01
Astrophysics
The large-scale structure of the universe: black holes, neutron stars, dark matter, cosmic inflation, and the deep question of how it all began and how it ends.
A-Level student, Class of 2027
Learning physics.
Slowly, and honestly.
I'm a 17-year-old student in Dubai, working through my A-Levels. I'm also part of The Knowledge Society (TKS), a program that's been pushing me to think about hard problems. Most of my reading right now is in physics — that's where I'd like to keep going.
→ AstrophysicsQuantum MechanicsNuclear FusionTheoretical PhysicsA-Levels, Class of 2027
01About
In one paragraph.
I'm Shreyas, a 17-year-old student in Dubai. I spend most of my free time reading physics, and I'd like to keep doing that for a long time.
I'm working through my A-Levels (Class of 2027) and I'm currently part of The Knowledge Society (TKS), a 10-month program where teenagers spend time on emerging technologies and big problems. It's been useful mostly as a way to think harder.
The areas I keep coming back to are astrophysics, quantum mechanics, and nuclear fusion. Outside of that, I play golf and football, I train and box to stay sharp, and I read pretty widely — not only physics.
What I want is fairly simple: study physics at university, see how far I can take it, and try to do work that's genuinely useful. I'm at the very start of that.
A few things I'm trying to remember
- - Curiosity is more useful than confidence.
- - It's fine to not understand something yet.
- - Good work takes patience, not just ambition.
● TKS Innovate, 2025/26
● A-Levels · Class of 2027
● Based in Dubai, UAE
02Areas of interest
The questions in physics
that keep me curious.
A snapshot of what I love thinking about right now. Some of it comes from school, most of it comes from books, lectures, and late-night rabbit holes that started with one question and turned into many.
02
Quantum Mechanics
The fundamental strangeness of reality: superposition, entanglement, the measurement problem, and what it all tells us about the nature of existence.
03
Nuclear Fusion
Probably the energy problem I find most interesting right now. Plasma confinement, what ITER is actually trying to do, and how far the field really is from a working reactor.
04
Theoretical Physics
The mathematics of reality: general relativity, quantum field theory, and the unresolved tension between them that defines the frontier of the field.
05
The Physics of Time
Entropy, causality, the arrow of time, and why the past and the future are not symmetric despite time-symmetric fundamental laws.
06
Space & Civilisation
The physics and engineering of becoming a multi-planetary species: propulsion, orbital mechanics, and the long game of human expansion.
02.1Voices I follow
The physicists and
storytellers shaping
how I think.
I learn as much from these channels and podcasts as I do from textbooks. They turned physics from a school subject into the thing I want to spend my life doing.
- 01
Veritasium
Derek MullerLong-form physics films that take an idea — relativity, electricity, the speed of causality — and refuse to oversimplify it.
- 02
PBS Space Time
Matt O'DowdThe closest thing on YouTube to a graduate seminar in cosmology and quantum field theory, delivered weekly.
- 03
3Blue1Brown
Grant SandersonMathematical intuition rendered visually. The reason I now think in vectors, manifolds, and Fourier components.
- 04
Sabine Hossenfelder
Theoretical physicistSharp, skeptical takes on the state of fundamental physics. A useful counterweight when the hype gets loud.
- 05
Sean Carroll · Mindscape
Caltech theoretical physicistDeep conversations on quantum mechanics, time, and the philosophy underneath the equations.
- 06
Cool Worlds
Prof. David KippingColumbia astronomer thinking carefully about exoplanets, SETI, and the long future of intelligent life.
- 07
Dr. Becky
Dr. Becky SmethurstOxford astrophysicist on black holes and galaxies. Real research, explained without losing the physics.
- 08
Kurzgesagt
In a NutshellBeautifully animated essays on scale, energy, and the universe. Where a lot of younger curiosity in physics starts.
03Journey
Where I am,
and what's next.
A-Levels
2024 · 2027AS Level done. A2 starts June 2026. Class of 2027.
The Knowledge Society (TKS)
2025 · 2026Currently in TKS — a 10-month program where teenagers spend time on emerging technologies and real-world problems. It's been pushing how I think.
Golf
OngoingI play regularly. Still working on the short game.
Football
OngoingPickup games, mostly. It clears my head.
- ✦
Undergraduate physics, then a PhD
NextAn undergraduate degree in physics, then a PhD. That's the direction — and I'm building toward it deliberately, one year at a time.
IVWhat I'm working on
Things I'm reading,
studying, or trying to figure out.
InnovationTKS
TKS capstone (in progress)
My current TKS project. Early stage — trying to pick a real problem I can actually understand, not just one that sounds impressive.
TKSInnovation
PhysicsIn Progress
Reading into fusion energy
Working through the state of nuclear fusion as a curious student: ITER, Commonwealth Fusion, NIF. Mostly trying to understand what's actually hard.
PhysicsFusion
PhysicsIn Progress
Quantum mechanics — self-study notes
Self-study notes I'm keeping as I work through quantum mechanics: the double-slit, Hilbert space, Bell's theorem. Slow going, on purpose.
PhysicsQuantum
PhysicsIn Progress
General relativity — early notes
A first pass at differential geometry as the language of spacetime. Trying to build intuition before chasing the equations.
PhysicsTheoretical
ResearchIn Progress
Plasma confinement — reading notes
Notes comparing magnetic vs. inertial confinement approaches to fusion. A student-level overview, not original research.
PhysicsFusion
ResearchIn Progress
Something new
A new direction I'm starting to read into. Too early to say more.
Research
VIntellectual Foundations
The books that changed
how I see the universe.
A working library. Not a list of titles I admire. A list of titles that have actually shaped how I think.
- 01
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
The foundation.
Richard Feynman
- 02
A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawking
- 03
The Elegant Universe
Brian Greene
- 04
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter
Richard Feynman
- 05
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Carlo Rovelli
- 06
The Road to Reality
A complete guide to the laws of the universe.
Roger Penrose
- 07
Something Deeply Hidden
Sean Carroll
- 08
The Emperor's New Mind
Roger Penrose
- 09
The Order of Time
Carlo Rovelli
Currently Reading
- 10
Lost in Math
Sabine Hossenfelder
On the List
VINotes from the Edge
Thinking out loud,
on the record.
Not a blog. Not a publication. Something between a research notebook and an essay collection. The questions I'm chasing, in long form.
QuantumAstrophysicsFusionIdeasPhysics & SocietyQuestions Without Answers
Ideas · Coming soon
First essay in progress.
I think better when I write. Watch this space.
07Outside physics
Discipline,
not just sport.
Sport · 01
Golf
Golf is the slowest sport I play, and that's the point. It rewards patience, preparation, and making one good decision at a time. Those are habits I try to bring to everything else.
Discipline · 02
Boxing & fitness
I train most days — boxing, conditioning, the usual. Not because I'm any good at it, but because it's the only thing I've found that forces me to be present. There's no shortcut in a bag session. You show up, or you don't. That habit carries over into everything else.
Sport · 03
Football
The opposite. Instinct, teamwork, fast decisions. It's how I switch off.
● And the physics that runs underneath all of it
01Atom · quantum
02Ψ · wavefunction
03Singularity · astro
04Tokamak · fusion
08What's next
Where I'd like this to go.
Finish my A-Levels in 2027, then an undergraduate degree in physics.
A PhD after that — in something theoretical, or in fusion.
Long-term, I'm building toward a career in research. Slow, careful, useful work.
The path
A-Levels 2027Undergraduate physicsPhDResearch
This is the direction. The next few years are about doing the work.
09Contact
Let's talk.
Research, mentorship, admissions, or anything physics — I'd genuinely like to hear from you.