root privileges

root privileges

Tamil Nadu's lukewarm heatwave policy

natural disaster

Tamil Nadu's lukewarm heatwave policy

From 'Tamil Nadu heatwave policy is only a start', The Hindu, November 21, 2024: Estimates of a heatwave’s deadliness are typically based on the extent to which the ambient temperature deviates from the historical average at a specific location and the number of lives lost during and

Rule o flaw — part III

Rule o flaw — part III

Make sure you've read part I and part II. The project of demolishing the building opposite my house has taken a new turn. As part of the deal between me and my neighbours and the contractor, Monday, November 18, was his deadline to finish the part of the

The farm fires paradox

The farm fires paradox

If a fire burns in a farm and no satellite is around to see it, does it still produce smoke?

An infuriating editorial in Science

An infuriating editorial in Science

I’m not just disappointed with an editorial published by the journal Science on November 14, I’m angry. Irrespective of whether the Republican Party in the US has shifted more or less rightward on specific issues, it has certainly shifted towards falsehoods on many of them. Party leaders, including

Rule o flaw — part II

Rule o flaw — part II

Make sure you've read part I. On November 15, I lodged a complaint of excessive noise with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), whereupon I received an update saying the complaint was pending with the district environment engineer. Later the same evening, someone from the TNPCB called

Rule o flaw — part I

Rule o flaw — part I

This building right opposite my apartment was locked in a legal dispute for years. That must have ended a month ago (in October) because since then a bunch of workers have been toiling nine hours a day, six days a week to take it apart piece by piece. The contractor

Rapid rotation explains unusual stability of C2 anion

centrifugal potential

Rapid rotation explains unusual stability of C2 anion

In various settings, including chemical reactions in the lab, inside nuclear reactors, and in outer space, scientists have found C2– anions living for as long as three milliseconds before decaying to a more stable state — and they haven’t been able to explain why. Normally particles, atoms, and molecules make

The nanoscopes setting the stage for AI in biology

The nanoscopes setting the stage for AI in biology

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a phenomenon in which one molecule transfers electronic energy to another molecule located some distance away. The transfer happens via the small electric field associated with the first molecule interacting with the field of the second. FRET microscopy takes advantage of this phenomenon to

A view of WordPress

A view of WordPress

I used to love WordPress unconditionally. Then Gutenberg replaced Calypso and the user experience became quite poor. Then WordPress.com rejigged their subscription plans, got it wrong, and fortunately switched back. Finally, Matt Mullenweg’s actions and words of late have really tested my allegiance. I’m not a software

Build it, they will more than come

Build it, they will more than come

From ‘KSTOA seeks alternative road to Bengaluru airport amid increasing commuter challenges’, The Hindu, October 23, 2024: The Karnataka State Travel Operators’ Association (KSTOA) has raised concerns over the existing connectivity to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru. In a recently written letter addressed to the Central and State Governments,

What’s ailing the Indian Railways?

Indian Railways

What’s ailing the Indian Railways?

‘What are the stress factors for Indian Railways?’, The Hindu, October 20, 2024: The operating ratio (OR) — the amount the Railways spends to earn ₹100 — in 2024-2025 is estimated to be ₹98.2, a small improvement from 2023-2024 (₹98.7) but a decline from ₹97.8 in 2016. A higher

On the 2024 Nobel Prizes and the Rosalind Lee issue

On the 2024 Nobel Prizes and the Rosalind Lee issue

The Nobel Prizes are a deeply flawed institution both out of touch with science as it is done today and with an outsized influence on scientific practice at the most demanding levels. Yet these relationships all persist with the prizes continuing to crown some of the greatest achievements in the

Automattic off the rails

Automattic off the rails

Either Matt Mullenweg's screws have fallen off or I deeply overestimated how sensible a person I thought he was. On October 3, Mullenweg wrote on his blog that Automattic had offered those of its employees who disagreed with his actions vis-à-vis WP Engine a buyout and that 8.

Numbed by numbers

Numbed by numbers

Couple things in my news feed this morning that really woke me up — one a startling statistic and the other a reminder of what statistics miss. The first from Nature, 'How to win a Nobel prize: what kind of scientist scoops medals?': John W. Strutt, who won a

New attempt to capture academia?

Bharatiya Janata Party

New attempt to capture academia?

From my article in The Hindu today, New science awards, old political project: The government has been trying repeatedly to shut … the opposition to its policies and world view emanating from academia, a space the Hindutva programme has thus far failed to breach by choking funding and revenue through the

Review: 'Maharaja' (2024)

sexual violence

Review: 'Maharaja' (2024)

Spoilers abound; trigger warning: sexual violence In case you haven't watched the film and don't plan to, you can check out the plot description on Wikipedia. Maharaja was bad for two reasons. First, good films don’t lie to their viewers. Maharaja did in two instances.

The frustrating wait for quiet in Chennai

noise pollution

The frustrating wait for quiet in Chennai

Deepavali is less than a month away — then again it will only be a storm amid a steady drizzle of noises

Why having diverse interests is a virtue

Why having diverse interests is a virtue

As illustrated by the Marx-Ling-Brown dispute over that Canadaland podcast and Israel's violence in West Asia

Matt Mullenweg v. WP Engine escalates

Matt Mullenweg v. WP Engine escalates

Update, September 26, 2024: WordPress.org has banned websites hosted on WP Engine from accessing its resources. As someone put it on X, this is Matt Mullenweg dropping a giant turd into the laps of millions of WordPress users. I can't recommend this software any more in good

Matt Mullenweg v. WP Engine

Matt Mullenweg v. WP Engine

Automattic CEO and WordPress co-developer Matt Mullenweg published a post on September 21 calling WP Engine a “cancer to WordPress”. For the uninitiated: WP Engine is an independent company that provides managed hosting for WordPress sites; WordPress.com is owned by Automattic and it leads the development of WordPress.org.

What can science education do, and what can it not?

What can science education do, and what can it not?

On September 29, 2021, The Third Eye published an interview with Milind Sohoni, a teacher at the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas and at IIT Bombay. (Thanks to @labhopping for bringing it into my feed.) I found it very thought-provoking. I’m pasting below some excerpts from the

PSA about Business Today

PSA about Business Today

If you get your space news from the website businesstoday.in, this post is for you. Business Today has published several articles over the last few weeks about the Starliner saga with misleading headlines and claims blown far out of proportion. I’d been putting off writing about them but

A spaceflight narrative unstuck

A spaceflight narrative unstuck

“First, a clarification: Unlike in Gravity, the 2013 film about two astronauts left adrift after space debris damages their shuttle, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are not stuck in space.” This is the first line of an Indian Express editorial today, and frankly, it’s enough said. The idea that

Phogat and Khelif, and others

Phogat and Khelif, and others

This tweet is spot-on… Maybe wring time to say this: India does not celebrate sports and sportspersons, it celebrates only winners — Pradeep Magazine (@pradeepmagazine) August 5, 2024 … and we’re seeing it play out somewhat in the aftermath of Vinesh Phogat being disqualified from the Paris Olympics for not staying