The cannonball tree, named after its characteristic fruit, produces spectacular fragrant flowers that attract insects like the lesser banded hornet, which feed on its pollen.
Illustration: Ravi Jambhekar
A blueprint for brains
Scientists from the Complex Systems and Data Science research group at IMSc have discovered that common design principles underlie the connections within brains of varying complexity. This map of brain organization can help us understand the routes taken to process information, which allow organisms to respond to the world around them.
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Breathing life-like motion into a self-propelling robot
Many bacteria use energy to perform complex behaviours that allow them to move toward food while avoiding harmful repellents. The dynamics of such active systems are governed by rules in physics that can be adapted for human applications. A recent collaborative study, involving Arnab Pal from IMSc, tuned a palm-sized robot to perform a range of motions that can allow us to study active dynamics in the lab.
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Auctions, matches, bandits and other games
A two-week ACM school on ‘An Invitation to Algorithmic Game Theory’ was organized at IMSc from 1st to 14th July 2024. With support from ACM India, IMSc and Google, the summer school introduced students to algorithms in game theory
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School’s out! Teachers on a maths and science adventure
IMSc hosted a five-day Vigyan Pratibha workshop for science and mathematics teachers between 10th to 14th July 2024. The 43 teachers attending the workshop represented central government schools across Tamil Nadu and Kerala
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Shweta Jain: At the intersection of game theory and machine learning
Shweta Jain is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar. Bharti Dharapuram caught up with her at the ACM school on ‘An Invitation to Algorithmic Game Theory’ to talk about her research and academic journey.
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Long conversations (not all) about short stories
An email announcing the first meeting of the IMSc reading club went out last year amid a flurry of excitement. But cyclone Michaung struck, and even while wading in knee-deep water, people kept asking if the reading club meeting was on. This eagerness has kept the club rolling since its debut in January. It is a place where books are sometimes an excuse to meet people, share stories and have a good chuckle.
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