nationality

Nationality of news

Vasudevan Mukunth

Oct 9, 2012 — 1 min read

Just saw this news-tweet by the Hindustan Times:

Indian scientist discovers giant super-massive black holes http://t.co/s3Qm4OoF #ht

— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) October 9, 2012

Clicking on the link and opening the news-report, I see that it was a team of scientists led by one of Indian-origin who made the discovery. Moreover, the existence of supermassive black holes has been known for a long time now, so saying “Indian scientist discovers giant supermassive black holes” is misleading.

This tendency to focus on the nationality of the leading researcher behind the discovery is detrimental to science journalism. It seems as if the nationality had a bearing on the development being reported. What if the person’s nationality was unavailable? Would the development still have been reported? Is anyone responsible looking at if the development merits reporting? If so, why aren’t other similar developments being reported?

Further: this shouldn’t be considered an instance of science journalism at all. If there are any surveys out there looking at the ratio of science news in a newspaper or on the website against the total quanta of all the news that the publication reports, such articles shouldn’t be considered in the account of the former.

(Also, if you observe, the last three paragraphs have become a staple-insertion in most posts, articles, reports, etc., concerning the discovery of supermassive black holes.)

Rapid rotation explains unusual stability of C2 anion

In various settings, including chemical reactions in the lab, inside nuclear reactors, and in outer space, scientists have found C2– anions living for as long as three milliseconds before decaying to a more stable state — and they haven’t been able to explain why. Normally particles, atoms, and molecules make

Tamil Nadu's lukewarm heatwave policy

I published this article here by mistake. I’d intended for it to appear in a different forum and I have submitted it there. If and when it’s published there, I will link to it here. My apologies.

The nanoscopes setting the stage for AI in biology

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a phenomenon in which one molecule transfers electronic energy to another molecule located some distance away. The transfer happens via the small electric field associated with the first molecule interacting with the field of the second. FRET microscopy takes advantage of this phenomenon to

A view of WordPress

I used to love WordPress unconditionally. Then Gutenberg replaced Calypso and the user experience became quite poor. Then WordPress.com rejigged their subscription plans, got it wrong, and fortunately switched back. Finally, Matt Mullenweg’s actions and words of late have really tested my allegiance. I’m not a software

Read more

Rapid rotation explains unusual stability of C2 anion

Tamil Nadu's lukewarm heatwave policy

The nanoscopes setting the stage for AI in biology

A view of WordPress