If you are trained in elementary physics and in basic calculus, you’d recognize the image above as summarizing Newton’s laws of motion in simple mathematical equations. The wiki explains:
Newton’s laws of motion are three basic laws of classical mechanics that describe the relationship between the motion of an object and the forces acting on it. These laws can be paraphrased as follows: Continue reading “Laws of Motion”
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” Continue reading “Liberty”
The iron pillar in Delhi is an amazing object. At over 7 meters in length and weighing over three tonnes, it was made about 16 centuries ago from forge-welded wrought iron pieces. It is so corrosion resistant that it has survived the ravages of nature, and is strong enough that it even withstood destruction by cannon fire by Nadir Shah’s army about three centuries ago.
The people who cast that pillar had the technology to make that pillar. Which means that they knew how to make an iron pillar which resists corrosion for over a millennium and a half. The operative phrase in the previous sentence is “knew how to” — which is the definition of technology that we focus on. Continue reading “Technology”
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. That adage is known as Hanlon’s Razor.
I wondered about the mentality of the people who decided that disallowing photos at nature preserves is a great idea. Were they merely stupid or was something else motivating them? They have those signs at the Tiger Reserves at Bandipur and Mudumalai. Continue reading “A Mudumalai Bear”
Learn something. I don’t know if that’s the answer for everyone but that’s what works for me. You mileage may vary, as they say in the ads for cars. But for the vast majority of the cases, it works. Learn something. The best thing you learn is that you are just fine just as you are. Continue reading “The Best Thing for Being Sad”
Time for a musical interlude. A few fun songs. The first is from a one-hit wonder Jamaican band Musical Youth.
When I first heard the song long years ago, I mistakenly thought that “pass the dutchie” meant pass the bong. Only recently I learned that dutchie refers to a “dutch pot” and the stew-like dish made in it. It’s food that is being passed. Hence the words, “How does it feel when you have no food.” Continue reading “Pass the Dutchie”
I’ve been at my friend KM’s home for the last three weeks in Bangalore. Yesterday, KM and I drove 300 kms south to the Mudumalai National Park to visit a beautiful resort for a couple of days. The resort is located in a tiger reserve that spans three southern India states — Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu — in the Nilgiris. The image above is from the Mudumalai part of the reserve. Continue reading “Mudumalai Park”
The good news is that Elon Musk bought twitter. The better news is that Musk fired the CEO Parag Agrawal, and the CFO Ned Segal. Best of all, he fired Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy. She had made the decision to permanently suspend Donald Trump.
Musk sent a message to twitter advertisers. In it, he lays out his reason for taking total control of twitter. Here it is: Continue reading “Twitter”
I am partial to Spanish guitar compositions. Here are a couple I especially like.
The wiki has details of the composition Asturias by Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909.) He was a child prodigy who first performed at the age of four. Continue reading “Two Guitar Pieces”
It’s important for us to realize the great progress humanity has made in the last 200 or so years. Life expectancy at birth is a summary measure of human wellbeing.
For nearly all of human history, life expectancy at birth was around 30 years in all regions of the world. Then around 200 years ago, global health inequality became a reality. The website, Our World in Data, presents data extraordinarily well. Continue reading “Progress in Life Expectancy”
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 