The simple tech that can pierce the Kashmir blackout

6 min read
Scicomm 35A Amit Shah amplitude modulation Article 370 Azad Hind Radio BBC World Service Bob Tanna Digital Radio Mondiale F region Ionosphere ionosphere absorption Kashmir Kashmir Valley Mehbooba Mufti Nariman Printer Omar Abdullah Politics news Prime Minister Narendra Modi radio broadcasting shortwave radio signal attenuation skip zone

On August 15, AFP reported that the BBC plans to expand its shortwave radio coverage in Kashmir “to ease the impact of a communications blackout imposed by the Centre”. The report added that “short wa…

Review: 'Mission Mangal' (2019)

6 min read
Culture Scicomm 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

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 – mo…

Of awards and women

3 min read
Op-eds Scicomm

The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was founded in 2012 by Yuri Milner to recognise those individuals who have made profound contributions to human knowledge. It is open to all physicists –…

Scientists make video of molecule rotating

4 min read
Scicomm carbonyl sulphide classical mechanics Coulomb explosion electromagnetic force Heisenberg's uncertainty principle laser Quantum mechanics quantum superposition strong nuclear force velocity map imaging spectrometer weak nuclear force

A research group in Germany has captured images of what a rotating molecule looks like. This is a significant feat because it is very difficult to observe individual atoms and molecules, which are ver…

Preference for OA research by income group

4 min read
Op-eds Scicomm Amelica article processing charge arXiv bronze OA coalition S GDP per capita gold OA green OA hybrid OA income groups K VijayRaghavan Latin America Open Access Plan S PLoS ONE Rwanda Sub-Saharan Africa World Bank

Two researchers from Rwanda performed a “systematic computational analysis of the biomedical literature” and concluded in their paper that: … papers with authors based in sub-Saharan Africa, papers w…

When deGrasse Tyson pulled a Pinker

6 min read
Op-eds Science cherry-picking climate injustice Enlightenment ideals George Monbiot human rights humanities incel mass shooting Neil deGrasse Tyson optimism pandemic Quillette Sandy Hook Social Sciences Steven Pinker white nationalism

Since this post was published, an upward-edited version has been republished on The Wire. Twitter is, among other things, that place on the internet where people fight over the tips of icebergs. Ther…