Science

363 posts

Ayurveda is not a science – but what does that mean?

5 min read
Analysis Science allopathy authoritarianism Ayurveda bhakts Bharatiya Janata Party far right hospital care Imre Lakatos Karl Popper knowledge systems modern science nationalism Paul Feyerabend pseudoscience reason for state social science state Thomas Kuhn view from nowhere welfare welfare state welfarism

This post has benefited immensely with inputs from Om Prasad. Calling something 'not a science' has become a pejorative, an insult. You say Ayurveda is not a science and suddenly, its loudest…

India's missing research papers

2 min read
Science Bharat Biotech Biocon Covaxin COVID-19 COVID-19 epidemic COVID-19 pandemic ELISA test kit favipiravir hydroxychloroquine Indian Council of Medical Research Itolizumab novel coronavirus peer review preprint papers remdesivir science academies science by press release seroprevalence survey Tata Institute of Fundamental Research tocilizumab Zydus Cadila

If you're looking for a quantification (although you shouldn't) of the extent to which science is being conducted by press releases in India at the moment, consider the following list of studi…

The matter of a journal's reputation

5 min read
Analysis Science Biocon Björn Brembs COVID-19 cytokine release syndrome Dinesh Thakur Drug Controller General of India Itolizumab Jammi Nagaraj Rao journal impact factor Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Newslaundry phase II clinical trials phase III clinical trials prestige journals prestigious journals reputed journals Seema Ahuja Sundar Ramanan The Telegraph

Apparently (and surprisingly) The Telegraph didn’t allow Dinesh Thakur to respond to an article by Biocon employee Sundar Ramanan, in which Ramanan deems Thakur’s article about the claims to efficacy…

An Upanishadic lesson for modern science?

6 min read
Analysis Culture Science Amit Chaudhuri Bhagavad Gita causality creation creator disinterestedness Eastern Philosophy genius genius construct Gita Chadha Immanuel Kant impersonality Isa Upanishad Kena Upanishad Lawrence M Krauss modern science New Critical Philosophy of Science power Richard Feynman scientific genius The Life of Science TS Eliot Upanishads Western philosophy

Do the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads lack the "baggage of biography" – to borrow Amit Chaudhuri's words – because we don't know who the authors, outside of the mythology, are or –…

The real story of 'The Old Guard'

4 min read
Analysis Science apoliticism Charlize Theron compassion fatigue Enrico Fermi history of science human experimentation medical experimentation medical imperialism medical research Netflix Paul Feyerabend profiteering rationalism The Old Guard violence

Spoiler alert: Don't read this post if you intend to watch The Old Guard but haven't done so yet. The Old Guard, an action film starring Charlize Theron among others, released on Netflix on J…

Redeeming art v. redeeming science

5 min read
Analysis Culture Science diversity Enrico Feri Erik Shapiro Geoffrey Marcy Georges Lemaître Jeffrey Epstein Lawrence Krauss passing the trash Richard Feynman separate art from artist separate scholar from scholarship sexual harassment social anthropology

Recently, someone shared the cover of a soon to be released book, entitled The Physics of Climate Change, authored by Lawrence M. Krauss and expressed excitement about the book's impending publica…