Ripples In A Teacup

As someone who studied French in high school and as a wanna-be computer scientist, I’ve been fascinated by how science terms and phrases translate into French. For starters: Math is “les mathématiques” – feminine and plural too Physics is “la physique” – feminine, singular Chemistry is “la chimie” – feminine, singular Biology is “la biologie” – feminine, singular Botany – “la botanique” – feminine, singular Zoology – “la zoologie” – feminine, singular Physics terms, when translated into French, have a beauty of their own. La chaleur - Heat La force - Force L’accélération - Acceleration La gravité/le pesanteur - Gravity La température - Temperature Radiation électromagnétique - Electromagnetic radiation Le magnétisme - Magnetism Le champ magnétique - Magnetic field La loi de Faraday - Faraday’s law Le courant continu - DC power La physique nucléaire - Nuclear physics La fission - Fission La physique appliquée - Applied physics La physique moléculaire - Molecular physics La science natu...

A couple of days ago, I chanced about this CNN News Article titled “‘Blast-furnace heat every day’: Record temperatures cancel classes, widening learning gaps across Southeast Asia” and my heart sank (as it usually does when I read anything about climate change and global warming). An 11-year-old student studying in Phnom Penh is quoted as saying: “ My classroom does not have air conditioning. It’s very unpleasant and uncomfortable. On some days, it can even get so hot that it feels like your skin is burning ." I can so relate to that. My own school did not have air conditioning till now, but A/Cs are now being installed. My school is situated very close to the sea. On the other side of the road, lies a park and beyond the park, is the sea. One would assume that a building so close to the sea would get enough breeze to avoid air conditioning, but no, it’s sweltering hot inside our classrooms, not all of which have perfect ventilation and voila, A/Cs are here. Fortunately, my scho...