CHARVAKA

Rationalism. Secularism. Freedom

Science Communication

  • Weeping Idols

    B PREMANAND

    and

    CHARVAKA DESK

    Reports of weeping idols have been rampant throughout history, where they were viewed as portents foretelling misfortune. B. Premanand exposes these tricks by detailing how the illusion relies on simple fluid mechanics: a hollow idol or crown is filled with water, sealed with wax, and secretly unsealed, allowing gravity and surface tension to release tears.

  • An Activist’s Guide to The Demon-Haunted World

    CHARVAKA DESK

    Carl Sagan’s 1995 masterwork, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, stands as one of the most vital manifestos for critical thinking ever written. While framed around scientific skepticism, its message is profoundly radical: without the tools to spot deception, question authority, and resist pseudoscience, a society cannot remain free.

  • Goddess Drinking Blood

    CHARVAKA DESK

    Beneath sacred rituals lies simple natural science. When tricksters claim a deity consumes blood from a dish, physical laws—not divine appetite—are at work. Thermal expansion, oxygen depletion, and atmospheric pressure cause the liquid to rise inside the vessel. This experiment demonstrates how air pressure differentials create a vacuum, transforming a mystical illusion into observable physics.

  • Port Blair Training Camp on Developing Scientific Temper Concludes

    CHARVAKA DESK

    Teaching kids the real science behind “miracles”! Our 5-day training program empowering young minds with scientific temper wrapped up on May 30, 2013. Venue: Science Centre, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands Event Banner & Workshop Theme Prof. Narendra Nayak Delivering the Keynote Address Workshop Participants Engaged During the Session Demonstrating the Physics and Physiology…

  • Science Centre, Port Blair to Organize Summer Camp-2013 for Students

    CHARVAKA DESK

    🚀 Summer Holiday Camp at Science Centre, Port Blair! Looking for hands-on learning this May? The Science Centre at Goodwill Estate, Corbyn’s Cove Road, is hosting an interactive Holiday Camp for students from May 1–30, 2013! Each 5-day module runs from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM with deep-dive, practical experiments: 🛠️ Shipbuilding: May 2–6 📐…

  • The Weeping Madonna

    B PREMANAND

    and

    CHARVAKA DESK

    Weeping statues draw crowds and inspire belief, but salty tears need not be miraculous. A simple experiment with a hollow plaster statue and brine shows how capillary action, pressure and evaporation can create tear-like moisture through ordinary physics, while reminding us that a demonstration cannot prove what caused any particular reported case.