What drew Shrinivas Kulkarni to physics? What's the current state of astrophysics and its future prospects? What major reforms need to be implemented to boost India’s progress in astrophysics?

For the latest episode of SparX, we are joined by Shrinivas Kulkarni, a renowned Indian-American astronomer. Mr. Kulkarni has made groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of the universe. His notable career milestones include the discovery of the first millisecond pulsar and the identification of the optical counterpart of a gamma-ray burst. Kulkarni's work has earned him numerous accolades, with a recent addition of the 2024 Shaw Prize in Astronomy to the list.

Resource List -

About Shrinivas R. Kulkarni - https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/~srk/

The Discovery of the First Millisecond Pulsar: Personal Recollections by Shrinivas Kulkarni - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384500207_THE_DISCOVERY_OF_THE_FIRST_MILLISECOND_PULSAR_PERSONAL_RECOLLECTIONS

About the Millisecond Pulsar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millisecond_pulsar#:~:text=The%20first%20millisecond%20pulsar%2C%20PSR,200%20that%20have%20been%20discovered.

What is a Beaming Fraction? - https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Beaming-fraction-as-a-function-of-the-mass-of-the-neutron-star-in-NGC-300-ULX1-The_fig2_353920284

More about Brown Dwarf - https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question62.html

We are joined by author and science journalist, Anil Ananthaswamy. Anil Ananthaswamy's "Through Two Doors at Once" looks at the mysteries of quantum mechanics, revealing its profound impact on our understanding of reality.

Through his book, Ananthaswamy sheds light on the strange implications of quantum mechanics, from superposition to entanglement.

By examining the latest experiments and theories, here’s another insightful episode that offers a fascinating glimpse into the quantum world and its potential to transform our understanding of the universe.

Anil Ananthaswamy is a renowned science writer and journalist who has written extensively on various scientific topics. In his latest book "Why Machines Learn", Anil explores the fascinating world of artificial intelligence and machine learning. He reveals the intricate mechanisms and complex algorithms that underlie these cutting-edge technologies. Join us for a fascinating conversation with science writer Anil Ananthaswamy as he shares insights from his book and sheds light on the rapidly evolving field of AI. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of how these machines work at a basic mathematics level. Resource List - Why Machines Learn, book by Anil Ananthaswamy - https://amzn.in/d/bmirU45 Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence - https://home.dartmouth.edu/about/artificial-intelligence-ai-coined-dartmouth What is the Perceptron artificial neural network? - https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/what-is-perceptron-the-simplest-artificial-neural-network/ Read about the McCulloch-Pitts Artificial Neuron - https://towardsdatascience.com/mcculloch-pitts-model-5fdf65ac5dd1 Nobel Prize in Physics 2024 - https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/press-release/ What is the Hopfield Neural Network? - https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/hopfield-neural-network/ Read about Backpropagation - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backpropagation “Learning representations by back-propagating errors”, paper by Geoffrey Hinton, David Rumelhart and Ronald Williams - https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0 AlexNet by Geoffery Hinton and team - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlexNet What is ImageNet? - https://www.image-net.org/about.php ‘Attention Is All You Need’, transformer architecture paper - https://proceedings.neurips.cc/paper_files/paper/2017/file/3f5ee243547dee91fbd053c1c4a845aa-Paper.pdf What are Neural Scaling Laws? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_scaling_law NeuroAI - https://neuro-ai.com/ About SparX by Mukesh Bansal SparX is a podcast where we delve into cutting-edge scientific research, stories from impact-makers and tools for unlocking the secrets to human potential and growth. We believe that entrepreneurship, fitness and the science of productivity is at the forefront of the India Story; the country is at the cusp of greatness and at SparX, we wish to make these tools accessible for every generation of Indians to be able to make the most of the opportunities around us. In a new episode every Sunday, our host Mukesh Bansal (Founder Myntra and Cult.fit) will talk to guests from all walks of life and also break down everything he's learnt about the science of impact over the course of his 20-year long career. This is the India Century, and we're enthusiastic to start this journey with you. Follow us on Instagram: / sparxbymukeshbansal Website: https://www.sparxbymukeshbansal.com You can also listen to SparX on all audio platforms Fasion | Outbreak | Courtesy EpidemicSound.com

William Dalrymple's "The Anarchy" is a historical account of the rise of the East India Company in India. The book explores how the EIC's ruthless pursuit of power and wealth led to the downfall of the Mughal Empire. In this episode, William shares some interesting stories about the East India Company with some lesser known facts about this corporation that grew powerful. Tune in for a wonderful episode on Indian and British history. Resource List - The Company Quartet, by William Dalrymple - https://amzn.in/d/eiBRXBy William Dalrymple Website - https://williamdalrymple.com/ Mongol Invasions of India - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasions_of_India Read more about the Red Dragon ship - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dragon_(1595) Charles II and Catherine of Braganza - https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/charles-ii-and-catherine-of-braganza-a-loveless-marriage/ Read more about the First Carnatic War - https://www.pw.live/exams/ssc/first-carnatic-war/ Who were the Jagat Seths? - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/etimes/trending/meet-jagat-seths-an-indian-family-so-rich-they-lent-money-to-the-british/articleshow/102916190.cms?from=mdr Read more about the Battle of Plassey - https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Plassey Read more about the Battle of Buxar - https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Buxar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buxar https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/6264/1/thedailystar.net-The%20battle%20of%20plassey%20A%20Tale%20of%20Triumph%20and%20Betrayal.pdf What are Sepoys? - https://www.worldhistory.org/Sepoy/ About SparX by Mukesh Bansal SparX is a podcast where we delve into cutting-edge scientific research, stories from impact-makers and tools for unlocking the secrets to human potential and growth. We believe that entrepreneurship, fitness and the science of productivity is at the forefront of the India Story; the country is at the cusp of greatness and at SparX, we wish to make these tools accessible for every generation of Indians to be able to make the most of the opportunities around us. In a new episode every Sunday, our host Mukesh Bansal (Founder Myntra and Cult.fit) will talk to guests from all walks of life and also break down everything he's learnt about the science of impact over the course of his 20-year long career. This is the India Century, and we're enthusiastic to start this journey with you. Follow us on Instagram: / sparxbymukeshbansal Website: https://www.sparxbymukeshbansal.com You can also listen to SparX on all audio platforms Fasion | Outbreak | Courtesy EpidemicSound.com

There is so much of India’s rich heritage and past that is yet to be discovered. But we have great historians like William Dalrymple who spend years researching on India’s history to bring us the most interesting and captivating stories about the country. In today’s episode, William Dalrymple discusses the stories and contents from his book "The Golden Road" which explores India's 1,500-year history as a hub of cultural and intellectual exchange.

Resource List - William Dalrymple Website - https://williamdalrymple.com/ Empire Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/0sBh58hSTReUQiK4axYUVx?si=388684fdbe8f49a5 The Rest is History Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/7Cvsbcjhtur7nplC148TWy?si=09f97df360c1418e What are frescoes? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresco More about the Silk Road - https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/silk-road/ Who was Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_von_Richthofen#:~:text=Ferdinand%20Freiherr%20von%20Richthofen%20 The travels of Marco Polo - https://silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo Read about the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea - https://www.worldhistory.org/Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea/ What is the Muziris Papyrus? - https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2010/06/introducing-muziris-papyrus.html Read about the Suvarnabhumi - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suvarnabhumi What is the Mes Aynak - https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/afghanistan/en/a-propos/ainak Who was Xuanzang? - https://asiasociety.org/xuanzang-monk-who-brought-buddhism-east https://artsandculture.google.com/story/travels-of-xuanzang-629-645-ce-xuanzang-memorial-nava-nalanda-mahavihara/9gVR3GyICUOmKg?hl=en China’s only female empress, Wu Zetian - https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-first-and-only-woman-emperor-of-china/PQWR-NRltC6QFA?hl=en More about Angkor Wat - https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/668/ What was the Islamic Golden Age? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age Al-Khwarizmi’s book on Algebra - https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666184/ What is the Fibonacci sequence? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_sequence

Manu S. Pillai returns to SparX for another fascinating episode on history to give us a sneak peek into his latest book– "Gods, Guns and Missionaries". It shows us how how colonialism, religion, and identity have interacted in India over the past many years. Through 15 essays, Pillai shows how European missionaries and colonial powers changed Hinduism and its modern forms, revealing a more complex history than often told. The book also explores how these historical forces still shape Indian politics and society today.

Resource List -

Gods, Guns, and Missionaries - Book by Manu S. Pillai https://amzn.in/d/6njkWSc

H-Pop - Book by Kunal Purohit https://amzn.in/d/26KnoHw

What is Protestantism? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism

What was the Protestant Reformation https://www.britannica.com/event/Reformation

Read more about Francis Xavier https://www.jesuits.global/saint-blessed/saint-francis-xavier/

Read more about Roberto de Nobili https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_de_Nobili

Read about Thomas Munro’s donation to Tirupati temple https://vocal.media/fyi/soldier-to-governor-of-madras-thomas-munro-who-captured-the-hearts-of-the-people

Read about Rous Peter’s donation to Meenakshi temple https://indroyc.com/2024/04/12/unveiling-the-legends-of-madurai-the-tale-of-peter-pandian/#:~:text=In%20a%20gesture%20of%20gratitude,to%20adorn%20her%20celestial%20feet.

Charles Wilkins translating the Gita https://www.mvnadkarni.com/files/Introduction%20to%20Charles%20Wilkins%20Gita.pdf

About SparX by Mukesh Bansal

SparX is a podcast where we delve into cutting-edge scientific research, stories from impact-makers and tools for unlocking the secrets to human potential and growth.

We believe that entrepreneurship, fitness and the science of productivity is at the forefront of the India Story; the country is at the cusp of greatness and at SparX, we wish to make these tools accessible for every generation of Indians to be able to make the most of the opportunities around us.

In a new episode every Sunday, our host Mukesh Bansal (Founder Myntra and Cult.fit) will talk to guests from all walks of life and also break down everything he's learnt about the science of impact over the course of his 20-year long career.

This is the India Century, and we're enthusiastic to start this journey with you.

Follow us on Instagram: / sparxbymukeshbansal

Website: https://www.sparxbymukeshbansal.com

You can also listen to SparX on all audio platforms

Fasion | Outbreak | Courtesy EpidemicSound.com

Did you know Bryan Johnson spends over $2 million per year in his personal health and longevity experiments?

Bryan Johnson took the internet by storm in 2023 when it was reported that he spends approximately $2 million annually on his health regimen aimed at reversing aging. His extreme lifestyle choices and practices, including a strict diet, extensive supplement intake, and unique medical procedures, sparked widespread discussions in various news articles and platforms throughout that year.

Join us today as we sit down for a conversation with Bryan to learn more about his journey, experiences, habits and routines he follows that helped him successfully reverse his age.

Resource List -

Read about Bryan Johnson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Johnson

Who is Terry Grossman? - https://transcend.me/pages/about-terry-grossman

More on Terry Grossman - https://youtu.be/_2rjnGCdlJI?feature=shared

Blueprint Website - https://blueprint.bryanjohnson.com/

Blueprint Protocol Website - https://protocol.bryanjohnson.com/

What are DNA Methylation Clocks? - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6520108/

Paper by Dario Amodei - https://darioamodei.com/machines-of-loving-grace

Fantastic Voyage, book by Ray Kurzweil - https://amzn.in/d/diSBypa

About SparX by Mukesh Bansal

SparX is a podcast where we delve into cutting-edge scientific research, stories from impact-makers and tools for unlocking the secrets to human potential and growth.

We believe that entrepreneurship, fitness and the science of productivity is at the forefront of the India Story; the country is at the cusp of greatness and at SparX, we wish to make these tools accessible for every generation of Indians to be able to make the most of the opportunities around us.

In a new episode every Sunday, our host Mukesh Bansal (Founder Myntra and Cult.fit) will talk to guests from all walks of life and also break down everything he's learnt about the science of impact over the course of his 20-year long career.

This is the India Century, and we're enthusiastic to start this journey with you.

Follow us on Instagram: / sparxbymukeshbansal

Website: https://www.sparxbymukeshbansal.com

You can also listen to SparX on all audio platforms

Fasion | Outbreak | Courtesy EpidemicSound.com