The Kodaikanal Observatory in Tamil Nadu, India, has carefully tracked sunspot activity over the last 115 years, using a combination of hand-drawn images, photographic plates and, more recently, films. ⟫

Scientists used three different techniques to calculate the rate of expansion and, instead of one, came up with three different answers. ⟫

Our Sun can't become a black hole when it dies because it isn't massive enough. But let us assume that by some conspiracy, it does become a black hole. What would happen to the Solar System? ⟫

It’s safe to say that 2016 was tumultuous, internationally and personally. I want to hope, pray, cross my fingers and wish upon a star for absolutely no more “excitement” in 2017. ⟫

It’s 1:15 a.m. on a Wednesday. I have a lot ton of work to do and this is what goes through my mind: Should I sort these alphabetically? Or by credit? Alphabetically? ⟫

The Nobel Prize is a Big Deal. Naturally, he gets asked some questions ever so frequently, but he answered them all with a smile and approached them simply, as if it was the first time he was doing so ⟫

I’m studying astrophysics. Back in 2009, I wasn’t so sure about this, mainly because I did not want to let go of everything else. ⟫

00:00 am (Thursday): I’m still up studying optics and I think I’ll make this post an almost live blog. So you’ll get a glimpse of what a day in the life of Sakhee is. Yes, it’ll be more like what Thursday September 8, 2016 was like for Sakhee. I have a good feeling about this. It’s going to be a GREAT day! ⟫

Here's some anti-advice that some of my friends and I have received and have, over time, found to have been really good advice and something we cherish. ⟫

A place is only as good as the people in it. I can say I have experienced this to be true. ⟫

A significant aspect of on campus living is the various programs organized by Residence Life. These programs are excellent opportunities to learn something new while meeting fellow residents and making new friends. ⟫

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Change is not easy to deal with when I can’t see it coming. I can’t brace myself for that moment when I feel as if my (seemingly) unchanging world has tumbled around me; I realize I can never take things or people for granted. ⟫

A long time ago, Earth was the only planet we could study and our theories to explain phenomena as we experienced them on Earth were limited. As we began exploring other planets in our solar system, we discovered both similar and dissimilar characteristics existing on those planets. Our theories about cloud formatio... ⟫

I slept through my alarm this Friday. Within a span of the previous 28 hours, I had had four exams, organised one program and attended two meetings. So, I didn’t beat myself up about not waking up on time. I ticked off things from my to-do list, added a few more and set off on my day. ⟫

They shine, they twinkle and they inspire. Stars have mystified and amazed us since antiquity; the night sky intrigued and amazed our ancestors. Well, before street lights and dust obstructed their view of it. Our ancestors identified shapes and patterns among the stars and came up with stories about these patterns.... ⟫

Florida Institute of Technology has consistently been among the most highly ranked institutes for international diversity. As an international student myself, I greatly appreciate the broad spectrum of cultural and linguistic diversity that I get to experience here. ⟫

Week four of every semester has an uncanny way of being the busiest and craziest week of that semester for me. This time last semester, I was just as whipped. To make things even more interesting, I accidentally dropped my phone in water. I felt it slip through my fingers, and I could do nothing but watch helplessly... ⟫

In my opinion, winter break is always too long to not go home and too short to feel like you’ve been home. I spend about 30 hours in travel, i.e. when I’m not at home—home or Florida Tech-home—each way. ⟫

One of the most interesting and wonderful life lessons I learned earlier this year is the FISH! Philosophy. It describes four easy mottoes that can be applied to each day of your life any situation you might come across. ⟫

Over the last few hundred years, as technology enabled us to see farther into the cosmic realm, our discoveries about stars, their structure, their composition and their evolution has been an incredible journey. Stars are the reason we exist. ⟫

The blank notebook page stares at me with a malicious grin as if it can sense my anxiety and reluctance to write as I rack my brains, not to brainstorm, but to come up with an excuse to put off writing until I am ‘more inspired’. ⟫

Half-way through the semester, I seem to have gained a tiny fraction of wisdom from experience. If you know me, that’s a very euphemistic way of saying, I’ve tried and failed, but not without learning a few things in the process. Here are a few of my reflections as I watched a beautiful sun sink into the horizon and... ⟫

As future scientists and engineers, we need to take special efforts to ensure that our work is accessible and understandable to a general audience. I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learned in that class through the speech I presented last week. ⟫

This is the question that I’m asked 19 times out of 20 when I tell someone that I want to pursue research in astrophysics. Needless to say, I’ve had enough practice answering this question. Even then, every single time I’m asked that question, one childhood memory surfaces in my mind ⟫

I noticed something different in the classroom the moment I walked in-I saw marshmallows and spaghetti and string. I had stopped expecting to find such things in classrooms since second grade. This promised to be interesting. ⟫

This is perhaps the most commonly-known equation. In 1905, Albert Einstein published a paper which introduced what is now known as the Special Theory of Relativity. Ten years later, he published another paper that introduced the General Theory of Relativity. The Special Theory is essentially a special case of the Ge... ⟫

You try looking at it from different angles, wondering about its shape and color and what’s inside it. Well, what if something intrigued you much more, but it were billions of kilometers away? ⟫

About two years ago, the less confident version of me was waiting anxiously for her admissions interview with the alumnus of the concerned college. Having gone through the admissions interview process a number of times until then, she felt well-prepared. What happened during those two hours transformed her into who ... ⟫