Category Archives: Scicomm
NYT’s profile of India’s space startup scene
The New York Times published a ‘profile’ of the Indian spaceflight startup scene on July 4. The article is typical in that: a) by virtue of being published by one of the world’s most-read news outlets, it can only be … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged Alex Travelli, GSLV, Indian Space Research Organisation, Lvm 3, pharmaceuticals, PSLV, The New York Times
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A new science page at The Hindu
Starting today, The Hindu has a new science page, available to read in the premium e-paper edition. It will be published on all days except Saturday. I will be anchoring the page from Monday to Thursday; the Friday page will … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged Science, science journalism, The Hindu
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Notes for a ‘The Open Notebook’ report
I was quoted in a new reported feature in The Open Notebook, entitled ‘Expanding the Geographical Borders of Your Source List’. Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged Allison Whitten, Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1964, foreign media, internet connectivity, Karen Emslie, OpenAI Whisper, science communication, science journalism, social media, The Open Notebook, The Wire
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What about the celebrities in food ads?
The row over Bournvita last month was spurred by a social-media influencer’s viral video of the product’s allegedly unhealthy sugar content. Following a legal threat from Mondelez International India, which makes Bournvita, the influencer deleted his video and apologised. But … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Culture, Scicomm
Tagged Ayurveda, Bournvita, Department of Consumer Affairs, FMCG, FSSAI, news literacy, surrogate advertising
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What about the celebrities in food ads?
The row over Bournvita last month was spurred by a social-media influencer’s viral video of the product’s allegedly unhealthy sugar content. Following a legal threat from Mondelez International India, which makes Bournvita, the influencer deleted his video and apologised. But … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Culture, Scicomm
Tagged Ayurveda, Bournvita, Department of Consume Affairs, FMCG, FSSAI, news literacy, surrogate advertising
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The gap between language and quantum mechanics
Physics World has a fantastic article about the problem with using a language invented, in Terry Pratchett’s words, “to tell other monkeys where the ripe fruit is”, to describe the peculiar but very much real possibilities created by the rules … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Culture, Scicomm
Tagged Embassytown, faith, Higgs boson, language, quantum computing, quantum entanglement, Quantum mechanics, quantum superposition, Werner Heisenberg
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Where do scientists communicate their work?
A group of Spanish researchers analysed the mentions of scientific papers authored by scientists (affiliated with Spain) on the social media, on Wikipedia, and on news outlets, blogs and policy documents to understand where the consumers of such scientific information … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm, Science
Tagged blogs, clinical medicine, Facebook, mathematics, science communication, scientific communication, social media, Twitter
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BLR road-widening is a sham
While I’m told that discussions on a plan to widen Bengaluru’s Sankey Road, between Bhashyam Circle and Malleshwaram 18th cross – a stretch that’s one of the contributors to the city’s reputation for horrific traffic – have progressed in the … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm
Tagged Bengaluru, ekistics, induced demand, public transport, traffic congestion, urban sprawl, urban transportation
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Nature paper says bad news is good news
‘Negativity drives online news consumption’, Claire E. Robertson et al., Nature Human Behaviour, March 16, 2023: Here we analyse the effect of negative words on news consumption using a massive online dataset of viral news stories from Upworthy.com—a website that … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm, Science
Tagged bad news, disinformation, echo chambers, journalism, misinformation, Nature Human Behaviour, negative emotions, news consumption, Upworthy
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What’s the anomaly in a Nobel for Modi?
I’m sure you’ve seen the reports doing the rounds today that some person on some Nobel Prize Committee said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was very deserving of the vaunted peace prize, followed by less widely circulated reports that the person … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm
Tagged binding energy, Narendra Modi, Nobel Prize for peace, Planck scale, Planck units, universal constant
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