An epistocracy
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has proposed a new textbook that will discuss the 'Indian knowledge system' via a number of pseudoscientific claims about the supposed inv…
Science
363 posts
US court settles bitter gene editing patent case
On September 10, a US court settled an increasingly churlish patent dispute between two research institutions in the country, the University of California (UC) in Berkeley and the Broad Institute, Mas…
Criticism of ISRO
The Statesman‘s editorial on India’s human spaceflight programme ends with the following line: Only after placing the seventh and the last satellite in the NavIC system costing Rs 1,400 crore did ISR…
How do you determine the naturalness of homosexuality?
“Homosexual carnal intercourse between two consenting adults” is legal in India now. It wasn’t for lack of reason or scientific data that the item of legislation that rendered sodomy illegal – Section…
Satire: Ducks in water could increase oxygen content
According to Biplab Deb, the chief minister of Tripura, the oxygen content of water will increase if ducks swim in it. [ Satire begins here ] This is a sensational new discovery that has drastic imp…
Absolute hot
There's only one absolute zero but there are multiple absolute 'hots', depending on the temperature at which various theories of physics break down. This is an interesting conception becau…
Collective spin modes in ultracold atoms
Physicists created a Bose-Einstein condensate of chromium atoms, ensured the atomic spins were each aligned 90º to the condensate's plane, applied a magnetic field gradient and separated the atoms…
Remembering S. Pancharatnam
Scientists have combined one atom of sodium (Na) and one of caesium (Cs) to form one molecule of NaCs, achieving the most precisely controlled chemical reaction in history. They were able to achieve t…
'Weak charge' measurement holds up SM prediction
Various dark matter detectors around the world, massive particle accelerators and colliders, powerful telescopes on the ground and in space all have their distinct agendas but ultimately what unites t…
Myth of harmful cell phone radiation is good business for IndiGo
When I fly, I always fly IndiGo. They’re not perfect but they and their services have become familiar, from their website (where I book my tickets) to when I exit the airport at my destination. The ef…
Performing with and without an audience
My feeling is that as far as creativity is concerned, isolation is required. … The presence of others can only inhibit this process, since creation is embarrassing. – Isaac Asimov (source) Be it far…
The March for Science, ed. 2018
K. VijayRaghavan, India’s new principal scientific advisor to the Government of India, has brought a lot of hope with him into the role as a result of his illustrious career as a biologist and former…