History and Philosophy of Science
THE Israeli and the western media has built the myth that the attacks on Gaza and later on the Lebanese population are a response by Israel to their one soldier being kidnapped by the Hamas … Read moreLebanon And Gaza: The Myth Of Israel’s Self Defence
THE death toll from the tsunami that hit south-east and south Asia on December 26, 2004, has officially crossed 150,000 and is quite likely to cross the 200,000 mark as relief operations proceed and a … Read moreAsian Tsunami- Science, Development And Geopolitics
EVERY school of thought accepts that if a country wants to become a global player, Research and Development (R&D) is vital. Copying, body shopping, selling other people’s products and technology can work for some time. … Read moreScientific Capability And The Wealth Of Nations
SEVERAL aspects of the recent India-EU Summit are noteworthy for their long-term geo-political significance. The most striking, of course, is the very thrust and main agenda of the Summit, namely the forging of a “strategic … Read moreIndia Abroad Galileo Project: India-EU Summit
INDONESIAN and Australian archaeologists (Nature, October 28, 2004) have found a set of six small skeletons in a cave in the island of Flores, which is causing a re-look at the humankind’s evolutionary history. The … Read moreOur Small Cousins: Rewriting Human Evolution
A FAIRLY technical paper in Science Express, August 19, on number sense amongst an obscure tribe in the Amazons numbering only about 200 has ignited a huge controversy. Briefly, Peter Gordon, a researcher found that … Read moreThe Number Sense: Small Numbers Have Large Impact
THE greatest sporting spectacle is now underway in Athens. The Olympic games are a test of the limits to which the human body can be made to perform. The motto of the Olympic Games – … Read moreOlympics And The Limits To Human Performance
THE successful flight in the US last week of the entirely private-funded SpaceShipOne taking 61 year-old pilot Mike Melvill into space made history in a number of ways. The event has been hailed as a … Read morePrivate Space Flight
THE first Indian-made civilian passenger aircraft Saras, named after the Indian crane, took to the air in its maiden flight last week. Media stories and various commentators have promptly hailed this as a historic achievement, … Read moreSaras Flies: But Where To?
AN important milestone in space exploration was reached on January 4 when the American space agency NASA’s mobile robotic probe, named Spirit, successfully landed on Mars and started sending back spectacular images of the red … Read moreRovers On Mars: Anyone Out There?
LAST week major world and nuclear powers meeting in Washington took further steps, but encountered a major hurdle, along the road towards a dream project for a nuclear reactor or power-generation system based on fusion … Read moreAn Artificial Sun On Earth?
THE suspense over India’s proposed and long-awaited acquisition of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov appeared to be over last week only to reappear almost immediately. The developments revealed yet again not only the contentious … Read moreWaiting For Gorshkov