Compare the supposed cradles of civilisations, Mesopotamia and Egypt with the Indus-Sarasvati. The latter stands out for its sheer environmental advantage.
Mesopotamia had 2 flood-prone rivers and limited biodiversity. Egypt relied entirely on the Nile and its narrow corridor of arable land.
By contrast, the Indus-Sarasvati network had 7 rivers, extensive floodplains, and diverse ecosystems. This surplus and resilience fostered urban growth, craft specialisation, long-distance trade and technological experimentation at a scale neither Mesopotamia nor Egypt could match.
Far from being peripheral, it was built on the strongest foundations with the ancient world’s highest population - its economic and cultural centre.
This photograph of Albert Einstein’s office desk has become one of the quiet icons of physics history. Piled with papers, notes, and half-finished ideas, it’s often paired with his playful question;
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what, then, is an empty desk a sign of?”
More than a joke, it feels like Einstein gently reminding us that creativity is rarely neat and that beneath apparent chaos, deep thinking can be at work.
Happy Birthday to Jagdish Chandra Bose (1858–1937), an Indian physicist, biologist, and polymath who worked at the very dawn of modern experimental science in India.
Trained in physics in Britain, he returned to teach at Presidency College in Calcutta, where he began doing pioneering experiments with electromagnetic waves. At a time when radio technology was still in its infancy, Bose built his own equipment, generated millimetre-wave radio signals (essentially early microwaves), and demonstrated wireless communication over short distances—even ringing a bell and detonating gunpowder using wireless signals. He also developed and used some of the earliest semiconductor detectors (crystal detectors/coherers), which later became crucial components in radio receivers. Although he did not aggressively patent or commercialize his work, his experiments helped lay the scientific foundations for wireless communication.
Later in life, Bose shifted his focus to biology and plant physiology, bringing the same careful experimental style into a completely different field. He invented an instrument called the crescograph, designed to measure extremely small, slow movements in plants with great precision. Through these experiments, he showed that plants respond to external stimuli—like light, chemicals, or mechanical injury—through electrical signals and changes in growth, drawing parallels between plant responses and the nerve impulses in animals. This was a radical idea at the time and opened up a new way of thinking about plants as sensitive, responsive organisms. Together, his contributions in physics and plant science made him one of the earliest and most influential experimental scientists from the Indian subcontinent.
“When women are destroyed, it’s not a women’s question. It’s a human question.”
Denis Mukwege was awarded the 2018 #NobelPeacePrize for his work fighting against the use of sexual violence in war.
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
#EndVAW
From my talk at MIT: our aim is to make an intelligent engine that can predict unseen, unmade human molecules in their response to human biology.
Way better than the 97% failure rate today for cancer, and 90% failure rates across all diseases.
📰 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦
Our November cover article on stress-associated gene expression and long noncoding RNA:
Open Access: https://t.co/40nyOciO2E
With accompanying Open Access editorial: https://t.co/VaAjXkvCmd
Role of lncRNAs in stress-associated gene regulation following chromatin silencing: Mechanistic insights from an in vitro cellular model of glucocorticoid receptor gene overexpression by AK Verma and Yogesh Dwivedi’s team at UAB.
Altogether, the study demonstrates that lncRNAs, particularly those interacting with PRC2, may serve as potential mediators of stress-induced neuronal changes by influencing chromatin accessibility, and potentially highlight their roles in stress-related disorders.
Maryam Mirzakhani was a visionary mathematician and the first woman to win the Fields Medal (2014). An Iranian genius and Stanford professor, she revolutionized the study of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces. Her work bridged geometry, topology, and dynamics, solving complex problems about billiards on curved tables. Her deep, visual intuition allowed her to navigate abstract mathematical landscapes that few others could see, leaving an immortal legacy in geometry.
Calling #MECFS "effort preference" is like calling a broken leg "walking reluctance," ffs. It's not a choice—it's biology. PEM crashes prove it. Stop blaming patients for their physiology.
"There is no peace in Southern Africa. There is no peace because there is no justice. There can be no real peace and security until there be first justice enjoyed by all the inhabitants of that beautiful land."
Though he wanted to have a career in medicine, Desmond Tutu was a schoolteacher before he resigned to attend theological college.
During the 1980s, Tutu began drawing international attention to apartheid within the country. He was an outspoken critic of apartheid and emphasised nonviolent means of protest.
Tutu encouraged the economic boycott of South Africa.
Desmond Tutu received the peace prize in 1984 for his opposition to South Africa's brutal apartheid regime.
His clear views and his fearless stance made him a unifying symbol.
Science has two rules;
First: there are no sacred truths; all assumptions must be critically examined; arguments from authority are worthless.
Second: whatever is inconsistent with the facts must be discarded or revised.
- Carl Sagan
Han Kang began her literary career in 1993 as a poet, later turning to novels and short stories. Across her works, she confronts historical traumas and the often invisible rules that shape our lives, revealing the fragility of human life.
Later today, we will announce the 2025 #NobelPrize in Literature. Join us live, as we learn who the laureate(s) will be.
BREAKING NEWS
The 2025 #NobelPrize in Literature is awarded to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Martin Luther King's 1964 peace prize brought global attention to the civil rights struggle in the United States and strengthened his influence as an international advocate for nonviolent protest, human rights, and racial equality.
Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2025 peace laureate(s) coming later today.
#NobelPrize #NobelPeacePrize
Wangari Maathai was the first female professor in Kenya and the first African woman to be awarded the #NobelPeacePrize. She founded the Green Belt Movement, which led to the planting of millions of trees.
Today we announce the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
Geoffrey Hinton says AIs may already have subjective experiences, but don't realize it because their sense of self is built from our mistaken beliefs about consciousness.