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The guides are written and published by Plax Labs, who are responsible for them. They are drafted with the help of AI writing tools, and they explain general ideas: they are not financial, medical or legal advice. Where a guide gives a number or a date, it is one that can be checked in a standard reference, and we change the guide, and its date, when a fact changes. If you find a mistake, write to us from the contact page. The editorial policy says more about how we work.

• How to read the news critically: a field guide

  Who is speaking, where does the claim come from, and what is missing? A practical guide to reading the news with care, with examples from India and beyond.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How science works: hypotheses, evidence and peer review

  A short guide to how scientific claims are tested and checked, and why a headline that says a study shows something deserves a closer look.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How the internet works: from a tap on your phone to a web page

  What happens in the second after you open a website: IP addresses, DNS, packets, HTTPS and the cables under the sea, explained without jargon.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How AI chatbots and summaries work, and why they sometimes get things wrong

  Large language models predict text. That makes them fluent and useful for summaries, and it also explains why they can state falsehoods with confidence.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• Stoicism: a practical introduction to an ancient philosophy

  Stoicism began in Athens around 300 BCE and still shapes how many people deal with stress. Its main ideas, its best-known teachers, and common misunderstandings.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• Cognitive biases that shape how we read the news

  Confirmation bias, the availability heuristic, framing and more: how our minds distort what we read, and what helps. A guide for readers of the news.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• The Indus Valley Civilisation: what we know and what we still do not

  One of the world's first urban cultures flourished in South Asia over four thousand years ago. Its cities, its craft, its undeciphered script, and the open questions.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• What is inflation, and how is it measured in India?

  Inflation is a sustained rise in the general level of prices. How India measures it, why the RBI watches it, and what it does to your savings and loans.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How the repo rate works, and why it reaches your loan EMI

  The RBI's repo rate is the base of India's interest rates. What it is, who decides it, and how a change travels to home loans and deposits.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How the Union Budget works, from the speech to the Finance Act

  A plain-language walk through India's Union Budget: what is in it, how Parliament passes it, and what deficit and allocation really mean.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• Sensex and Nifty explained: what India's market indices measure

  What the Sensex and the Nifty 50 are, how they are calculated, and why a rise in the index does not mean every share is rising.

  3 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How an IPO works in India, from filing to listing

  A step-by-step look at an initial public offering in India: SEBI filings, price bands, categories of investors, allotment and listing.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How to read a P/E ratio, and when not to trust it

  The price-to-earnings ratio is the most quoted number in stock market news. What it measures, how to compare it, and where it misleads.

  3 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How rockets reach orbit: why going sideways matters more than going up

  Reaching orbit is mostly about speed, not height. A plain explanation of the rocket equation, staging, and how ISRO and others launch satellites.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• What is an API? A plain-language guide with real examples

  APIs let one program ask another for data or actions. Requests, responses, JSON, status codes, keys and rate limits, explained through everyday examples.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• Where to start with Indian literature: twelve writers and a first book for each

  A starter guide to Indian writing, from Tagore and Premchand to Booker winners and writers in translation, with one place to begin for each.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How vaccines work: training the immune system without the disease

  Vaccines teach the body to recognise a germ before it meets it. How they work, the main types, what herd immunity means, and how safety is checked.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• Bayes' theorem in plain words: how evidence should change your mind

  Bayes theorem is a rule for updating a belief when new evidence arrives. A worked medical-test example shows why rare events and positive tests surprise us.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How the Indian monsoon works, and why forecasts matter

  The south-west monsoon brings most of India's yearly rain. What drives it, how it moves across the country, and how to read the headlines about it.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• Visual hierarchy: how designers direct your eye

  Size, contrast, spacing and alignment decide what you notice first on a page or screen. A plain guide to visual hierarchy, with a news card as the example.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• Why the sky is blue, and why sunsets are red

  The colour of the sky comes from the way air molecules scatter sunlight. The same physics explains red sunsets, white clouds and the black sky on the Moon.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How startup funding rounds work, from seed to Series C

  Pre-seed, seed, Series A, B and C: what each funding stage means, how valuation and dilution work, and what the headline numbers hide.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026

• How Devanagari works: a script where vowels ride on consonants

  The script of Hindi, Marathi, Nepali and Sanskrit is an abugida. How its consonants, vowel signs, joined letters and headline bar fit together.

  4 min read · Updated 10 November 2026