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 to say he was at the demolition …
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 the building’s owner hired brought …
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 these transitions to lose energy …
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Tamil Nadu’s lukewarm heatwave policy
The policy is only for heatwaves, and if it doesn't expand in future to include the state's own responsibility, Tamil Nadu will miss the forest for the trees.
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 observe objects smaller than 10 …
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To 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 sentiments. I'm not a software expert, just technologically curious and technically inclined. Since …
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, the association has highlighted the …
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 OR leaves less for capex and …
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 history of modern science. The …
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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 8.4% of the company's workforce took it. He …