existence

19 Mar

A mid-20th century French philosopher’s lessons for our times

Title: Create Dangerously; Author: Albert Camus; Publisher: Penguin Modern/Penguin Books; Pages: 58; Price: Rs 50 Globalisation's retreat and the consequent rise of a rather hyper form of nationalism -- which even seeks to confine indivisible human endeavours like art and science within borders -- is one of the most worrying trends of our time. Equally of concern is the trade-off between prosperity and liberty, and a sense of conformity being forced on us. How do we face these challenges? One way would be to go back to the thoughts of a charismatic French existentialist philosopher -- the man who identified…

18 Aug

Earth-like planet may be lurking in nearby star system

New York: Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have predicted that an Earth-like planet may be lurking in a star system just 16 light years away. The team investigated the star system Gliese 832 for additional exoplanets residing between the two currently known alien worlds in this system. Their computations revealed that an additional Earth-like planet with a dynamically stable configuration may be residing at a distance ranging from 0.25 to 2.0 astronomical unit (AU) from the star, according to a study published in The Astrophysical Journal. "According to our calculations, this hypothetical alien world would probably have a mass between 1…