Category Archives: Op-eds
The circumstances in which scientists are science journos
On September 6, 2019, two researchers from Israel uploaded a preprint to the bioRxiv preprint server entitled ‘Can scientists fill the science journalism void? Online public engagement with two science stories authored by scientists’. Two news sites invited scientists to … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm
Tagged environmental journalism, free labour, Jamie Farnes, labour, newsroom, science communication, science journalism, science writing, scientists, The Conversation
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Starlink and astronomy
SpaceX’s Starlink constellation is currently a network of 120+ satellites and which, in the next decade, will expand to 10,000+ to provide low-cost internet from space around the world. Astronomers everywhere have been pissed off with these instruments because they … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm
Tagged Blue Origin, Cerro Tololo, Elon Musk, Facebook Athena, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission, geosynchronous orbit, International Astronomical Union, International Telecommunications Union, Iridium constellation, Jeff Bezos, low-cost internet, low-Earth orbit, OneWeb, satellite constellation, SpaceX, Starlink, Starlink mega-constellation, VLEO
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Does Kangana have to look like J.J. to portray J.J.?
The poster for a new biographical feature about former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa is out, featuring Kangana Ranaut: At first glance, it’s not evident that the woman in the picture is Ranaut, nor even Jayalalithaa, but in an … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged Anupam Kher, Foxcatcher, J Jayalalithaa, John Du Pont, Kangana Ranaut, Monica Geller, Periyar, PM Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi, Subramania Bharati, Thalaivi, The Elephant Man, Vivek Oberoi
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Indian scicomm’s upside-down world
Imagine a big, poisonous tree composed of all the things you need to screw up to render a field, discipline or endeavour an elite club of just one demographic group. When it comes to making it more inclusive, whether by … Continue reading
Playing the devil’s advocate on Starlink
After SpaceX began to launch its Starlink satellite constellation to facilitate global internet coverage, astronomers began complaining that the satellites are likely to interfere with stargazing schemes, especially those of large, sensitive telescopes. Spaceflight stakeholders also began to worry, especially … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Challakere science city, Elon Musk, environmentalism, India-based Neutrino Observatory, ISRO, Kulasekarapattinam, low-cost internet, Mauna Kea, mega-constellation, non-rivalry, Outer Space Treaty, satellite constellation, space-based internet, SpaceX, Starlink, Sterlite, Thirty Meter Telescope, Thoothukudi
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New management at Nautilus
When an email landed in my inbox declaring that the beleaguered science communication magazine Nautilus would be “acquired by ownership group of super-fans”, I thought it was going to become a cooperative. It was only when I read the extended … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds, Science
Tagged Daily Dot, Deadspin, Elisa New, John Steele, Larry Summers, Nautilus, Nautilus magazine, Nicholas White, scientism
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The virtues of local travel
Here’s something I wish I’d read before overtourism and flygskam removed the pristine gloss of desirability from the selfies, 360º panoramas and videos the second-generation elites posted every summer on the social media: It’s ok to prioritize friendships, community, and … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Life notes, Op-eds
Tagged Bengaluru, climate change, Delhi, extractive capitalism, flygskam, grifter, Max Weber, mental health, overtourism, Protestant ethic, remote working, Silicon Valley, work from home
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The calculus of creative discipline
Every moment of a science fiction story must represent the triumph of writing over world-building. World-building is dull. World-building literalises the urge to invent. World-building gives an unnecessary permission for acts of writing (indeed, for acts of reading). World-building numbs … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds
Tagged classical mechanics, creative discipline, critical points, Dan Shechtman, differential calculus, EPR paradox, fantasy fiction, Imre Lakatos, JK Rowling, Karl Popper, literary criticism, M John Harrison, Malazan Book of the Fallen, mathematical analysis, nerdism, Niels Bohr, Paul Feyerabend, Philosophy of Science, quasicrystals, replication crisis, smooth functions, Steven Erikson, Thomas Kuhn, Viriconium, world-building
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Why are the Nobel Prizes still relevant?
Note: A condensed version of this post has been published in The Wire. Around this time last week, the world had nine new Nobel Prize winners in the sciences (physics, chemistry and medicine), all but one of whom were white … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds, Science
Tagged Abhijit Banerjee, Albert Einstein, Appa Rao Podile, Booker Prize, Brian Keating, Caltech, Chien-Shiung Wu, CV Raman, Esther Duflo, Fermilab, gender-based discrimination, Göran Hansson, Hindutva, Hugo Award, impact factor, Isaac Asimov, John B Goodenough, late capitalism, Lise Meitner, Margaret Atwood, nationalism, Nature journal, Nobel laureates, Nobel Prize, prestige bias, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sexism, The Big Bang Theory, Vera Rubin
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