“All knowledge depends on the recognition of patterns and anomalies.” - TOK (Theory of Knowledge)

In the study of TOK in DP-1 (11th grade), I have learnt about the ways of knowing, and two of the areas of knowledge - natural sciences and human sciences. Of all the discussions and explorations done into these areas of knowledge, there can be patterns observed in the methods of experimentation, data collection, data analysis and also assumptions being made when generalizing situations. In some of the above points, human sciences is similar to natural sciences, while in the others, the ideologies and working is different.

Natural sciences and human sciences for instance both use experiments as a form of data collection but the methods and outputs are different. Natural scientists have lesser moral values to take care of compared to human scientists such as psychologists. Psychologists are directly dealing with humans and hence need to take more ethical implications into consideration. Secondly, human scientists conduct experiments on a large set of people - not limited to one race or gender unless it is required. Natural scientists do not require survey type data. Here, a single scientist conducts the experiments.

Both the types of experiments are empirical based though, direct experimentation is more in natural sciences while human sciences are more observation based. But experiments in human sciences have more unpredictable results due to what is known as the Hawthorne effect. This effect explains that when a particular group comes to know that they are under observation for a experiment or an analysis, they tend to be more productive. These cause errors in results of human science experiments especially the ones of psychology.

Even economics - another human science is quite unpredictable except for the common generalizations being done on previous observations of economic conditions in the history. The basic economic laws tend to take a lot of assumptions into consideration and also a lot of economic knowledge is hidden. Eg. the wood that is cut down by industries and processed is considered into the aggregate supply of the country but what a tribe cuts down and uses for themselves is not considered into the aggregate supply. So at any point of time, the economy of a country is underestimated along with another concept of unemployment.

These mark the differences between human sciences and natural sciences - especially in the methodology and the making generalizations. But, in both types of sciences, making of generalizations is common. These generalizations lead to formation of patterns in that particular subject. In natural sciences, these patterns are usually represented by mathematical equations while in human sciences, these patterns may be represented either in a statement form or mathematical form. An example in natural science is ‘V=IR’ which is the Ohm’s law. It is written in mathematical form whereas generalizations in human sciences include the ‘Law of demand’ of economics which states that ‘As the price of a good or service increases, its demand decreases’.

In more determinable subjects such as natural sciences, making a generalization has lesser chances of making an error because every generalization made has a particular set of factors affecting it. If these factors are all included, the possibility of an anomaly is much lesser due to negligible existence of errors. This is not the case with human sciences such as psychology. In these subjects, there is a big problem while observing patterns and making generalizations which is the confirmation bias. When identifying a pattern, most of the time, there is existence of previous knowledge. He starts making mindsets on how the result will be. His work will tend to sway towards what he believes will be the result of his survey / experiment / other means of data collection.

These confirmation biases are very influential towards the generalizations and often lead to the formation of an anomaly. Anomalies are those which cause a gap or a deviation from the generalization. These often lead to wrong theories further in the future but many times are also corrected by experiments. Thomas Kuhn who was a physicist and a philosopher had put forward a paradigm (model) which showed the formation and removal of anomalies. This is now known as the Kuhn’s paradigm. This paradigm explains to us that when a paradigm is operating, gradually anomalies might be observed. When many anomalies are observed, the paradigm is no more fit and is discarded. When this happens, many new competing theories arise of which one is chosen to succeed the previous one. This is now the new paradigm. Between the two paradigms, there is no paradigm operating.

This paradigm repeats itself more frequently in human sciences than in natural sciences due to the fact that human scientists always face situations such that there might be many exceptions. Another reason is that as the name suggests, human scientists study humans; human’s mindset changes over the years. For example there was a generalization made through observation that girls like pink while that is not the matter of fact although this stereotype continues to be used. An example of the Kuhn’s paradigm in natural science had happened in the history of physics. Sir Isaac Newton had deduced the speed of sound through his experiments to be around 280m/s. Through a long period of 125 years, there were anomalies coming up and then Laplace did further experiments to determine a close value of speed of sound to what it is today - about 330m/s. During the period between their experiments, there was no value actually accepted.

Human sciences especially psychology and economics have several anomalies in the patterns observed through large-scale experiments. Patterns in human sciences are true only up to some extent due to the reason that these type of sciences are very prone to change in situations on immediate basis. For example, in economics, quality is very important when buying a good or a service. Low quality objects are demanded less while high quality objects are demanded more. Along with high quality, there is also a high price. Hence, the law of demand suggests that there should be less demand at this price. But this rises to an anomaly and hence a new theory called “Veblen goods” where the demand rises along with the price.

Thomas Kuhn who was a physicist and philosopher and who also proposed the aforementioned paradigm shift also says that “Discovery commences with the awareness of anomaly, i.e., with the recognition that nature has somehow violated the paradigm-induced expectations that govern normal science” (Kuhn 52)  in the book The structure of Scientific Revolutions. This simply shows us that an anomaly is the key to the next discovery. Unless uncertainties or problems do not rise, people do not think the need for discovering new things.

Another important thing to be noted is that all knowledge that exists is either subjective, objective or a mixture of both. But areas of knowledge that are more objective such as natural sciences rather than human sciences show more need for anomalies. This is because subjective areas of knowledge would have lesser chances of establishing a pattern (due to a very variable data) and hence anomalies cannot be recognized easily for further research. This is the case with psychology which is a human science. Here, anomalies are not the ones which usually drive the future research but the scientists own initiation.

A last thing where anomalies are not very important to establish knowledge is when the anomalies also form a pattern i.e. when anomalies are formed in such a way that there could a scientific explanation to it, it becomes an exception to the general pattern. However, when scientific explanation could not be provided to it for a long period of time, scientific revolutions take place to form a new theory. An example in chemistry is that Copper is supposed to have an electronic configuration [Ar]3d94s2 while its actual configuration turns out to be [Ar]3d104s1 due to the tendency of a complete orbital.

Hence, after looking into both perspectives - the importance of anomalies and patterns and the non-importance of anomalies while determining some types of knowledge, going back to the initial question, I would say that patterns and anomalies do have big roles in determining knowledge but not completely. Establishing knowledge also requires scientist’s will and the need for discovery.

Polymers - PET

In our daily life, we use plastics almost everywhere, in bottles, bags, toys, gadgets etc. We use terms such as polythene, polyvinyl chloride etc. What exactly are these? These are type of plastics – which everyone knows. But what are plastics made of? Plastics is a sub-category of polymers and a lot of materials fall under the category of plastics.

Polymers are substances containing a molecule repeated again and again by the same type of bondage. Poly is the prefix used when writing a polymer’s name. The actual substance is everything following the prefix poly. For example, the substance repeated in polythene is ethene (C₂H₄). Polymers exist in natural and man-made forms. Starch, cellulose are natural polymers while polythene etc. are man-made.

Polymers are formed by the process of polymerization of singular molecules. For example, when ‘n’ molecules of ethene are heated at high temperature in the presence of catalysts such as Hydrogen Fluoride and Hydrogen Sulphate, Polythene (also called Polyethylene) is formed.

There are different polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyvinyl acetate, polyisoprene, polychloroprene and PET (polyethylene terephthalate). PET is a very widely used material.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a clear, tough and shatterproof plastic. PET is made with the carbon molecules of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen formulating as (C₁₀H₈O₄)_n. Looking at its properties, it has low permeability to oxygen, water, and carbon dioxide which is a reason for its specific uses. It is also a strong, synthetic fibre which is why apart from being a plastic, it is classified in polyesters.

Polyethylene Terephthalate is mainly used due to the properties it exhibits. Some of its properties are extremely helpful for packaging. PET has its melting point at 490˚C which is why it does not have any specific problems with normal conditions. In case, it does catch fire, it is self extinguishable. It is generally a hard and strong material and while being highly ductile, is stiff too. It does not even start to deform/ lose shape even at high temperatures below its melting point. PET can be added with a range of colours which is why products made of PET are coloured. When PET is having fewer layers, it is a highly transparent material but as layers of it are added together, it becomes more opaque. Most commercial uses use translucent PET.

PET exhibits good chemical resistance to almost all types of substances except to alkalis and aromatic hydrocarbons (hydrocarbons with alternating double and single bonds forming cyclic hydrocarbons such as benzene – C₆H₆).

As PET is very less permeable to carbon dioxide, it is used to store liquids like soft drinks, juices, beer and as single serve water bottles. PET is used for microwaving food as well. PET has a comparatively high melting point hence completely safe for microwaving food substances.

Other than the above uses, it is also used for storing some types of chemicals in laboratories. PET can be used for making other products too. Some of these are polyester clothings, sleeping bag insulations and carpeting too. But most of the products other than containers that are made out of PET are second-generation products or products made out of recycled PET.

Polyethylene terephthalate as the name suggests must be made by the reaction between one compound containing ethylene and another containing terephthalate. It is made by the reaction of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and purified terephthalate acid (PTA) or dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) (usually PTA). When PTA, MEG are mixed into a slurry mixture and are taken through the esterification process, water is released as a bi-product and unreacted MEG is recovered. Then, the pre-polymerization process which takes the mixture to a stage before actual polymerization starts; takes place where exhausted gas is removed through outlet. Then, the polymerization process takes place from which some gases are again released and Polyethylene terephthalate is formed.

The following equation shows the formation of PET:

n C₈H₆O₄ + n C₂H₄(OH)₂ → n C₁₀H₈O₄ + 2n H₂O

PTA      +       MEG       →    PET     + Water

 
PET is considered in one of the recyclable plastics. It is identified as recyclable plastic number 1. The others are HDPE (High Density Poly Ethylene – 2), PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride – 3), LDPE (Low Density Poly Ethylene – 4), PP (Poly Propylene – 5), PS (Poly Styrene – 6) and others (7).

Out of all bottles, 95 percent are made up of either PET or HDPE whereas on an overall basis, PET is about 48 percent of all plastics. Although PET is recyclable, only 25 percent of all PET is recycled and the rest keeps on piling up in landfills forever as PET is not biodegradable but is only recyclable. In the following graph, we can see that wasted PET has been gradually increasing from 1995 to 2005 but recycling is still lagging and is not increasing along with the increase in waste of PET.

Consumption of PET cannot be reduced easily as population and use is growing. Hence, out of “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”, Reduce is less applicable. Reuse and Recycle are applicable but neither there are enough resources to recycle PET nor reusing can go on for a long time – disposal of PET will take place some day.

All PET other than ‘the little’ that is recycled is dumped into either bare land or into water bodies. This is polluting the planet a lot. A survey also says that due to these landfills, the tourism industry in several countries is facing a problem. Other techniques are being discussed to reduce landfills and water body pollution. Some of these techniques are incineration and flake production. When these techniques were compared, it was shown that landfills created the most harm to environment while least was when PET was incinerated.

The incineration mentioned above is currently practiced. This is done under the category of waste-to-energy incinerations. Plastics have high energy values which is why they are used in waste-to-energy incineration. PET releases 10,900 Btu (British Thermal Units) of energy per pound which is equal to 11,500,108 Joules.

These environmental issues of PET are increasing daily. Disposal and recycling of PET is becoming a larger and larger problem. This is because consumption is more but recycling plants are less. PET is still being accumulated in landfills.

Economically and production-wise, PET is still the largest produced plastic in the world. Due to its more availability, PET’s cost is much lesser than several other plastics. This has given an economic boost as PET is consumed more. However, its low cost has promoted the culture of “use and throw”. Because of the convenience it provides, people forget ethics of limited usage.

PET is a great polymer and plastic that has been discovered and introduced in the society but its use has to be limited before it destructs the nature with further landfills. If this is not done, the ‘world’ in “Polymers and our world” will be destroyed! A rough claim of PepsiCo is that they have successfully created PET using natural materials which is 100% bio-degradable. In future, this would be a very useful discovery…

-Suhas

27/1/14

Nuclear energy - The Ideal Alternative Fuel

Today’s world runs mostly on fossil fuels i.e. fuels like petrol, diesel, natural gas, coal and kerosene. These fuels are non renewable which means they are limited. If these fossil fuels are used for a few more decades at the current rate, they would definitely exhaust. We would only have fuel left in the form of other types of fuels known as alternative fuels. Any fuels other than the conventional fossil fuels are called alternative fuels.

As mentioned earlier, today’s world is on the verge of finishing all the sources of fossil fuels present. This means that the machines working on these fuels would not have fuel one day and they would stop working. Without machines working, almost nothing can be done in the world – there would be no factories to manufacture products, no vehicles to transport. Also, fossil fuels produce a lot of carbon dioxide as a result of combustion, which is a known cause for global warming. Extracting fossil fuels results in lots of destruction of nature because of the amount of digging done.

If alternative fuels are used, then these problems could be easily tackled. It is preferable to have alternative forms of energy that are renewable. Some examples of alternative fuels include solar power, hydro power, wind power, wave power, bio fuels and nuclear fuel. Alternative fuels would help tackle the carbon dioxide problem very easily. All the alternative fuels do not emit carbon dioxide as a by-product as they all are not combustion reactions. Alternative fuels are currently plentiful and renewable which is why they are a better option than consuming all the oil reserves left on the planet.

Of these fuels, nuclear fuel is very effective to replace fossil fuels because currently uranium and thorium mines are plentiful. Moreover there is research going on for using nuclear fusion as energy source in future using renewable hydrogen. Nuclear fuel is gaining a new position in this world – a totally uncovered topic even a few decades ago. This fuel is currently from heavy elements which are unstable. Nuclear fuel is currently used only in nuclear reactors and ships, but the distant future would see it being used in several other fields and machines when it becomes handier to use. Using nuclear fuel to produce energy at present is a really exhilarating and costly job because the process of obtaining the nuclear fuel itself is costly.

The process obtaining of nuclear fuel is long. The whole process starts with the extraction of Uranium from mines. These mines operate in 20 countries although major production of the world (more than half) is from six countries.

But why is this extraction of Uranium-235 a costly process. This is because of the nature of Uranium found in the ores. It contains 99.3% Uranium-238. This ratio of the two isotopes cannot be used as nuclear fuel. Uranium-235 is vulnerable to chain reactions if placed in a super-critical state. Hence, Uranium-235 is used as nuclear fuel in a proportion with Uranium-238. While mining, a jet stream of oxygen enriched water is passed through the ore which brings out a liquid containing dissolved uranium oxide (U₃O₈). This is then separated from the water.

Uranium is required in gaseous form to be enriched. Hence it is converted into Uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) which is gaseous in nature. This is processed to get the required ratio of Uranium-235 and Uranium-238 and is converted into Uranium Dioxide powder (UO₂) and then into pellets which are the final nuclear fuel. As clearly visible, this is a cumbersome process.

This final fuel is used to emit energy under controlled conditions, which in turn would heat water inside the nuclear reactor. This water, under constant pressure gets converted into steam which finally is required for the functioning of a turbine. When the steam pushes the turbine, it generates electricity, which is the final output that is required for the society.

To put forward my view point, nuclear fuel at the present moment is not as ideal a fuel as solar power or hydropower. Even more than hydropower, solar power is an ideal fuel. The problem with nuclear fuel right now is mainly the cost and disposal of the nuclear waste that is produced. I am sure that there would be more developments in this field of work in the future. This is not only my saying but is of several others in the world. A survey conducted said that 62% of the public spread across 24 countries was against nuclear energy...

Today’s world’s nuclear fuel is only nuclear fission as conditions for controlling nuclear fusion have not yet been achieved although the techniques have been discovered. If nuclear fusion would be used for producing all the power in the future world, then I am totally for nuclear fuel being the ideal fuel. This is because nuclear fusion at least diminishes the disposal of nuclear waste which is very hazardous in today’s world.

Nuclear fuel is a big environmental concern due to the nuclear waste produced by the nuclear fission in the nuclear reactors. This nuclear waste is very harmful for the environment and the habitat of several species of animals which includes humans when exposed to this nuclear fuel and waste. This nuclear waste is produced at different stages of making nuclear fuel and energy and in different ways. Apart from waste rocks produced during mining, spent nuclear fuel in the reactors, it also releases small amounts of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. These all add up to creating hazard for life especially humans.

Economically, nuclear power is creating both a positive and a negative impact. Negatively, creating nuclear energy requires a lot of funds for example obtaining 1kg of final Uranium reactor fuel cost US$2360 in June 2013. This explains the economical impact. This is one of the reasons several poor countries do not start their own nuclear reactors. Also, nuclear reactors are always prone to disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukusima Daichi. The cost of producing nuclear energy is high compared to other alternative fuels which are one-time investments. This is the last disadvantage of nuclear fuel. Similarly, nuclear fuel still has ability to produce a lot of energy. It could be one of the main sources of energy in the future. Huge development could be possible due to the huge amounts of energy produced by nuclear reactors. This would also boost the economy of countries as individuals for their benefit.

I would conclude with my view point same as I mentioned before. Nuclear fuel does not have the potential to become an ideal fuel in the next few years but definitely would have the potential a few decades from now.

-Suhas

4/2/14

Electrical lives: Using electricity

Electricity, the energy released by flow of negatively charged particles is a really important part of our lives now. Just a few decades has made such a huge difference. 

The world has evolved from oil lamps, candles, then kerosene lamps to now almost only electricity. The scientists had worked in candles to provide a base for the important invention electricity. This is one invention that has boosted us for further inventions, and now as Kenneth Lay says, “They can’t do without electricity. They can do with less electricity.” Almost everything today functions using electricity, people cannot imagine their lives without lights, fans, TVs, computers, video games, movies, phone and much more.

All of us use electricity but most would not even have thought of what it is and how it works. Well, electricity is the movement of electrons and is also known as electrical current. All the devices that use electricity are a part of closed circuits which allow the electrical energy to pass through the appliance to make it work. Well, it is not possible to define electricity in more words than this.

Today’s world is vulnerable to face a lot of problems if there is no electricity. There are many things in this world that would be affected without electricity. This includes industries, offices, daily chores and almost everything. All industries require electricity to function. Without industries functioning, humans would not get their daily requirements from the general stores. If electricity is not available, eventually the world would turn back into how it was in the 1700s, 1800s without much electricity. First of all, there would be no lights meaning people would go to bed early. The only light that would remain in the night would be the light of kerosene lamps or candles. Even worse, there would be no fans, air-conditioners or heaters to keep the house environment cool or warm. These days a temporary period of electricity loss can cause havoc. An example of such an event took place in Mumbai, India on 26th July 2005 when the city was flooded and the entire city was blacked-out for two days. This is how it would be without electricity for a world functioning only on electricity.

Electricity plays another important part in our lives by providing us entertainment and communication media such as theatre, TV, video games, mobile phones and much more. Communication media have connected people globally and made such a big world look small. Some of these have also caused negative effects for some people. E.g. more indoor entertainment is causing children to play less outdoors and hence they are becoming weaker. Their social interaction is reducing day by day with more time spent on gadgets thereby turning them into introverts.

Electricity has boosted economy of the whole world. Although it took almost a whole century to find a proper application of electricity, now it is the core of many industries. They have to shut down affecting the lives of many people if there is a power cut. Electricity has boosted the industry by producing goods at faster rates. This means that they are produced in larger quantities too. Productivity has improved several folds. 

Automation in several fields has become possible because of electricity giving a productivity of thousands of human beings by one machine. In several industries, nights have also become productive due to shift-based working hours. Urbanization requires huge amounts of construction. The required heavy machinery is run by electricity. Hence, as more and more industries adopted electricity, economy got a boost.

Electricity is not always used in the right way which is why it has its own disadvantages too along with its several advantages and applications. Firstly, people have stopped living simple life and cannot live without electricity for even a short period of time. They are missing the pleasure of a simple life and being a part of nature. Most of the urban people cannot even carry out their daily lives without electricity unlike rural people.

But overall, electricity has affected people all over the world – from poor to rich and from rural to urban. Without electricity there cannot be development at the required pace. Rural areas without sufficient supply of electricity are severely impaired in development and education. Children cannot study well in the candle light or kerosene lamp light. Electricity has made a drastic change in this field. The rural electrification campaign is helping governments of several countries to provide electricity to rural areas. This has already been up in Sub-Sahara Africa, Brazil, China, India, Ireland, USA and Jamaica as individual nation campaigns.

From the older times, electricity consumption has also increased due to powering of a lot of places in the world.

Economically, electricity has had a huge impact. As we can see in the above graph, from the time of 1980 when electricity was used very less compared to now, economy would have grown too. Increasing demand for electricity is forcing more and more power generation. This is resulting in lot of resources to be consumed causing damage to environment in several ways.

Socially, electricity has had an impact on the community too. People in urban and rural areas are feeling more enlightened from the time electricity has arrived at their houses and in fact it is a gift to have electricity. They have shifted a level up in the society with electricity. The night life has increased significantly with people getting a chance to celebrate together at night. However, it is slowly getting impacted in the current times because people are getting addicted to electrical gadgets and are isolating themselves from the real friends. Also, although electricity is available, it is not cheap enough for all people to afford it, which is why electricity campaigns are being put up.

Environmentally, electricity has mostly had a bad impact. The sources of electricity used until now are not so environment-friendly. Coal mines and water turbines are using up the nature’s resources and there would not be any left for the future. These resources are obstructing the nature’s working. If sources of energy are completely shifted to resources such as solar, nuclear and wind energy then it would be better for the environment.

Electricity has brought major changes to the lives of people and now people cannot even live without electricity. It would continue to boost our economy until all the sources are run out. People take electricity for granted like oxygen in the air. One would not know its value until it dissipates. To avoid facing that, alternative forms of energy have to come into regular use at the earliest…

-Suhas

9/3/14

Tragic hero Macbeth

Shakespeare was a great legend. He wrote the tragic drama Macbeth in 1606. Macbeth is a tragic drama because the protagonist dies. As plays revolve mainly around the protagonists, it is obvious here that a tragic play ends up in the death of the protagonist. The tragic hero is the protagonist of the drama. He dies at the end of the play.

This tragic hero is very important in the play. The hero has some quality due to which he is popular. He earns his nobility but later falls due to his own actions. Macbeth had earned a good status in Scotland because of his bravery during the starting war. He was thus chosen as the thane of Cawdor after already being the thane of Glamis. He is shown as very noble and honest until the witches pour the greed over Macbeth to become the king of Scotland. It cannot be said that Macbeth wasn’t a good person. He became a bad person after his greed overpowered him. He was respected even by his latter enemy Macduff. He had shown several good aspects of himself through the beginning of the play but as seen in the drama, his greed overpowered him and he disproves himself in all aspects.

He disproves himself in the end in many aspects. This disproving could be explained by the concept tragic flaw. Aristotle's definition of tragic flaw is some error committed which leads to the downfall of the hero. This is why the drama is said to be tragic and the hero is said to be the tragic hero. There were several tragic flaws that Macbeth had committed during his lifetime. These led to his downfall. Macbeth could be called innocent before the murders he committed. But after Macbeth lost control over himself, nobody could stop him until end. Believing in his ambitions even after knowing his limits was the first tragic flaw to be committed. The others followed as he chose the first wrong turn of his life.

The main characters that led to Macbeth’s downfall were the witches and Lady Macbeth. These characters inculcated greed into Macbeth’s mind and caused Macbeth’s doom. Lady Macbeth – the wife of Macbeth and also the latter queen forced the witches’ thoughts into Macbeth’s mind (which Macbeth took lightly at first but sincerely later) to make him greedy enough to murder the king and later on innocent subjects.

Macbeth’s ambitions were shaped by the witches hence making them one of the main reasons for2 the downfall of Macbeth. Macbeth can’t be directly blamed as he was loyal to the King while the witches prepared him for his doom. The reason why the witches were making predictions on Macbeth is not clear in the drama. Hence we just know that they are a reason for the downfall of Macbeth. We can see their intentions from the following extract of a scene:

Hecate to witches:[1] … He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear his hopes ’bove wisdom, grace, and fear. And you all know, security is mortals’ chiefest enemy. (Shakespeare 124)

Exactly opposite of the witches intentions, Lady Macbeth did not have bad feelings for Macbeth. She only had greed for becoming the queen of Scotland. Without knowing, Lady Macbeth was ruining not only Macbeth’s personality but his career and even his whole life! She drove the predictions of the witches over and over again into Macbeth’s head although he wanted to ignore them. But, there is a limit for every human. Macbeth lost his patience and he was overcome by his greed. This made him commit the first murder and then he got more aggressive to commit more murders. This ultimately led to his downfall:

Lady Macbeth to Macbeth: … Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live coward in thine own esteem, letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” like the poor cat i’ th’ adage. (Shakespeare 42)

Along with Lady Macbeth and the witches playing a role in the downfall of Macbeth, even Malcolm had a small hand in the downfall of Macbeth. Malcolm fears his own death when King Duncan is killed and he flees. This brings up a wrong impression that Malcolm has murdered the king to take up the throne and helps Macbeth indirectly in taking the throne. This boosts Macbeth’s downfall before he realizes his mistake in life.

Malcolm to Donalbain: What will you do? Let’s not consort with them. To show an unfelt sorrow is an office. Which the false man does easy. I’ll to England. (Shakespeare 76)

This support for Macbeth’s downfall has come from the dialogues said by the characters during the play. Macbeth’s doom was in his own hands and as most people are influenced, even Macbeth chooses the wrong path. This pathway that led to his downfall started being created during the Acts 3, 4 and 5 when Macbeth was committing murders after murders. He got desperate to wipe off anything that was in his way to become the king.

Macbeth made the mistake of believing immensely in the witches and Lady Macbeth. Both of them misled him. Lady Macbeth misled Macbeth indirectly while the witches misled him on purpose. His first tragic flaw which led him to get involved in other disasters was to believe immensely in Lady Macbeth and the three witches:

Macbeth to himself: … Sweet bodements! Good! Rebellious dead, rise never till the wood of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath to time and mortal custom … (Shakespeare 138)

He realizes his mistake only at the end of the drama when he realizes that the witches had cheated him as the Birnam forest looks as if it comes to life due to the opposing army and also Macduff not born from a woman but removed from his mother’s womb is about to kill Macbeth (The witches predict that until the Birnam forest comes to life and a man not born from a woman doesn’t attack Macbeth, Macbeth would rule).

Macbeth to Macduff: … And be these juggling fiends no more believed, that palter with us in a double sense, that keep the word of promise to our ear, and break it to our hope … (Shakespeare 214)

But, by the time Macbeth had realized his mistake, it was too late for him to turn back, surrender, and leave his adamant nature and his stubborn nature. His doings were the causes for his downfall and this point has been proved from his dialogues through the drama. Macbeth was finally killed by Macduff and Scotland celebrated their victory over the murderous Macbeth…

-Suhas

27/3/14

Genetically Modified Foods: Boon or Curse?

Population is growing day by day. Agricultural produce now is less for the current population of the world. One of the solutions is Genetically Modified (GM) crops. Genetically Modified foods are produced from genetically modified crops using latest biotechnology. There are several foods which have been genetically modified, e.g. maize, soybeans, pineapples, papayas, strawberries. GM foods are specifically designed such that they have solutions to the current problems such as infection of the crops because of pests, weeds etc.

GM Foods have advantages and at the same time disadvantages. They are made by isolating genes of one particular crop and inserting them into another crop to give those genetic characteristics to that particular crop. This is done to help the plant gain the characteristics that it needs so that it can live on its own without pests, weedicides, or insecticides affecting it. People who are developing these new techniques of GM foods, and farmers usually support the making of GM foods and others are usually against.

There are several issues locally and globally, bothering farmers. For several decades, crops are being destroyed due to pests and diseases which is why farmers use pesticides which are not preferred by the consumers. Along with pests, weeds are also a trouble for farmers. To remove these weeds, farmers use herbicides and weedicides. Along with weeds, crops may also get some harm. Earlier, crops used to be destroyed several times due to extreme conditions such as severe coldness or drought conditions. In heavily populated countries the yields have to be higher and faster due to the higher market demand however, this is not possible as crops take their own time to harvest.

GM foods have their effects on the crop and sometimes also on the consumers.

Hence, GM crops are a boon to the farmers as they are less expensive to harvest although the seeds themselves may be more expensive.

There are several advantages of genetically modifying the crops grown by farmers. The first advantage of GM crops is that the crop has better resistance against pests/insects and diseases. Due to this reason, some people argue that GM foods are having a good effect on the environment as farmers are reducing the usage of all sorts of pesticides and herbicides. The second advantage of GM crops is that they become resistant to herbicides. By genetically modifying the plants, crops can be made to develop resistance against weedicides too.

The third advantage is that the crop can withstand sudden changes in required weather such as coldness, drought or salinity of soil. Another very good advantage of GM crops when it comes to heavily populated countries or malnutrition countries due their higher and faster yields. As an example, a genetically modified Tomato plant gives yield in 2 months as compared to 3 months yield time of regular tomato. Also, these crops have a very high nutritional quality which is why they can be used in malnutrition countries.

Although GM crops have so many advantages, they have many disadvantages and limitations too, mainly to the consumers and other biodiversity. Hence, GM foods are a curse to many in the world.

The first disadvantage of using GM crops is that these may cause allergies and itching to the human body. For example, farmers who were picking GM cotton and the people who were working in the processing factories got allergies triggered in their bodies. It has also been shown that GM peanuts can cause allergies to the human body when they are consumed.

The second disadvantage of GM crops is that they may destroy the biodiversity of the world. For example, the monarch caterpillar is killed because of the genetically modified corn. A lot of biodiversity can be lost in this way as the genetically modified foods are not only resisting pest activity but also they are harming or killing unrelated pests.

A very bad problem created by GM crops is that due to cross pollination, the resistance genes may get transferred to weeds because of which they too can become resistive (note that it happens only when the weeds and the GM crop are of the same species). These weeds now cannot be destroyed by weedicides which is why they are called super weeds. There is a similar phenomenon occurring between GM crops and pests. When a pest rests on a GM crop, the resistance genes can get transferred to the pests. These pests now cannot be destroyed by pesticides which is why they are called super pests.

A Professor said “If it is left to me, I would certainly not eat it. We are putting things into food which have not been eaten before. The effects on the immune system are not easily predictable and I challenge anyone who will say that the effects are predictable.” (Arpad Pustzai). Many other scientists are also against the growing of GM crops. They really say that it is a curse to mankind.

Many people who support the growing of GM crops say that the use of GM crops is good for the environment as GM crops develop resistance to pests. Hence, the farmers don’t need to use much of herbicides, weedicides or pesticides. This would reduce the impact on the environment.

Ethically, GM crops are lagging. The scientists violate other natural organisms which is ethically not correct. Also, tampering the nature is not ethically accepted. Scientists are using the genes of other plants to make another plant resistive. This too is not ethically acceptable to many. These are the ethical effects of GM crops.

Economically too, GM crops have had an effect. The cost of producing GM seeds is very high compared to the normal seeds. This is because the seeds of GM crops are ‘suicide seeds’ or ‘terminator seeds’. These seeds can produce only one generation. Then, seeds have to be produced again. This increases the cost of sowing to farmers. The cost of seed is high because of being genetically modified and engineered.

From all the advantages and disadvantages that could be listed down, we come to know that a GM crop is both a boon to some and a curse to others. The environmental benefits are great and also efforts of the farmers are less while at the same time, it is harming biodiversity on Earth and is unethically tampering with the nature. Hence, “GM crops are both a boon and a curse…”

-Suhas

2/3/14

Imaginary death letter from Beowulf to Wiglaf

Beowulf is one of the oldest surviving English epic whose author is unknown. Written in England and set in Scandinavia, this epic is dated between the 8th century and 11th century. Today, it has been translated from the old Anglo-Saxon script into several languages including English. In school, I have studied the Burton Raffael version of Beowulf. Beowulf is the king of Geatland and I have written the following letter as if Beowulf is giving it to Wiglaf (his loyal soldier) just before he dies. This writing although not there in the epic was part of our English assignment...

From Beowulf

To Lieutenant Wiglaf

Date 30.08.0747

Dragon house, Geats,

Scandinavia

Dear Wiglaf,

          There is always difference between a good king and a good warrior. This, you need to know. A good warrior like you just needs to be brave, strong and smart but a good king needs to show more qualities like a good leader, loyalty etc. You may be thinking – ‘Is that all?’ But Wiglaf, that’s not all. You need to practice these, to fill up the little difference and become a good king. As you know I am on the verge of death but I am still the king and can still give orders. I can see the qualities in you which is why I order you to become the king after I die. Take care of my subjects well. “You are the last of all our far-flung family. Fate has swept our race away, taken warriors in their strength and led them to the death that was waiting. And now I follow them” (Raffael Lines 835-838).

          Lead the Geats well – they are chickens who will follow only the king's orders. Train them well for any battle ahead. We are the great and most powerful Geats. You are the best of us all who has learnt true loyalty. I know the thoughts racing through your mind. This loyalty is what you need to bring into all the warriors; next is strength. Train them so hard that strength and loyalty fills them and encompasses their mind and heart.

          Always be confident but never be overconfident. What is happening to me now is nothing but the punishment for being overconfident. I always thought that no one can win against me but the dragon proved it wrong. No confidence will get you no power while confidence will get you required power. Always keep this in mind.

          I always had a habit of boasting which although gives you confidence may lead to some opposition against you from your subjects. I always thought “I've never known fear” (Raffael Line 624), due to which I had this problem of opposition from Unferth; but I always dealt with it accordingly. Only after I fought over Grendel did Unferth get trust over me. “No Dane doubted over the victory” (Raffael Lines 407-408). We know that only the best of us Geats will survive the blows to their lives. Train them well as I told you before because only the strongest and bravest will win the hearts of theirs subjects as I told you about Unferth. You should never lose your confidence when opposed. I want the next Beowulf, the next Wiglaf who are capable enough to handle our kingdom.

          Always take the help of your fellow warriors if they volunteer. I never did; and I missed the opportunity of killing a beast with a companion until you helped me kill the dragon. I owe you the little life left in me. I would always say “Wait for me close by” (Raffael Line 641), and shake off all the loyal warriors who did wish to help me. What is happening to me now is just the punishment for what I did not do.

          Wiglaf, not only strength is important but you need some capabilities in you, which can win the heart of our subjects. It is not possible by mere strength but by good use of strength. Never use the strength for evil purposes but only to free the kingdom of evil monsters and for defence from other kingdoms. I helped the Danes just because they were very helpless! I “had killed Grendel, ended the grief, the sorrow, the suffering forced on Hrothgar's helpless people by a bloodthirsty fiend.” (Raffael Lines 404-407). I have always followed this to become a prosperous king and lead a happy life among my subjects.

          Always be fair whether it is to rage a war or it is to settle peace. I was always fair and hence fate would always be with me. Do you remember what I said before fighting with the dragon “I'd use no sword, no weapon, if this beast could be killed without it, crushed to death like Grendel, gripped in my hands and torn limb from limb. But his breath will be burning hot, poison will pour from his tongue. I feel no shame, with shield and sword and armour, against this monster” (Raffael Lines 630-636). Believe in fate, there is no God but at the same time never lose your confidence.

          I am a king and I knew the difficulties I had to handle – the problems of subjects and personal matters too. Don't think your subjects as unknown and don't let them down but take care of each and every problem of theirs. Never take advantage that you hold the great throne of the Geats, instead help your subjects and give them an equally prosperous life as yours. This is a value of our culture which you should never forget. At the same time, always be optimistic and don't just go around trying to kill monsters which I did. It is very dumb to do that because we would never know how strong our opponent is. They may look as thin as a stick but may have the power of a dinosaur! But still, good will always win over evil.

          Never help others for either fame or money. When you help your subjects and other kingdoms, you will get trust and love and automatically fame. What is important for a good king is the love and trust of their subjects, which is why I helped the Danes to become free from the two murderous beasts – Grendel and his awful mother. Keep reading this point until it gets into your brain. Grendel, his mother and the dragon were all menaces to some or the other kingdom which is why they had to be finished.

          Bye Wiglaf! I am going leaving this wonderful kingdom of mine in your hands. It needs a good leader like you. I have one last wish “Have the brave Geats build me a tomb, When the funeral flames have burned me, and build it here at the water's edge, high on this spit of land, so sailors can see this tower, and remember my name, and call it Beowulf's tower, and boats in the darkness and mist, crossing the sea, will know it.” (Raffael Lines 823-830). Never forget me and my advice. Take care of the kingdom well, I will always guide you...

Your Dear King,

Beowulf

-Suhas

20/3/14

The "Cell Phone"!

Almost everywhere in the world, we see cell phones or mobile phones used widely. They are important devices in the daily lives of people. Even people in rural villages of Africa, India and other countries who do not know English have mobile phones. They just use basic phones to serve their communication purpose. There are many people in these rural areas that do not even know numbers and just identify them as symbols… Most users of these phones may not even wonder how they work. Well, it seems that mobile phones have very complicated mechanism but we do not know the truth. Let’s just explore…

Cell phones are actually sophisticated radios by which both parties can talk at the same time. It is hence a full duplex radio in which the two ends of the phone call can talk at the same time. Cell phones work using different frequency channels of radio waves. In the cellular system, a city is divided into a mesh of hexagonal cells. This allows extensive frequency reuse across the city enabling thousands of people to use cell phones simultaneously. Each cell has a range within which a cell phone is connected to. Each cell has a base station made of a cell tower and radio equipment.

Notice the three important terms – radio waves, frequencies and channels. Knowing of these terms is required to understand the working of a cell phone. Well, radio waves can crudely be defined as a range in the electromagnetic spectrum having a wavelength between 3x10⁴ and 3x10^-4 m or frequency between 10⁴ and 10¹² Hz (λ=c/f). Frequency can be defined as the number of cycles occurring per unit time. Different calls are transmitted at different frequencies provided by a cell mast. This is done so that no two calls interfere with each other. Full-duplex systems are controlled by two frequencies. One frequency is for talking channel and the other for listening channel.

A channel is a small bandwidth (range of frequencies) around a carrier frequency (the centre frequency) and is given a specific number known as the channel number. For example, On North American FM radio dial, frequency 88.5 is channel 203 and each radio station (channel) has a bandwidth of 200kHz. Similarly, GSM-900 band uses two frequency ranges – one for uplink and the other for downlink. One uplink frequency combined with one downlink frequency acts as one channel for one phone call. There are 124 RF (radio frequency) channels spaced at 200kHz in these bands.

There are limited radio wave channels available (about 900) for each cell phone mast/tower. All the users connected to a particular cell phone tower share the same channels. Hence areas densely populated have phone masts closer to each other to reuse the same frequencies more times. Out of the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band used by television, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, specific frequencies are allotted for cellular purposes. Of these, a specific range is used by a specific service provider (like Reliance, Docomo etc.) and each mast of the service provider has the same set of frequency channels. Of these frequencies, there are some allotted for control purposes (about 42). The rest of the frequencies are provided for talking purpose. This implies that 800 channels are available for calling purpose and 800 calls could use up all the available channels. This is the reason that in densely populated areas, masts are packed closely to provide more channels for communication.

Mobile phones are very interesting devices because of the way they function. They convert sound waves to different types of energy several times. When we are calling somebody in another town, a mobile phone does several functions within milliseconds. It converts our voice in the form of sound waves into electric signals or pulses which it transmits in the form of radio waves. When transmitting, the radio waves may change several masts or go via landlines cables in between cities. Here is how it works.

When a phone is powered on, it identifies its home system (carrier) through a unique identifier code. When a call is initiated, the phone connects to base station via reserved control channels. Then a registration request is transmitted to the MTSO (Mobile Telephone Switching Office) which tracks the phone location and the connected cell tower via database. The MTSO provides a frequency pair (channel) to the initiated call. When the cell phone is moving, the signal is diminishing in the cell the phone is connected to, while it is increasing in a nearby approaching cell. At a certain point both the cells coordinate to hand off the phone conversation between them for uninterrupted conversation.

Mobile phones have really small antennae (well, we cannot even see them these days), which is why they only emit weak signals. But, these signals are large enough to be caught and be transmitted by the cell phone masts. The signal is picked up by a mast near our house and is sent via landline cables to the mast the person we are talking is connected to! Then, the signal is changed back to voice at the other phone.

I feel that usage of cell phones would increase further because rural areas are adopting them more and more. In my opinion, the cell phone is successful just because the number of advantages of using a cell phone far outweighs the disadvantages.

The main disadvantage of cell phones is the amount of electromagnetic radiation they emit during calls. They emit more radiation when searching for tower while moving from the range of one tower to another. This radiation is hazardous for our health. During long calls, the continuous small radiation builds up to a lot of exposure.

The usage of cell phones has now started to grow widespread with people of all types and communities not leaving their cell phones behind. From market vendors to farmers in African tribes – all of them own mobile phones. As cell phone towers or masts are being set up almost everywhere, even in the most remote areas of the world like deserts, mobile coverage is available. This is now possible due to steps taken to improve cell phone coverage. People staying in their tribe in some isolated area of Africa can also access to cell phone coverage easily. It is relatively easier to provide phone coverage via radio waves compared to copper cable based coverage in remote rural areas because the cost of laying a copper cable across thousands of kilometres will be prohibitive. Mobile phones have started connecting modern technology with the poorest regions of the world.

The cell phone technology has been available for several years now and hence old second generation phones are being sold at very low rates as demand for the cell phones is growing. Mobile phones are being purchased just to connect the modern technological world with the tribal world and the tribal world with themselves. Poor people are able to see themselves into the technological future. The new generation smart phones are also helping increase in the usage of cell phones because of the additional functionality they provide other than calling.

-Suhas

29/1/14