Uncategorized
New York winters
No patterns that I can see. O New York, how cold will you be this winter? Because I come from Chennai and 22 deg. C is cold enough. Full data here.
Uncategorized
Uncategorized
The trouble 'measuring' geomagnetic events
The Richter scale describes the strength of earthquakes, and enough quakes have occurred across the spectrum of strengths for it to be well calibrated. On the Kp index scale, however, more occurrences of stronger and weaker flares are necessary for us to really know where each one sits on the scale.
Uncategorized
NYUlab: Beat-sculpting, money-making and science journalism
(This blog post belongs to a series, presumptuously titled NYUlab, about interesting thoughts and experiences I have as I pursue an MA in science, health and environmental reporting at New York University.) Today, my class had two guests. Malcolm Ritter, whose Twitter profile reads "Associated Press science reporter"
Uncategorized
Being a science journalist with dignity
Classes at NYU have started! On day one, Michael Balter, who is a senior correspondent for Science, kicked off the program with an introduction to interviewing by, simply enough, interviewing each one of us, having us introduce ourselves at the same time. I'm not sure about how much
Uncategorized
Hey, I've moved!
I'm here now.
Uncategorized
Counting warheads
Two researchers associated with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have published their research on the number of nuclear warheads possessed by countries worldwide, together with data on where they have been deployed based on various sources. The best part is their paper is available for free, and from the
Uncategorized
Who is a science writer?
August 28 was Orientation Day at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, New York University, where I've enrolled with the Science, Health & Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) for the 2014 fall term. It was an exciting day for many reasons. The first such moment was meeting the wonderful
Uncategorized
And now, a tweet from our sponsor
This is a guest post contributed by Anuj Srivas, tech. journalist and blogger, until recently the author of Hypertext, The Hindu. “Once every hundred years, media changes,” social media king Mark Zuckerberg declared at a Facebook advertising event seven years ago. “The last hundred years have been defined by the
Uncategorized
Wendy Doniger & fungi
The best stories are those that help us give new meanings to old objects, accustomed ideas and known tales. This notion applies both to articles in a newspaper and a work of fantasy fiction. It's why I think I enjoyed The Immortals of Meluha despite its predictable plot
Uncategorized
Toll of Jure landslide mounts
On August 2, a landslide in Nepal's Sindhupalchowk district resulted in 33 deaths, with more than 120 missing and 400 displaced. A preliminary survey by the local District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC) revealed 115 houses had been completely destroyed. The Nepali government has since declared all missing persons
Uncategorized
Following up on the DBT/DST OA policy
Earlier in July, a group of people working with the Departments of Biotechnology and Science & Technology (DBT/DST) of the Government of India had drafted an open access policy covering research funded by federal grants, and mandating their availability in a national repository. The move was lauded because it
Uncategorized
Some research misconduct trends by the numbers
A study published in eLIFE on August 14, 2014, looked at data pertaining to some papers published between 1992 and 2012 that the Office of Research Integrity had determined contained research misconduct. From the abstract: Data relating to retracted manuscripts and authors found by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI)