All of us grow up learning to fear the things we cannot see. From a young age, the word ‘germ’ is used as a warning—a synonym for sickness, dirt and danger. But…
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The dance of us: How atoms tell the story of our existence
One of the most famous and profound anecdotes about atoms comes from the legendary, Nobel Prize-winning American theoretical physicist, Richard Feynman (1918–1988). In his famous introductory physics lectures (1961–63) at the California…
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The brilliant mistake that split the universe
In the year 1924, Satyendra Nath Bose, a brilliant young lecturer in physics, was teaching a class of postgraduate students at Dhaka University, now in Bangladesh. He was demonstrating the prevailing classical…
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Nikola Tesla and the gift of hyper-phantasia
How will you describe a scientist-inventor who possessed a rare natural gift that allowed him to build, test and run complex machinery entirely within his own mind. He was none other than…
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Accidental physicist, essential discovery: How James Chadwick unlocked the atom
He was sixteen years old and he had come to Manchester with one plan: study mathematics. But when he arrived at the university registration desk in 1908, a physicist was sitting there…
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The Bhakti tradition of India
Kanakadasa (1509–1609) was a renowned poet-saint of Karnataka in South India. Though he was a high-ranking military officer, he renounced his wealth to follow the path of devotion to Lord Krishna. Once,…
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Nellie Cashman: Legendary prospector, entrepreneur and humanitarian
In 1875, a commander in the U.S. Army at Fort Wrangel, Alaska, ordered a detachment of soldiers to find Nellie Cashman. They were convinced the “mad woman” was dead, having trekked into the…
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Jules Verne: Father of science fiction
Did you know that Jules Verne— the legendary “father of science fiction”— was shaped by a childhood vow to travel “only in his imagination” ? According to family lore, an 11-year-old Verne, born in the…
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Guru Nanak: The enlightened householder-farmer
Guru Nanak embodied the Sikh ideal of a householder-farmer, living a balanced life of spiritual enlightenment, family duties, and honest labour through kirat karni —earning a living ethically while serving others. His story…
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Algorithms: The invisible force behind our daily lives
The humble kitchen recipe remains the most relatable ancestor of the complex code running our world today. The French Soufflé is a high-precision job: if you beat the egg whites until stiff peaks…