The Modern Fable

What would I tell my 15 year old self, at the beginning of 2021? (I'm 17 at the moment) Well, if I had a time machine, the first thing I would do is give her a hug. That girl worried too much! This one does too, but I like to tell myself that I have it under control. I have learned these lessons by going through personal, academic and financial struggles and I don’t regret my experiences. But I think that if knew these principles earlier, it would have eased my personal conflicts, as they do so currently. This post is a way for me to validate my time of uncertainty, fear and loneliness and to internalize the lessons this period has taught me, to carry on for future endeavors.  Dear 15 year old Ada, Me in Shimla: The summer of August 2021 (I hadn't turned 16 yet) 1.      Don’t compare yourself to others : I know it sounds a cliché advice to give to a teenager, but internalizing it could rid you of so many mental burdens. I used to think...

  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...

Cells move around the body using cellular extensions of the plasma membrane like cilia and flagellum. They take the help of fibres outside the cell to provide anchorage. These extensions are made of microtubules, sliding against each other to produce a back and forth motion. These microtubules are a part of the cytoskeleton which will be discussed shortly. Within the cells, motor proteins attach to the receptors on organelles and use their ‘feet’ to ‘walk’ them along the fibers of cytoskeleton to their required location. Source: Campbell Biology, 12th edition  These motor proteins consume ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) which is the source of energy at the cellular level. It is the energy currency of the cell as it provides readily releasable energy due to breaking of bonds between second and third phosphate groups. Now that we have understood the mechanism for cell locomotion, let’s understand more about the cytoskeleton and how its elements aid in the process. Exis...

Purposeful travel It’s not the destination, but the journey that counts .   //This speech example was given an Excellent grade in high school. When I was kindly awarded the opportunity to orate a speech about purposeful travel, my mind wandered to mull over memories wrapped around planned expeditions. For many, travel is a means to escape the mundane realities of daily routine. Instead of a voyage, travel becomes a snatch of retreat. For such people, travel appears as a breath of fresh air out of the staleness of myriad responsibilities imposed upon them and they desperately grab the opportunity, only to retreat into the comfort of a hotel room. The truth is that people with such an outlook are fleeing, not travelling. While I strongly stand beside the proverb, “Variety is the spice of life”, I feel that many people ignore the benefits that comes with planned educational trips, for fear that it may be unstimulating and boring. They could not be more wrong. They are ...

My journey  I applied for The Knowledge Society in February 2022. Initially, I had opened an application but then decided not to go for it, thinking that I wasn't smart enough to get in. Mia Nguyễn was my application advisor who mailed me about my incomplete application, asking me if there was anything I needed help with. There were few interview slots remaining and she asked if they should close my application. I opened her mail and began typing an apology letter, telling her that I would not be applying. As I finished the letter, my finger hovered over the send button. I sighed, selected my mail and pressed backspace. What was the harm in trying? I typed out a quick message, asking her to hold my slot. I opened MS Word and started on the essays I needed and stayed up all night, only to submit them a few hours before the deadline.  In late April, I was accepted into the 10 month Global Virtual Program as a TKS Innovator with considerable financial aid. Unfortunately, my finan...

  The Knowledge Society is a 10-month global innovation program for ambitious high school students. Students age 13-17 apply and interview before joining and attending weekly sessions. It aims to train the next generation of innovators, scientists, and entrepreneurs who want to solve the world's biggest problems. In this article, I summarize tips for making the NN Full Ride Scholarship Project but these pointers can be applied to any part of the application process.  1. Do pay attention to the examples TKS gives of their successful candidates. That helped me more than anything. While you refer to them, get an idea of how they approached the project rather than trying to imitate their project. That will take away your originality. 2. Try to narrow down the fields you are interested in and find its intersection with technology. For example, I was interested in art and design so I made an algorithm that produces its own images. 3. Now that you have narrowed down your field, use ...

 //This post was a part of my 2022 Application for  The Knowledge Society  for its Global Virtual Program   Why do you want to be in TKS? I want to interact with people who are directing their actions towards solving problems and coming up with solutions. It is important for me to be surrounded with people who have a similar mindset because growing up in a lower middle class family, it was expected from me to accept the financial problems that my family had to face with my father being unemployed a majority of my childhood. To not let despair creep in, I turned my mind away from such distressing situations in which I felt helpless, to devote myself to my school curriculum. Though it helped me to work rigorously for academic growth, I had developed the habit of living in denial whenever a problem cropped up that was not related to my academics, a problem that could not be solved through submitting a paper.  I had labelled my role in society strictly as a stu...

  //This post was a part of my 2022 Application for  The Knowledge Society  for its Global Virtual Program   Teach us about a topic you are interested in. Machine Learning involves computer algorithms that learn by experience, forming patterns from a given set of data to determine possible causes that have led to the current situation. Neural networks come under a subset of Machine Learning which is itself a part of the field Artificial intelligence. Artificial Neural Networks aim to stimulate the working of the biological mind. The algorithms begin to find patterns from a given set of data much like the countless deliberations we are required to do before making a relatively simple decision. (Should I drink Coffee at 9 in the night or go with a decaf?). We mull over seemingly unrelated clauses which could be affecting our decision (a friend who is addicted to caffeine) and recount past experiences (the time when I tossed and turned the whole night) and predict...

 //This post was a part of my 2022 Application for  The Knowledge Society for its Global Virtual Program  Who inspires you the most? I first heard of Elon Musk when I heard that he had become the richest person in the world. Though it was quite an achievement, it did not inspire me enough to regard him as my role model. As I started to know more about him through the internet, what got me hooked was that he built SpaceX because he felt that humanity should be an interplanetary species. He had grown up reading science fiction comics and novels that stressed that it was one’s duty to save the world. It was a childish notion yet backed by logic and determination, he has turned it into a reality.  I realized that my childhood hobby of recycling paper to make papier-mâché dolls was perhaps not so amateurish. I could bring my creative talent to turn waste into something beautiful. It could be my contribution to reduce piling waste and undo the damages of climate change. E...

  PAINTING MEDIUMS ·           ·           ·           ·           ·         Encaustic: Encaustic, which means ‘to burn in’, is an ancient Greek painting technique, also known as hot wax painting. It is done by combining hot beeswax with colouring pigment. Encaustic wax has many of the properties of oil paint: it can give a very brilliant and attractive effect and offers great scope for elegant and expressive brushwork. The wax has to be reheated to be manouvered after applying to the surface which is usually wood or canvas. It was used to make portraits by the Greek to honour the dead. ·         Tempera: Tempera was the original  mural  medium in the ancient  dynasties  of  Egypt ,  Babylonia ,  Mycenaean Gr...