US Trip Part 3-San Francisco

From Monterey, we drove to San Francisco.In Bay area, my parents have a lot of friends so we stayed with their friends, met up with them and had a lot of fun. Me and my sister went to see Pitch Perfect 2 with my mom's friend. It was an amazing movie.We drove to San Francisco-the main city to see the Exploratorium which had all sorts of cool science exhibits. There was so much to see, we couldn't possibly have seen it all. What we saw includes but is not limited to how a clock works, infrared imaging of ourselves, cool mirrors which made you look all distorted, living organisms through microscopes, optical illusions and so many experiments. Most of it was hands on including exhibitions about stem cell research, social psychology, physics and light and sound.
We also went to the golden gate bridge which was classic. It was very windy though. The next day, we went to Berkeley Lawrence hall of science. My father went there for his post-grad. That was also more stuff about science(obviously). We saw a futuristic exhibition and a film about robots. There was a giant whale made out of fiber-glass so strong, we could climb on it and nothing would happen. They also had a section where everyone could use their imagination to make there own robots should I say with a motor and battery etc.
 Later, we visited the famous Ghirardelli chocolate shop and had-well chocolate. It smelled amazing in there and they even had a display of how chocolate is made from coca beans. It was like heaven on earth. That night we along with my parents friends all stayed in this really cool hotel called Zephyr. It had a cylindrical TT table, a giant connect 4, giant jenga, a dart board and backgammon in the room and loads of cool board games! Next morning we went for a hike to Muir Woods, a redwood forest. It was very nice and calm there.
 Later we went to the Intel museum in their HQ. It was kind of interesting, about the history of computers. One of the days we also went to the Google HQ in Mountain View. It thought it was pretty cool going inside google's silicon valley headquarters. We saw the office and all since one of my parents' friends work there.The last 2 days we shopped. We got a lot of stuff that is not easily available in India. We also saw Stanford University's campus. It was pretty boring to see actually, and hot in the day, but worth seeing once at least. San Francisco was nice.

US Trip Part 2-Monterey

Next, we drove from Los Angeles to Monterey, on the way to San Fransisco. We stopped at a number of small towns on the way. We stopped at Lake Cachuma and saw caravans. We also stopped at a town where there was a house this man had made entirely out of waste he collected as a garbage man and otherwise over the years. The man no more lived there, but it was interesting to see what all inventive stuff he had done. He had used pipes, for example, as railings on the stairs and for some reason, toilet seats as photo frames(seriously?).

We saw this alley called bubblegum alley where thousands of people had stuck there chewed bubblegum.

We also stopped at a quaint danish town called Solvang. It was really pretty, almost like a fairy village with cute little cottages.
 We tried some local danish food-it was something like a pancake ball called an Aebleskiver. There were loads of bakeries and small stores including one which was a fairy store and sold all sorts of fairy-related stuff. It was a unique experience. On the way we also went to Big Sur, a redwood forest and dipped our feet in a small stream running through it. The forest was very serene and relaxed me. Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world although the ones there were not as tall as redwoods normally are.

Redwoods

The whole drive was very scenic and a large part of it was by the sea.We also stopped at Mystery point, a place where apparently there is some mysterious force pulling towards this one point although we thought it was a hoax-still fun.
We reached Monterey in the evening. There was a wharf(harbor) and it was a nice little town. The next day my dad and I went deep-sea diving, my third time since the certification last July (click here to view blogpost about that). It was the first time I did a cold water dive and from the beach instead of off a boat. It was a nice dive place and a unique though challenging experience. We (my dad and I) saw a kelp forest, a wall with corals on it and even spotted a bird fishing underwater. We saw loads of starfish and these kind of giant water slugs. It was awesome and cold. We did 2 dives and were more comfortable with the new conditions by the second one. Swimming in between the kelp was amazing and the kelp was growing like a forest down there. It was one of the most diverse dive sites in the area because it had kelp, the wall, boulders and sand, 4 different landscapes underwater to explore. 

Trip to the US Part 1- Los Angeles

Recently I came back from US and I intend to write about my trip over the next few blogposts. It was an amazing trip and my 1st time in the United States. We (my family and I) went to Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Washington DC and New York. One question most people ask is what did you like best. I found each place quite different and with a distinct identity- Los Angeles and Hollywood is entirely different from New Yorks's Times square and skyscrapers.

The first place we went was Los Angeles. We reached in the afternoon and got out in the sun to combat the mighty forces of cross continental travel- Jet Lag. We went to the Santa Monica pier which was buzzing with activity. My first impression of the US, infact even when we were driving from the airport to our hotel in a rented car, was clean. And those of you living in India will understand why. The roads seemed empty. Since most Hollywood movies are made in the american atmosphere, everything felt like it could be straight out of a movie.

Waterworld show

The next day we went to the place you cant miss in LA....(drumroll please) Universal Studios! It was amazing. (understatement of the century) We went on the new Minion Mayhem, Jurassic Park, Transformers, Revenge of the Mummy and Simpsons rides(mostly simulations), the Studio tour and the Waterworld show - which my dad claims existed 20 years ago too. My favorites were Minion Mayhem and Transformers(it felt the most real)... and Jurassic park. The Waterworld and studio tour were of course legendary. We got thoroughly wet in the waterworld show, and saw some amazing movie sets in the studio tour.

Afterwards, we browsed through the shops on the Citywalk outside and drove up to a viewing point for the Hollywood sign. We walked through the Hollywood walk of fame, past(but not into, sadly) Madame Tussaud, a Ripley's and  Guinness world record museum.,

The next day was Six Flags, one of the in-my-opinion Best roller coaster parks in the world! The roller coasters were, needless to say amazing. They were scarier and screamier than I ever imagined, superfast, mind-blowing and thrilling, including a 400 ft drop of doom. I personally love roller coasters so I was on top of the world (almost literally).

What if?

I was recently reading a non-fiction book called "What if?" which has "serious scientific answers to absurd, hypothetical situations". It made me wonder about What if.......this and What if....that?
So I did some research and here are some interesting q's with interesting answers:
Q. Is time travel possible?
A. The great 20th century scientist Albert Einstein developed a theory called Special Relativity. The ideas of Special Relativity are very hard to imagine because they aren't about what we experience in everyday life, but scientists have confirmed them. This theory says that space and time are really aspects of the same thing—space-time. There's a speed limit of 300,000 kilometers per second (or 186,000 miles per second) for anything that travels through space-time, and light always travels the speed limit through empty space.
Special Relativity also says that a surprising thing happens when you move through space-time, especially when your speed relative to other objects is close to the speed of light. Time goes slower for you than for the people you left behind. You won't notice this effect until you return to those stationary people.
Say you were 15 years old when you left Earth in a spacecraft traveling at about 99.5% of the speed of light (which is much faster than we can achieve now), and celebrated only five birthdays during your space voyage. When you get home at the age of 20, you would find that all your classmates were 65 years old, retired, and enjoying their grandchildren! Because time passed more slowly for you, you will have experienced only five years of life, while your classmates will have experienced a full 50 years. In a way this means that you are travelling faster than others in time so you are time travelling. So it is possible.
Scientists however say that time travelling to the past is harder. They dont yet have any concrete theory which could work. On possible option is a wormhole which are supposed to be shortcuts through space-time. I dont know exactly how they work but they could be used to travel through time someday. Wormholes, time as a physical and controllable  dimension and a lot of other cool stuff is also there in the movie "Interstellar".

More Books

Hey guys! I am writing after a long time because between weekly tests and Olympiads and homework, I really couldn't find time. And I'll be honest- I couldn't think of much to write either, although that is a lame excuse. So I'm gonna write about recent books I've read.
I've recently read a couple of non-fiction books- namely "The power of half" and a little of "Phantoms in the brain".

Power of half is a book about a regular, well off family like your's or mine, which consists of a mom, a dad, a younger brother and an elder sister. So one day the sister, Hannah, sees a homeless man on the road and they have nothing to give him and this has a deep impact on her as at the same time she sees a guy in a Mercedes next to her. The economic differences disturb her. So she decides she wants to do something big. She's always been a person who does a lot of volunteering and social work but she wants to do more. So she discusses it with her family and they decide to sell their house and move into one half the size and use the profits for a good cause. They come across difficulties like selling the house but stick to what they want to do. They decide to fund the construction of 2 centers in Africa with loan offices, small hospital wings etc. each of which would serve the villages around it. Their profits are around 400,000 dollars or around 2.4 crore rupees. The point of it is that you take half of something you have plenty of and devote it to a good cause. The book is not inspiring but impact full. The main story is told by the father and at the end of each chapter there is a small note by Hannah. These notes were very interesting for me to read as she is probably around my age but the level of understanding and passion she has for helping the impoverished is amazing.

Second book- phantoms in the brain is a neurological book and it left me wishing I could do a neurology course without having to study medical sciences as I prefer physics and chem. I left it after 3-4 chapters because it got very technical but it is basically about people who have arms or legs amputated or broken but they have vivid experiences of the limb still being there though it's not hence the term a "phantom limb". The author explains why these limbs are felt and takes us through the thought process by which he arrived at his conclusions. I found it a very interesting topic and want to know more about it.

I also recently read a fictitious book called Half bad. It's about a world with witches(even guys are called witches). Everyone is either determined a white or black witch when they turn 18 and it is inherent. The white witches are trying to stop black ones who are murderers and exploiters. The book is about this guy who's mom was a white and dad was black-probably the most evil black witch ever. Interesting but the sequel- Half Wild will come out in 2015 so I'm waiting.

I am currently also waiting for the movie for Mockingjay- Part 1 to release in India(28th November). I am a huge Hunger Games fan. That's it for now:)
PS: I'll probably write a review of the movie when it comes out.

Psychopaths, Genetics and more...

Hi! As people who know me personally might know, I really love researching and knowing about how and why thing happen.Today I am going to post two questions and there answers which particularly intrigued and interested me. All content credit goes to the internet. This is just a compilation, simplified and in my own words. But it is research as it is from multiple sources and I have collected the information myself. " Copying from one person is called plagiarism, copying from many is called research".

Q1. Can psychopaths be cured?

The problem with psychopaths is that they show no empathy and are highly aggressive and impulsive. Their behavior is highly resistant to any kind of drugs, hypnosis, and electric shock. Brain scans reveal psychopathic abnormalities can show up in the brain even in early childhood. Their behavior includes not having sympathy, seducing people, lack of guilt etc. Punishments can not be used nor social isolation as psychopaths don't react to these things. Psychopaths are 6 times more likely to commit crimes again after being released from prison. These people are put in special institutions where every small sign of positive behavior is rewarded.

 Developed and implemented by staff at the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center(MJTC), the Decompression Model operates without the strict deterrence and punishment commonplace at a normal juvenile facility. The hallmark of the Decompression Model is positive reinforcement. The institutionalized youth are monitored continuously by all staff members for any sign of positive behavior, however small. When spotted, the behavior is reinforced with some sort of reward. The youth are also told that their rewards can scale, meaning the longer they persist with good behavior, the greater the prizes become. What starts out as a pat on the shoulder graduates to a candy bar, which graduates to the right to play video games, and so on and so forth. The youth were being introduced to the simple benefits of social society.So has the Decompression Model worked? In various studies, over 300 subjects who were treated at MJTC were matched with similar subjects not treated at MJTC. Researchers followed both groups over a five-year period, even after they were released.The results were nothing short of staggering.98% of the non-MJTC youth were arrested again within four years, while only 64% of MJTC youth were.Moreover, MJTC youth were 50% less likely to commit a violent crime, and, while non-MJTC youth killed 16 people after their release on an average, MJTC youth didn't commit a single homicide!  If we can identify and treat psychopaths early on, thousands of lives might just be saved. Is this a cure? Maybe, but it is more of just control.

Recently, researchers in Italy found a way to completely rewire a psychopath's brain with either eletrodes implanted in the skull or with something known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, which has something to do with magnets. Point is, they may be close to a cure but the lead researcher made recent headlines claiming that human head transplant was not far off. So is there a cure??? Well not right now but there should be one soon if development  in this field continues as fast as it is going right now.

Q2. Is personality genetic?
Yes, in the sense that many character traits are highly heritable. Some of the best evidence comes from studies of twins, especially comparing those brought up in a similar manner and those not. Among the most highly genetic character traits are leadership, traditionalism and obedience to authority. It may seem weird that liking traditions and obeying superiors can be hereditary but that is what research shows. Other highly heritable traits are how outgoing you are, sense of alienation, stress management and risk-taking. This does not mean that these traits are fixed. A naturally afraid person can overcome fear, a risk taker can learn to hold back and stressed people can learn to relax. But we cannot change ourselves into someone we are not, because at the end of the day we are made up of our genes and DNA. There are no specific genes responsible for personality but somehow genes do effect personality as decades of twin research has shown. It is important to remember that personality is also dependent on the environment. Also, even slight variation in 1 or 2 traits can completely change a person's over all personality. In a study of twins in the US involved 50+ aged twins answering questions about whether they were content with life etc. identical twins almost always had similar answers. This proves that there are connections. So is personality genetic? It is not predetermined but yes, there are hereditary traits and there are characteristics passed on from generation to generation.

I hope these questions and answers will instill curiosity in your mind as they did to me. Next time I shall take 2-3 more interesting questions and research on them and write. The need not be from the BBC magazine. If anyone has any preference on questions please let me know either by commenting on this blog post or by emailing me directly.
Thnx,
Smitz.

Artwork

Hi again! I love doing art. I used to think that everything about art giving expression is meaningless. But it isn't as I found out. Today I am posting pictures of some of my artwork.
The 1st one depicts the seaside- the waves at the bottom, sand in the middle and sky above, done with crayon and pen. The one below is a Miniature Painting done with paint.

The next one is just abstract I guess done with poster colors.

This one is an oil painting on canvas which is of flowers... as is evident:)

This is a drawing of a leaf in which using different densities of dots the dark and light and shadows are shown.

This is a warli painting depicting a typical day in a typical village- there are workers on the fields, woman preparing food etc.

This is also a warli painting but this one shows a happy event with dancing etc.

This one is again abstract with shading done with oil pastels.

This is a drawing of a grass land done with color pencils.

This is an abstract drawing done with oil pastels. I like to call it "Echo of a rainbow".

This one is done by pen and is also abstract in a way i.e., it is not of a real thing.

The last one is done with oil pastels and is also just a design.

I hope you like my works of art. Open to feedback.

Bye,

Smitz.