Clinton Did It!

It seems Presidents of United States do more after retiring than what they do when in power.

After Jimmy Carter, it's now Bill Clinton's turn to get involved in lot of social initiatives.
His recent endeavor resulted in freeing the two U.S. journalists arrested by North Korea.

It is a rare case of unorthodox diplomacy from the part of the United States. Clinton has now served as the global ambassador for the U.S., projecting himself beyond boundaries.

The Clinton foundation is involved in a wide variety of development projects that cover diverse fields from struggle against AIDS to global climate initiative.

Clinton may be on his way to the pinnacle of public appreciation and recognition of his service. He may get the Nobel Prize too.

A Pinch of Salt

A famous Tamil proverb says, "Uppillaa Pandam Kuppayilae", meaning anything that doesn't contain salt is to be dumped in the trash. A pinch of salt makes all the difference between a delicious meal and an insipid one.

And a handful of salt, when it was in Mahatma Gandhi's hand, showed the world what a real revolution is. It seems after Dandi, we've almost forgotten the humble salt. We often find ourselves unable to answer questions like how they produce salt, or what methods are used to extract salt.

How would it feel like when you explore all by yourself a salt pan, interacting with the 'salt people', observing, inferring, and photographing places and events, and above all, applying your knowledge. That's what Nomita, my friend and ex-colleague has done.

A jovial, talkative, and 'Yea, I've read that in a wonderful book...' kind of girl with appreciable knowledge in Biology and Earth Science, Nomita makes an impression within the first 5 minutes (if at all you can stand that :D) you talk to her. She talks Harry Potter, reads Paulo Coehlo, discusses Marine Biology, and explains gold hallmarking process, all with the same interest and enthusiasm. Here's an update of her recent visit, accompanied by her brother, to a salt pan as a part of her project:

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/lh/sredir?uname=nomita.b&target=ALBUM&id=5364632848100209809&locked=true&authkey=Gv1sRgCPL255PsqpOrUQ&feat=email

I thank Nomita for sharing the link with us, and making this article worth its salt.

And I came across this old issue of Frontline, covering the life of Agariya tribes in the Little Rann in Gujarat.

Swiss Army Knife

The celebrated Swiss Army Knife turns 125.

This knife was designed to help Swiss soldiers to dismantle their gun and to open food tins.

The next version came in the form of "Originally named "Schweizer Offizier Messer", eventually becoming a universal cult icon.

An interesting article is available on the BBC site here.

And the Guinness World Record making knife with 314 blades, making it the world's biggest penknife, was also created - putting pride ahead of everything else.

I wish I had one in my pocket.

Martial Arts Syndrome

In the name of martial arts, people break bricks, and even get themselves run over by vehicles. I wonder what is martial about it. Or what art is there in it?

A recent news article has drawn our attention towards such acts of 'bravery' supported in a government school near Villupuram, Tamilnadu.

Children were made to lie down with their hands stretched on the ground. A man rode his motorcycle over the hands. This act was witnessed and appreciated by the crowd of parents, teachers, and onlookers.

Image courtesy: Times of India

What are they going to achieve by these 'feats'?

Can they ever escape when run over by an MTC bus or a speeding truck?

Why don't they just teach self-defence?

There are lot of other strategies to develop endurance.

What is there to be proud of such things?

I simply don't understand.

Learning Esperanto

In a comment to my previous post, Brian Barker has suggested the site:

http://en.lernu.net

Exploring this site, I found that learning Esperanto is cool. And the course designed by Hokan Lundberg and Bertilo Wennergren is straight-forward and user-friendly (without any false links and unwanted bells and whistles).

I started by learning Esperanto numerals. It's pretty easy to learn and remember.

Basic numbers
0 - nul
1 - unu
2 - du
3 - tri
4 - kvar
5 - kvin
6 - ses
7 - sep
8 - ok
9 - naŭ
10 - dek
100 - cent
1000 - mil

11 - dek unu
12 - dek du
20 - dudek
25 - dudek kvin
237 - ducent tridek sep
1983 - mil naŭcent okdek tri
2002 - du mil du

And I took up a 'Level 1' exercise and scored centum!

Interested? Try http://en.lernu.net/lernado/gramatiko/konciza/kalkulvortoj.php

Good luck!

Esperanto

For aspirants of a unified world, Esperanto might be one of the answers.

Esperanto was devised in the 1880s by Dr. Ludwig Lazar Zamenhof (1859-1917) who was a Jew, born in Poland. Disheartened by the strong anti-Semitic feelings of the time, Zamenhof formulated Esperanto as a neutral international second language. He thought this would pave way for the liberation of Jews from the hands of racism.

Commenting on the formation of a separate Jewish state out of erstwhile Palestine, he said,

"Jews will be living there as if on a volcano… conflicts and persecutions there will not stop until the Jews are expelled from there once again".

In his book Dr Esperanto, Zamenhof defines a simple grammar and a vocabulary of 900 words. He derived these words from Romanesque, Germanic and Slavic languages.

To create new words, you an add appropriate suffixes and prefixes.

Optimists say Esperanto will become the new international language sometime in the future. We'll have to wait and see.

And Esperanto means 'Hopeful'.

Newsbringers

We take so many things for granted. Newspaper is one of them.

The newspaper reaches us after passing hundreds of hands, miles of transportation, and finally the sweats of the paperboy. What does it take to be a paperboy? Definitely, you need several skills to be one. You got to balance yourself and the huge stock of papers on the carrier and both sides of the handle bar of your bicycle. You got to move swift as a sparrow through narrow streets. You got to protect the papers from the rain, dirt, and other things. And finally, you got to DELIVER - at the right time, at the right place.



I came across an interesting book titled "Rain: What a Paperboy Learned About Business" by Jeffrey J. Fox. Though the book is written in an American context, the concepts discussed holds in any environment. The author lists some great people of the U.S.A., who were paperboys in their early years. The list includes Isaac Asimov, physicist, Warren Buffett, investor, Tom Cruise, actor, Thomas Alva Edison, inventor, Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights activist, Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com, and many others. Immediately, I thought of our own Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who used to deliver papers in his hometown.

Jeffrey Fox observes that most of those who've worked as paperboys are successful in several fields. He even suggests that hiring former paperboys is smart business. He explains the importance of sincerity, dedication, hard work, and all other qualities essential for a paperboy, which are as essential to any business. He uses a simple case study of an enthusiastic teenager named Rain, and applies his experience to common business strategies. It's a very simple book with a great attitude. Worth keeping in offices to boost employee commitment.

Thank You, Professor Yash Pal!

“My daughter has come first in the whole district in the tenth standard board exams,” my English teacher boasted in our class. I retorted to my friend Gopi “No wonder. After all he didn’t teach her.” Parents want their children to be Number One either because they were Number One in their times or they weren’t Number One in their times. Newspapers show the Number One celebrating his or her (mostly her) success with their parents or friends.

In the background, schools dump the mostly irrelevant and unpractical concepts into the young minds, eating the time which the children should have been playing or having some kind of fun. As a CBSE student, I used to boast “our syllabus is tougher than state board syllabus. Getting 350 out of 500 there is like getting 450 here.”

With students easily crossing the 400 mark and now the 450 mark, more stress has been put on presentation of answers, optimal choice of questions, and other intricacies. Eventually, I gave up my ambition of becoming a teacher. Practically, I’d have been a facilitator, bullying students all day‘Each mark is important. Each second counts. The Board Exam is your life. Don’t repent later.’ Being a teacher, I’d have ended up teaching nothing, which I’m doing right now.

Talking about education sector reform is fun. But implementation isn’t. When the nation builders are ready to implement the sixth pay commission recommendations with immediate effect, they cite bureaucratic bottlenecks in implementing reforms, or even mild changes. And the reform committees and enquiry commissions in this country work in their own way. Hence they take their own time. Take the Liberhan Commission for instance. Set up in December 1992, the retired judge took 16 years, 48 extensions, and 399 sittings to submit his report. And what the hell is it going to tell? The whole nation witnessed what happened, who laughed, who cried, who never laughed, who did everything, and who did nothing.

The review committee on the National Curriculum Framework, headed by Prof. Yash Pal, has been comparatively efficient and faster. It took only 3 years to submit the report.

Professor Yash Pal, the great Indian Scientist who brought Science to the common man’s drawing room through Turning Point in Doordarshan, has come up with his remarkable and revolutionary recommendations. The main recommendation is the making the Standard X public exam optional.

Another recommendation is the formation of a centralized and more autonomous body on the lines of the Election Commission to replace the time-tested and failed bodies such as UGC, AICTE, and NCTE.

Talented and deserving people are being put into nation building – for example Nandan Nilekani in the Unique ID project. Good sings. Thanks, Professor Yash. At least kids will have the relief that they don’t have to be the ‘State Number One’ and ‘District Number One’ until Standard XII now.

Memories From the Travel Bag

What made them select Tada falls – almost an unknown place – at least to some non-travelers like me – for a one-day trip? Two simple reasons are:

1. Tada
2. Falls

Yes, Tada was a literally unknown (and legally controversial) name which most of us hadn't heard of. And the second reason is that nobody hates falls – I mean waterfalls.

Skillsoft is a fun-loving team, doing things with a Synergy of work and play. With a well-planned schedule, we were all set to start the hilarious journey at 5.30 a.m. on 13th of June, a lovely Saturday morning. No delays in deliverables this time!

One must acknowledge the role the behind-the-scenes guys played. Syed and Sethu booked the 'small mini bus' (more about this later); Prakasham and Santhosh almost made a Guinness record for peeling the most number of garlic in a short time; Dominic and Prasanna made the chicken cross the road.

Saif Ali Khan had come to Mike's home to inaugurate the journey. Saif posed for a couple of snaps with us and bid us Bon Voyage.


Dull but anxious moments followed, as we were watching out for guys about to join us on the way. Things got lively once Wilson got into the bus. Six-pack Sasi was the last one to join us from Puzhal. He got the typical Koduva team (the team that gives you special treatment on your birthday) welcome, headed by Pandian. For the information of non-Tamils, Koduva roughly means a kind of dagger.

We stopped for breakfast at an open field. Mike, our project manager, was busy distributing idlies rather like Ejaman Rajinikanth. All eyes were on Santhosh because he had the sambar bowl. After idly, we were chatting idly. That was when Mike came up with another surprise.

We celebrated Wilson's birthday in that open field. Once again, a typical Koduva team treatment.


The journey continued. Disappointment was awaiting us when we found that our 'small mini bus' will not be allowed to enter Tada. The reason was that the bus was a 12+1 carrier with 18 seats. Our ‘We know the IG' strategy didn't work. Resources were deployed for Localization. In spite of speaking the best Telugu we knew, the only choice the check post officials gave us was to remove the additional seats. A viable alternative was to use local transport. What an innovative way to make the local industry flourish!

As they say, everything happens for good. The best part of our journey was in the four Share Autos we hired. Here too, we proved our mettle in bargaining. We went for the lowest bidder principle and brought down the rate from Rs.500 to Rs.350. We enjoyed the peppy songs the driver played for us. The highway soon became narrow and then transformed into a mud road. What seemed to be a road less travelled gave us a roadless travel. At times, we had to get down and push the auto. It was fun all the way.

We may run, walk, stumble, drive, or fly, but let us never lost sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way.

This spirit made us click our cameras every now and then. And there were more falls in the water than there was water in the falls. Deepika, the whistling DJ started it all when she skidded and fell into the dangerous water knee-high. Then it was Ranjani’s turn on our way back. Soon, JS was at her heels as if it was a chain of events. And nobody knew why Rama forgot her high heels, eventually landing on a sharp piece of a broken wine bottle. Well, we had the first aid kit. Now she has a good reason to apply for a leave.

Carrying 20 litre water cans while going to a waterfall may sound odd. But we did it. The team worked rather like a military squad, ferrying heavy utensils across streams and efficiently passing logistics – baggage, wood, water cans, and vessels.

After crossing a couple of streams, we reached the Sivan temple beside which a group of local people lived. Fifteen more minutes of negotiating another stream led us to a perfect place to cook and bathe. For some reason, we didn't occupy that place. We moved forward, to find another curious place. Most of us were very hungry, ready to pounce at anything that was edible. It's time to start music.

Mike rediscovered fire with the help of the kerosene we had taken in a big bottle.


A resourceful kitchen was established in minutes. Syed proved that he is a professional when it comes to cooking. The aroma of his Biriyani didn't only make our hungry stomachs crave but it also attracted a troop of monkeys! Seems they too are non-vegetarian. It was news to me.



When Syed & Co were toiling in the makeshift cookery, a group of bad boys sneaked downhill to revel in water. Eating the mangoes from the nearby trees while bathing was a different experience. We then had a satiating feast thanks to Syed, Santhosh, and Prabhu.



And thanks to the girls group, who, tears in their eyes, peeled onion and cut vegetables in no time. Were they worried that they had to eat the food cooked by guys?

Once we ran out of water, we started drinking the river water after boiling it. Mike was at his best when he led from the front, cleaning the vessels. As it grew darker and the forest bugs got louder, we packed up and it was once again fun in the Share Autos – this time a bit more adventurous as it was dark.

It was time to leave hot and spicy Andhra. Our small mini bus was waiting at the check post to take us back to Chennai. One by one, the guys bid farewell, satisfied with the evergreen journey. We’ll be back to the concrete jungles, trekking our way to office through traffic jams. With nostalgic resolution, we said to Tada falls “WE’LL BE BACK.”



Here is a nice travelogue if you're planning a trip to Tada falls

Who named Black Holes and Warmholes?

You might have wondered - or just taken for granted - who coined the terms black hole and warmhole?

And the man who named these mysterious places (or absence of space) is no more. John Archibald Wheeler is his name. He has spent his time with greats like Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein, and DeWitt. And his students include Richard Feynman, Jacob Bekenstein, and Huge Everett. Most of know about Feynman (for his lectures). Bekenstein proposed that a black hole's event horizon is a measure of entropy. Stephen Hawking is said to have discovered the fact that black holes radiate, led by Bekenstein's thinking. And Huge Everett proposed the idea of 'many worlds' interpretation in Quantum Mechanics. (Wikipedia says he left physics as he found that other physicists didn't accept his theories. However, he managed to become a millionaire, being a defense analyst and consultant.)

Back to Wheeler's story, he was the pioneer who sought to combine gravity and quantum mechanics, leading to the development of the field called Quantum Gravity. He was awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics in the year 1996-97.

And it's one more obituary in this column. We've lost another great mind.

Sir Arthur Clarke - The Futurologist

Being a futurologist is like ropewalking.
It's highly likely that people mistake you for astrologer or a supernatural power holder with an adept skill for predicting.
Yet, futurology is based on Science and facts, and the extraordinary power of extrapolation.

Excerpts from Raymond Whitaker's article in The Independent, Sunday, 23 March 2008

See what Sir Arthur Clarke had predicted. These five things have become taken-for-granted facts today:

1. Geo-Synchronous satellites - The ones that always seems over our heads like the sword of Damascus!
Clarke was the first to suggest that satellites which remain at a fixed point relative to Earth could be used for worldwide communications. The geostationary orbit is now known as the "Clarke orbit".

2. The Internet - Wherever you go, you follow the network!
The father of the internet, Sir Tim Berners-Lee credits Clarke's short story, Dial F for Frankenstein, as an inspiration.

3. Spaceguard - The Asteroid Tracking System
In his novel Rendezvous With Rama, Clarke created "Project Spaceguard", a system to track asteroids that might collide with Earth. When such a system was set up in 1996, it was called "Spaceguard", in homage.

4. The Space Station - 'I told you so....'
The space station, now under construction, was put on screen in 1968 by Clarke and Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

5. N-Powered Spacecrafts - Reactors on board
In 1951 Clarke envisaged nuclear-powered spacecraft, a prediction that came true with several satellites, launched by the Soviet Union, which had small reactors on board.

Cool! What's coming next?
Well... Here's the list:

1. Space Ladder
In his 1979 novel, In The Fountains of Paradise Sir Arthur Clark suggested a "space lift", a geostationary satellite tethered to the Earth's surface, that allows men and materials to travel up and down without having to blast into orbit. Advancements in Carbon nanotube technology may make the 22,000-mile-long tether feasible.

2. Prince Harry will be going into Space in 2013. That's more than possible.

3. Virtual Reality will be more real. By 2025 the brain's functions will be fully mapped, allowing us to experience full sensory immersion.

4. There will be two intelligent species on Earth - one biological, and the other non-biological. The so-called artificial intelligence will at least catch up with the natural intelligence.

5. The Universal Replicator. By 2040, a "universal replicator" will be made and it will be capable of cloning anything from caviar to diamonds.

A Tribute to Sri Arthur C Clarke

'Sri' in the title is not a typo, but has some relevance here:

1. He was living in Sri Lanka since 1956.
2. 'Sri' is roughly equivalent to 'Sir', because it denotes respect and reverence.

What do Jules Verne and Sir Arthur Clarke have in common?
Well.. it may be their profound interest and knowledge in the field they were writing.
In his own words: "To me, science and science fiction writing are two sides of the same coin. Science fiction writing can only be valuable to us if it is written by someone who has some knowledge of science."

Maybe there has to be a thin line between good Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Alas! We're often unable to distinguish, thanks to the generations that spoiled the genre.

Writing was just one of the passions of Sri Arthur Clarke. He is regarded the Father of Satellite Communication. He has contributed to the development of RADAR technology. And he was of the stern belief that one day we'll be intelligent enough to communicate with Aliens.

And Sir Arthur Clarke didn't believe in the supernatural or the paranormal.
But that's only an option. Does it matter?

Ten Toughest Jobs To Do in Chennai

You may be doing the toughest job in the world - sorting your e-mails, keeping track of facebook posts, and wondering whether you'll get the ticket for Jodha Akbar tonight. Never mind. Here are what I think the ten most toughest jobs to do in Chennai.

1. Scavenger
I've seen these men dip into the manhole in which we fall only in accidents, scoop all the litter in the underworld, dump them in a tray, continuing this process again and again, until the maistry is convinced. They do this wearing only the underwear. And they still manage to smile when they come out, cutting a sorry figure. These men are extremely healthy - for their immune system is boosted. And the last time a crow shitted on my favorite shirt, I was cursing all the crows under the sun. What about these people?

2. Garbage collectors
These people too are a strange species. They either work for the municipal corporation, or they are self-employed(!) garbage gatherers. The municipal workers can be seen merrily sitting on heaps of garbage they filled the truck with. Nowadays there's even a small spot on each side at the rear of the garbage truck. Long live the municipality. The ragpickers have a sharp tool to pick reusable plastic materials. Hope most of them realize the rags-to-riches dream.

3. Construction Worker
Day and night, rainy or sunny, flashing brightness or intimidating darkness, the work must go on. Yes, with the real estate industry on an unprecedented high that preceds an inevitable low, these people are always on call. Demolish old ones, build new ones. Build, build, build. I wonder what must be in the mind of a worker on a thirteenth floor construction spot, trusting only the makeshift scaffold. And if you're a woman, and your tasks involve carrying bricks and cement to places, wear your saree tight and right. It's such a safe world.

4. Traffic Controller
Why are these people in THIS list? Because they suffer a lot. Forget their salary. Forget their designation. They breathe the black city air; they tolerate the honkers' brays; and they have the risk of being run over by a speeding vehicle at any time. As we know, they have their heart in mouth when a VVIP passes by.

5. Bus Driver
Two wheelers overtake you on both sides. Mindless passengers get in and get out in signals and where there are no bus stops. It's a bumper to bumper traffic almost all the time. And yes, this is the life of a bus driver. And they have the repution of being rude. Some maybe right. And some wrong.

6. Cook in a local restaurant
You don't know today's temperature. But you know how hot it is. And there is no proper smoke exit. Perhaps you use the same cloth - to shift hot utensils, to wipe spilled curry, and to wipe your nose in case you have cold. Who cares? Welcome to the world of a cook in a local restaurant. I thought of giving the 6th spot to film operators in theaters, but let's be serious.

7. Ambulance Driver
I've seen an ambulance stuck up in a traffic jam for more than 10 minutes. And nobody gave way - nobody could. As if everyone is about to die soon. Think of the ambulance driver's pulse. Does he feel guilty of no mistake of his?

8. Courier Boy
You're not Jim Courier. They always suspect you. People always blame you for unclear address. You stroll around each nook and corner of the city - to find a worthless guy receiving worthless letter. Anyway, you have a job at hand. Keep it up!

9. Attender
This includes Office Attenders, and attenders of all sorts - for attenders nowadays have attenders too. You do all tasks not of yours. You pay someone else's electricity bills (of course they give you the money), you get lunch for some couch potato pretending to work with minimized Facebook window, you are the subject of rotten old jokes they manage to make. And yet you attend to everything.

10. Vegetable Vendor
I might sound a bit communist, or socialist. But with retail market invaded by giant chains, the vegetable vendor is left to the mercy of the lower middle class.
You have to pedal or push your vegetable 'store', park it so that you don't interrupt traffic, and sometimes need to talk business with Number 4 in this list, or some other man who is said to be running the law and order of the city.


I think this list is not to change for quite some time. Designations may vary, but not the problems. Are you one among the ten? If not, stop worrying. Mind your business.

தமிழருக்குப் பேரிழப்பு &

தமிழருக்குப் பேரிழப்பு - சுஜாதா மறைவு

ரங்கராஜன் என்கிற சுஜாதா நேற்று இயற்கை எய்தினார். தற்கால தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தில் தனி இடம் பெற்றவர். அறிவியலை அனைவருக்கும் அருமையாய் அள்ளித் தந்தவர்.


அடிப்படையில் ஒரு பொறியாளரான இவர், வாக்குப்பதிவு இயந்திர வடிவமைப்பு மற்றும் தயாரிப்பில் பெரும் பங்கு வகித்தார்.


ஆனந்த விகடன், குமுதம், கல்கி போன்ற இதழ்களில் எழுதினார். இவரது மறைவு தமிழர்க்குப் பேரிழப்பு. இன்னொரு சுஜாதா வர இனி எத்தனை நாட்களாகுமோ?!

Superconductivity Demo - Circuit Diagram

Thanks to http://flanture.blogspot.com/2007/08/howto-flash-content-on-bloggers-blog.html I could post my weird flash animation of the circuit used by Kamerling onnes to demonstrate superconductivity. (Embedding flash in blogger shouldn't be so hard, in fact!)

Observe that initially the switch S1 is closed, while the switch S2 is open. So, no current flows through the mercury.

Now, when the switch S2 is closed, and after a while, switch S1 is open. The currrent that was flowing through the switch S2 keeps on flowing. They call it persistent current. This was achieved when cool Mr. Kamerling cooled the mercury down to 4K. Eventually, Leyden was remarked as 'the coldest spot on the Earth', but hot research on superconductivity was going on.

And here is a vintage photograph of some greatest scientists, assembled during the Solvay congress in 1927.


The event took place in October 1927. In this fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Photons, world's most notable physicists met to discuss the newly formulated quantum theory. It was here that Einstein reportedly said, referring to the Uncertainty Principle, "God does not play dice." Perhaps getting bored of this, Bohr replied, "Einstein, stop telling God what to do." Seventeen of the twenty-nine attendees were or became Nobel Prize winners! And the persevering Marie Curie won Nobel Prizes in two separate scientific disciplines.

Tetris - Things will fall in place

Though I'm not a great video game lover, one simple game impressed me recently. It's an old game, invented way back in 1985, by a Russian named Alexey Pajitnov. And the name of the game is Tetris.

Well, my brother introduced this game to me - by sending it to my already cramped mobile phone. And soon I found the game worth playing. The thing I like the most in Tetris is that things fall in place - if you are quite lucky. And you got to manipulate things slightly - to make things fall in the right place - and at the right time. If you are too lazy, the wrong piece gets to the wrong spot. And if you're hyperactive, you end up making things messier.

You lose a game of Tetris for two reasons:

1. You can no longer keep up with the increasing speed
2. You select the wrong piece to be fit into a spot.

Back to why I love Tetris so much is that there is a philosophy clinging to this game of moving blocks. What I interpret is that things in life will be coming to you - whether you like it or not. Sometimes, they arrange themselves in a perfect manner, helping you keep moving ahead. At times, they are of the weirdest shape. And they come too fast, leaving you wonder 'What on earth am I to do now?'

But life goes on. Make some corrective moves to get things tidier. There is always some more time left. And if you don't catch up, you end up loser. Sounds tooooooooooooo philosophical? There is science behind this too.

According to Richard Haier, et al. prolonged Tetris activity can also lead to more efficient brain activity during play. When first playing Tetris, brain function and activity increases, along with greater cerebral energy consumption, measured by glucose metabolic rate. As Tetris players become more proficient, their brains show a reduced consumption of glucose, indicating more efficient brain activity for this task.(Wikipedia)

As with any other game, Tetris has disadvantages too. It may cauase repetitive stress symptoms. Your brain may be involuntarily fancying tetris combinations even when you are not playing the game. And we've got a name for it - the Tetris effect! Seriously, I had this effect for quite a while. But that fades off as you get used to.

And now, while waiting for bus, waiting for a friend, when I feel bored, or when I don't have anything to do, I pick my mobile, to move the blocks here and there - desperate to upgrade my level (which is currently level 6 out of 10) - trying to make things look better.

Levitation Demo

"It's been nearly 100 years since Kamerling Onnes first demonstrated superconductivity. How many of us have ever seen a simple demonstration of, say levitation due to superconductivity?", asked Professor Asokamani, in one of his Sunday lectures at the Periyar Science and Technology Center, Chennai. Well, how many of us have?

This weekend, we were eager to view the levitation demo. The scheduling of events in the Science and Tech center has a remarkable eccentricity. There was a Science Talent Exam for kids going on, and we were left with no room!

Professor was unyielding, never compromising on his plans and schedules. Then we got the air-conditioned Conference Hall. Yes, the demo started. The audience were but a few - some 4 B.E students, a Ph.D. student, Mr. Raj Mane,a learned man who has ready-made questions and anecdotes, the professor, and myself. The much-awaited liquid Nitrogen emerged, in a thermocoal flask.

First, I had the impression it was boiling and 77 K is the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. Well, at room temperature, it's more than boiling! To learn more about liq. nitrogen, click

And we didn't have an organized plan for the demo. Professor had acquired an 123 superconducting pellet - SmBa2Cu3O(7–delta) - from the Indian Institute of Science, Madras. And there was a strong magnetic pellet, which we expected to jump and levitate magically.

What is levitation?
Levitation (from Latin levare, to raise) is the process by which an object is suspended against gravity, in a stable position, without physical contact.(Wikipedia.org)

The person who bought the liquid nitrogen poured it inside a paper plate, having the superconducting material and the magnet. And we could see nothing but a dense white fume, and were left wondering what really was happening. The levitation was not significant. Nevertheless, we could find the magnet was floating on air when we inserted a paper strip in between the magnet and the superconducing material. The magnet was rotating. Well, that's levitation. Professor explained that the superconducting material would need some more 'oxygenation'.

Each of us enthusiastically probed the gap between the magnet and the superconductor, and exclaimed, 'it's on the air!' And thanks to Professor, I am also fortunate enough to see the hand-drawn picture of the first ever demonstration of superconductivity. I've tried my weird drawing skills to interpret what I saw on that book. And I bet you can never see the basic circuit diagram anywhere else, including google images. All you can see about superconductivity is the Meissner effect, and the I Vs V characteristic curve - showing the transition to superconducting state. Pardon me for my poor drawing skills.



Imagine the switch S1 closed initially, while S2 remains open. After some time, say at 4K, the switch S2 is closed so that the current flows through the mercury in the container. Well, the interesting part is that you open the switch S1. What would happen? How long would the current flow through this circuit. Theoretically (and practically too!) this forms the basis for perpetual current. The current flows through the circuit literally FOREVER - with zero resistivity offered by mercury! All this happened at a temperature of 4K. No wonder when Kamerlingh Onnes performed this achievement after attaining even lower temperature - with the liquefaction of Helium, Leyden, in the Netherlands, was known as the 'coldest spot on the Earth'!

After nearly 100 years, after millions of demonstrations of the experiment worldwide, we performed the astonishing demonstration - for most of us it is the 'first time in my life' experience. We applauded for ourselves, for we had just concluded a beautiful demostration of one of the magical phenomenon of Physics. I couldn't upload the photos yet, but still you can visit this link to see what exactly we too did - something similar!

வானொலி தமிழ்

அயல் நாட்டு வானொலிகள் எல்லாம் தூய தமிழ் பேச, உள்ளூர் வானொலிகளோ ஆங்கிலமும் கலப்படத் தமிழுமாகக் கத்திக்கொண்டு இருக்கின்றன. அறிவிப்பாளர்களும் நுனி நாக்கில் தமிழைக் கொன்று கொண்டிருக்கின்றனர்.

எனது முதல் தமிழ் பதிவு!

எனது முதல் தமிழ் பதிவு!



தமிழில் என் பதிவுகளை எழுத பெரும் ஆவல் இருந்தும் விசைப்பலகை விபரீதங்களால் பின் வாங்கினேன்.


தமிழ் இனி தொடரும்...

நன்றி: http://www.iit.edu/~laksvij/language/tamil.html

The Isolated Universe

Singularity, I used to be
Left alone, and let free
As a Big Bang, you came
Like a poor man's abrupt fame

Our secrets stored as Dark Matter
Lay still, as frozen water
Did we exist together?
Will we perish together?

The Strings that hold us
Are they tentacles of Past
Or beacons ushering us into Future?
What Time is it in heart now?

The Radiation remains
Pervading my cosmos
As a vague Background
And where on Universe are You?

My Universe
Is expanding
More, more...
And more

Where is my Boundary?
And Where am I?
Am I a Particle in a Box?
Or a point out-of-the-box?

I'm shrinking
Into an Oyster's shell
Into the minute cell
Into the eternal womb

And my Universe
Is expanding
More, more...
And more