SCI-ART LAB

Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication

Q: Science is good at nothing. It just gives us false hopes and expectations. It cannot answer several Qs. Why do you promote it? I know you will not answer this Q of mine.

Krishna: It is the Qs like these that need  to be answered first. 

Science is heroic. It fuels the economy, it feeds the world, it fights disease" - Tom Siegfried

What is Science? Science is the language this universe is written in. This universe is science based and science run.  Remove science from the universe, it just collapses! You find science every millimeter and Angstrom of it. Life is based on science. We cease to exist without it.  It is already there before living beings came into existence. We, the scientists, are not bringing things from somewhere. We are discovering things because they exist in the universe. Get that right first. 

Now don't equate scientific principles that run this universe with  the scientific processes we practice to understand the scientific language and principles this universe is written in and based on. It is the human understanding that isn’t developed to match the science of this universe.  It is the limitations of the human mind that are restricting us from having full knowledge about this universe made of science. Why blame science for our inadequacies?

People say science cannot solve all the problems and doesn't answer all the questions human minds pose. True! But think about this: This universe started with a Big Bang ( according to one theory - which is not yet proved!) some 14 Billion years ago. But science is just a few hundred years old.

The universe in which we find ourselves is 14,000,000,000 years old, planet Earth is about 5,000,000,000 years old, the species Homo sapiens, to which we belong, 300,000 years old, and modern science a mere 500 years old.

Science (the process with which we try to study and understand this universe)  is still in its infancy. It has to learn a lot, study a lot, think a lot, experiment a lot and then only it can come up with all the answers we are seeking right now. How can you expect a child to solve all the problems of his ancestors? And answer the questions posed by his great, great, great, great grand fathers? Is it appropriate to even expect such a thing? I don't think so.

There is science ( the laws that govern this universe) every millimeter and Angstrom of this universe. And the universe is unimaginably vast! But the scientists are so few! How can the limited number of scientists read the language this universe is written in such a less time?

We should be amazed at how we have been able to get so far in understanding the things in this universe despite our inadequacies! Science is doing its best with the limited resources it has to both answer the questions and solve the problems. As the time goes by, I am pretty sure, it will succeed more and more. Please have patience! Give science some time.

And let me assure you when science answers these Qs, they will not be silly stories but universe-shivering true facts.

And we are trying to pursue and understand science because, science yields only to science and nothing else. Only when we understand science and unravel the  secrets this universe is based on, we can utilize the knowledge to help living beings and remove their suffering and make their lives comfortable.

Meanwhile people bring in several concepts to explain things human mind can’t yet comprehend blaming science in the process. Scientists too can bring several of these things to fill the gaps if they want . But they don’t. Because they are true seekers of facts.

Scientists have in their mind a project of being able to definitively answer the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.  That's not a project to approach lightly.  It involves a lot of very careful distinction between truth and falsehood, between reality and perception, between logic and epistemology and ontology.

I want to ask all the people who ridicule science and belittle it, if  science ‘s not the best, why 's everything in this universe based on science? 

Come on, answer me!

Science doesn’t need anybody’s appreciation or recognition. It can stand on its own mind blowing strength. Ignore it at your own peril.

Q: How does Aspirin work?

Krishna: Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), commonly known as aspirin is a medication used to treat pain, fever, or inflammation and prevent blood clots that lead to strokes.

Aspirin blocks an enzyme called cyclooxygenase. That makes your body less likely to produce chemicals that can help cause inflammation. It helps prevent blood clots. ... That's important because they can clog the arteries that bring blood to heart muscle and the brain, which increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.

When a headache occurs, a compound called prostaglandin (a hormone that helpssend pain signals to the brain) is overproduced. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, aspirin is able to block the activity of an enzyme which helps make prostaglandin, called cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1).

Q: Has evolution been directly observed?

Krishna: Yes! Microevolution* has been observed, which with no reason to believe there is a barrier between micro and macro, and this points toward evolution being true. Also, speciation has been observed. This is a prediction evolution makes that has been proven accurate. To argue against evolution now  can only be from a position of ignorance.

*Microevolution is simply a change in gene frequency within a population. Evolution at this scale can be observed over short periods of time — for example, between one generation and the next, the frequency of a gene for pesticide resistance in a population of crop pests increases or drug resistance of bacteria. Such a change might come about because natural selection favoured the gene, because the population received new immigrants carrying the gene, because some nonresistant genes mutated to the resistant version, or because of random genetic drift from one generation to the next.

Q: Dr. Krishna, I am a science graduate and work for a science organization as a volunteer. Our sir, director of the organization, told us two years back to read the articles you write  and educate people in our and surrounding villages. I have been reading your articles regularly since then. 

We are really grateful to you because we don't get such vast information on several useful subjects and in such a simple language anywhere in India.  Even a school student can understand what you write. Without your work, we cannot do ours! We are dependent so much on you for science information and educating people. You are a great inspiration for us. We came to know recently that almost all science communicators in our part of the world use this site for information. We become blind and lame without you.

I am sending this message to express our gratitude and ask you to continue your unparalleled work. Can you write in other regional languages too? Can you come to our village to give speeches?

Krishna: You really made my day! Thank you so much. It is messages like these that keep me going despite the difficulties I face.

I am delighted to know that not only general public but even science communicators (and journalists) are using my network to get information. That is music for my ears!

Yes, I can speak five languages and can communicate in all of them. I use Telugu whenever I give speeches here. But I have a problem with scientific terms as I cannot translate them into regional languages.

I use art,  literature and videos too to make things simple.

Yes, people ask me to give speeches and I oblige them. Science communication bodies here invite me to speak even in press conferences. If I find time, I go to them to fight with journalists too! :)

If you find any difficulty in understanding English words, please send me a message stating that. I will try my best to translate them into the common man's language with the help of my friends.

Q: Can we save ourselves by closing all the doors of a room we are in during a house fire?

Krishna: No! In the average house fire you are likely to die of smoke inhalation within about ninety seconds even if the fire doesn't reach you. The toxic chemicals given off by the burning plastics in your home can reduce this life expectancy to around thirty seconds. Smoke can enter your room through gaps below doors and widows. Don't even entertain such thoughts. You will never be safe in a burning house. The best way to get saved is going out of a burning house/building and going far away from it.

Also while going out of a burning house, remember that  the freshest air will be closest to the floor. This is because although smoke is heavier than air, the reason it rises up is because it is so much hotter than the ambient air. So it is better to crawl out of a burning house and if possible, close the doors behind you to prevent fast spreading of fire.

How about preventing fires altogether by taking these steps?

Don't keep any inflammable material ( like petrol, diesel, fire crackers) at home.

Use as less plastic, nylon, polyester or other synthetic materials as possible.  

Make sure to unplug electrical charging devices when going out of your home. Some chargers have even more tendency to go on fire or explode. So much so that it’s even recommended to avoid charging overnight with some devices. Also avoid overloading sockets and using endless numbers of socket extensions; if you do have to use one make sure they have a built in trip switch. 

Keep matches and lighters away from children, from direct sunlight and nowhere near any sort of naked flame or spark. 

Turn off all the gas knobs as soon as you finish your cooking.

Don't use candles. If you have to, keep them in containers.

Keep fire extinguishers and some sand at home. Never use water to extinguish fires caused by electrical appliances.  

Q: What should we worry about in case of fire?

Krishna: People worry about flames in a fire. They should worry a lot more about smoke and the fact that they won’t be able to keep their eyes open, let alone breathe. Smoke is very dangerous and can make you lose your consciousness very soon. Then escaping from fire on your own becomes impossible. 

Q: Which scientist proved the recurring dream will be truth in real life?

According to sleep science …

Recurring dreams usually mean there is something in your life you've not acknowledged that is causing stress of some sort. The dream repeats because you have not corrected the problem. Another theory is that people who experience recurring dreams have some sort of trauma in their past they are trying to deal with.

Treatment for recurring nightmares have to start with interpreting what is going on in the dream and comparing that with what is happening in the person's life. Then, the person has to undergo counseling to address the problems that are presumably causing the nightmare.

Only when you control your stress and problems that are causing this tress, your recurring dreams disappear.

If anybody says their recurring dreams came true, that means they are trying to connect things and patterns and interpret them in the way they want. Or it is just their perception of what is happening. If you think some dream came true, it could also be a ‘deja vu’ feeling or just a coincidence.

Dreams don’t come true unless you really work hard to make them a reality.

Q:What that is happening in recent times  that is annoying scientists? 
Krishna: The assumption that Indian culture, traditions, religions and superstitions are based on science! We read several articles, watched videos that state this on the net.

Examples: Can our Indian sages be regarded as the world's greatest scientists?

What is the science behind Indian superstitions?

What are some Indian traditions that have scientific/logical reasons behind them and are valid and useful today?

What are some Indian rituals with some scientific reasons behind them?

Most of the articles published on the net 're based on pseudo-science. And both people who are writing them and those who up vote them don’t know the difference between science and pseudo-science. Some don’t even know that a thing called ‘pseudo-science’ exists.

We are fighting this pseudo-science menace like hell and these people are undoing all that we are doing!

Hmmm! Hypocognition!! 

Q: What is the main difference between science and religion?

Q: Science and religion: Is believing in the scientific method incompatible with believing in God?

Q What do genius scientists know that they usually keep to themselves because the insights are so depressing?  

Krishna: Religion is man-made while science is Nature-made or for those who believe in a creator - God-made. This universe runs on scientific principles coined by Nature or for theists, God.

But what is bizarre is men give more importance to   man-made religion than nature made science!

How wise is that?

A member of this network, ShanmugamP , sent me this message after reading the above answer of mine:

That is a good point! And even if one thinks that the ancient is better, then scientific laws are ancient and eternal but religion came in the middle!

Krishna: “Religion offers answers that can’t be questioned. Science offers a rigorous method to refine answers that must be questioned."

Q: Why do scientists want to do their work in lonely labs?

Krishna: New thoughts need critical thinking. They get disturbed when others interfere with them.

And also, that the smarter you are, the more difficult it is to connect to people on a level that you wish. Everyone seems to be speaking a different language than you. Sort of like being in a foreign land, where you are the only one that speaks your language. The smarter you are, the fewer the amount of people that speak your language. And as a genius, that is probably  isolating large amount of people.

Geniuses start to question everything because it always seems as though the most obvious things are overlooked by others and this causes severe friction. Geniuses know the difference between themselves and others. They don't want to waste their time with 'silly things' other consider important.

Don't try to disturb the genius minds. The world needs them as it cannot progress without a mind that is working at the top levels.

However, in recent times, scientists are realizing that communication is also as important as doing their work and therefore coming out of their labs and meeting with people even though it is a time consuming, uncomfortable thing.

Please don't make things more difficult for them. Please co-operate with them.

Q:Why are people always so negative when giving advice about PhD programs and academia? Is it really that terrible?

Krishna : No, I don’t give negative advice because what I faced ‘s mostly positive and thrilling experiences despite the initial difficulties I faced.

Yes, my guide refused to help me in any way. That made me a completely self-made researcher. Isn’t that positive?

First six months I was like a baby in the woods. But I found my way out and how! What a thrill I faced!

I published two good papers in the first two years as demanded by my fund provider to get promoted. Isn’t that a good one too!

I completed my lab work in four years, publishing more papers, learning a new language, finding a new solution, reporting two new toxins, while doing all that. Took one more year to analyse the data and come to conclusions and write a thesis and submit it. What a relief?!

Successfully defended my work and got my Ph.D. in five years like my fund provider asked me to do. And without any help from anybody.

All this enhanced my confidence, and I had mind-blowing thrill.

And my advise to anybody who wants to pursue a Ph.D. in science would always be, ‘‘Just go for it! It takes you to new heights!”

Well it depends on personal experiences but if you can turn all the negatives into positives like I did, you will have only positives to narrate your story.

No, I am not lying!

Q: How would you react if you witnessed a paranormal phenomenon that contravened the laws of science?

Krishna :  No, nothing in this science-run universe can go against it and survive! Therefore, if I witness something strange, I would go and investigate it like a scientist does! And find scientific explanations for it.

Why, I already done that. Read here how …

Science and the paranormal

Q: Can positive thinking cure cancer?

Krishna: Want to know the truth? The cancer researchers I spoke to said this:
"It’s pure bullshit that being positive can affect cancer outcome. As people who 've taken care of many thousands of cancer patients we regularly witness the harm that kind of thinking engenders.
The implication is that if the cancer is getting worse, well then the patient simply has a wrong attitude and needs to try a lot harder to be positive. This kind of delusional magical thinking that has no basis in science really makes our heads explode.
Cancer patients will already be under severe stress because of their illness. Don't make them undergo more stress by asking them to be positive.
Make them realistic about their condition and that makes them cope better with their condition."

Cancer survival not linked to a positive attitude, study finds

Positive Thinking and Cancer-Myth-Making

Q: Why are scientists considered as some of the most intelligent people on Earth? Because they quickly understand the most complex problems humanity faces?

Krishna: I contest the words ‘quickly understand’ while defining intelligence. A person who is familiar with the situation because of prior experiences, can understand it quickly even though he is not intelligent.

Scientists, who are considered as intelligent, usually take a long, long time to understand complex problems because they are the first persons to enter the new arenas most of the time.

‘Quickly understanding something’ is not a mark of intelligence at least in the field of science. It takes years of toil to understand something for us!

Scientists try to understand complex problems, no matter how difficult they are and how much time the process consumes.  That is why they are considered as smart people.

Q: How do I know I'm under the spell of black magic? I constantly remain ill, sad, and depressed for no good reason. 

Read this carefully and try to understand and analyse what I say. According to science there is no such thing as ‘black magic’. Nobody can caste a spell like that on anybody.

Black magic works only on mentally weak people, not because it actually works but because it effects their psychology. When you think it is working, you get scared, worried, get depressed and think everything negative happening in your life is because of it.

If somebody can control your mind and life like that it is because you showed them your weaknesses and vulnerability. Fear, uncertainty, greed and jealousy and of course ignorance are these deficiencies in your meantal make up.

Just a few mantras, lemon and chillies or some kumkum and haldi or a doll or a few neem leaves cannot do any harm to anybody. A person who cannot control his own destiny cannot do any harm to others. No person has such supernatural powers as to cause harm to others just by wishful thinking. Realize that. Then nothing or nobody can effect you.

The nocebo effect has been seen in clinical trials. The opposite of the placebo effect, the nocebo effect can cause patients to develop symptoms when told they may be a side-effect of a possibly harmless drug. This may explain how a curse could have a real effect.

Some people try to earn money by cheating people and telling them they can do black magic on others. If you are a sucker, you believe them. And stop listening to people who scare you more about black magic by telling silly stories.

Science doesn’t accept black magic because there is no such thing actually. It just is a superstition. Your baseless belief that is effecting you mentally because you are not strong. So stop believing in it if you don't want it to work psychologically.

And consult a good medical doctor immediately so that you can get cured of your physical or psychological illnesses.

Q: I have been thinking about what happens to our consciousness after death. What are your thoughts about that? Thanks, mam!

Krishna: What is ‘too much scientific’? You can’t even survive without science in the first place!

This universe and everything in it came into existence using scientific principles. They are run by science. Remove science, everything in the universe and life in it collapse and become non-existent!

Scientists are just trying to understand how this universe and everything in it works using scientific method. They are not discovering or inventing something out of nothing! They are finding things because they exist - making use of scientific principles - in this universe.

Okay, if you are a theist and believe in God ask him why he made this universe using only science and nothing else. Why he used so much science ( or too much science in your own words) to create this universe. He must be a scientist to make this universe scientifically. Then he must also provide scientific evidence for his existence. If he doesn’t, any rational individual or scientific minded person cannot believe in someone who creates everything using scientific method but refuses to follow his own rules and provide evidence for his existence.

Yes, too much science but not scientific enough minded God to provide evidence for his own existence! What an irony! Why blame science for it? Science is following its rules perfectly and is asking for evidence to believe in something you imagine exists!

And if you don’t mind ‘too much science’ of your creator, please follow this space:

Science Communication on Quora

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259

Ricky Gervais has put it so beautifully - 

“Science is constantly proved all the time,” he said. “If we take something like any fiction, any holy book, and destroyed it, in a thousand years’ time that wouldn’t come back just as it was. Whereas if we took every science book and every fact and destroyed them all, in a thousand years they’d all be back, because all the same tests would be the same result.”

So if Humans became extinct and say after 1000 years a new intelligent specie emerges. If they create a religion it will be totally different from our current religions. But their science will be exactly like it is now.

Thank you. I too wrote on this ...

Imagine this situation...

A huge asteroid colloids with the Earth in the future. Everything here gets destroyed. All living beings. All religions. All the scientific knowledge  written in the books. 

Then  life originates here again and evolves into intelligent beings. Then in the initial stages of its civilization when  it tries, it comes up with  new religious stories with different Gods because it doesn't have any knowledge about present ones! 

But in the later stages, if it tries to gain scientific knowledge, surprisingly it finds that the Earth revolves around the Sun, Earth is round - not flat, realizes gravity and space-time   in the same way as we did! It also finds millions of stars, galaxies and black holes  like we did! 

It sees atoms and molecules and chemical reactions exactly in the same way as we do!

Their 'medical field' evolves similar to ours! Their technology would be similar to the present one. In fact all their scientific knowledge will be similar to ours!

Even if this happens a hundred times the results would be the same each time!

If intelligent life evolves in different parts of this universe, and if it has to have 'religions' in each part, they would all be different to each other - like the different religious stories and beliefs we have in different parts of Earth. But their scientific knowledge would be exactly the same in all the given situations! Because scientific awareness cannot be different in various parts of our planet or universe. 

Why does scientific knowledge remain constant while religion keeps changing?

Can you realize why? If you can, you will understand which one is telling the truth and which one you can trust ... Science or Religion?

https://kkartlab.in/forum/topics/some-qs-people-asked-me-on-science...;

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