Posts on Rishabh Tatiraju

The Forgotten Path That Built St. Petersburg

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I want to first introduce myself as someone who is really into local history that shaped how things are today. Growing up in Pune, a city in India with a rich medieval history that is still preserved today, I am generally fascinated by how things used to be.

Having grown up in India, I have seen firsthand how trains shape a country’s development. In fact, India’s growth can be largely attributed to its railway network. While trains are a rare sight in the United States today, they were once the lifeline of this country, much like they still are in India.

The Cosmic Neighbors: Satellite Galaxies of the Milky Way

Sat, 13 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

We all are aware that our solar system is part of a galaxy called the Milky Way. A spiral galaxy with more than a 100 billion stars, Milky Way is second largest in the local group of galaxies which includes the M31 (Andromeda Galaxy, the largest) and M33 (Triangulum Galaxy).

Here is a thought that might occur in your minds – since stars attract each other with their gravity, which in turn keeps all galaxies intact, wouldn’t galaxies as a whole have their own gravitational force? Does that mean galaxies also attract other galaxies? Deep right?

Running in the Shadows: Extraterrestrial Solar Eclipses

Tue, 09 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Solar eclipses happen when a moon of a planet partially or completely blocks the Sun. On Earth, solar eclipses only happen on a new moon day (since only then is the sun at the opposite side). The moon’s orbital plane doesn’t exactly align with the orbit of Earth around the sun — had that been the case, there would have been a solar eclipse every new moon. However, that’s not the case — since the moon’s orbit is tilted by around 5 degrees relative to the earth’s solar orbit. Nevertheless, eclipses are not so rare — an average of 4 solar eclipses occur every year!

The Bering Land Bridge

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Current genetic knowledge suggests that human beings (Homo sapiens) evolved roughly 200,000 years ago in Africa. They quickly spread out and populated Europe, Asia and Oceania. Yet, the population of the Americas started only 20,000 years ago. Why did human beings take 180,000 years to populate North America? This blog will explain the same.

It’s settled…

The first modern human beings are said to have evolved about 200,000 years ago in Africa. Crossbreeding with the Neanderthals ensued a rapid population rise and we quickly spread across Eurasia. The map below will put things into perspective.

The Eight Thousanders

Sun, 09 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Himalayas, as we all know, is the home to the highest mountains on Earth. The mountain range has a very well-suited name — literally meaning Abode of Snow (Him — Snow, alaya — dwelling or place).

This is going to be a long one, but I promise you it will be worthwhile!

The eight-thousanders are fourteen mountains which have an elevation for more than 8,000 meters above sea level. Naturally, they’re also the fourteen highest mountains on the planet. The list is obviously topped by Mount Everest, probably the most popular mountain — so popular that people outside the mountaineering community hardly know about the thirteen rest.

Hello, Mercury!

Mon, 09 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Ahoy Landlubbers!

Today was 9 May 2016, the day when a rare astronomical event took place. Today, there was a Transit of Mercury, and was visible in India during sunset.

A transit is a phenomenon when a celestial object comes in between the Sun and the Earth, and appears to traverse across the face of the Sun. Solar eclipses are therefore, also transits, but since transits do not cover the entire sun, eclipses are excluded from this classification. From that definition, its easy to understand that a transit of Mercury is the planet Mercury traversing the face of the Sun.

Using the Word Xerox Is Illegal

Mon, 14 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000

The word Xerox has been an integral part of our lives, and arguably every individual might have used the word at-least once in his lifetime. Even photocopy stores have it printed on yellow background boards.

In all this fuzz, what we forget is that we are breaching intellectual property while using the word Xerox, which is actually the name of a company. Yes, that’s right … Xerox is a company. In fact, its the inventor of the Ethernet, thanks to which you and I can access the vast internet.

Why Is It So Hot

Sat, 01 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Its a human attribute to find sympathy to gain peace of mind. One such instance is people living in coasts trying to gain sympathy by telling people living in cooler places how lucky they are.

Lets have a conversational example.

A: Hey buddy how are you? B: I’m fine man, the heat is killing me! A: Oh, damn… its cool here, just 28 degrees. B: Wtf!, it feels like 45 degrees here! A: But Mumbai is just 32 degrees today! B: What are you talking about? A: Yes, its on the IMD website. B: It’s wrong. A: How can a government agency reading be wrong? B: I don’t know, it just is.

When I Met the Missile Man

Tue, 28 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

It was 2008, and the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in Pune was organising an event to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The honorable people’s president was expected to be the chief guest, and a handful of schools in the city, including ours, were selected to be a part of this event. Our school, being under the caring shadow of the ARDE, had the most number of participants and was also selected to sing a devotional track in praise of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, wisdom, and education. Fortunately, I was part of the school choir and had the chance to meet Dr. Kalam in person.

This Is It...

Sun, 02 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Ahoy Folks!

Long time, eh? Well I had to gather strength to write something. This year was a terrifying nightmare for me - the worst year one could ever have. Starting from my appendicitis surgery in June to My Father’s death in December, the latter being a big shock - life finally showed how unpredictable it can be.

This post is strictly gonna be about my father. Sort of a biography, and a crude one, but it will surely be an interesting one.