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…
Scicomm
331 posts
Bruno Latour (1947-2022) and critiquing science
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…
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 make…
Tales of two peppers
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…
A physics story of infinities, goats and colours
When I was writing in August about physicist Sheldon Glashow’s objection to Abdus Salam being awarded a share of the 1979 physics Nobel Prize, I learnt that it was because Salam had derived a theory t…
How do you make a mode-locked laser?
Given Mode-locked lasers are lasers that are capable of producing intense ultra-short pulses of light at a very high rate. Concepts Set 1 Take a bunch of atoms, excite them and place them in a b…
The strange NYT article on taming minks
I'm probably waking up late to this but the New York Times has published yet another article in which it creates a false balance by first focusing on the problematic side of a story for an inordin…
The search for a powerful natural particle accelerator
And the promise of one distant supernova remnant.…
Yes, scientific journals should publish political rebuttals
If they can.…
What makes 'good science journalism'?
From 'Your Doppelgänger Is Out There and You Probably Share DNA With Them', The New York Times, August 23, 2022: Dr. Esteller also suggested that there could be links between facial features…
On the record about a source of irritation
I need to go on the record about a source of mild irritation that seems to resurface in periodic fashion: the recent Current Affairs article about the "dangerous populist science of Yuval Noah Ha…
Dams are bad for rivers. Are skyscrapers bad for winds?
The effects of wind on buildings are relatively more popular than the effects of tall buildings on the wind itself.…