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Issue #005

January, 2026

Can Planets Collide?

  1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2024). Solar system overview. NASA Solar System Exploration.https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/overview/

  2. Choi, C. Q. (2018). Why don’t planets crash into each other? Space.com.https://www.space.com/why-planets-dont-collide.html

  3. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2023). What happens when galaxies collide? NASA.https://www.nasa.gov/universe/what-happens-when-galaxies-collide/


The Refrigerator: Chillest dude since 1876!


  1. Cullen, W. (1756). Of the cold produced by evaporating fluids and of some other means of producing cold. Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary, 1, 145–156.https://archive.org/details/essaysobservati01roya/page/145

  2. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024). Carl von Linde. Encyclopaedia Britannica.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-von-Linde

  3. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2023). How refrigerators work. NASA Glenn Research Center.https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/refriger.html


Katherine Johnson: The Human Computer who reached for the Stars!


  1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2024). Katherine Johnson biography. NASA.https://www.nasa.gov/people/katherine-johnson/

  2. Shetterly, M. L. (2016). Hidden figures: The American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race. William Morrow.https://www.harpercollins.com/products/hidden-figures-margot-lee-shetterly

  3. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. (2015). Remarks by the President at the presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/24/remarks-president-presentation-presidential-medal-freedom


What if there were no dust?


  1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2023). Aerosols: Tiny particles, big impact. NASA Earth Observatory.https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Aerosols

  2. National Geographic Society. (2019). What is dust, and how does it affect Earth’s climate?https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/dust-climate-weather

  3. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2024). Noctilucent clouds. NASA Earth Observatory.https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/NoctilucentClouds


Santa Clause: Where did the idea come from?


  1. National Geographic Society. (2023). Winter solstice. National Geographic.https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/winter-solstice

  2. Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024). St. Nicholas. Encyclopaedia Britannica.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Nicholas

  3. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. (2022). The history of Santa Claus. Smithsonian Institution.https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/history-santa-claus


The Bermuda Triangle Mystery


  1. Kusche, L. D. (1975). The Bermuda Triangle mystery—Solved. Harper & Row.https://archive.org/details/bermudatrianglem00kusc

  2. Naval History and Heritage Command. (2023). USS Cyclops (AC-4). United States Navy.https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/cyclops.html

  3. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2022). What is the Bermuda Triangle? NOAA.https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bermuda-triangle.html

  4. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2022). What is the Bermuda Triangle? NOAA Ocean Service.https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bermuda-triangle.html


Semi-Conductor: Part I - The Silicone Superhero


  1. Riordan, M., & Hoddeson, L. (1997). Crystal fire: The invention of the transistor and the birth of the information age. W. W. Norton & Company.https://archive.org/details/crystalfireinven00rior

  2. Bardeen, J., & Brattain, W. H. (1948). The transistor, a semiconductor triode. Physical Review, 74(2), 230–231.https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.74.230

  3. https://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.74.230

  4. Sze, S. M., & Ng, K. K. (2006). Physics of semiconductor devices (3rd ed.). Wiley-Interscience.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/0470068329

  5. Moore, G. E. (1965). Cramming more components onto integrated circuits. Electronics, 38(8), 114–117.https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/history/museum-gordon-moore-law.html


The Pelicans

  1. Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024). Pelican. Encyclopaedia Britannica.https://www.britannica.com/animal/pelican-bird

  2. National Audubon Society. (2023). Pelicans. Audubon.https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/pelican

  3. BirdLife International. (2024). Pelecanus crispus (Dalmatian pelican). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697599/204293105

  4. Carson, R. (1962). Silent spring. Houghton Mifflin.https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/silent-spring/


The Abominable Snowman


  1. Newman, H. (1921). Man-bear snowmen on the Himalayas. The Times (London).Secondary analysis available via:Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024). Yeti.https://www.britannica.com/topic/yeti

  2. Shipton, E. (1952). The Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition 1951. Hodder & Stoughton.Summary and archival discussion:https://www.rgs.org/about/our-history/explore-our-collections/exhibitions/everest-1951/

  3. Sykes, B. C., Mullis, R. A., Hagenmuller, C., Melton, T. W., & Sartori, M. (2014). Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 281(1789), 20140161.https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.0161https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2014.0161

  4. Zhang, Y., Harrison, T., & Gu, Y. (2014). New evidence for the giant ape Gigantopithecus blacki from the early Pleistocene of South China. Journal of Human Evolution, 76, 1–16.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.07.005


The Simpson’s Paradox


  1. Simpson, E. H. (1951). The interpretation of interaction in contingency tables. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Methodological), 13(2), 238–241.https://www.jstor.org/stable/2984065

  2. Charig, C. R., Webb, D. R., Payne, S. R., & Wickham, J. E. A. (1986). Comparison of treatments for renal calculi. The British Medical Journal (BMJ), 292(6524), 879–882.https://www.bmj.com/content/292/6524/879

  3. Pearl, J. (2014). Understanding Simpson’s paradox. The American Statistician, 68(1), 8–13.https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.2014.876829https://ftp.cs.ucla.edu/pub/stat_ser/r414.pdf


The Dark Matter


  1. Penzias, A. A., & Wilson, R. W. (1965). A measurement of excess antenna temperature at 4080 Mc/s. The Astrophysical Journal, 142, 419–421.https://doi.org/10.1086/148307https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1965ApJ...142..419P

  2. Rubin, V. C., Ford, W. K., & Thonnard, N. (1980). Rotational properties of 21 SC galaxies with a large range of luminosities and radii. The Astrophysical Journal, 238, 471–487.https://doi.org/10.1086/158003https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1980ApJ...238..471R

  3. Bartelmann, M., & Schneider, P. (2001). Weak gravitational lensing. Physics Reports, 340(4–5), 291–472.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0370-1573(00)00082-X

  4. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9912508

  5. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2024). What is dark matter? NASA.https://science.nasa.gov/universe/dark-matter/


The Rebel Queen of Revolution: The Story of Madam Cama


  1. Metcalf, B. D., & Metcalf, T. R. (2012). A concise history of modern India (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139023686

  2. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/concise-history-of-modern-india/

  3. Dalrymple, W. (2006). The last Mughal: The fall of a dynasty, Delhi, 1857. Penguin Books.https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/160295/the-last-mughal-by-william-dalrymple/

  4. Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024). Bhikaji Rustom Cama. Encyclopaedia Britannica.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhikaji-Rustom-Cama

  5. Brown, J. M. (1994). Modern India: The origins of an Asian democracy. Oxford University Press.https://global.oup.com/academic/product/modern-india-9780198731134



Hanle’s Observatory


  1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2024). How telescopes work. NASA Space Place.https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/telescopes/en/

  2. Indian Institute of Astrophysics. (2023). Hanle observatory and dark sky reserve. IIA.https://www.iiap.res.in/observatories/hanle

  3. Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. (2022). India’s first dark sky reserve at Hanle.https://dst.gov.in/indias-first-dark-sky-reserve-hanle

  4. Chitnis, V. R., et al. (2020). The Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment (MACE) telescope at Hanle. Experimental Astronomy, 49, 237–256.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-020-09658-0

  5. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10686-020-09658-0

  6. Indian Institute of Astrophysics. (2024). Himalayan Chandra Telescope. IIA.https://www.iiap.res.in/observatories/hct







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