Tag Archives: science communication
The rationalists’ eclipse
The annular solar eclipse over South India on December 26 provided sufficient cause for casual and/or inchoate rationalism to make a rare public appearance – rarer than the average person who had decided to stay indoors for the duration of … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Science
Tagged Against Method, annular solar eclipse, BR Ambedkar, Caliban and the Witch, capitalism, myth, Paul Feyerabend, Periyar, pseudoscience, rationalism, science communication, scientism, solar eclipse, superstitions, superstitious beliefs, Sylvia Federici
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My country is burning. Why should I work?
A few days ago, I found asking myself the following question: My country is burning, why should I work? I ended up with some (admittedly inchoate) thoughts, delineated below. I’m trying to fight off this abject helplessness I’m feeling and … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes, Scicomm
Tagged authoritarianism, Citizenship Amendment Act, critical thinking, democracy, fascism, individual responsibility, ISRO, pluralism, protest, science communication
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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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The press office
A press-officer friend recently asked me for pointers on how he could help journalists cover the research institute he now works at better. My response follows: Avoid the traditional press release format and use something like Axios’s. answer the key … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged Axios, Creative Commons, Flickr, open knowledge, press office, press release, public outreach, science communication
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The invitations
First, I was invited to speak at a science communication meeting in X in November. Next, I was invited to host an event at Y around the same date. Then I was invited to speak at Z on the same … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes
Tagged grumpy, manel, public speaking, science communication
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Authority, authoritarianism and a scicomm paradox
I received a sharp reminder to better distinguish between activists and experts irrespective of how right the activists appear to be with the case of Ustad, that tiger shifted from its original habitat in Ranthambore sanctuary to Sajjangarh Zoo in … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm
Tagged activism, authoritarianism, authority, expertise, open knowledge, right to information, Sci-Hub, science communication, scientism, Ustad tiger
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Review: ‘Mission Mangal’ (2019)
This review assumes Tanul Thakur’s review as a preamble. There’s the argument that ISRO isn’t doing much by way of public outreach and trust in the media is at a low, and for many people – more than the most … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Scicomm
Tagged Akshay Kumar, Bollywood, Chandrayaan 2, frugal engineering, frugal innovation, GSLV Mk-III, Hinduism, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, Make in India, Mangalyaan, Mars Orbiter Mission, Mission Mangal, NASA, nationalism, PSLV, science communication, Vidya Balan
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Anil Ananthaswamy in conversation with Anita Nair
I attended an event at the Bangalore International Centre yesterday, Anita Nair in conversation with Anil Ananthaswamy about narrative non-fiction. Anil spoke for 45-55 minutes about what it was like to write his first book, The Edge of Physics (2010), … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Scicomm
Tagged Alzheimer, Anil Ananthaswamy, Anita Nair, Cotard syndrome, fiction, linear narrative, narrative drift, non-fiction, Occam's razor, science communication, The Edge of Physics
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Diversifying into other beats
I delivered my annual talk AMA at the NCBS science writing workshop yesterday. While the questions the students asked were mostly the same as last year (and the year before that), I also took the opportunity to request them to consider … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged chemical engineering, computer science, National Centre for Biological Sciences, NCBS Science Writing Workshop, physical sciences, quantum biology, science communication, science journalism, The Wire, theoretical particle physics
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