Ever since Galileo got tired of spying on his neighbors in 1609 through his telescope and decided to turn the lens to the heavens instead, we became aware of other earth-like planets and hills and craters on our very own moon. And the human understanding of space was changed forever. Four hundred years later, the wonders of space continue to inspire and excite generations, geeks, and of course, governments.

Jina compares the ISRO and NASA stories.

So here are two things to understand, Mr Suraiya. First: man-made climate change is not an “irrefutable fact”. It is a hypothesis for which there is, at this point, an enormous amount of evidence compiled by climate scientists around the world. To refute the hypothesis, you need a significant amount of contrary evidence. Plimer’s book does not cut it.”

[Source: Why can't we all just listen to Jug Suraiya?] Rahul Siddharthan deals with Jug Suraiya’s lack of basic understanding regarding the climate change issue. Suddenly it has become cool to deny anthropogenic global warming, pun intended.

A recent thread on twitter and in the blogosphere, started by Andrew Maynard at 2020Science, with a follow-up by Steven Hill at Testing hypotheses… about how they were inspired to become scientists, has got me reminiscing again about my own sources of inspiration that led to this life in science.

Madhu at Reconciliation Ecology lists the reasons and inspiration on why he chose to be a scientist.

All that changed after Apollo 11. Forty years ago today, 20th July 2009, when I was five, the Apollo Mission put man on the moon. If ever there has been a BC and AD event in the history of the human race, this has been it. Nothing before or since, even today, has equaled this achievement, and I am happy to say I was part of it.

On the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing, Mustansir Dalvi recalls his earliest memories and personal connection to that historic event.

Any argument on this topic that I have with friends and family ends with one of the two rhetorics: that I have bought into the Western agenda; or that Allopathy is an imperfect science and that doctors are not able to find cure to all diseases.

Niket warns of possible dangers to your health from reliance on homeopathy as a credible medical treatment.

Here’s the problem though: I find Dr Summers unconvincing not for the things he refutes and exposes, but for the things he ignores in Carrey’s article. And if I, a strong skeptic on most “alternative medicine” views, am unconvinced, I am sure millions of others will be even less persuaded.

As much as the anti-vaccines movement sounds crazy, Rahul is not completely convinced by a paediatrician’s arguments in favor of vaccines simply because he doesn’t address most of the complaints made by the other camp. But can paranoia ever be addressed against successfully?

Sakshi reminds us that if you are a firm believer in science (like when you visit a doctor when ill) then this Frequently Asked Questions about Multiple Vaccinations and the Immune System should suffice to clear any doubts.

I know this has already been covered earlier today. But Rahul Siddharthan’s latest post (which was missed in that post) is a must-read. It explains the work of Rao et al. in a way that makes us appreciate the work as well as its importance. Go read Indus: What did Rao et al. really do?. I’ll excerpt here the concluding sentence:

To me, [this] is the value of interdisciplinary research: what is obvious to one community may be new to another, and the results may be far-reaching.

Dear Spiritually Enlightened Person on TV in the mornings (and late nights),
I must first thank you for sharing your wisdom and understanding of the human condition with the masses. In the frenetic rat race we call urban life, your skillfully…

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You disappoint me

Dear Sir,
I was rather shocked to notice that in your “Notable Deaths of 2008″ slide show that included 44 famous people from the arts, medicine, literature, television, politics, cinema, music and journalism, the name of the legendary physicist…

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They are a cultural and artistic expression of a whole array of mathematical ideas and concepts (yes, mathematical). Kolams have symmetry, patterned repetition, closed continuous curves and curve families, all of which have applications and meaning in mathematics and computer science. With their impeccably logical building up of patterns – their algorithmic nature – they have attracted the attention of computer scientists who have used kolams to study picture languages.

Kamini writes about the science and study of  Kolams.

PS: A Kolam is a pattern drawn using powdered rice outside the house,all across Tamilnadu.