Zeroing In

Click, clank, grrrr, hummm— meddling with the symphonies of the mechanical world, our guest for this episode, Prof. Kurien Issac, Senior Professor, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, gives us a peek into the extremely fascinating and intriguing field of kinematics and mechanics. Throughout his research work so far, Prof. Issac, has made significant contributions in the wide areas of...

From the simple act of walking to an elaborate one of performing an elegant ballerina, there are enumerable turns and twists and movements underneath the visible locomotion. So how does one get to the backstage to figure out the strings behind the dancing puppets?  Tooling and toying with some of the extremely intriguing mechanisms is something that Prof. Issac does on a daily basis.  St...

String theory is considered as one of most complex theories put forth by our physicists. But what are these ‘strings’ that are being debated on so much? And is this really the theory that will unify everything, bring it all under same hood? Fundamental fields, such as string theory, offer a plethora of curiosities that seem to surpass our understanding of this universe, making it a an equally comp...

From the very beginning, while we have tried to understand this universe, our explorers have been able to find the underlying links between big ideas. Like Newton united the sky above with a spinning wheel on Earth, explaining how the two could be were linked by the same laws. Following the road of unification, Maxwell united electricity and magnetism— illustrating how they are facets of the same...

“There is nothing like a dream to create the future.”  Humankind chose to explore the wide space and its objects not because it is easy, but because it is challenging. Continuing to explore the technological marvels and the way that the Indian Space Program shaped itself amidst all the challenges with the man who has been a part of each of the space vehicle launches that ISRO has undertaken u...

The greatest of dreams that human civilization has looked up to, are undoubtedly related to extending our reaches into the unknown - the space. This exploration not only serves to fulfil the aspirational ideals of humankind, but also plays a major role in developing the life-tools that aid and shape the everyday lives of the whole community. Of course, it doesn't come as a surprise that rocke...

The problems engineers face in the real world, go well beyond the approximations and assumptions one often sees in textbooks. They deal with the nonlinear regime, far away from the comforts of equilibrium conditions,  where even problems like modelling the wrinkle on a membrane due to the passage of air might be impossible to model and deal with. To find just the right balance between simplic...

Trailer - Zeroing In with Dr. Praveen Krishna Acoustics, the study of sound, has always been an integral part of engineering. There are countless techniques which revolve around the manipulation of these pressure waves, to test the stability and integrity of structures, be it aircraft hulls or even the buildings and skyscrapers that you see around. But did you know that the study of instruments li...

"August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time. "- Sylvia Plath The rains, be it the mango showers that herald the end of the summer or the torrential downpours accompanying cyclones, have always invoked a wide range of emotions in everyone’s heart. But did you know that the oceans that surround us actually play a very important role in driving the ra...

“With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea, no matter where on earth you live” - Sylvia Earle, Marine biologist Covering more than 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface, the ocean is indeed the blue heart of our planet. The oceans apart from being home to an astonishing number of lifeforms, also control the climate especially playing an important role in t...

Precision and accuracy are two of the most fundamental properties any measurement could have. The difference between 1 and 1.000001 might seem inconsequential but such miniscule differences often have significant consequences. It is the miniscule mass defects in atoms that lead to nuclear fusion and the miniscule angular deviations that cause a satellite to fall out of orbit. To measure such minis...

Sensors and instruments are an engineer’s extra set of eyes and limbs reaching into domains they cannot reach physically, be it the low pressure, oxygen-less environments of space or the high pressure, no light regions deep under the sea. To design an instrument is no easy feat, with hours of precision engineering and skill going in to construct the most elegant solution to the problem at hand. Wh...

Evolution is a race that has no finish line with the myriad lifeforms of the world constantly undergoing morphological and physiological changes just to keep up, to keep the eternal race going. Did you know that there are certain species of spiders that mimic ants? or that termite cultivate fungus inside their mounds or that most of the fig species have a unique species of fig wasp that exist in m...

Around 200 years back, Darwin set out on his historic voyage around the world, observing and cataloguing the immense diversity the world had to offer, he laid down the foundation for a theory that shook the foundation of biology, the theory of evolution out of which was born the field of evolutionary ecology which tries to unravel the countless puzzles of life nature has to offer. Our guest for th...

In the great enveloping cosmic dark, our planet is but a pale blue dot. A pale blue dot teeming with a myriad of lifeforms carving out their own unique path not just to survive but to thrive. Have you ever thought about these countless beings of all shapes, sizes, colors that coexist in this intricately complex ecosystem that we call our home? This week, we bring to you tales from the jungles of P...

Throughout the ages, different forms of communications have rapidly evolved to an extent where we have enslaved light itself to act as our messenger, to send and receive information not just across the world but to probe the corners of the universe that is reaching out to us in the form of electromagnetic waves. For this episode we have in conversation with us, Dr. Raghunath Kashinath Shevgaonkar,...

In the era of telephones and satellites, the world around us is immersed in a sea of unseen electromagnetic radiation emitted from a plethora of sources. Have you ever thought about the countless hours of engineering that goes on behind the scenes to make sure humanity stays connected? Hear on for the excerpts of our conversation with a researcher who has made valuable contributions to a wide vari...

The dawn of the twenty-first century saw the boundaries of science being pushed to unseen territories, with ground breaking discoveries and inventions seen on an everyday basis. The subatomic realm working it's wonders away from the inquiring eyes of humanity, has slowly started to reveal its magnificence with the advent of never before seen technologies and theories. In our conversation with Dr....

From the stars in the sky to the sand near the seas, we are all made of a gazillion atoms and molecules working in unison. Have you ever wondered about these entities which unseen to the naked eye, run the universe and all we know?  Stay tuned for we bring to you the stories of a physicist, who weaves together the subtleties of poetry and the curiosities of physics as he paints a tapestry of...

The willingness to deal with failures is neither new nor an exceptional idea at all when we take a closer look at the great minds across history. Doesn't parlaying the mistakes into future gains instead of mourning them define success? In an exciting conversation with Dr. B.N. Suresh, a first-generation scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation we gained a much-coveted insider’s view int...

Treading a path with multiple variables to play along, where failure awaits every turn, how does one touch the pinnacle in the field of ‘Rocket Science’!? Singing the songs of a journey, so complete and detailed with adventures, we bring you a conversation with one of India’s pioneering rocket-scientist and researcher who has played a fundamental role in the Indian Space Program, Dr. B.N. Suresh.&...

Curiosity is one of those virtues that we all the masters of in childhood. If we are lucky and adamant enough, we are able to sustain it through the storms and seasons of life. Perhaps it won't be an exaggeration to say that this is what keeps us alive. What questions do you remember? The greatest of discoveries and inventions were born out of mere curiosities of beings who held on to their questi...

“A single and distinct luminous body causes stronger relief in the objects than a diffused light; as may be seen by comparing one side of a landscape illuminated by the sun, and one overshadowed by clouds, and illuminated only by the diffused light of the atmosphere.”  Helping us figure out the ideas and efforts it takes for mapping out the farthest skies and the deepest oceans in all painsta...

What has caught the curiosity of a kid if not the rolling of thunder, of how the winds change and where all those clouds travel to! Transitioning from outer space after our first episode, and entering the Earth’s atmosphere and the seas alike (almost at the end of this season), our next guest is an expert of ‘things’ that go on around us — affecting the weather and climate.  Tag along to catc...

Chemical Sciences is a primeval forest full of the most intriguing phenomena that gets one thinking hard and deep about what they observed. From our kitchen shelves to prodigious laboratories, from our own bodies to the interstellar medium, chemistry takes parts in all frames. (Organic Chemistry helps us resolve Alkynes of problems we have been Diene to figure out.) We discussed the captivating as...