Volume 03 Issue 05 January 2014

evolution of tecHnology- A cover story

How to : Driving License

aaveg :“as you write it” results

coffee with feeds :

dr. a. k. banerjee

Feeds invites readers to send their works for freelance section.

Visit us at http://feeds.nitt.edu/

Feeds is the o�cial monthly magazine of NIT Trichy. Conceptualized and initiated by the students of 2012 batch, it is completely funded by the institution and is free of cost. Send your feedback and suggestions to feedsnitt@gmail.com

2

Cover Story

<Contents>

</Contents>

How to solve a cryptic crossword

36

Mars Mission

10

Department review 09

How to ...04

Sci-Fi18

Comicstrip:Cranium

Conversation20

Coverstory: Evolution of Technology 23

1

Editorial

We, by the virtue of being humans, have certain needs. These needs obviously need to

be addressed. Right? And when on campus, with the compulsion to fend for ourselves, those needs automatically acquire immense importance. More so are those that have much to do with life in this little hamlet.

That is where the Student Council comes in. This academic year especially, has been quite fruitful so far in terms of upgraded facilities, grievance redressal and implementation of positive transformation. It has been instrumental in making the seldom used transport facility accessible to all of us. The miserable state final years would find themselves in after not getting the elective of their choice is almost no more. Many of the infrastructural needs of the students are being translated into new ventures. But the icing has to be the long heralded overhaul of the mess system. Although it remains to be seen how efficient the new system is, this remarkable change from the usual is highly commendable. While all of these have acquired immense support and guidance from various people in the Admin, the main problem of bridging the gap between students and the admin has been eased by coordinated efforts of the student representatives. Kudos to the Council and request to keep it up.

After all this, one wonders, “Is this the best we can get? Can this system do much more than what is apparent? We know the council is an integral part of the college - but to what extent? What kind of responsibility is attached to each post in the council? Do they have a lot of power? Or do they need to be empowered? Most certainly, a democratically elected body cannot be downplayed by any means, but the question remains how do we really elect our representatives? Same state? Same school? Same language?

We at Feeds think that in this crucial period of developmental change, it is important to stop and ask ourselves some pertinent questions. Have you?

4

3

Nitt News

6

How to

You will get your license in within 30 days (including the

25 days of training here). Keep it safe.

Collect a Registration form from the Driving School O�ce, situated in the Automobile Lab which is beside the EEE auditori-um. Fill it up.

!�nd out your Blood group, in case you don’t remember it.

!For the two wheeler license, you’ve to arrange a two wheeler for yourself

!Do get your chalan copy from the bank without which all your e�orts

would go in vain.

Get the documents ready:

4 passport size photographs

Date of Birth proof [10th or 12th mark sheet/Birth Certi�cate]

Address Proof

Tamil Nadu Resident

YES

NOCopy of a Bona�de Certi�-cate attested by the Hostel Warden, the HOD and the Dean of Students Welfare.

Ration card / Voter ID / Passport /LIC policy

Decide from a choice of 3 schemes

Four wheeler driving license (with training) + two wheeler license

Four wheeler driving license (with training)

Two wheeler driving license only

INR 3000

INR 2500

INR 1000

Submit all the documents and the bank chalan receipt at the driving school o�ce and you would get an LLR. [If you’ve registered for Four wheeler license, you’ll be trained for 25 days]

refer August edition for “How to... Bona�de”

Deposit the fee in favor of “NIT DRIVING SCHOOL” to SBI Account number 10023883304

TIP: Try �aunting your Tamil skills to accelerate the process.

Instructors : A. Suresh 9952891107 & Shankar 9952891108.

How to ... Driving License

7

The 200 tonne beast soars into the sky by unleashing 3 mega newton of thrust. Th e unassuming you, will be subjected to gruesome 3G’s of acceleration putting you at Mach 20 (7km/s) in just 4 minutes. High blood-pressure kicks-in and you make your way to a “red-out” and fi nally all lights fade out; a cardiac-arrest is imminent. No human can survive this condition for more than 30 seconds. Assuming you have super-human capabilities, let’s continue your journey on the ICBM. As you speed through various strata of the atmosphere, at a death-zone of 8km you simply cannot acclimatize the altitude and will die of edema. Considering you as mutant adaptable to hyper-extreme hypoxia the mission continues. If lucky, you might even see the International Space Station on your way up at 370km. Th e missiles hits its max ceiling of 1200km where the temperature reaches 2500K; long aft er oxygen had vanished at 43km above the sea-level. Yeah, you can hold-out your breath long enough and are insulated.Th en on you begin to descend accelerating rapidly along the trajectory. Th e atmospheric re-entry speed is about Mach 25 at around 100km. You can let the hot, dissociated air tingle your skin and bathe yourself in a super-hot plasma of ionized gas at 7800K, simply because your skin is made of ceramic ablative heat-shield. Finally when nearing its target, the payload detonates and sets-in a series of fi ssion-fusion-fi ssion reactions. Th e core temperature is 100 million kelvins which will petrify anything on its path. Th e explosion releases energy equivalent 20 mega ton of TNT and yields 8.4E+16 J of energy by converting just 93gm of mass into energy. If your soul still manages to cling on, you will see an intense fl ash of light, as quick as lightning but a thousand times brighter; bursts of intense heat and X-ray pulse are released. A huge fi re-storm and a fi erce shockwave blast add to the show. At this point in time, your perilous journey comes to a fi nish and fi nally gets rewarded with a huge nuclear mushroom-cloud as your tomb-stone! May the nuclear fall-out be your funeral fl owers!

You seem to notice nothing strange when you look towards the heavens. You get glimpses of the stars, if it were night time accompanied with seemingly mild gust of wind. Th en, you suddenly look all around you. You experience annihilation. All objects around you get fl own into whirls, circling around you as if you were the centre of universe. You feel like on a roller-coaster except the fact that you aren’t actually experiencing the ride! You seem to notice a wall of wind that encircles you and is the wildest of the whole enterprise and keeps intimidating you safety. But is your safety really jeopardized? Or will the laws of physics ensure your well being?

What If…? You are tethered to an ICBM

At the eye of a hurricane

Tech

-Satish, Abhinash

8

7

Feature

- Priyadharshini R

8

Feature

NightmareNo, a nightmare is not a dream about a scary horse. Mare is simply an Old English term for a demon. So a nightmare is a demon that visits you at night--a scary dream. A mare was a demon, known as an incubus (male) or succubus (female) that descended on a sleeper, paralyzing aand suffocating them, and had sexual relations with the sleeper. Over the centuries the meaning has become generalized to any frightening dream. Another term for the original phenomenom, still used today, is night hag.

Etymology

BlockbusterThe earliest use of blockbuster was during World War II, meaning a large aerial bomb. It was formed from the words for a city block and bust, a verb meaning “to break.” A blockbuster was a bomb large enough to destroy

a city block. The second sense means anything, especially a movie, play, or book, that is large, important, or popular. The term appears to have arisen shortly after the war, and was probably a play on the concept of the large bomb.The third sense is from real estate. A blockbuster is a real estate agent who sells a house in an all-

white neighborhood to a minority, especially black, family. Once the city block is busted, the other houses on the block are likely to come on the market at a depressed price and end up being sold to other minority families.

CockpitThe original sense of this term was a pit

for fighting cocks. The nautical sense arose about 1700. It was not an open area, but rather

a compartment below decks. Normally, it would be the sleeping quarters for junior officers, but in battle would be the hospital. This sense appears unrelated

to the theatrical sense, and may have been chosen because junior officers lorded over the sailors like

roosters or because of a physical resemblance to the space where chickens were kept. The nautical sense transferred to airplanes around 1914 and to cars in

the mid-1930s.

PandemoniumThe term was coined by Milton in Paradise Lost. Pandemonium was

originally hell. Literally, it means the “place of all demons.” By a century

later (c. 1779) the term was in use as a reference to place that was like hell.

And a century after that, it had come to mean a wild and lawless place--a rather

natural progression.

QuizThe story goes that in 1791 a Dublin theater owner named James Daly made a bet that he could introduce a word into the language within twenty-four hours. He then went out and hired a bunch of street urchins to write the word quiz, which was a nonsense word, on walls around the city of Dublin. Within a day, the word was common currency and had acquired a meaning--since no one knew what it meant, everyone thought it was some sort of test--and Daly had some extra cash in his pocket. It’s a fun story. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no evidence to support it and the term was in use prior to the alleged bet in 1791.

- Sibi R

e xs o

Cbangtq

Engineering, in a nutshell, revolves around two things: keeping oneself updated on the current frontiers of research, and applying this research

to help industry and society. Th e Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering strives to do just that. You can learn only so much from textbooks; there is a wealth of information to be gained by listening to experts from industries and universities. Keeping that in mind, the department has been inviting experienced professionals to deliver lectures to the students on their fi eld of expertise. Notable ones include talks on Metallography, research and development areas in the steel industry, and growth and opportunities in the Indian steel industry. Th e department is also making consistent eff orts to bring experts in course-related areas from the industry, such as the one held on the Testing and Selection of Metals. Th e department also held programmes on composite materials and stainless steel making, during which students got to listen to speakers from DRDL and IIT-Madras. Th e department has active interaction with the Trichy chapter of the Indian Institute of Metals and the Indian Welding Society. Most recently, faculty, students and research scholars trained high school students for the Prof. Brahm Prakash Quiz on materials. Th e student-industry interaction is indeed exemplary; the research facilities are commendable too. Th e equipment in the laboratories is being upgraded, with generous support from the administration. New equipment have been procured too: a friction-stir welding machine, a high temperature vacuum induction welding furnace and an X-Ray Diff ractometer being prominent buys. Th e department also gets sophisticated equipment through research projects funded by various agencies such as the NRB, DRDO, DST, DAE, etc. SYSWELD, the soft ware for the mathematical modeling of welding processes, has been bought, and in 2014, the department is looking to purchase soft ware related to thermodynamic modeling, phase diagram calculations, and phase predictions.

Metallurgy and Materials Engineering

With such incredible laboratory facilities, it is only obvious that the faculty research be exceptional. In fact, Dr.K.Sivaprasad has been awarded the Prof.T.Anantharaman fellowship, through which he gets to spend a semester abroad, in the University of North Texas, USA. Th e department has the privilege of having Dr.S.Suresh (retired GM of WRI-BHEL) and Dr. G.Rajasingh Th angadurai (from DRDL, Hyd.) as visiting professors for the year 2013-14. However, the department had to bid a teary goodbye to Dr.V. Sivan, whose contract was relieved in Dec.2013. Dr.K.S.Pandey, who has had a very long innings with this department, will be retiring this year. Th e department will have to cope up in the near future without these two senior faculty members. In the recent years, the department has performed industry-oriented research for Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Tata Steel and Vizag Steel, among others. Th e largest industry-oriented sponsored research project within NITT is right now being handled by the department with inputs from the Department of Mines and NLC. Th e department believes in encouraging students to live up to their fullest potential-this is highly apparent with the number of students going abroad on summer internships on MITACS and DAAD scholarships, as well as those being awarded prestigious industrial summer internships in companies like TATA Steel, Schlumberger, and P&G. Students have also produced research papers and have gone on to present them in international conferences. Th e student-run Metallurgy and Materials Association conducts Mettle, the department’s annual national technical symposium. Mettle has a host of events, the most popular one being FabSteel, an online simulation of steel making. Workshops, paper presentations and quizzes also draw participation. It is through these means: department-industry interfacing, encouraging research and conducting events and guest lectures, that the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering produces engineers well equipped to face the challenges of the metals and materials world.

- Vrindaa Somjit9

Department Reviewo

C

11

Tech

- Abhinash, Arvind

12

Interview

How did NIT Trichy happen for you?I completed my B.Sc and M.Sc in Maths from Ranchi University in 1970 with 1st class distinction and finished my PhD from IIT Bombay in 1977.After that I applied to REC Trichy and got the post of a lecturer in 1978 in the Mathematics department.

Tell us something about REC through your eyes when you joined in those days?REC managed by the then Principal Prof Manisundaram was very well maintained. The campus was neat and clean with well-developed roads; I daresay better than what they are now. Even though the boundaries were absent but there weren’t stray cows roaming around the campus. Things used to be cheaper in those days. A decent breakfast cost only Rs 1.25. Moreover our college was not autonomous and came under the Madras University and students were competing against every other college student under the university.

Please tell us something about the recent accolades that you received?I received the Rashtriya Gaurav Award and the Glory of India Gold Medal from the former Governors of Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Sikkim at a “Seminar on Economic Growth and National Integration” held at New Delhi on 23rd December 2013. The former was given for meritorious services, outstanding performance and remarkable role and the latter for individual excellence and outstanding contribution for the progress of the nation.

Tell us about your journey at NITT?I joined REC as a lecturer in 1978 and was promoted to Asst. Professorship in 1980. In 1996 I was made Professor and Head of Department for Mathematics and Computer Applications. I had a tenure of 8 years there and since then I have remained Professor with a couple of spells as the Registrar of this college and I was HOD of Computer Science and Engineering Department for 1 year. I was also offered the post of Director Officiating but due to my commitments as Registrar I was unable to take it up.

Coffee With Feeds

Dr. A. K. Banerjee is the seniormost professor in our college for the past 36 years. As a part of the Department of Mathematics, he has published many papers in international journals and is a member of the International Journal of Science and Technology. He recent-ly received the Rashtriya Gaurav Award and the Glory of India Gold Medal.

With Dr. A. K. Banerjee

13

Seems like you have had a reasonably busy period. What changes have you seen in the Mathematics Department?During my period as the HOD, MCA Entrance Examination for RECT was conducted for the first time throughout India and it was named as the NIMCET. Apart from that there has been gradual but definite improvement in Mathematics that has been taught to the students over the period of years. I still feel Pure Mathematics needs to be taught more to the students at the UG as well as PG level and this has happened with an additional unit in the UG course for Pure Mathematics.

How are the students now different from say a few years back?Those days the students were engaged only in studies and now because of the enormous facilities of co-curricular activities in the campus, the students are unable to concentrate on the studies only. But at the same time there is no doubt that the students here have been the best in any NIT, even at par with the new IIT’s and our students also shine other fields as well.

You are responsible for the Saraswati Puja in college for a long time now. Does it give you a feel of being back home with this festival?I have been helping the students do this Puja for over 19 years now. Back then we had to bring food from the outside but look at the dedication of the students now, they bring the idols on their own from outside Tamil Nadu, cook the prasad themselves by staying up all night and even do the puja on their own. I just help them where I can and you can look at the success of the event as people from BHEL, OFT and Trichy town come to be a part of this festive activities and the students’ hard work only makes me proud.

How does Dr. AK Banerjee spend his average day at home?Going back home I am still one of those who still seek the comfort of watching TV with family and at other times read Mathematics and other science journals to be at pace with the goings on around the world.

We are hearing that this might be your last year in NIT Trichy. What now sir?This is actually my last semester in this college, I am retiring at the end of this even semester. I got married here in Trichy in 1980 and for the past 35+ years this has been like my home for me and my wife. My son is based in Bangalore so it is probably time to move ahead and start a new chapter of my life there.

What are you going to miss most about NIT Trichy?I love my job as the professor as I love teaching. So definitely I will miss the chance to interact with the students. I have been in Trichy for about 36 years. This campus and city has been an important and unforgettable part of my life. Every inch of this campus and life here would be missed.

What is your message for the students?Whenever I hear about my former students doing well in life and achieve success I feel proud and happy. My message for the students would be to work hard and shine in life; as a teacher there is no better feeling than seeing my students succeed.

Interviewed By: Shubham, Shubhadeep and Sai Priyanka

“As a teacher there is no

better feeling than seeing my students

succeed.”

14

Sports

So how do the new managers fare at the mid-point?0 Feeds analyses 4 new managers who took over at the start of the year and the predictions regarding the performance of their teams.

Jose Mourinho�e ‘special one’ made a comeback to English football and Chelsea this summer rebranding himself as the ‘happy one’. Success with Inter Milan and Real Madrid seems to have changed Mourinho in a few ways both on and o� the pitch except for his notorious �amboyance in front of the media. Coming to his performances, Chelsea sit just a couple of points away from the top and are beginning to show the kind of form remindful of the old Mourinho days. However, this Premier League season hasn’t been a cakewalk by any means, with Chelsea encountering unexpected defeats. Still, Jose has been passionate and tactically brilliant in big-games masterminding narrow wins as well as boring drawsFeeds Grade: APrediction for Mourinho and Chelsea: A tight season ending as runners up.

David MoyesTaking over Sir Alex’s legacy was never going to be easy for Moyes, but fans would have expected a better showing in terms of league position and big-game mentality. A terrible start to the season owing to a tough �xture list was followed by �ashes of promising performances. �e problem has been intensi�ed by rumblings of discontent among the United supporters who have questioned David’s lacklustre management (in contrast to Fergie’s ruthless style) and his transfer strategy. �e only positives thus far have been satisfactory Champions League performances and emergence of young players like Adnan Januzaj. Still, if David Moyes uses the transfer window e�ectively to supplement his team, this season can be termed as ‘a season in transition’.Feeds Grade: CPrediction: Manchester United ending up in the Europa league.

Manuel PellegriniInheriting a team like Manchester City comes with the advantage of seemingly unlimited funds to reinforce the squad but at the same time getting results worthy of the money spent. Manchester City �nished well o� the top spot and exited in the group stages of Champions League. Pellegrini oversaw the departure of Carlos Tevez and added Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo to bolster his attacking options and the plethora of attacking options has seen City score more than 100 goals,just half way through this season including a demolition of Tottenham, Norwich and Arsenal which saw them scoring 6 goals each. Even in the Champions League they upset Bayern Munich and are in the League Cup �nals. Feeds Grade: APrediction: Competing on four fronts, they would be odds on favourite to win at least 1

Roberto MartinezEverton’s outgoing manager was going for bigger things and stepped in ex-Wigan manager Roberto Martinez. He managed to bring in Romelu Lukaku and Gareth Barry but most importantly managed to hold on to Leigh-ton Baines and bring Ross Barkley into the limelight. At the halfway point you can imagine Everton fans gloat-ing as the team lies clear of David Moyes managed Manchester United and in contention for Champions League football.Feeds Grade: BPrediction: Tight �ght for the 4th spot but might end up in Europe a�er all

MID SEASON REPORT CARD – NEW EPL MANAGERS-Shubhadeep Roy- Shubhadeep Roy, Salil

nittrayannittrayan It was decided earlier in a senate meeting that the college would go ahead with the plans of launching a satellite designed by the students themselves. �is decision comes as a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations in order to give the college a really 'high' status. People are bustling with enthusiasm at this plan which became the headlines on several esteemed newspapers and gave way to numerous Facebook pages and tweets.

NITTrayan, as it is calleda, is going to be launched by the end of 2014, under the esteemed guidance of our beloved Director and his old colleague Dr. A. P. J Abdul Kalam. �e pico-satellite, which will be used to monitor nuclear radiations around the globe, is estimated to weigh 0.77kg and measure 10cm x 11cm x 10cm in volume. �e launch is likely to coincide with that of INRSS-1B. Equipped with a payload to monitor the radiation and powered by solar cells, NITTrayan will be inclined at 43.4 degrees, at an altitude of 160km and is designed to complete an orbit in 81 minutes. In particular, the satellite will relay speci�c radiation details of regions around 10.7630° N, 78.8180° E. Equipped with advanced and ‘never seen before’ features, the satellite will relay “NITT, the Pride of India” every time it passes by these coordinates. �e mission is likely to last for a period of three years.

�is mission is another feather in the college's cap and will almost certainly escalate the standards of our college to meet the global requirements. Dr. Kalam is more than proud of what the students of the college are doing and is willing to go out of his way to make NITTrayan a success. On hearing the news of the satellite, the National Board of Accreditation along with the Washington Accord, has guaranteed us certain accreditation on grounds of excellent scienti�c advancement. Citing this as a milestone in the growth of academic institutions, the board has agreed to give NIT-Trichy lifelong accreditation and help in changing admission systems to bring in more of these amazing minds.

As a result of this technological advancement, sources say that the administration is going to build extensive research labs for more such projects which will be given really obscure names. A NITTrayan development team student Nithish(name changed) said that it was a proud day for their team and the college to receive recognition. �ey have pledged to come with more cutting edge research to help sustain the institute's stature as the pride of India.

Disclaimer: Don’t believe fake news. If someone says fake news isn’t fake, don’t believe him either!

NITTrayan model rendered by Stealth Shiva

15

Fake News

18

Cover Story

01

Cover Story

16

Photography

- Pied Bushchat

Image Courtesy : Pradeep Kumar V B

Captured at Kothagiri, Pied bushchat striking a magnificent pose.

17

Photography

- Saw Scaled Viper

- Hoopoe (Nitt) - Bonnet Macaque

- Indian Blackbird

Sci-� is a narrative of an imaginary invention or discovery in the sciences. An extra-terrestrial/out-of-the-world (or anything suitable) take on all things ordinary. No �u�y unicorns and magic wands anywhere. Sci-�; for some people the term enthralls; for others, it remains scienti�c gobbledegook. For the untrained human mind however it is just another shady genre. All said and done, our lives are inexplicably exposed to sci-� in some way or another, from the Star wars to the Astras in the Mahabharata or any other �lm set in an alternate universe with creepy machinery leaking all kinds of weird gases to �e Big Bang �eory . All the hidden sci-� references around us only reveal themselves to those whose senses have been heightened through hours of watching and reading sci-�. Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke’s novels are de�nitely a gripping read, deceptively simple story-wise, yet overwhelmingly detailed.

What makes sci-� so special you ask? In the words of Arthur C. Clarke, “Any su�ciently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” 

Sci-� is all about predicting the possible and the impossible (mostly impossible anyway) within scienti�c laws (though some elements in a story might still be pure imaginative speculation). Sci-� is extrapolated science. All you need to do is to let your mind roam through an overload of detail and take in the unknown possibilities that lie just out of your reach.

1. Star Trek�e quintessential sci-� show that “boldly goes where no other TV show has gone

before”. Led by the dynamic James T.Kirk, the crew of the Starship Enterprise explores the outer reaches of the galaxy and defends the united planets federation.

Want to delve into sci-�? Here are some things you should add to your checklist:

2. Doctor Who�e series that revolves around a hero who saves humanity but does not

belong to it. �e show probably might be somewhat of a relic, yet it does not disappoint its viewers. �e excitement for viewers is

sometimes a bit too much. Yet it leaves them craving for more.

3.�e Foundation Series

Possibly Isaac Asimov’s greatest work, �e Foundation Series (initially �e Foundation trilogy) brings to attention psychohistory, a new �eld of science and psychology that allows for the prediction of future events. What follows is an extremely convoluted and mind-boggling series of events. �is book is de�nitely not for light reading.

4.Dune

Only once in a blue moon does an imaginative piece of work like Dune come along. In the words of Arthur C. Clarke himself, “Unique amongst science �ction novels … I know nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings.”

5.H2G2

From the deepest corners of Squornshellous Zorn, to the planet we call Earth in the sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, this is a truly fantastic journey across the universe. With a new twist at every page, each line is sure to tickle your funny bone. A must read for every sci-� neophyte.

6.�e Andromeda Strain

De�nitely a page turner, this book leaves you shocked and makes you want to seek the unknown. It thrusts upon you that �ction and reality are not so di�erent. De�nitely cements Michael Crichton’s place as a chronicler of reality.

7.20000 Leagues under the seas

De�nitely one classic that is perfect for a newbie (unlike English classics that are Greek and Latin to us). Peruse through this and you’ll �nd that Verne had predicted many of the things that we �nd commonplace today, that too in 1870 when horse-drawn carriages were in their heyday.

8.Blade Runner

�ought to be visionary and ahead of its times, Blade Runner goes beyond pure fancy devices and weapons delving into moral inquisition into one’s humanity and has le� an in�uence on every other sci-� �lm to follow in the future, acquiring cult status.

9.2001: A space odyssey

A medley of amazing sci-� and eccentricity come together in the form of Arthur C.Clarke and Stanley Kubrick. It gives a distorted but highly creative view of human evolution, technology, and alien life.

10.War of the worlds

Masterpiece by H.G.Wells. Set on earth, the human civilization is attacked by aliens who think that humans might be a pushover. �e forces of the Earth, however, prove harder to beat thus forming the basis for the story.

18

Creative

Sci-� is a narrative of an imaginary invention or discovery in the sciences. An extra-terrestrial/out-of-the-world (or anything suitable) take on all things ordinary. No �u�y unicorns and magic wands anywhere. Sci-�; for some people the term enthralls; for others, it remains scienti�c gobbledegook. For the untrained human mind however it is just another shady genre. All said and done, our lives are inexplicably exposed to sci-� in some way or another, from the Star wars to the Astras in the Mahabharata or any other �lm set in an alternate universe with creepy machinery leaking all kinds of weird gases to �e Big Bang �eory . All the hidden sci-� references around us only reveal themselves to those whose senses have been heightened through hours of watching and reading sci-�. Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke’s novels are de�nitely a gripping read, deceptively simple story-wise, yet overwhelmingly detailed.

What makes sci-� so special you ask? In the words of Arthur C. Clarke, “Any su�ciently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” 

Sci-� is all about predicting the possible and the impossible (mostly impossible anyway) within scienti�c laws (though some elements in a story might still be pure imaginative speculation). Sci-� is extrapolated science. All you need to do is to let your mind roam through an overload of detail and take in the unknown possibilities that lie just out of your reach.

1. Star Trek�e quintessential sci-� show that “boldly goes where no other TV show has gone

before”. Led by the dynamic James T.Kirk, the crew of the Starship Enterprise explores the outer reaches of the galaxy and defends the united planets federation.

Want to delve into sci-�? Here are some things you should add to your checklist:

2. Doctor Who�e series that revolves around a hero who saves humanity but does not

belong to it. �e show probably might be somewhat of a relic, yet it does not disappoint its viewers. �e excitement for viewers is

sometimes a bit too much. Yet it leaves them craving for more.

3.�e Foundation Series

Possibly Isaac Asimov’s greatest work, �e Foundation Series (initially �e Foundation trilogy) brings to attention psychohistory, a new �eld of science and psychology that allows for the prediction of future events. What follows is an extremely convoluted and mind-boggling series of events. �is book is de�nitely not for light reading.

4.Dune

Only once in a blue moon does an imaginative piece of work like Dune come along. In the words of Arthur C. Clarke himself, “Unique amongst science �ction novels … I know nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings.”

5.H2G2

From the deepest corners of Squornshellous Zorn, to the planet we call Earth in the sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, this is a truly fantastic journey across the universe. With a new twist at every page, each line is sure to tickle your funny bone. A must read for every sci-� neophyte.

6.�e Andromeda Strain

De�nitely a page turner, this book leaves you shocked and makes you want to seek the unknown. It thrusts upon you that �ction and reality are not so di�erent. De�nitely cements Michael Crichton’s place as a chronicler of reality.

7.20000 Leagues under the seas

De�nitely one classic that is perfect for a newbie (unlike English classics that are Greek and Latin to us). Peruse through this and you’ll �nd that Verne had predicted many of the things that we �nd commonplace today, that too in 1870 when horse-drawn carriages were in their heyday.

8.Blade Runner

�ought to be visionary and ahead of its times, Blade Runner goes beyond pure fancy devices and weapons delving into moral inquisition into one’s humanity and has le� an in�uence on every other sci-� �lm to follow in the future, acquiring cult status.

9.2001: A space odyssey

A medley of amazing sci-� and eccentricity come together in the form of Arthur C.Clarke and Stanley Kubrick. It gives a distorted but highly creative view of human evolution, technology, and alien life.

10.War of the worlds

Masterpiece by H.G.Wells. Set on earth, the human civilization is attacked by aliens who think that humans might be a pushover. �e forces of the Earth, however, prove harder to beat thus forming the basis for the story.

- Subramanium

Must… Wake… Up… Test today…

Such a beauti-ful morning! Birds

are chirping, flowers blooming-I almost

feel poetic! Oh shoot It’s

7! Already!

Sorry to burst

your bubble Wordsworth, but you have a test today.

Want some help?

But..

no!

Statistical

Thermodynamics

Stat

istica

l Th

erm

odyn

amics

Statistical

Thermodynamics

Stat

istica

l Th

erm

odyn

amics

Please, save yourself the

trouble.

You’ll thank me for this. Cortisol helps manage stress, I’ve read.

The brain stimulates the adrenal glands to secrete cortisol.

??

? Stop thinking

so much! It hurts!

I’m trying, okay?!

Uh-oh.

YOU told me that

you’d function better with sleep! YOU told me that you would

remember every-thing!

Yes…except

you didn’t really read anything for me to remem-

ber.

Ugh. Just. Chuck.

No no. Sleep is

good. I function better when you sleep more. You’ll remem-ber everything

during the test.

CrAniumConversations

- vrindaa Somjit & jishnu .h.nair

At 4 am Brain secretes melatonin. which makesus sleep more.

At the exam hall…

Hey look who’s

coming our way! Whatever you do, do NOT lift your arms-you

forgot to take bath-

There, there. If it makes you

feel any better, I remember that

answer now. It’s-Too late...

Do I even know you?

Hi Sheila!

WHY am I so

lame? No, do not answer

that!

Don’t bother.

Later during the day-

May

I remind you, the ball is falling down

at a speed of around 144 kmph. If it hits your head, you will be a picture of

cracked cranium and a lot of blood.Okay Rahul,

this is an easy catch…

WHAT?!

I’m going to sleep early. Tomorrow is a

new day.

Let’s review how today went, shall

we?

Do I even know you?

Hi Sheila!

YOU told me that you’d function better with sleep! YOU told me that you would

remember everything!

Why God why?

The brain: trolling mankind since 200,000 BC.

During break…

At 11 pm… At 4 am…

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Creative

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Evolution Of TechnologyA Cover Story

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Cover Story

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Cover Story

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Cover Story

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Cover Story

Source : Internet

� e young girl had her eyes tightly shut. Just because she couldn’t see what was going on, didn’t mean she couldn’t hear it. She could hear it all, her mother’s sobs for mercy, her father’s futile attempts to overpower his attacker. � e clatter of something hard hitting the � oor. � e screams were getting

louder and louder, and just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. She opened her eyes slowly, knowing that it was her turn now. � e girl looked at her parents’ murderer as she walked to stand in front of her. � e killer did not look much older than her. But her eyes were dead and her mouth was twisted into a smirk.“Let’s play a game, darling. I’ll count to twenty. You can run, hide, anything. A� er that I’m coming a� er you. If I � nd you, I’ll kill you .If not, well, don’t count on it.”� e girl started running. She did not know where to go, but it didn’t matter. All she knew was that she wanted to survive. So she ran out into the cold night and hid in a dumpster. She knew that the police would be of no help. � ey generally turned a blind eye to the happenings in her locality-street trash they’d called her people. And that de� ned the next period of her existence. Survival . She never stayed in one place for too long. Sometimes for a month. Sometimes a week. Making friends seemed utterly pointless. Her parents’ ‘friends’ had refused to help her in any way. � e � rst time she had stolen some money for food, she’d felt too guilty to eat. She knew it was only a matter of time before she’d die. Surely she deserved to live a little � rst. She soon began to lie, steal, and manipulate regularly. Since she’d taken to sleeping in the streets she always carried a small knife with her for self defense. � e few times she’d had to use it, she’d been disgusted. But if she had to choose between herself and lecherous strangers, there really was no contest. � at was just the beginning. Years later, we � nd our heroine in considerably di� erent circumstances. � ings have changed since we last le� her cold and bewildered on the dingy streets. She has buried all the skeletons of her past and no longer looks behind in fear. She walks into the house knowing that the couple who live there really have no chance. She shoots them both cleanly before they can even reach for the telephone. She almost does not notice the child hiding under the table. Almost.“Come out, little one. We’re going to play one of my favorite games.”

Vic

tim- Sharanya

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Creative

Source : Internet

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Opinion

- Sai Priyanka, Shruthi M

Aaveg Results

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Aaveg Results

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Creative

- Vyjayanthi

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Feature

- Vignesh R

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Freelance

Th e lamp lit with a fl icker. Perched 2 metres high on an iron post , it commanded a relatively good view of the neighbourhood. It shone out with purpose, chasing away the shadows, trying in its own small way to help people. Th ree summers had passed by since it had taken guard in this corner of the street. In the beginning it had not been alone. Five other lamp posts had shared it’s nights. Th eir lights overlapping, much had been shared underneath the starry nights. A year had gone smoothly before trouble arose. Two of the lamps failed to light up. Another two went kaput when the municipal dug up their wiring. Th e last one had been the brightest of the lot. Perhaps that is why those boys took a fancy to it. A bet was made, a pebble fl ew, a bulb was shattered and the boy pocketed his winnings. Now the lamp stood alone. At times, shining with all its might, it had tried to reach the other lamp posts that it could see a little further away. It’s rays could never reach that far. Th ree summers had taught it a lot and there was so much it wanted to share. It had shared in a lover’s anguish, those star crossed lovers who by a cruel twist of fate always seem to be born in unrelenting families. It had been in this bench, fi xed right below the lamp that two lovers had laid bare their fears, of the opaque future so subjective to the whims of a childlike present. Th e lamp oft en wondered what had happened to the couple. Did they get married and have a child?.. if so then it hoped that it was a girl. Th e lamp too had a friend who was a girl. Oft en on Sunday mornings when families came out for picnics, a girl would be seen sitting on the bench. Book in hand, she explored many lands, delved into the deep sea, fought monsters and courted gods. Th e lamp hitched a ride on each of these adventures. It lamented at the prospect of staying at a single place for life. Th e lamp wanted to feel the overwhelming presence of the ocean, fl oat in the empty expanse of space, do all things which it had briefl y experienced between those pages. But more than anything it wanted to share. During those mornings with the girl, it had learnt something new. Something that people have only when they have nothing . Bereft of company and dying to share, the lamp now hoped. It hoped that it would overlap its lights one last time with that of another lamp and share what it had learnt. Straining hard it tried to reach the nearest lamp. Its bulb glew dangerously, alternating between bright and dull. Almost there. And then blackness.

Cheers ring the night sky. Th e streets are alight and the city looks brand new. Th e mayor has revamped all the public utilities. It is a new year. A convenient support to hang mental curtains on and shut out the past. Also a shot at a second chance. And nowhere is this message more emphasised than in a quaint corner of a street in a park where a lamp shines bright, it’s light overlapping with that of other lamps.

- Mike Mikza Kina

A SHORT TALE

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Creative

A N O T H E RDAY

I was woken up this morning a�er a �tful night by the barking guard. �e start of another day. I li�ed myself out of the tangle of limbs on the barrack. I relieved myself into the over�owing bucket; I’ve learnt not to look down while doing so. I stepped outside with the other prisoners for the �rst torture of the day, roll call. Seeing the bodies of the people who had passed away during the night, dumped unceremoniously on the ground, reminded me of the fateful day when I was split from my family. I have always wished that I too was taken along with them when they were brought to their demise in the gas chamber. I would have preferred to die there rather than dying here, little by little every day. It was freezing today; my thin, worn attire did nothing to shield me from the icy wind. I shivered terribly, sure to catch a cold soon. A lot of the others were already on their deathbeds from exposure to the cold and lack of immunity. �is is an ironic way to pass, from the common cold, as opposed to the torture in�icted upon us day a�er day. A�er roll call, we queued up for breakfast with our tins in hand. �is was another excuse for the guard to torment us. Today the guard serving, seemed in an even worse mood, when I came to the front I kept my head bent. I felt a push and stumbled into the mud, my bread landed a few feet in front of my eyes. I scrambled up, picked up my food, and cleaned it best as I could with the hem of my shirt. I shoveled about a third of the bread into my mouth, trying to save the rest for later. But the ache of hunger in my stomach increased further on having tasted a morsel of food and I �nished half of the day’s meal in one go. I knew I needed to save some for later, so with extreme self-control, I wrapped up the rest in a piece of cloth carefully and tucked it into my shirt. Today I was on the duty of tunnel digging. Just my luck, no tool for me today. I had to use my bare hands again, which ensured getting beaten. A�er the long and hard day, with numerous whiplashes on my back, I returned to the camp with the rest of my troop. It was time for the evening roll call and hanging. �ose who had done wrong today, had fainted during their duty, or had just come under the guard’s radar, their end was near. I am certain they were relieved at �nally leaving this place. As customary, we were taken right up close to the hanging bodies as a warning. Looking at the faces up close with no sign of life, I was numb. I suddenly seemed to have lost all sense of feeling. A�er a dinner of very suspicious tasting “soup”, I bore all the thrashing and humiliation by the guards during their nightly routine of “fun”. When �nally permitted, I crawled into my barrack with the three other people, to dream about reuniting with my family, at the end of another day at the concentration camp.

-Priyanka Garg

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