Kaapi with Kuriosity


Kaapi with Kuriosity is a monthly public lecture series organised by the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS-TIFR), in collaboration with the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium and other educational institutions in Bengaluru.

The aim of the talks in this series is to stimulate the curiosity of the public towards the myriad aspects of science. The setting for these talks will be informal with a lot of scope for open discussions. The scientific background assumed will not be beyond the school level. As such, they are easily accessible to school/college students, families and working professionals interested in science.

Contact: outreach @ icts . res . in

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Past Talks
How fish swim?
Jaywant H Arakeri (IISc, Bengaluru)
4:00 pm to 5:30 pm Sunday, 17 March 2019
J. N. Planetarium, Sri T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore
Fish and other aquatic animals swim in myriad ways. From the fast swimming shark where mostly just the tail wags, to the eel where a wave moves down its whole body as it swims forward, to the sting ray that seems to ‘fly’ through water. Are fish more efficient swimmers than man-made underwater...more
The Tau of Ramanujan
Eknath Ghate (TIFR, Mumbai)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Sunday, 10 February 2019
J. N. Planetarium, Sri T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore
The sequence of numbers 1, -24, 252, -1472, 4830, ... was extensively studied by the great Indian mathematician Ramanujan almost a century ago. These numbers - the values of Ramanujan's tau-function - have been the guiding force behind several themes in Number Theory. They continue to tantalize us...more
Our amazing Universe: astronomical revelations and new mysteries
François R. Bouchet (lnstitut d'Astrophysique de Paris, France)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Sunday, 20 January 2019
J. N. Planetarium, Sri T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore
Dr. Bouchet will describe current astronomical observations that precisely constraint the nature of the Cosmos in which we live, leading to radical ideas for the origin of the structures within it. This touches on questions such as: How did the Universe originate? What is it made of? Why is it the...more
States of Matter
Deepak Dhar (Visiting Faculty, IISER Pune)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Sunday, 09 December 2018
J. N. Planetarium, Sri T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore
We have all read that matter exists in one of three different states: solid, liquid and the gaseous state. But what exactly is the difference between these states? Are there other states of matter possible? This talk will begin with these easy to pose questions, and I will try to show that a good...more
Life and Motion, One Molecule at a time
Roop Mallik (TIFR, Mumbai)
4:00 pm to 5:30 pm Sunday, 18 November 2018
J. N. Planetarium, Sri T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore
We are driven by molecules. Think of them as machines, so tiny that you cannot see them easily, even with the best microscopes. These “nano-machines” work away busily all the time inside your muscles, in your brain and every corner of your body. You need them to breathe, blink, talk, swat a...more
Science, the fulcrum for social and economic change
K. VijayRaghavan (Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt. Of India)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Sunday, 14 October 2018
J. N. Planetarium, Sri T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore
Science is not only beautiful but is also the fulcrum on which the strong crowbar of national missions, security, and our very future can rest, allowing modest investment to lift huge loads. This fulcrum must be strong and correctly placed. Today, it is poorly positioned and not strong enough...more
A finite discussion on the Infinite
Tanvi Jain (Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Sunday, 09 September 2018
J. N. Planetarium, Sri T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore
“From time immemorial, the infinite has stirred men's emotions more than any other question. Hardly any other idea has stimulated the mind so fruitfully. Yet, no other concept needs clarification more than it does.” - David Hilbert We shall try to understand the intriguing concept of the infinite...more
Making Things, Doing Science
Arvind Gupta (Children’s Science Center, IUCAA - former)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Sunday, 19 August 2018
J. N. Planetarium, Sri T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore
Before children can understand anything, they need experience: seeing, touching, hearing, tasting, smelling, choosing, arranging, putting things together, taking things apart. Children need to experiment with real things available in their milieu. For close to 40 years Arvind Gupta has designed...more
The Discrete Charm of Geometry
Alexander Bobenko (Technical University of Berlin)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Sunday, 22 July 2018
J. N. Planetarium, Sri T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore
Discrete geometric structures (points, lines, triangles, rectangles, polygons, etc.) are ubiquitous in everyday life, ranging from visible sophisticated freeform structures in contemporary architecture to hidden geometric algorithms in computer generated imagery. On the other hand, discrete...more
How quantum physics democratised music: a meditation on physics and technology
Michael Berry (University of Bristol, UK)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Sunday, 10 June 2018
Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru
Connections between physics and technological invention and aspects of human life that seem far from science are both unexpected and unexpectedly common. And rather than flowing one way - from physics to gadgets - the connections form an intricate web, linking all aspects of human culture, in...more

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