The Modern Fable

  To see the video presentation:  Eco-anxiety In late July, I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. When I traced the causes of my anxiety, one of the roots was a fear, a fear that our generation might be the last. The last because we would have created an unsustainable world. I found the label given to my problem. Eco-anxiety: fear of an unsustainable future. But recognition, alone, does not solve the problem. Because anxiety is a fear of uncertainty. It leaves you feeling powerless, helpless. But you can’t go on living a life of fear, of worry. You could say it’s unsustainable. So what would solve the problem? The only solution that I could find was to build a world where unsustainability is a thing of the past. I worked on converting my fear into concern, concern into curiosity, so that I could make connections between different fields, curiosity into knowledge, so that I could develop a deeper understanding of the world, and knowledge into productive action. And ...

The following is a literary analysis of 'The Troubled Craftsman', the first chapter of The Craftsman. ‘The Troubled Craftsman’ discusses that true craftsmanship is doing quality work for the sake of doing it and not as a means to an end. All craftsmen have a skill which they have practiced thousands of hours when they reach a stage where they can feel fully and think deeply about their craft. The satisfaction of working is its own reward. In the beginning, the author portrays three images of the craftsman. First is the traditional image of a carpenter, in a neat shop engaged in precision work. His profession is troubled by the automated furniture factory down the road. The proximity is ironical to the difference in their approach to work: quality over quantity. Second is the example of a lab technician, pondering over the procedure, weighing the procedure with her execution, trying to find the error in either. Third is the visiting conductor working obsessively with the str...

With the advent of the internet, we have access to more opportunities and events. While that has broadened our horizons, having to juggle many things at once can be overwhelming. Studies have shown that those who struggle with time management are more likely to experience stress, sleep issues, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. They may also start to exhibit symptoms of workplace burnout.  While time management is seen as a tool to increase efficiency at work, it can also have a positive effect on your personal life, allowing you to dedicate time to your priorities. I often felt pulled in many directions because of school, extracurriculars and personal projects. This encouraged a feeling of being overwhelmed that prevented me from doing anything. Time blocking has helped me to plan realistically and make sure my projects see the light of day, instead of just being ideas. What is time blocking? It is dedicating a chunk of your time to a specific task. It is a...

The feet of gecko are not sticky to touch but contain many tiny hair, that when pressed against a surface stick to it due to Van der Waals forces developed by shear stress. Van der Waals forces develop between electric dipoles. Some cool current applications are wall climbing robots which attach to the walls by pressing this material and robots developed by NASA to clear debris and old satellites in outer space. As the feet of gecko are not sticky to touch, their adhesion is durable and does not wear off. They can even attach to rough or dirty surfaces as the hair can easily clean themselves due to the small surface area of their tips.  Some applications that I could think of were, using this adhesive material (made from carbon nanotubes, plastics and silicon) and attaching it to the bottom of a drone. The drone can squeeze the material attached with spring (to ensure equal load distribution) to develop shear force which allows the object to stick with it and squeeze again to let i...

In the previous article, we briefly discussed how cilia allows a cell to move. In this article, we will focus on how cilia can also function as a signal-receiving antenna. Cells that need to be aware of their surroundings have a non-motile cilia. Non-motile means not capable of movement. There can only be one such cilium per cell. In vertebrate animals, almost all cells have such a cilium, known as primary cilium. It has been implicated as a complex signaling center for the cell, regulating key signaling pathways during development. In fact, they are said to be highly sophisticated biological sensors and have been under the focus of scientists in the past decades. As this organelle can be found on all cell types, it’s importance extends to most organ systems.   How does it transmit signals? The membrane proteins of a primary cilium transmit molecular signals from the cell's environment to its interior, initiating a signaling pathway. It helps the cell to sense its surrou...