NB: A student of mine, Sai Mukhesh recently sent me these philosophical considerations on science, truth and society. I replied with a few scarce observations (appended beneath his text) because his queries were too vast, and my knowledge too limited, for me to say much. Aside from the reminder that Freudian psycho-analysis must not be… Read More Science, society and related matters: an exchange
People often assume that the objectivity of science requires it to be isolated from governmental politics. However, scientists have always gotten involved in politics as advisers and through shaping public opinion. And science itself – how scientists are funded and how they choose their research priorities – is a political affair. The coronavirus pandemic showed both the benefits and risks of this relationship – from the controversies surrounding hydroxychloroquine to the efforts… Read More LIV GRJEBINE: Politicized science drove lunar exploration — but polarized scientific views are worse than ever
Art and science can seem two opposites on a spectrum. One is creative and interpretive, the other exact and empirical. But an emerging technology known as Pure Structural Colour — dubbed the “boldest, brightest color on Earth” in a new exhibition — shows how interplay between the two may be revolutionary for both. Panels of… Read More Eva Rothenberg: Why the 'brightest color on Earth' may also be the future of eco-conscious art
For most of last year, the idea that the coronavirus pandemic could have been triggered by a laboratory accident in Wuhan, China, was largely dismissed as a racist conspiracy theory of the alt-right. The Washington Post in early 2020 accused Senator Tom Cotton of “fanning the embers of a conspiracy theory that has been repeatedly debunked by experts.” CNN jumped in… Read More ROWAN JACOBSEN: How Amateur Sleuths Broke the Wuhan Lab Story and Embarrassed the Media
The razing of forests and hunting of wildlife is increasingly bringing animals and the microbes they harbour into contact with people and livestock. About 70% of new infectious diseases have come from animals, including Covid-19, Sars, bird flu, Ebola and HIV. However, preventing this root cause of spillover is scarcely mentioned by leaders and authorities,… Read More World leaders ‘ignoring’ role of destruction of nature in causing pandemics // World’s soils ‘under great pressure’, says UN pollution report
Pro-democracy activist Chow Hang Tung has been arrested by Hong Kong police on the 32nd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Ms Chow is vice chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance which organises : annual vigils for victims of Beijing’s deadly crackdown on democracy protesters. She has been arrested for promoting unauthorised assembly. It comes… Read More Tiananmen: Hong Kong vigil organiser arrested on 32nd anniversary // Louisa Lim: By banning Tiananmen vigils in Hong Kong, China is trying to rewrite history
The 527-page document is so cluttered with references to the past sexual history of the prosecutrix that it effectively invisibilises the accused On May 21, 2021, the court of additional sessions judge Kshama M Joshi, Mapusa, pronounced her judgement acquitting former Tehelka editor, Tarun Tejpal, of all charges of sexual harassment, molestation, rape etc… Read More Vrinda Grover: How Tejpal judgement ends up slandering the rape survivor / Tejpal case: Trial court verdict like ‘manual for rape victims’, says HC
By 2030, Shell must cut its CO2 emissions by 45% compared to 2019 levels, the civil court ruled. The Shell group is responsible for its own CO2 emissions and those of its suppliers, the verdict said. It is the first time a company has been legally obliged to align its policies with the Paris climate… Read More Shell: Netherlands court orders oil giant to cut emissions // Why a ‘crushing’ day for Big Oil represents a watershed moment in the climate battle
The will cannot will backwards… That time does not run backward, that is his wrath; ‘that which was’ is the name of the stone he cannot move. And so he moves stones out of wrath and displeasure, and he wreaks revenge on whatever does not feel wrath and displeasure as he does. Thus the will,… Read More Arjun Appadurai: Ripping Apart the Central Vista Is Nothing Short of the Reconquest of Delhi / Romi Khosla: Central Vista Project is Government’s Desire to Change History
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in a visit to Washington DC last week strongly defended “the governance record” of the government at the Hoover Institution, blaming perceptions to the contrary as “political imagery that has been concocted”. He claimed that the Modi government was being harshly judged because its leaders being less familiar with English… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Half-life of half-truths: Can diplomacy stop decaying governance?
