The idea of doing right by the US
After US troops withdrew from Afghanistan after two decades in 2021, the Taliban returned to power. In its oppressive regime many groups of people, but especially women, girls, and minorities, have lo…
VM
1664 posts
Majorana 1, science journalism, and other things
8 min read
Scicomm
Alexei Kitaev
Ben Feringa
Cassandra Willyard
curiosity
curiosity-driven research
David Thouless
Duncan Haldane
Fraser Stoddart
Jean-Pierre Sauvage
John Kosterlitz
Majorana 1
Majorana fermions
Microsoft
National Science Day
Nobel Prizes
quantum computing
science journalism
The Hindu
topological order
While I have many issues with how the Nobel Prizes are put together as an institution, the scientific achievements they have revealed have been some of the funnest concepts I’ve discovered in science,…
Let's allow space missions to be wonderful
2 min read
Finally some external validation. After months of insisting Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore aren't "stuck" or "stranded" in the International Space Station, after Boeing Star…
Do the poor want to be poor?
1 min read
'Justice Gavai’s comments on freebies overlook people’s struggle for survival: Brinda Karat', The Hindu, February 14, 2025: CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat said the recent remarks on…
Subtracting from science funding
2 min read
‘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 s…
Learning with ChatGPT
1 min read
I have access to the premium version of ChatGPT, and every day I ask it a few questions about concepts in physics that I’d like to know more about. Yesterday, for example, I learnt the difference betw…
Onward and spillward
2 min read
‘The Lunacy Of Rebuilding In Disaster-Prone Areas’, Noema, April 25, 2024: In the months after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans proposed a flood control program unlike any other in U.S. history. Develo…
An ambigram in The Hindu
1 min read
The Hindu has an unusual ad in today’s paper (at least in the Chennai edition, which I get) on the occasion of Republic Day. At the middle is an ambigram that reads “journalism” one way and “democrac…
Neural network supercharges model's ability to predict phase transitions
6 min read
Place a pot of water on the stove and light the fire. Once the temperature in the pot reaches 100º C or so, the water will boil to vapour. This is an example of a phase transition that occurs every da…
On Gaiman and a logic of compassion
6 min read
That Vulture piece. If you haven’t already, read it but be warned: it’s just as disturbing as everyone is saying it is. One paragraph in particular I found more unsettling than the rest — not because…
On Gaiman and a logic of compassion
6 min read
That Vulture piece. If you haven’t already, read it but be warned: it’s just as disturbing as everyone is saying it is. One paragraph in particular I found more unsettling than the rest — not because…
Posting stats — 2024
1 min read
When I joined The Wire in 2015, the average length of my blog posts increased from around 700 words to around 850 words, and over time to 1,000 words. This wasn't forced so much as a natural refle…