Viswanathan K's Thoughts

When I turn a globe such that the Pacific Ocean is facing me, it’s possible to adjust it such that no land is visible. The opposite isn’t possible though: there is no orientation of the globe where I can see only land. That’s a perfect visualization for Philip Ball’s line from his biography of water, H2O : “We call our home Earth – but Water would be more apt.”   Why does Earth have (so much) water, whereas Mars doesn’t? After all, our theories say that when the planets were being formed, ice-laden comets were bombarding planets all the time, so why shouldn’t Mars still have water? The answer has two parts. And both parts are based on the same root cause: “The key is size.”   The first consequence of the smaller size? “ Being smaller than Earth, Mars cooled off sooner from its fiery youth.” As it cooled, its volcanic activity seized up. And: “Without the churning of a hot mantle, Mars developed no plate tectonics.” The (initial) water on Mars eroded its roc...

Once India launched its Mars mission, many Western journalists started criticizing the attempt. No, this was “not coming from cheap tabloids, but reputed media houses”, as Balaji Viswanathan points out . So what is their problem? Wrong priorities, they say. Why spend on space exploration instead of addressing poverty and providing toilets, they thunder? Viswanathan counters by pointing out: “Apparently the other countries engaging in scientific research face no poverty... India doesn’t have more toilets, not because we don’t have extra 450 crores, but because of our poor execution of things.” Why the hypocrisy? After all, when NASA or the Europeans go to space, Western news doesn’t ever read: “NASA begins its moon mission despite failing to manage hurricane relief” or “European Space Agency launches a satellite despite the inability to control religious riots in Paris and Tottenham, London” Perhaps it is racism: when the Aussies launch, it apparently makes sense. Bu...