released to moderate success at first, the film went on to become a cult classic. The titular … Continue reading →

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Five reflections on science day

Posted on March 1, 2019 by

Science Day isn’t a very meaningful occasion in and of itself. It is the day C.V. Raman discovered the light-scattering effect named for him. Raman won a Nobel Prize for his discovery, and – by commemorating February 28 as ‘Science … Continue reading →

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