City Slickers

Why urban diseases like rabies and dengue are so hard to control   Less than a kilometre from Bengaluru’s Lalbagh botanical garden lies the Bisilu Maramma Devi temple. The goddess has another name: Plague Maramma. Devotees believe that the deity harnesses the sun’s power to kill bacteria and viruses and ward off illnesses. The temple […]

Better Brews

Researchers are using science to improve our coffee   It’s a crisp, windy morning in Bengaluru. I open my jar of fresh coffee powder and pack some tightly into my coffee filter. I then gently pour some boiling water over the bed of coffee grounds, filling it to the brim. Watching the water burble over […]

In the ‘AI’ of the beholder

Beauty and bias in perceiving art   “I feel like we are nearing the end of times. We humans are losing faith in ourselves.” Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese animator and co-founder of the renowned production house Studio Ghibli, uttered these words in 2016 after seeing an AI-generated animation film for the first time. Nine years […]

Amulya KN Reddy

The scientist for social development   One morning in the early 1940s, 12-year-old Amulya Reddy received a letter from his uncle and hero, CGK Reddy, a marine engineer and political activist. The letter, written on a rough piece of paper, had arrived from the Madras jail where CGK was imprisoned for his anti-British activities. In […]

Birds of Different Feathers

Secret lives of mixed species groups   Some years ago, while driving through the scenic Masai Mara, a savannah wilderness in Kenya, Kartik Shanker made an interesting observation. “Various species of ungulates (hoofed mammals) like gazelles, zebras, and wildebeests were foraging together, but what was interesting was that smaller individuals grouped with similarly sized individuals […]

Design Dilemma

The ongoing debate on digital vs. physical prototyping   It was supposed to be a simple task. As part of our coursework project on Applied Ergonomics at IISc’s Department of Design and Manufacturing (DM; formerly known as the Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing, CPDM), my team wanted to design earphones with the perfect ergonomic […]

Home is where earth is

Learning from traditional architecture   Walking through the lanes of Majuli, the largest river island in the world, one cannot miss the characteristic houses, the Chang Ghar. Situated in Assam, at the heart of the river Brahmaputra and secluded from the rest of the world, Majuli has preserved much of its traditional heritage, including its […]