Ripples In A Teacup

Australians have voted against proposals to change their constitution to recognise a formal body for Indigenous people which would give advice on laws. The referendum (called Australia's Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum and also as The Voice referendum) which took place last Saturday asked voters whether they wanted to recognise their Indigenous people in their constitution, and whether they wanted to introduce an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. The proposed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament was meant to be a formal body for Indigenous Australians that would give advice to the Australian government on issues affecting Indigenous Australian communities. Those who campaigned in favour of the proposals argued the vote was important for many Indigenous Australians who aren't currently recognised in Australia's 122-year-old constitution. The campaign against these proposals claimed that if implemented, the Aborigi...

Global warming has many side-effects, one of which is the exacerbation of coral bleaching. Another side-effect is  the proliferation of crown-of-thorns starfish, which are resistant to marine heatwaves and devour coral reefs . The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), Acanthaster planci, is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thorn-like spines that cover its upper surface, resembling the biblical crown of thorns. It is one of the largest starfish in the world. New information about the crown-of-thorns starfish has come from research led by Professor Maria Byrne from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney and published in the journal Global Change Biology.  Byrne and colleagues found that juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish had a higher heat tolerance than not only coral, but also adults of the same species. It has been fou...

My thoughts are in a whirl as I absorb the news that is still pouring in from Israel and the Gaza strip. I should state upfront that I am no expert on the Israel-Palestine dispute. It is very clear that Israel has been taken totally unawares by the Hamas offensive – definitely a colossal intelligence failure for a country which has a very good reputation in this department. The much vaunted Iron Dome was overwhelmed by over 2,200 rockets fired over a space of just twenty minutes. There is no doubt that Sunni Hamas has been funded and supported by external parties. Shia Iran is most likely the main backer and it is possible that the small-but-ambitious Qatar has also opened its wallet for Hamas’s benefit. Israel and Saudi Arabia were on the verge of entering into a historic peace deal and now KSA has come out in support of Hamas . Saudi Arabia possibly had no option but to voice support for Hamas, given public opinion in the Kingdom. There has been so much suffering endured by the pe...

Today a new session started in the Indian Parliament and a bill that provides for reservations for women in various legislatures was introduced. In the in Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament) and all state legislative assemblies, one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct elections shall be reserved for women. Further, one-third of the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall also be reserved for women. Interestingly, today’s session was the first sesion in the new Parliament building which has cost the Indian tax payer a pretty penny. The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to amend the Indian constitution by introducing the following new provisions in the Constitution. These are: New clause in 239AA: This provides for reservations for women in the Delhi Legislative Assembly. New Article – 330A: This provides for reservations for women in the Lok Sabha Assembly. New Article – 332A: This provides for reservations for women in every state l...

Over the past week, catastrophic wildfires destroyed many Hawaiian towns killing more than 100 people and displacing thousands of people. The fires, which are believed to be the deadliest in the US in the last century, erupted on three of Hawaii’s islands forcing visitors to flee and residents to seek emergency shelter. It is possible that power lines likely caused Maui's first reported fire. Since the beginning of August, most of Maui has been under an “abnormally dry” level of drought, according to the US Drought Monitor . But beginning on Tuesday, 8 August, a portion of Maui escalated to a “severe drought” level making the area more susceptible to wildfires. Though the islands are no stranger to some wildfires, the number of fires has increased exponentially over the past century due to human activity and an increase in invasive, flammable grasses, according to the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization (HWMO). “Nonnative grasslands and shrublands now cover nearly one-quarter...

Several years ago, while I was immersed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, my mother suggested that I watch the Dark Knight trilogy. At the time, I didn’t expect much from it. I was caught surprised there though, in fact I was virtually blown away by the way the story was told. I watched those movies multiple times and each time I was struck by another angle, another insight, another twist and I became an official Christopher Nolan fan. Oppenheimer was pure cinematic brilliance, an intellectually and visually stunning piece of work from which I could not disengage even for a second. As a student of science, it was just fascinating to watch the academics bring to fruition what they set out to achieve For the first time, I felt rather appreciative of my textbook knowledge of scientists names and accomplishments, Einstein, Neils Bohr, Fermi and Heisenberg are all scattered in the tumultuous political landscape of their times . It was amazing to see on screen all their personal and moral di...

 Folks, "College Days" a short story I wrote at the height of Covid (those dark times) has now been published on Spillwords . Here's the link .  I hope such a dystopian vision never becomes a reality!