Hot in Ballia
More than half of the deaths reported during the heatwave in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar this week were reported from just one district in the former, called Ballia. On (or around) June 17, the medical su…
VM
1664 posts
Finding, and losing, Majorana
2 min read
I'm looking forward to breaking down and understanding a new paper in Physical Review B soon – the sort of work of condensed-matter physics that's complex enough to warrant a week-long dive in…
Refusing battles
2 min read
"Pick your battles" is probably the most important thing I've learnt as a journalist. A lot of it is probably due to my firm belief that science has always been political, and getting pe…
Cyclone Biparjoy and Chennai
4 min read
When is a natural disaster a natural disaster? It began raining in Chennai last evening and hasn't stopped as of this morning. But it's been intermittent, with highly variable intensity. In my…
Rob McKenna
2 min read
Anyone who reads Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and doesn't come away thinking it belongs on the list of the best books they've read has to get themselves checked. I don't think this…
Unclear science
1 min read
Scientific papers frequently have a line to this effect, often in the same syntax: "While we know X, why Y happens is unclear." The papers then proceed to elucidate Y. Sometimes a paper come…
Real heat
2 min read
In the aftermath of Chicago's infamous week-long heatwave in July 1995, the city's residents, but including the mayor Richard Daley and his administration, couldn't believe that so many ha…
A new science page at The Hindu
2 min read
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 Thursd…
Notes for a ‘The Open Notebook’ report
13 min read
I was quoted in a new reported feature in The Open Notebook, entitled 'Expanding the Geographical Borders of Your Source List'.…
A well-meaning manel is not a good panel
2 min read
It's time the good intentions of the organisers cease to matter.…
What 'The Kerala Story' and 'The Old Guard' share
2 min read
I was rewatching The Old Guard last week; the film is a bit of a favourite because a) Charlize Theron and b) it explores, even if in passing, the sometimes horrific terms on which science feels free t…
Can we 'redistribute' prestige?
2 min read
Pudding.cool has a good visual essay on the yard-sale model of economics, which shows that wealth has a tendency to accumulate more in the hands of people who are already wealthier. This is because a…