Writing

I write mainly hard science fiction, often inspired by the progress in areas of my professional interest. Literature-related projects I am involved in, Stranger Fictions and Sci-Fi ABM-thology (read more about them on the Misc page) link my writing to science, technology and society in innovative ways. My non-fiction writing is usually about speculative fiction (and fandom), expat experiences, academia, and popular science and technology. Sometimes journalists ask me about current affairs–I always answer my phone.

Reading list

Fiction

  1. Normed Trek (Mathematical Intelligencer, 2014) was my first published story (excluding some in my secondary school magazine). It was written right after my Engineering Maths II final exam, and it is Star Trek meets Alice in Wonderland meets Flatland type of thing.
  2. The Cantor Trilogy (Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 2015) was my second published story: it was also submitted to Mathematical Intelligencer, but the reviewer there found it more suitable for Journal of Humanistic Mathematics: the story featured a strikingly similar journal name in it: Journal of Human Mathematics (I had no clue of JHM’s existence at that point). And that’s how this story ended up in the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics and how I started reading JHM.
  3. In Search of Future Time and Murder on the Einstein Express first appeared in my book, Murder on the Einstein Express and Other Stories published in Springer’s Science and Fiction series in 2016 although the Murder was finished back in 2010. Speaking of the book, it had some positive reviews in Amazing Stories Magazine and from a reader over at Snap Reviews. For not so positive reviews, check out Stephen Theaker’s review in Theaker’s Quarterly and Brian Clegg’s review at PopularScience, review in Belgian Mathematical Society’s newsletter. The stories from the collection have been indexed and reviewed in Alex Kasman’s Mathematical Fiction index. It was also briefly mentioned as a further reading suggestion in an E&T Magazine review.
  4. The End is Near (Quantum Shorts, 2015) was my entry for Quantum Shorts, CQT‘s contest for quantum-inspired flash fiction.
  5. A not so secret project: time travel novel borrowing a lot of concepts from my actual research. Editing it right now (or at least, I should be doing that).

Non-Fiction

  1. We make the railroad; the railroad makes us (MR Online, January 26th, 2022) is an essay on the international labour brigades in Yugoslavia post-World War 2
  2. Opening this article voids warranty (Science for the People, Fall 2021) is an essay on culture of repair of technical objects, the right to repair, and related socioeconomic issues.
  3. Evictions are a public health threat (Tribune, April 22nd, 2021) is an accessible summary of recent work in complex networks focusing on evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  4. China’s quantum satellite enables first totally secure long-range messages, (The Conversation, June 16th, 2020) is an exclusive coverage of the first entanglement-based QKD done vie satellite at a distance over 1,000 km.
  5. Mafija ubija, a ubija i tišina (Mafia kills, and so does the silence) is a text about the life and death of anti-mafia activist Peppino Impastato, published on the anniversary of his death, May 9th, 2020 on prometej.ba.
  6. Quantum internet: the next global network is already being laid, (The Conversation, February 18th, 2020; also, Silicon Republic, March 24th, 2020) is a story about quantum internet and the beginning of our efforts in bringing it closer to reality.
  7. What happens at a quantum internet hackathon? (Silicon Republic, November 8th, 2019) is a report from the Pan-European Quantum Internet Hackathon which I organised at CONNECT/TCD in November 2019.
  8. What did 2018 look like in 1968? (RTÉ Brainstorm, December 14th, 2018) is a comparison of 1968 essay on future of communications in 2018 by J.R. Pierce with the reality in 2018.
  9. Why “positive feedback” is the most terrifying term imaginable (RTÉ Brainstorm, Nuvember 28th, 2018) is an explanation of positive and negative feedback loops motivated by the frequent inaccurate use of the term “positive feedback.”
  10. What technology will we be taking for granted in 2028? (RTÉ Brainstorm, September 25th, 2018) is a vision of the world after 5G adoption.
  11. How your ear and hand decide the quality of a phone call (RTÉ Brainstorm, August 14th, 2018) is a polished, updated version of the story told in Research Shows One Ear Is Better Than The Other When It Comes To Holding Your Phone (Forbes, 2017)
  12. Uzvratna posjeta Hubertu Butleru (The Return Visit to Hubert Butler) is a series of texts about the history of Ireland’s left seen through a Yugoslav lens appearing on prometej.ba. Current article count: twenty five.
  13. What is the Difference between Nonlinear Mechanics and the Chaos Theory? (Forbes, April 12th, 2018 and Apple News, April 12th, 2018) was a (rather technical) article about nonlinear systems.
  14. What Were The Most Impressive Engineering Projects Of The 19th Century? (Forbes, February 27th, 2018 and Apple News, March 6th, 2018) was an article about the deployment of the transatlantic telegraph cable.
  15. Da li je Maurice Audin prisutan? (Is Maurice Audin Present?) is a text about Maurice Audin’s death during the Algerian War and the ongoing struggle of his wife, published on his birthday February 14th, 2018 on prometej.ba.
  16. 12.45 Restate My Assumptions: Complexity and Control is the talk I gave at the PROBE 2017 Café Curie event and it’s about the motivation of my current research.
  17. Research Shows One Ear Is Better Than The Other When It Comes To Holding Your Phone (Forbes, August 10th, 2017) was a text about the antenna placement in smartphones and the quality of service varying as the hand holding the phone switches. It was mostly based on last year’s chamber tests in Scandinavia and it became mildly popular on other sites as well: Bustle (Which Ear Should You Use To Talk On The Phone? Science Says One Is Better Than The Other), AOL (Research reveals the best ear to use to talk on the phone) and several Greek (Έρευνα αποκαλύπτει ποιο είναι το καλύτερο αυτί για να μιλάς στο κινητό), Vietnamese (Nghe điện thoại bằng tai trái hay tai phải tốt hơn?) and Kosovar outlets (Studimet tregojnë se me cilin vesh duhet të flasim në telefon?). AOL (and subsequently the Greek sites) misattribute the research to me: the results aren’t mine, I just made an article about it. The Albanian versions of the text (Mbajtja e telefonit në veshin e djathtë dëmton trurin) distort the message and spread misinformation.
  18. How Bell Labs is Making 5G Happen (Forbes, July 6th, 2017) was a text about Massive MIMO made from my Quora answer to the question “Has Bell Labs created anything noteworthy recently?”. It was also published on HuffPost (70 Years Ago, Bell Labs Invented Cellular Telephony; Today They Are Leading the Way to 5G Wireless) and Apple News (How Bell Labs is Revolutionizing the Mobile Technology Game That They Invented).
  19. Marš za nauku: Marš za sve i marš ni za koga (March for Science: March for everyone and a march for no one, Prometej, April 14th, 2017) was a text inspired by March for Science and a call for the people of Sarajevo to join our March.
  20. Science to Noise Ratio (TEDxIBU, March 2017) was my TEDx talk about the idea of using science and philosophy of science as a weapon against fake news. This is still a topic I’m very much interested in both nonfictional and fictional way.
  21. Antifeuilleton series (Gonit Sora, 2015-2016) was a series of 10 articles about different topics in mathematics and physics inspired by Hermann Hesse’s Glasperlenspiel.
  22. My Quora profile (2014-2017) contains more than a thousand answers I wrote to different questions on Quora. Topics I write about include films, literature, mathematics, physics, engineering, languages, etymology and history of former Yugoslavia.

Appearance in other people’s writing

  1. Hrvatski matematičari zgrozili uredništvo IEEE Accessa manipulacijama popisom žrtava Jasenovca (Faktograf, December 28, 2021) was a fact-checking article on a problematic scientific paper from the field of statistics raising suspicion around the official numbers of victims in Jasenovac concentration camp. I was asked to comment on the mathematics and the publishing process in engineering journals.
  2. Quantum internet: A revolution in knowledge is almost a reality (Inverse, April 19th, 2021) was a feature article on quantum internet by Becca Caddy. I was asked to comment on the underlying concepts.
  3. The quantum internet is on its way (IT Pro, PC Pro, March 22nd, 2021) was an in-depth article on quantum internet by Nicole Kobie. I was asked to comment on the current research trends.
  4. Secure quantum communications network is the largest of its kind (New Scientist, September 2nd, 2020) was an article by Chris Stokel-Walker about quantum network breakthrough. I was asked to comment on the findings of the study.
  5. Connect Hosts pan-European Quantum Internet Hackathon (Tech Central.ie, November 7th, 2019) was an article about Quantum Internet Hackathon event I organised at CONNECT/TCD in November 2019.
  6. Google utvrdio jedan miljokaz budućnosti: kvantna supremacija (Google Determined a Milestone for the Future: Quantum Supremacy, November 1st, 2019) was Jelena Kalinić’s article about Google’s claim of quantum supremacy in 2019. I answered a few questions there.
  7. Više se isplati ‘kopati’ po mobitelima nego u rudnicima zlata (It is more lucrative to dig phones than gold mines. Al Jazeera Balkans, July 9th, 2018) was Edis Bulić’s article about smartphone recycling. I answered a few questions there.
  8. BiH u trci s Mjesecom za 4G mrežu (Bosnia & Herzegovina and the Moon in the race to 4G, March 24th, 2018) was Mario Pejović’s article about 4G mobile network prospects in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I answered a few questions there.
  9. Tehnologija nas je učinila ranjivijima (Technology made us more vulnerable, Al Jazeera Balkans, Jauary 13th, 2018) was Mario Pejović’s article about Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities. I answered a few questions there.
  10. Čipovi u tijelu – potreba ili naredna faza ‘Velikog brata’? (Microchip Implants: a necessity or Big Brother’s next stage? Al Jazeera Balkans, August 21st, 2017) was Mario Pejović’s article about the 32M employees’ microchip implant campaign. I answered a few questions there.