Category Archives: Science
Who funds quantum research?
An odd little detail in a Physics World piece on Microsoft’s claim to have made a working topological qubit: Regardless of the debate about the results and how they have been announced, researchers are supportive of the efforts at Microsoft to produce a … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged artificial intelligence, Bruce Schneier, Drew Weissman, drug development, Katalin Karikó, Majorana 1, Microsoft Research, mRNA vaccines, Nathan Sanders, Normal Eisen, Physical Review B, Physics World, public AI, public quantum, quantum computing, quantum technologies, topological qubit, Winfried Hensinger
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Subtracting from science funding
‘NavIC’s hurdles project govt’s reluctance to fund innovation’, Hindustan Times, February 7, 2025: India … chose a more cautious path. For decades, we’ve been telling ourselves that we’ll invest in science “when we’re economically better off.” It’s both prudent and a … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged defence spending, gross expenditure on research and development, Hindustan Times, Indian Space Research Organisation, NavIC, NVS-02 satellite
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Does science have trouble seeing governments?
From ‘Energy megaproject in Chile threatens the world’s largest telescopes’, Science, January 10, 2025: The AES project would occupy several sites totaling 3000 hectares, and the plants making hydrogen and ammonia with renewable energy would be sited just 5 kilometers from … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm, Science
Tagged carbon credits, Cerro Armazones, Cerro Paranal, Chile, clean energy, European Southern Observatory, Extremely Large Telescope, Mauna Kea, Science journal, SpaceX Starlink, Thirty Meter Telescope, Very Large Telescope
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Does science have trouble seeing governments?
From ‘Energy megaproject in Chile threatens the world’s largest telescopes’, Science, January 10, 2025: The AES project would occupy several sites totaling 3000 hectares, and the plants making hydrogen and ammonia with renewable energy would be sited just 5 kilometers from … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm, Science
Tagged carbon credits, carbon trading, Cerro Armazones, Cerro Paranal, Chile, climate change, European Southern Observatory, Extremely Large Telescope, green hydrogen, renewable energy, Science journal, SpaceX Starlink, Thirty Metre Telescope, Very Large Telescope
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The fever dream of ‘technological sovereignty’
I recently came across an initiative called “Industrial47”. Someone had shared a link to it on a group I’m part of, and when its card loaded, the image was of a nuclear weapon going off. I found on LinkedIn that … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged air pollution, farm fires, Indian Space Research Organisation, industrial revolution, Industrial47, LinkedIn, Rahul Seth, sewer cleaning, Shankar Nair, smokeless chulha, social harm, Social welfare, solar cooker, The Hindu, Three Gorges dam, Yarlung Tsangpo dam
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The fever dream of ‘technological sovereignty’
I recently came across an initiative called “Industrial47”. Someone had shared a link to it on a group I’m part of, and when its card loaded, the image was of a nuclear weapon going off. I found on LinkedIn that … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds, Science
Tagged air pollution, air purifier, Brahmaputra river, farm fires, genius, Gita Chadha, Homi Bhabha, Indian Space Research Organisation, Industrial47, investment fund, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leona Woods, LinkedIn, nuclear weapon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reason of state, scientific superpower, scope creep, smokeless chulha, social harm, Social welfare, solar cooker, technological sovereignty, technologisation, The Hindu, Three Gorges dam, Walchand Hirachand, Yarlung Tsangpo river
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A tale of two awardees
In many respects Krishna Ella and Elon Musk are poles apart but on some they share a few similarities. Both of them have played along with nationalist elements in their respective national governments in order to further their agendas, if … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Bharat Biotech, clinical trials, Covaxin, Donald Trump, Dorothy Bishop, Drug Controller General of India, Elon Musk, Indian National Science Academy, Krishna Ella, Narendra Modi, Royal Society
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A tale of two awardees
In many respects Krishna Ella and Elon Musk are poles apart but on some they share a few similarities. Both of them have played along with nationalist elements in their respective national governments in order to further their agendas, if … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Culture, Science
Tagged Appa Rao Podile, Bharat Biotech, Covaxin, COVID-19 pandemic, Dorothy Bishop, Elon Musk, Indian National Science Academy, Krishna Ella, Millennium Plaque of Honour, Royal Society
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Rescuing superconductivity
From a paper in Nature Reviews Physics, December 19, 2024: One of the forefront fields of modern superconductivity research is that on hydrides at high pressures. Over the past few years, this research has attracted considerable publicity, of which a … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged Ashkan Salamat, BCS theory, carbonaceous sulphur hydride, lutetium hydride, Nature journal, Nature Reviews Physics, peer review, Physical Review Letters, Ranga Dias, room-temperature superconductivity
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The SARS-CoV-2 red herring
It’s no longer about science. Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged COVID-19 origins, COVID-19 pandemic, Donald Trump, RaTG13, World Health Organisation
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