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The weekly linklist – July 25, 2020
I've decided to publish this linklist via Substack. Next weekend onwards, it will only be available on https://linklist.substack.com. And this is why the list exists
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The occasional linklist – July 19, 2020
I have been pondering creating a column on my blog where I share links to articles I read and liked. I perform this function on Twitter at the moment, but
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The sea of metal
Two of the most decisive moments of the Second World War that I can’t get enough of are the Battle of Stalingrad and the D-Day landings. In the Battle
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Distracting from the peer-review problem
From an article entitled ‘The risks of swiftly spreading coronavirus research‘ published by Reuters: A Reuters analysis found that at least 153 studies – including epidemiological papers, genetic analyses and clinical
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Five reflections on science day
Science Day isn’t a very meaningful occasion in and of itself. It is the day C.V. Raman discovered the light-scattering effect named for him. Raman won a Nobel
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Research funds gridlock: who wants what
On January 30, the Union ministry of finance announced a 24-25% hike in the junior (JRF) and senior research fellowships (SRF) amounts effective from January 1, 2019. The decision had
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The history, culture and science of 'cardiac coherence breathing'
A recent article in Scientific American on the benefits of “proper breathing” for overall health has ignited anger across social media, with many in India accusing the magazine of rebranding
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Which supercollider will be built?
After CERN announced the plans for its new supercollider, I was surprised no one wanted to address the elephant in the room: the supercollider's similarity to one announced
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Breaking down CMB Bharat
A consortium of Indian scientists has submitted a proposal to the national space agency for a new space science mission called CMB Bharat. Let's break it down. What
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ISRO's amazing tender notice
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has provided more details about its Gaganyaan programme, including new stages for its GSLV Mk III launch vehicle, through – of all things – a tender
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Compare ideas with ideas
Avi Loeb in his interview to the New Yorker: We don’t have as much data as I would like. Given the data that we have, I am putting this
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The problem with claiming "it's aliens"
A Harvard astronomer believes that an interstellar object could possibly have originated from a civilization outside our solar system: https://t.co/qsLjVPGJy4 pic.twitter.com/x7jh3wnRDm — The New Yorker
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Just how many reusable rocket designs is ISRO working on?
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on at least three different designs of reusable launch vehicles at the same time. Together with its endeavours to increase the number
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A close shave with the criticism question
Pamela Philipose, the public editor of The Wire, raised an important question towards the end of her latest column: The Wire Fortunately, he took the trouble to send in his
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Not all retracted papers are fake news – but then, which ones are?
The authors of a 2017 paper about why fake news spreads so fast have asked for it to be retracted because they've discovered a flaw in their analysis.