thescian
Posts by this author
March 10, 2008
Of course you do! You are such a good soul! Head over to TheScian.com. It's a two-part translation of the English essay 'Leaping into the void'. I had a long post in mind on how this is an attempt to start a discussion on science with my extended family back home in Namakkal, how language shapes…
March 10, 2008
I was checking who has linked to my blog (using technorati, which has recently improved from worse to bad). There were the usual link farmers growing penis pills and such, but one cowboy website stood out for its brazen display of daring and contempt for reason and sanity. It was a silly website…
March 7, 2008
A Conversation with Jorge Luis Borges at Habitus, A Diaspora Journal. [via The Elegant Variation]
March 7, 2008
A discussion about why 42 is the answer to everything at the BBC:...The answer can be interpreted in two ways. One is that it is a bad joke, implying that there simply is no answer, no meaning, no sense in the universe, and you would be no worse off if you jumped into the nearest black hole.
But…
March 7, 2008
From Economic Times:The Kerala method of delineation of horoscopes using 'cowries' (sea shells) is highly valued for its accuracy, according to astrologers from India and abroad.
Well-known astrologer Kailasnath from Parappanangadi near Kozhikode said that no time of birth or place of birth is…
March 5, 2008
One of the India's eminent female scientists Indira Nath is to be named World's top women scientists by UNESCO. From TelegraphIn her role as Director of the LEPRA - Blue Peter Research Centre in Hyderabad (built with money raised through an appeal on the BBC children's programme) she works at the…
March 4, 2008
It's true. You can't. I tried it on a Nokia and it suggested 'shiv' (which, incidentally, is a shortened form of Shiva, a name that's in use in India). Watch below for a hilarious take on this. [via Language Log]
March 4, 2008
When I was about 12 or 13 years old, I was fascinated by dreams. My father had a book on dreams (Interpreting Dreams, or some such title) that was pure psycho-babble but I didn't know that. Even a bad book can fuel our imagination. I played the interpretation game every time I woke up and…
March 2, 2008
I was listening to a discussion with Umberto Eco on his phenomenal book The Name of the Rose. [Real Audio here] At one point in the interview, Eco answers a question on the numerous Latin phrases in the book spoken by the monks that were left untranslated. The question was: why weren't they…
February 28, 2008
You may have seen the WIRED interview with Psychologist Philip Zimbardo and the mind-numbing pictures of torture linked there. A recent New Scientist interview of Darius Rejali( more, his book) is a necessary read on how torture deeply breaks both the sufferer and the torturer. Part of the NS…
February 28, 2008
A comprehensive and very readable post by Coturnix.
In other news, blogging will be slow for some more days till I get back on schedule on some personal matters.
February 26, 2008
Not Exactly Rocket Science. A delicious science blog by science writer Ed Yong, now at Scienceblogs.com.
February 26, 2008
Physics is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it. - R P Feynman [more]
Part of a beebs program where Feynman talks of physics and more.
February 25, 2008
An article in National Geographic about the search that's to begin at LHC for the particle responsible for gravity - a.k.a God particle, god's own glue, etc. Lickable pictures - a NatGeo speciality - to gawk at.
In Our Time podcast on Parallel Universes. I am posting this with my legs in one, head…
February 24, 2008
Why is this so important. Chris Abani, an extraordinary Nigerian novelist who published his first story at the age of 16 ( he was imprisoned by Nigerian government for it), at a TED talk.
February 20, 2008
Hair is one of nature's most amazing inventions. It is one of the toughest and lightest of materials. Even if it is harvested from the heads of unsuspecting believers, it does not diminish in value, especially in the eyes a resourceful businessman. Speigel reports:Balsara hasn't been in the…
February 19, 2008
The Letter Writer of Mumbai. A reminder of how technology makes the past obsolete.
February 18, 2008
An FT article:Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain, the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston yesterday heard.
Neuroscientists said many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which…
February 17, 2008
Hitchens in an interview about his book on Mother Teresa.It's either consciously or subconsciously assumed that a person of the cloth actually has better morals. There's precious little evidence of this; there's a great deal of evidence to the contrary, in fact.
[via reddit]
February 15, 2008
Let it be known that a rational scientific mind will shrink at nothing, including the thought of eating shit.
February 14, 2008
Some tools that you may find useful.
Blogbridge. I have been using this regularly now. If they can get their plugin architecture sorted out to play enclosures, it'll be quite nifty.
Firefox 3 Beta. The latest release is fantastic. Add-ons need to be ported but I am not very big on add-ons. Ars has…
February 14, 2008
Beebs reports[thanks Ramya] on a council that pandered to a family's delusions to save tax payer money.A psychic was paid £60 by a council to rid a County Durham home of a "poltergeist" after ghostly goings-on.
...
A council spokesman said it paid half the psychic's fee as it was the most cost-…
February 13, 2008
Barnacles!
Yes, indeed, it's the long flagellating thing in the picture. Watch them have a go at it. [wmv video file]
February 13, 2008
Beebs reports on a frenchman's successful effort [video] to run a car with compressed air. This is being backed by Tatas. Production is to start in India this year it appears. A TR article that has more details.
February 12, 2008
Why does Darwin matter? It is because he cut through so much chaff with one of the most simple, beautiful and exquisitely sharp ideas. Evolution is Life's greatest and truest legacy and he was its most brilliant student.
Read Dawkins celebrating Darwin on the occasion of Darwin Day.
February 12, 2008
Kenji Miyazawa was a 20th century Japanese poet who loved Nature and Science. In a New Scientist article Roger Pulvers who has translated Miyazawa's poems describes him as a tireless and faithful chronicler of nature.
A beautiful line from one of his poems quoted in the article:Messengers, so to…
February 6, 2008
Sunita Narain makes a case. Speaking of what she calls the Nano-flyover syndrome (Nano being Tata's new low-priced car), she says:The question is should we discount the price of motorization so that some (and maybe a few more) can drive a car or a two-wheeler? Or should we pay the real cost of our…
February 5, 2008
Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! -D H Lawrence
It's a charmed life that astronauts lead. Wouldn't the catheters that carry more solid things from astronaut's behind have some de-gassing contraption? If not, it's a charmed life indeed. You can get a taste (smell? either way, what a…