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What's common to #yesallwomen, scripta manent, good journalism and poka-yoke?
A professing of intelligence without continuous practice can, and will, occasionally legitimise immature thinking.
climate change
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The metaphorical transparency of responsible media
We in India often complain about how the media doesn't care enough to cover science stories. But when we're looking back and forward in time, we become blind to the media's efforts.
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We did start the fire
An 'air purification' ritual by Indian priests in Tokyo is one of the dumbest things I've seen done in a while.
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Conflicts in the Middle East are bringing down NOx emissions
Two years ago, a study in Science put a detailed analysis behind an idea that had already taken root on a lot of people's minds: that the unfavourable weather conditions climate change was creating around the world could be related to the world's growing tendency toward
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The devil in Obama’s new emissions target for the US lies in base year details
President Barack Obama announced a new climate change target for the United States’ electricity generation sector on August 3. Hailed by many as ambitious, the plan dictates that power plants in the world’s largest economy and second largest polluter reduce their emissions below 32% of their 2005 levels by
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Twitter isn't impressed with what we're doing about climate change
The Wire May 26, 2015 English is a happy language. At least the 10,000 most used English words are positively biased, according to a 2012 study conducted by mathematicians from the University of Vermont. To reach their conclusion, they used a tool they’d built called the hedonometer – an
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Curious Bends – outraged warriors, bizarre obsessions, dubious drugs and more
It’s been one year since we launched Curious Bends – a newsletter where we bring you science, technology, data and India stories from around the web, once a week (subscribe). We’ve enjoyed serving you important and interesting stories. Thank you for being loyal subscribers! Anniversaries are a good time
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As seas exchange heat, the Indian Ocean is becoming a marine hothouse
The Wire May 21, 2015 Since about 1998, the rate at which the Earth’s surface temperature has been becoming hotter due to anthropogenic global warming has slowed. It slipped from about 0.12 kelvin per decade since the late 1800s to about 0.05 kelvin per decade. For a
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The global warming hiatus could last another five years. Its aftermath is the real problem.
Whether you've been fending off climate-change skeptics on Twitter or have been looking for reasons to become a climate-change skeptic yourself, you must've heard about the hiatus. It's the name given to a relatively drastic drop in the rate at which the world'
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Better to have been a mammal in India
The Copernican April 10, 2014 Studies of fossils and soil samples collected at a site in South India have revealed unique attributes of the ecosystem not found in many parts of the world. In particular, an international team of scientists found that most mammalian species in the region seem to
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All ice that falls is not an avalanche
Note: Updated with quotes from Patrick Wagnon, ICIMOD On April 18, an avalanche on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepalese guides. By the end of the month, 13 bodies had been recovered. The search for the remaining three was called off after conditions were termed too risky and difficult. On April
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Ambivalent promises for S&T in the BJP manifesto
There is very little, if any, concrete stuff about promoting science in the country, and a lot of it seems poised to supplant the goals of other ministries.