Dear Express Explained reader,

The prestigious cheetah project, which brought pride and excitement to so many in the country, is in deep crisis. Jay Mazoomdaar reported on a series of lapses by the officials in charge — inept monitoring that led to radio-collar infections going undetected, the against-protocol feeding of cheetahs released in the wild, a rapid fall in the prey base in Kuno — which has resulted in the project's founder adult population of 20 cats functionally shrinking to 11 in less than a year. Jay has done some stellar work on the cheetah project (do check out his author page) — and I would like to re-flag his earlier explainer on exactly how and why a radio collar, intended to ensure safe monitoring, turns into a noose around the animal's neck. 

The science nerds among you would not have missed the excitement recently around fresh claims of the discovery of room-temperature superconductivity. In the absence of wider endorsement and definite validation, these claims must, alas, be taken with a certain scepticism — however, the preprint publication of the two new papers was excellent reason for Amitabh Sinha to look at superconductivity itself — what it means, and why a material with zero resistance at room temperature remains an elusive holy grail for scientists.                   

The interest around Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer sustains three weeks after the film's release. The story of the physicist who led the project the success of which changed the course of human history prompted Shubhajit Roy to write a short primer on India's own tryst with nuclear weapons development. Also, for those of you who would like to read a little on how a nuclear weapon actually works, Arjun Sengupta wrote a very helpful explainer on the science of the atomic bomb. 

In the broad area of policy and legislation, I would like to flag to you two explainers from this week.

The Centre has brought a Bill in Lok Sabha giving Scheduled Tribe status to four communities in Jammu and Kashmir, which has provoked unrest and protests by the dominant Gujjar-Bakerwal ST communities. Arun Sharma wrote about the new intended beneficiaries of the expanded ST list, prominent among whom are the communities described in the Bill as the 'Paddari Tribe' and the 'Pahari Ethnic Group'. 

Among the Bills tabled in the Monsoon Session is one that gives the government significant say in the appointment and removal of the Directors of the Indian Institutes of Management, and in initiating inquiries. Apurva Vishwanath detailed the proposed amendments in the IIM Bill, and flagged the reasons why there are concerns that these could result in an erosion of the autonomy of these premier institutions.

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Sincerely, 

Monojit 

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