I exist, therefore I am.
The entire world is gripped under a pandemic triggered by a 30 kilobase RNA virus called SARS-Cov-2. Almost 1/3rd of the world's population is under some kind of lockdown or quarantine. The term "social distancing" has already made its way into common parlance and it may be a good contender for the Oxford Word of the… Continue reading On Population
There's a popular misunderstanding about what causes tides. A common and seemingly intuitive explanation of tides goes like this - the moon pulls on the water on the near side of Earth much more than it pulls on the far side of Earth. This is a superficial explanation and is ridden with many problems and… Continue reading The Physics of Tides
A vast array of diverse cultures coexist in India. Many take immense pride in this aspect of India. The first Prime Minister and one of the chief architects of the vision of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, wrote at length on this[1]. However what is often lost in this narrative is the proliferation of darker and regressive… Continue reading On Superstitions
Astrology has been successfully debunked both on theoretical and empirical grounds. Today it's probably considered the best example of what pseudoscience is. But it's still not uncommon to see otherwise intelligent people seeking refuge in it now and then. Even the slightest application of impartial inquiry on the alleged grounds of astrology should expose the… Continue reading On Astrology
Let's take a look at the state wise GDP contribution to India in 2017-18: India: State-wise GDP (in ₹ crores at current prices 2017-18)For details on data, source and to interact with the chart visit the Github page. It wouldn't be right to blindly compare the states since GDP depends on the geographical extent, population,… Continue reading India: State-wise GDP Comparison
Some time back I finished reading what will be the lengthiest book I will have ever read. It's The Mahabharata. The particular translation I picked is of little significance considering the broad outlook with which I devoured the book. Here I share some of my thoughts that I happened to make notes of as I… Continue reading On Mahabharata
Heritability is an oft confused word that has a non-intuitive but a precise meaning.
Ask any historian what were the fundamental characteristics of human societies that aided in the exponential progress of mankind ever since their evolution in the African Savannahs and the advent of collective learning is bound to figure as one of those enablers. Collective learning is the ability to consolidate individual knowledge in a society and… Continue reading On Wikipedia
The concept of "Half-life of Facts" was introduced by Samuel Arbesman in the eponymous book (2012). I haven't read the book but the concept was intriguing enough to have provoked my curiosity. It's the idea that facts also have an expiry date - which necessitates us to constantly update our mental model full of beliefs and… Continue reading Half-Life
Eucalyptus is my favourite tree. Eucalyptus is no proper way to refer to a tree though, as it's merely the name of the genus. There are about 700 species of Eucalyptus but there's no single most popular species amongst them. So the specificity of what is meant by Eucalyptus varies with geography and context. Eucalyptus… Continue reading On Eucalyptus
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