This blog is no longer active. I blog at https://dilawars.me now.
Where is the center of mass of India?
Imagine yourself to be Krishna. You want to lift India on your finger tip. You have already sliced the country using a cosmic knife 1 km below the sea level. Where would you keep your finger? Remember the Indian plate needs to be balanced. There is no easy answer this question. The estimates, however, are … Continue reading Where is the center of mass of India?
Switches in the brain?
I am happy to see my expository article published in Resonance this month. I used to read Resonance in my college days and some articles were very edifying. My article is available for free from here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12045-019-0863-8 It is also available from Indian Academy of Sciences website: https://www.ias.ac.in/describe/article/reso/024/09/0963-0975 Below is the abstract: We forget often. … Continue reading Switches in the brain?
How do we remember for so long?
Recently my paper was published in eLife. It deals with an important question: How do we maintain long-lasting memories?. The eLife feature team did a great job in writing a layman summary for this paper which I am reproducing below: The brain stores memories by changing the strength of synapses, the connections between neurons. Synapses … Continue reading How do we remember for so long?
Making figures with TikZ/pgfplots for scientific publishing in Biology
Tikz and pgfplots are great for data visualization but keep in mind that they are not for faint hearted.
An optical illusion
Today while working, I notice something weird in my terminal. Here is a screenshot of it. Focus near 0.064 in this stream. Do these lines feel tilted? To me, they do!
Carbon emission levels according to mode of transport
I often try to remember how much each mode of transportation costs the environment. Data published by UK government has good numbers. These data can probably be used as proxy for India with some caveats. The buses emit more carbon and almost certain to carry many more passengers; same goes with trains. I could not … Continue reading Carbon emission levels according to mode of transport
The state of science reporting in our media
The quality of science reporting in newspapers, if it exists at all, is abysmal. Some might even add the quality of any section in most newspapers is abysmal. Probably this has more to do with the quality of training of journalists than the ability or willingness of papers to find spaces in science section. Since … Continue reading The state of science reporting in our media
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty learned caution and care He climbed down the wall. And grew fat in a chair!
Admission interviews at NCBS Bangalore
Every year, last week of May, NCBS conducts interviews for admission to our Ph.D. and Integrated Ph.D. program. If you are invited to the interview, this post is for you. This is not an official post, I am writing it as a student who went through it. You should report at the campus by 7:45 … Continue reading Admission interviews at NCBS Bangalore
