The Fun Theory

Bored?
Feel like cursing out loud?
Wish to do something constructive and fun?
Cannot recall the last time you laughed until it hurt and you couldn't breathe?

Introducing The Fun Theory ! *
'nuff said.

The deadline has passed and no more entries will be accepted. But there are ideas. Ideas, which can be realized with moderate ease and will definitely make things more interesting around here. Who knows what this might lead to? Better and bigger ideas- definitely. More fun- Obviously!


*The tone of the sentence is just for dramatic effect. I did not come up with this theory. I am just one of those people who spread the idea in the hope that more like-minded people will express support and come together to help realize the dream.

The End Of Particle Physics As We Know It?

'If it is true then we truly haven't understood anything about anything.' ~Alvaro de Rujula, theorist at CERN


'Neutrinos can travel at a speed faster than light.' When I first read this on Facebook (Sadly enough, Fb is currently my main source of information), the thought that jumped to my head was "How many theories are going to require revision?! Second thought- If and only if this is validated and truly true, we are a step closer to time travel. Wow. Third thought -Lets put the internet to work for us through ifttt.com i.e., 'If certain subatomic particles can travel faster than speed of light, reset all the (now) obsolete explanations and theories based on the presumption that the fastest a particle can travel is at the speed of light.
This news came around a week back and since then, the blogosphere's been flooded by related posts. This discovery if found to be true would destroy the very foundation of modern physics.

A fundamental pillar of physics that nothing can go faster than the speed of light appears to be smashed by an oddball subatomic particle that has apparently made a giant end run around Albert Einstein's theories - is what The Hindu had to say about this.

 If this observation is validated by the Fermi lab in Chicago( a lab well equipped to test the validity of this overwhelming claim), Einstein- the man labeled as the father of modern physics who taught us the energy- mass equivalence, would be dethroned leaving the door open for another great mind to walk in and be immortalized as the man who flawed the almighty E=mc^2 equation.

Did you know - Einstein along with Richard Feynman, Fermi and Openheimer had a direct role to play in the Manhattan Project? In Einstein's defense, his equation might explain the release of energy during a nuclear fission but it does not tell one how to make a nuclear bomb. In his own words, Einstein expressed his regret at having even suggested research on nuclear energy as a good idea to FDR - "Had I known that the Germans would not succeed in developing an atomic bomb, I would have done nothing."

Anyway, amongst the several theories floating around, one particularly interesting theory goes as follows:  particles can travel at a speed greater than 299792 km per second by taking another (a fifth?) dimension through time and that is, travel through wormholes.


Incredible claims require incredible evidence - NY Times.
And for when someone does find this evidence(if it exists), more concrete than anything, the implications will be HUGE. I don't think we can fully appreciate the magnitude of the mess this is going to create.
For now, all we can do is wait. (And hope for time travel to become a reality before our stay on earth  terminates.)

Mind Map

Its always been very intriguing for me. I know that the signals are transmitted through neurons via electrochemical signals. But how does a signal decide its path?  Isn't the unpredictably relatively on the higher side for any decisive conclusion? Isn't the complexity of the brain quite mind boggling? Years and years of extensive study later, the brain can be labeled into the Occipital region, Parietal region, Frontal Lobe, Temporal lobe- each having its own specific functionality. The functional, connective and developmental regions of the brain, though not completely understood can be defined with remarkable precision. Different regions of the brain process different types of information.  Patterns have been observed. Humungous volumes have been written. Its fascinating how after more than a millenia of research, the human brain offers further scope for exploration. The scope seems almost infinite given the space occupied by the brain is finite. Similar to calculating the number of dots that can be drawn in a 1mm line segment.

Did you know- The brain makes up only approximately 2% of our entire body weight while it can require upto 20% of the body's total energy.

The beauty of the brain is astounding. I would have posted another picture of a human brain( for I have quite a collection now) to emphasize on this. However, since more than one person complained about being too grossed out to read Organ Talk , here we are. Sigh. No photograph. For those who think otherwise, try reading 'Silence of the lambs' by Thomas Harris. It will make up for the lack of a photograph here. Its also been filmed starring Jodie Foster( if that makes one see it).

For those of you who consider this to be random outburst of my love for biology - you couldn't be more wrong. As improbable as it may sound, electrical subjects can be quite inspiring. That is what got the cogs of my mind in motion. I can now go back to my assignment, due later today.

Organ talk

^Its time to talk 'Organs'.

My job being to talk about the following critical ones only.

Heart

Its pointless to elucidate it's functions and importance. What I will talk about though is, how your daily intake of junk food can drastically reduce healthy heart functionality. All the fatty food that we consume leads to the fattening of the pulmonary arteries- a major cause for heart attacks and other symptoms leading to one.

Abnormal Aorta

         

             Normal Aorta

Abnormal Aorta with fatty streaks

             
Brain

The specimen at display at the Organ talk had Hematoma. The black thing on the right specimen is the clotted blood due to a severe head injury that was evidently fatal.

A normal brain(left) v/s one with Hematoma

Lungs

Yeah, smoke your worries away. But do remember the effect it has on your lungs(See pic). Apart from exponentially reducing the alveoli count, it makes your lungs much less spongy(which effectively means- the lungs' capacity to expand upon inhalation has reduced significantly). Seeing the skeptical look on one of our faces, the demonstrator had us touch the right lung. Both healthy one and the one blackened and damaged due to smoking. I could see from the look on this lucky person's face that she wasn't too happy about it. 

            

A smoker's lung

Blocked Alveoli

Liver

The following picture is why alcohol consumption is not the healthiest of options. Besides the fact that it severely hampers normal functioning of the liver- which includes emulsification of fats, manufacture of bile juices and blah, it doesn't make your liver look good, does it? 

A cirrhotic liver- scarred and blotchy

Bones

Now this reminded me of the Amul jingle 'Piyo dood in every season, piyo dood for a healthy reason'(Drink milk in every season, Drink milk for a healthy reason). Because Osteoporotic bones are weak. So much so that a slight bump against a piece of furniture will cause your bones to crack or break away neatly. 

Why was I present at an organ talk anyway?

Well, my mother's department organised this event on the occasion of the death anniversary of the former head of the department and she asked me to be there. Since I had nothing up my sleeve that would excuse me from this event , I obliged. And boy, was I glad I did that. It wasn't boring at all! Last year's event had been more of a dull exhibition. This year- we, a former school-mate and me, walked in amidst a great introduction by the head of the department. Grand, I tell you.
 Apart from meeting up with our old science teacher we chatted with the weenies about the weird changes made to our good ol' school. The tea and luncheon only made us happier. What was astonishing though, was the way the tenthies(DPS) took on the 11th and 12th standard people(from other schools) in the organ talk quiz. Maybe it had something to do with the booklets they were provided beforehand. The token of appreciation for the winners was a Lucky Bamboo- a Feng Shui plant said to bring good luck.

Post Organ talk, my friend and I headed for our local haunt and gorged on an odd assortment of junk food- golgappas, tikkis, momos, pasta and faluda. 

A deliciously hypocritical finish to a long day.
 

Will Magic Be Recreated This Summer ?

                              

They are all lined up neatly for the summer vacations 

| Spider-man 4: May 2011 |

| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part2: July 2011 |

| The Dark Knight Rises : July 2011 |

    Spider-man. And Tobey McGuire immediately springs up in my mind's eye. For all those who aren't too keen on the Spider-man movies, Tobey McGuire is to Spider-man as Daniel Radcliffe is to Harry Potter. Now, if you are not familiar with Daniel Radcliffe or Harry Potter, then you are seriously not living in this world.You need to start being a part of this world. HP will be talked about in another post.
Spider-man 4 is scheduled to be released sometime in May this year. And  oh, the wait ! Tobey has passed on the spidey mantle to Andrew Garfield. In all probability, Carnage and hobgoblin are going to turn up in this one. But the anticipation is high. Will the movie be as good as the previous ones?

Sequels rarely work out as well as the previous flicks when the lead characters are changed. Agreed, Andrew Garfield is better looking than Toby. But then behind that red and blue suit spider man jumpsuit is a nerd's face. Peter Parker is a nork(hybrid of a nerd and a dork) and the more the directors stick to this reality, the better it'd be for them (and the movie series). I wonder how long it'll be before people start associating Spider-man with Andrew Garfield. Eternity would be my guess.

The Dark Knight Rises : Christopher Nolan's third and last installment of the current batman franchise. I am eager to see how the addition of Anne Hathway affects the movie.(She'll be portraying cat woman ) She's done a few action movies before so, she obviously has a certain amount of experience but how a tight black suit affects her acting prowess is yet to be seen. (Frankly, I am not a huge fan. Sib usually made me watch batman movies (and the cartoon too !! ) and after watching 'The Dark Knight' , the result is this: He doesn't have to force me anymore. ) The one thing I am going to miss terribly in this movie is, Heath Ledger's amazing acting.


                                  

Hot News

Now that I am back home for the vacations it suddenly hit me....I really missed them ...so much so that initially it was difficult for me to start my day without them...since I was so used to to seeing them early in the morning before starting any work.

Newspapers.

That is what I am talking about.

And the best section of the newspaper doesn't come in the main issue, that is dropped at our doormat. It comes packed along with Maths, English, Hindi, History and Science...and god-knows-what-else in my sibling's school bag (I am going to call the afore-mentioned sibling...Sib..).The student-edition of the TOI is the best. Simply the best .

And that is where I read this article about the folks at CBSE introducing Mandarin as a third language option in schools.The first thought that popped up in my mind was...Darn! why do they have to introduce all these things after I have left school?..But that is something I am saying now...I honestly don't think I would have taken it up if it were introduced in my time. Anyways, the reason they give is that "China is the fastest growing economy in the world so we (that is the CBSE people) thought it would be beneficial for students to learn the language as it opens up a lot of opportunities." Surprisingly, the response has been positive..there have been around 700-800 applications for 100 seats.Their main  problem is finding teachers to teach the language. But I guess this will be resolved some time soon because they can always bring in teachers from China. 

Another interesting piece of news....A person from IIT Kharagpur being offered a 70 lakh package(which converts to $90,000) by Facebook...

So, the moral of the story is...Keep Facebook-ing...:)

Time for another Au revoir.

P.S: Talking about languages reminds me to tell you a singular fact about myself...though I might use French phrases at times ...but it does not mean I know French.