Tag Archives: science writing
On Somanath withdrawing his autobiography
Excerpt from The Hindu, November 4, 2023: S. Somanath, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told The Hindu that he’s withdrawing the publication of his memoir, Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal, penned in Malayalam. The decision followed a report in the Malayala … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm
Tagged Current Science, Indian Space Research Organisation, K Sivan, S Somanath, science communication, science writing
Comments Off on On Somanath withdrawing his autobiography
The passive voice is political
Eric Martinez, Francis Mollica and Edward Gibson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Edinburgh won an Ig Nobel Prize for literature this year for their work on what makes legal documents so hard to read. Ironically, … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm
Tagged active voice, Ig Nobel Prize, MIT, passive voice, science communication, science writing
Comments Off on The passive voice is political
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
Comments Off on The circumstances in which scientists are science journos
Good writing is an atom
The act of writing well is like an atom, or the universe. There is matter but it is thinly distributed, with lots of empty space in between. Removing this seeming nothingness won’t help, however. Its presence is necessary for things … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes, Scicomm
Tagged dark energy, electrons, galaxy, good writing, Hubble constant, neutrons, protons, science journalism, science writing, universe, vacuum, vacuum energy, void
Comments Off on Good writing is an atom
Ruins of the Sutlej avulsion paper’s coverage
Reporting on the new Indus civilisation study out of IIT-K and Imperial College London was an interesting experience because it afforded an opportunity to discover how the technical fields of sedimentology and hydrodynamics can help understand the different ways in … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes
Tagged fluviodeltaic morphodynamics, Ghaggar-Hakra palaeochannel, hydrodynamics, Indus river, Indus valley civilisation, river avulsion, science communication, science journalism, science writing, sedimentology, Sutlej river
Comments Off on Ruins of the Sutlej avulsion paper’s coverage
By the way: the Chekhov’s gun and the science article
“If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.” (source) This is the principle of the Chekhov’s gun: that all items within … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Chekhov's gun, coherence, redundancy, science communication, science writing, scientific research, trivia
Comments Off on By the way: the Chekhov’s gun and the science article
Talking scicomm at NCBS – II
I was invited to speak to the students of the annual science writing workshop conducted at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, for the second year (first year talk’s notes here). Some interesting things we discussed: 1. Business of journalism: … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged conflict of interest, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Nautilus, Quanta magazine, science journalism, science writing, storytelling, The Wire
Comments Off on Talking scicomm at NCBS – II
Do your bit, broaden your science menu
Don’t judge the best science journalists in India after having read only the worst science journalism. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Fountain Ink, helium-3, ISRO, Reuters, science journalism, science writing, Scroll, The Hindu, The Telegraph, Twitter
Comments Off on Do your bit, broaden your science menu
Talking about science, NCBS
On June 24, I was invited to talk at the NCBS Science Writing Workshop, held every year for 10 days. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Anil Ananthaswamy, journalism, National Centre for Biological Sciences, science writing
Comments Off on Talking about science, NCBS
Stenograph the science down
Is it that we’re paying no attention to the science and instead reproducing statements line by line because they’re made of gold? Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged IANS, Indian Space Research Organisation, journalism, newspapers, RLV-TD, science writing, Zee News
Comments Off on Stenograph the science down