Root Privileges

Latest Posts

  • Blunt the blade

    Are destructive but naturally occurring environmental phenomena important to Earth’s atmosphere? Does the mere acceptance of its innate “environmentalness” free it from having to tolerate human intervention? For example, how do hurricanes contribute to Earth’s atmosphere and the atmosphere’s “well-being”?… Continue reading

  • The capacity to notoriety of work

    Why is it considered OK to flaunt hard work? Will there come a time when it might be more prudent to mask long hours of work behind a finished product and instead behave as if the object was conceived with… Continue reading

  • A revisitation inspired by Facebook’s opportunities

    When habits form, rather become fully formed, it becomes difficult to recognize the drive behind its perpetuation. Am I still doing what I’m doing for the habit’s sake, or is it that I still love what I do and that’s… Continue reading

  • An Indian supercomputer by 2017. Umm…

    This is a tricky question. And for background, here’s the tweet from IBN Live that caught my eye. RT @ibnliveTech: India plans fastest supercomputer by 2017 http://t.co/rRtjl4Gd — News18 (@CNNnews18) September 16, 2012 (If you didn’t read the IBN piece,… Continue reading

  • Rubbernecking at redshifting

    The interplay of energy and matter is simply wonderful because, given the presence of some intrinsic properties, the results of their encounters can be largely predicted. The presence of smoke indicates fire, the presence of shadows both darkness and light,… Continue reading

  • The invasion

    The most fear I’ve ever experienced is when I smoked up for the first time. I thought I’d enjoy it – isn’t that always the case when you foray into an unknown realm of experiences, a world of as-yet uninhabited… Continue reading

  • The weakening measurement

    Unlike the special theory of relativity that the superluminal-neutrinos fiasco sought to defy, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle presents very few, and equally iffy, measurement techniques to stand verified. While both Einstein’s and Heisenberg’s foundations are close to fundamental truths, the uncertainty… Continue reading

  • The common tragedy

    I have never been able to fathom poetry. Not because it’s unensnarable—which it annoyingly is—but because it never seems to touch upon that all-encompassing nerve of human endeavour supposedly running through our blood, transcending cultures and time and space. Is… Continue reading

  • Credibility on the web

    There are a finite number of sources from which anyone receives information. The most prominent among them are media houses (incl. newspapers, news channels, radio stations, etc.) and scientific journals (at least w.r.t. the subjects I work with). Seen one… Continue reading

  • Weekly science quiz

    My weekly science quiz debuted in The Hindu today, in its In School edition. Here’s the first installment. Questions Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the moon on July 21, 1969, passed away on August 25 this year.… Continue reading