Magic and Theories.

My name is probably one of the most unique names one could find. I found a total of 97 ‘Kanksha’s’ who use Facebook (Yes, I actually counted.),  99% of the people think it is Aakanksha at first and the other one percent simply enjoy pulling my leg and testing my patience by getting it wrong in the beginning purposely. You can see it in the twinkle of their eyes.

So why did I suddenly go all ballistic and start talking about names? Apparently, my cousin, (who just refrained from talking to me because of her ‘overwhelmingly eventful life’) had become really bored and decided to google articles that had used puns. She came across this article which talked about how naming cows isn’t udder nonsense. A new study now says that cows that are given names tend to give more milk than cows that aren’t. (If you wish to read more, the link is in the middle of the left and right corner of this page below. In simpler words, I meant in the end :P) I find the fact pretty amusing, but at the same time am not surprised.

If you are a regular reader of the science section of the newspaper, I’m quite sure you aren’t surprised either. The thing is that with every passing minute, mankind discovers something new. Sadly, he does not know how to use the information he has, he doesn’t realize how important that single discovery is and how it could end up being a portal into a completely new planet which was once just a figment of your imagination! This article said that cows were made to listen to music to keep them happy while milking. From various sources you can find out that nanodiamonds could be used to combat osteonecrosis, the supermassive black hole at the end of our galaxy  last erupted ten million years ago, people have been tricked into thinking artificial fingers as their own and a bunch of plastic bottles filled with water cannot be used to launch a human. As of now, it is questionable, if this information will be readily available to the right person at the right time.

Science is magical. In fact, all the magic tricks magicians perform have layers of science enveloped into it. The key is either in the equipment which is scientifically designed to create illusions or the magician himself uses various phenomena to make things human beings redeem impossible, happen.

My chemistry professor keeps on reiterating the fact that everything we know is a theory. He says that whatever we study today might not be applicable tomorrow. It may be true at the moment, on this planet but what about in vacuum? Or in conditions we still haven’t been able to accomplish practically or even think about? It is all a mystery.  All we do is find a convincing explanation for whatever happens and assume it is true until it is proven wrong or someone reasons better.

At the end of the day, magic is something you positively see, but cannot explain. Day to day phenomena has been explained, but we aren’t exactly sure if it is true. (We are made to believe it is, but we don’t really know for sure.) Does that mean that it is ‘magic’ as well? In a twisted manner, is it okay if we say science is ‘explained magic’?  

Who knows what lies beyond?
[Btw, the copyrights of this awesome picture belongs
 to none other than me, myself and I.]

Kanksha :)

And the link is : http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-02-04-cow-names_N.htm

Homework.

So much has happened since I have last posted. The world of sports reached another galaxy, the
ugliest animal was finally crowned and chemical weapons were used mercilessly in Syria.
At my college we did something like a mini sign campaign for a holiday, in which we ended up getting the privilege of leaving an hour early…But hey! Something is better than nothing!

So while life keeps moving on, as chocolates reach a new level of scrumpulicious and gadgets brush against a new level of cool, here I am at home, studying for an upcoming test (as usual). Well, technically I’m writing this, but never mind.

“A research supports the '10-minute rule’, the widely accepted practice of assigning 10 minutes of homework per day per grade-level. For example, under this system, 1st graders would receive 10 minutes of homework per night, while 5th graders would get 50 minutes' worth, 9th graders 90 minutes of homework, etc.” - Wikipedia.

Who out here in their right mind doesn’t wish they followed this rule??? According to this, 10th graders should work for about a 100 minutes. Now let’s compare this figure to the actual amount of time students (10th graders) study at home. 4hrs? 5 hrs? Sometimes more. Then obviously this is going to affect them in some way or the other. Here is an example of the working day of a normal student. Wake up at 6:30 in the morning, try your best to not drift off to Disneyland in your dreams and pay attention in class instead, come home and either go for tuitions (or do self study), finish the school homework after coming back and finally go off to sleep (at 11:00pm?).

Now imagine waking up at 6:00, going cycling with a gust of wind getting adrenaline pumping, going to school and studying, coming home, finishing your homework in around an hour an forty minutes and going off to play with your friends in the playground or experimenting in the kitchen. You could also devour a book, let your fingertips dance on the keyboard. feet tap to the beat of the drums, have a 'June Fools' and challenge your friend to ice creams in summer and paneer pakodas if the weather is chilly! Just think! Life without homework (or lessened homework) would be so free, fUn, merry and lively....

On the other hand, at this stage, I might say that homework is now a part of me as much as eating, drinking and sleeping is. Maybe at the moment, I might even say that life without homework would become a bit dull and boring as you are left with nothing to do and no goal to achieve at the end of the day.

Human beings are lazy people. Most of them need a push, and without that push, they end up doing nothing. In that way, homework is a blessing in disguise. So basically, you could say that I just contradicted myself. But I haven’t. To put an end to the battle of thoughts that is going on inside my head, I guess I could say that we need homework. Just not in extra large portions. Just like small servings keep you hungry and larger portions leave you feeling tired and drowsy, the amount of homework should neither be less, nor should it
be too much. It has to be just right.

Kanksha :)

Enough about my thoughts! How you argue about the existence of homework, I think, depends upon your age..so the case will never close. Give me your opinion!