Neuromorphic hype
We all know there's a difference between operating an Indica Diesel car and a WDP 4 diesel locomotive. The former has two cylinders and the latter 16. But that doesn't mean the WDP 4 simply ha…
VM
1664 posts
A masculine build-up to the Ind-Pak cricket match
3 min read
It's just good business.…
Bad responses to The Wire's Meta reports
3 min read
Note, September 18, 2023, 6:40 am: I've often returned to this post since The Wire retracted its 'Meta' reports, to see if I still stand by its contents. I do with the portions that I have…
A Kuhnian gap between research publishing and academic success
3 min read
There is a gap in research publishing and how it relates to academic success. On the one hand, there are scientists complaining of low funds, being short-staffed, low-quality or absent equipment, diso…
Bruno Latour (1947-2022) and critiquing science
4 min read
The French philosopher Bruno Latour passed away on October 9, at the age of 75. I don't know if many people in India have noticed but people abroad, especially in Europe, have. His passing leaves…
A question about India's new science prizes
2 min read
really deserving candidates In a meeting chaired by Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla on September 16 and attended by senior members of the various science departments of the national government (DST,…
Assorted comments: MOM, IIT Mandi, scientists' wishes
3 min read
These are some remarks that have been fermenting in my mind and for which I don’t have the time or the inclination to supply a beginning-middle-end structure to publish as individual posts. I’m just p…
The passive voice is political
4 min read
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 make…
The Frida Kahlo NFT
3 min read
Like a Phoenix rising from its ashes, Art is reborn into Eternity. fridanft.org In July this year, a Mexican businessman named Martin Mobarak allegedly destroyed a painting by Frida Kahlo in order t…
Tales of two peppers
2 min read
The 7 Pot Barrackpore starts at the same Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) as the regular ones, but its highest level has frequently approached 1.3M SHU, which can easily set your face on fire. How the name Ba…
The Merge
4 min read
Earlier this month, a major event happened in the cryptocurrency space called the 'Merge'. In this event, the ethereum blockchain changed the way it achieves consensus – from using a proof-of-…
Ramanujan, Nash, Turing, Mirzakhani
3 min read
From a short review of a new documentary about the life and work of the Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, September 9, 2022: While there are other movies about real-life mathematicians such as…