The post-reporter era II
When a print-publication decides to go online, it will face a set of problems that is wholly unique and excluded from the set of problems it will have faced before. Keeping in mind that such an organi…
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Window for an advanced theory of particles closes further
A version of this article, as written by me, appeared in The Hindu on November 22, 2012. -- On November 12, at the first day of the Hadron Collider Physics Symposium at Kyoto, Japan, researchers pre…
On meson decay-modes in studying CP violation
In particle physics, CPT symmetry is an attribute of the universe that is held as fundamentally true by quantum field theory (QFT). It states that the laws of physics should not be changed and the opp…
The travails of science communication
There's an interesting phenomenon in the world of science communication, at least so far as I've noticed. Every once in a while, there comes along a concept that is gaining in research tractio…
After less than 100 days, Curiosity renews interest in Martian methane
A version of this story, as written by me, appeared in The Hindu on November 15, 2012. -- In the last week of October, the Mars rover Curiosity announced that there was no methane on Mars. The rover…
The cost of solutions
Hereby, a new metric: Solution cost (SC) SC = Cost of finding the solution to a particular problem - (Rate at which the applications of the solution become cheaper * t), t = No. of years across whic…
A latent monadology: An extended revisitation of the mind-body problem
In an earlier post, I'd spoken about a certain class of mind-body interfacing problems (the way I'd identified it): evolution being a continuous process, can psychological changes effected in…
A muffling of the monsoons
New research conducted at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research suggests that global warming could cause frequent and severe failures of the Indian summer monsoon in the next two centuries…
Eschatology
The meaning of the day of the blog is changing. While some argue that long-form journalism is in, I think it's about extreme-form journalism. By this, I only mean that long-forms and short-forms a…
Backfiring biofuels in the EU
A version of this article as written by me appeared in The Hindu on November 8, 2012. -- The European Union (EU) announced on October 17 that the amount of biofuels that will be required to make up…
A cultured evolution?
Can perceptions arising out of cultural needs override evolutionary goals in the long-run? For example, in India, the average marriage-age is in the late 20s now. Here, the (popular) tradition is to f…
Plotting a technological history of journalism
Electric telegraph * July 27, 1866 – SS Great Eastern completes laying of Transatlantic telegraphic cables * By 1852, miles of American telegraphic wires had grown from 40 in 1846 to 23,000 * In 1…