Category Archives: Op-eds

Science journalism, expertise and common sense

Posted on March 29, 2020 by

On March 27, the Johns Hopkins University said an article published on the website of the Centre For Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP), a Washington-based think tank, had used its logo without permission and distanced itself from the study, … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm, Science | Tagged ad hominem, authoritarianism, CDDEP, cherry-picking, common sense, complexity, coronavirus, COVID-19, epistemology, expertise, knowledge is power, novel coronavirus, Ramanan Laxminarayan, science journalism, Times of India | Comments Off

Dehumanising language during an outbreak

Posted on March 4, 2020 by

It appears the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has begun local transmission in India, i.e. infecting more people within the country instead of each new patient having recently travelled to an already affected country. The advent of local transmission is an important event … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm, Science | Tagged Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party, COVID-19, dehumanisation, Eman Ahmed, epidemic, Harsh Vardhan, infection, infectious diseases, local transmission, private healthcare, public healthcare system, Saifee Hospital, SARS-CoV-2, science communication, science journalism, The Guardian, Washington Post, Wuhan coronavirus | Comments Off

Freeman Dyson’s PhD

Posted on March 1, 2020 by

The physicist, thinker and writer Freeman Dyson passed away on February 28, 2020, at the age of 96. I wrote his obituary for The Wire Science; excerpt: The 1965 Nobel Prize for the development of [quantum electrodynamics] excluded Dyson. … … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Science | Tagged Cornell University, doctorate, Freeman Dyson, Institute for Advanced Study, Julian Schwinger, Nobel Prize, PhD, privilege, quantum electrodynamics, Richard Feynman, scientific publishing, scientific research, Shin'ichiro Tomonaga, Vannevar Bush | Comments Off

A science for the non-1%

Posted on February 2, 2020 by

David Michaels, an epidemiologist and a former US assistant secretary of labour for occupational safety and health under Barack Obama, writes in the Boston Review: [Product defence] operations have on their payrolls—or can bring in on a moment’s notice—toxicologists, epidemiologists, … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Science | Tagged 1%, higher education, humanities, ivory tower, Jeffrey Epstein, manufacturing doubt, political participation, publish or perish, reason for state, scientific knowledge, scientific research, scientism, social science | Comments Off

Losing sight of the agricultural finish line

Posted on January 25, 2020 by

In The Guardian, Joanna Blythman pokes an important pin into the frustrating but unsurprisingly durable bubble of vegan cuisine and the low-hanging fruits of ethical eating: These days it’s fashionable to eulogise plant foods as the secret for personal health … Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Op-eds | Tagged agriculture, climate change, detox diet, diets, eggs, electric vehicles, food, genetically modified crops, indoor farming, insecticides, keto diet, land use change, midday meal scheme, Monsanto, organic agriculture, pesticides, protein, subsidies, vegan, Veganuary, vertical farming | Comments Off

Free speech at the outer limits

Posted on January 15, 2020 by

On January 12, Peter W. Wood, president of an American organisation called the National Association of Scholars (NAS), wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal against attempts by one individual to prevent NAS from organising a conference on science’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm | Tagged boycott, Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1964, Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, climate change, Constitution of India, free speech, freedom of speech, Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurie Penny, Leonid Teytelman, Netflix, protest, reproducibility crisis, Tripura high court, Wall Street Journal | Comments Off

A sympathetic science

Posted on January 6, 2020 by

If you feel the need to respond, please first make sure you have read the post in full. I posted the following tweet a short while ago: With reference to this: Which in turn was with reference to this: But … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Op-eds, Science | Tagged human condition, Kiran Bedi, NASA, pseudoscience, science communication, scientism, sympathy | Comments Off

Social media and science communication

Posted on December 30, 2019 by

The following article was originally intended for an Indian publication but I withdrew from the commission because I couldn’t rework the piece according to changes they required, mostly for lack of focus. I thank Karnika Kohli and Shruti Muralidhar for … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm | Tagged echo chamber, Facebook, homophilic segregation, LGBTQIA+, news publishing, role models, science communication, scientific paper, social media, Twitter, women in STEM | Comments Off

Retrospective: The Wire Science in 2019

Posted on December 28, 2019 by

At the start of 2019, The Wire Science decided to focus more on issues of science and society, and this is reflected in the year-end list of our best stories (in terms of traffic and engagement; listed below). Most of our … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm, Science | Tagged democracy, Dinamalar, history of science, independent journalism, Indian Express, Mongabay, nationalism, Philosophy of Science, R&D, science communication, science journalism, social science, sociology of science, The Hindu, The Print, The Wire | Comments Off

Poor Sanskrit

Posted on December 13, 2019 by

‘BJP MP Says Speaking Sanskrit Beats Diabetes, Boosts Nervous System’, The Wire, December 13, 2019: In a debate in the Lok Sabha on December 12 about the Sanskrit University Bill, Ganesh Singh, the BJP MP from Satna, Madhya Pradesh, cited … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm | Tagged Ganesh Singh, NASA, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Sanskrit, Sanskrit University Bill, Vedas | Comments Off