DesiPundit

A while ago DNA had an interview with a Mr. Amit Dave who claims he can predict big earthquakes based on the alignment of planets. I criticized that article and pointed out the many mistakes and misunderstandings about geology that Mr. Dave ’s theory was based on.

Suvrat responds in detail to a certain astrologer’s questions who claims to predict earthquakes based on alignment of planets.

Which one is harder to catch: the Tiger, or the Neutrino? One’s a rare charismatic megafauna everyone knows from myth and reality; the other, a really tiny but abundant ghostly elementary particle that you may not have heard about. While no tiger is eating you, I hope, your body is undoubtedly being pierced (through and through) by scads of neutrinos from cosmic rays even as you read this blog

Madhusudan describes the efforts of India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) and its struggle to setup base without disturbing the ecosystem of a tiger reserve.

While my so-called ‘real’ publications are limping along, one of my side-projects got published in this month’s Annals of Improbable Research. A journal that is self-styled as ” the journal of record for inflated research and personalities” . These are the good folks who dish out the Ig Noble Prizes each year

Read more on the ‘ground-breaking research’ that got the honor [hat tip: Mekhala].

Selva is hosting the TheScian Science Fiction Short Story Contest 2008. Here’s a chance for budding writers, specially those who love speculative fiction, to win cash prizes and get published!

Now Mr. Suraiya is a well respected columnist but he is not a climate scientist and his lack of science training shows. He opens his argument not by referring to real science contradicting warming but by pointing out that the writer Michael Crichton has written a science fiction book that questions the human influence on global warming. I kid you not!

The Times of India is not exactly the paragon of journalistic excellence let alone scientific accuracy. But still as Suvrat Kher found out, an anti-global warming argument by Jug Suraiya reeks of tabling an opposing viewpoint for the sake of it, is quite appalling. There is always space for a counter view but it is definitely not this one.

What makes one creative and how do you produce quality in greater quantity? Krishna Kumar comes with some answers.

Creative work requires a significant focus of the mind to achieve a state called “flow”. Flow is achieved when the mind is fully knowledgeable about the critical pieces of the creative work and at the same time, heavily processing that information to make new decisions. Until the first stage (knowledge-acquisition) is achieved, the second stage (decision-making) is very inefficient. The first stage always requires some time, and the more complex the creative work, the more time it consumes.

He also talks about working without interruption, a difficult task in this twitter era.

Here’s what some of the bloggers are saying about India’s record breaking 10-satellite launch. Raj criticizes Indian media for not supporting the brilliant achievements of India’s scientists

I am shocked by the bias of the notorious Indian ‘mainstream’ media who always question the contribution of India’s scientists.Despite facing a shortage of resources and despite being denied access to the latest technologies by the governments of some countries,Indian scientists have managed to make every truly patriotic Indian proud of their achievements in the fields of space, nuclear and defence technologies.

Neurojava thinks that this means more outsourcing opportunities for India:

Does that mean that India will become the next outsourcing vendor for satellite space launches? My take is that the scenario is absolutely possible - and indeed very likely. Given the economies of scale associated with multiple satellite launches, it doesn’t seem a far-fetched scenario where-in launches of weather and other strategically non-critical satellites are outsourced to ISRO and other such agencies.

Minaz cheers for this “landmark achievement”

Here is proof again, if proof was ever needed, that Indians are among the world’s top technical geniuses. Let’s hope the new boom in space technology also triggers a spurt in pure and applied science research in India.

Can you tell one mammal from the other? witnwisdumb enlightens you on some mammals that you might not come across on the tube

[D]espite my highly restricted awareness of mammalian taxonomy (or any part of taxonomy, for that matter), I was still able to identify most mammals in television documentaries. Clearly, this shows that documentary makers are only interested in a select set of species. (Yes, National Geographic and Discovery are biased as well. Sue them too.) Most documentaries are centred on the rockstars of wildlife: the large carnivores (usually Africa’s big cats), or the bigger species of the ungulates.

How many such bogus “scientific” answers were there, and are still there, in school textbooks that I have forgotten about (or continue to believe credulously)? Richard Feynman reports regularly blowing up like a volcano when asked to review some California state school science books. I suspect my own temper may be hard to keep when my son starts learning science in school.

Rahul Siddharthan is frustrated by the bogus science in school textbooks.