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Agalloch
Agalloch is a synonym of agarwood. In parallel, Aquilaria agallocha and Agalochum malaccense are synonyms of Aquilaria malaccensis, the accepted scientific name of a tree that produces much of the
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‘Animals use physics’
What came first: physics or the world? It’s obviously the world, whereas physics (as a branch of science) offered ways to acquire information about the world and organise it.
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Clocks on the cusp of a nuclear age
You need three things to build a clock: an energy source, a resonator, and a counter. In an analog wrist watch, for example, a small battery is the energy source
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Buildings affect winds
A 2022 trip to Dubai made me wonder how much research there was on the effects cities, especially those that are rapidly urbanising as well as are building taller, wider
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You're allowed to be interested in particle physics
This page appeared in The Hindu’s e-paper today. I wrote the lead article, about why scientists are so interested in an elementary particle called the top quark. Long story
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A new source of cosmic rays?
The International Space Station carries a suite of instruments conducting scientific experiments and measurements in low-Earth orbit. One of them is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), which studies antimatter particles
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Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore are not in danger
NASA said earlier this week it will postpone the return of Boeing’s crew capsule Starliner back to ground from the International Space Station (ISS), thus leaving astronauts Barry Wilmore
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The universe’s shape and its oldest light
The 3-torus is a strange and wonderful shape. We can’t readily visualise it because it has a complicated structure, but there’s a way. Imagine you’re standing inside
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The pitfalls of Somanath calling Aditya L1 a "protector"
In a WhatsApp group of which I'm a part, there's a heated discussion going on around an article published by NDTV on June 10, entitled '
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The BHU Covaxin study and ICMR bait
Earlier this month, a study by a team at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi concluded that fully 1% of Covaxin recipients may suffer severe adverse events. One percent is
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The billionaire's solution to climate change
An eye-opening profile of Marc Benioff's 1t.org initiative, the flawed research paper that inspired it, the harmful practices it's made room for, and what all this says of his wealth
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The "coherent water" scam is back
On May 7, I received a press release touting a product called "coherent water" made by a company named Analemma Water India. According to the document, "coherent
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End of the line
The folks at The Wire have laid The Wire Science to rest, I've learnt. The site hasn't published any (original) articles since February 2 and its
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The foundation of shit
I've been a commissioning editor in Indian science, health, and environment journalism for a little under a decade. I've learnt many lessons in this time but
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When metastable systems fail to become stable…
'Metastable systems' is a technical term for something you've definitely experienced in your daily life, as much as scientists often encounter it when studying subatomic particles.