Deadly Irukandji Jellyfish

Yesterday night there was a documentary on Irukandji Jellyfish (I.J.F.) on Animal Planet. I was amazed when they showed that a sting by an I.J.F. can prove fatal. You just will not be able to believe as it is just 1.2 cm by 2.5 cm body and contractible tentacles, length of which may range from 5 cm to 1 m.
Following pictures will clear how small it looks.



These jellyfish are mostly found in Australia. The jellyfish are named after the Yirrganydji people (a.k.a Irukandji), who are a group of Australian aborigines, whose country stretches along the coastal strip north of Cairns, Queensland.

It is found that these jellyfish sting from the tip of their stingers which is why the venom takes time to take effect. It causes severe pain and the venom starts taking effect after some 15-20 minutes. If timely cure is provided, then the sting is not fatal. But there are reports where few humans have died because of Irukandji sting!

Imagine such a small creature killing a full grown human being!! Wonders of nature or what may I say!

Clash of titans!

It was an awesome match on the Wimbledon grass court. The grass court king versus the clay court ruler!!! I am not to write a long, shot by shot review of the match, that one can find on all the sports websites.

I just wanted to reflect upon the show of grit, determination and the fight till the last. With all the interruptions by the rain and the losing of championship points twice in the 4th set, Nadal was still focussed and fought the 5th set and win the cup. One would expect one of the players to give up out of fatigue if nothing else in a match that lasted 4 hours 50 minutes, the longest ever played in men's singles.

I just could not sleep and kept myself awake to see the final set that finally got over at 2 a.m.
How can one miss such an astounding competition? The fact to note here is the killing spirit in both of them. They both were rivals who equaled each other in all sense of play. It was an Achilles vs Hectar fight (Those who have watched or read about Troy can draw the analogy)!!

I wonder what it would feel like being in that position where one has to prove everyone wrong by winning the title again and another has to win the grass court title for the first time after losing so many times there. Both had lot to prove or disprove. With such pressure, if one can still perform in this mid-blowing manner, then hats off to them!!

A lesson to all, never lose your focus till the end and keep doing what is required to win. There is no short cut to success, sonny!!

Millau Bridge - World's highest road bridge

On National Geographic, the construction of Millau Bridge, the highest road bridge in the world, was shown. After seeing this, I was in awe of the engineers, designers, steel company - Eiffel, and all the workers who had equal share in converting this design into reality fighting against all odds of weather, wind, and Physics!! I often wonder, what a sense of success, all those people involved must be having for the rest of their lives. They have tons of stories to narrate! Awesome!

After seeing such feats achieved, I feel that there are many more courses that students can opt for besides computer science. Kids, master your concepts of Physics and Mathematics. With courses like structural engineering, one can take up professions that are mentally challenging. Children and parents, these pictures are not just to admire but also gives us something to think about out of the box!!

Following are some pictures of the modern marvel.
Read more about this by visiting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_Viaduct

What after Tenth standard?

Recently, many of my students contacted me for advice on which option to choose in 11th standard. All confused minds!! They all knew one thing for sure that they want to do engineering and only Computer Science stream. Thanks to the IT sector booming in India, it has heightened the expectations of the youngsters to that level, that they do not see any other field except computers, IT. These are the buzz words. Thus, they all have to concentrate on PCM!! (Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry)

With IT companies giving such attractive remunerations, who would not think of it as the first option, or may I say, the only option!! The common notion being, spend 4 years in an engineering college and lo! land up in an IT job and then life is set. The best thing is the youngsters are absolutely clear of this path. I guess our awareness level was less compared to today's school girls and boys.

I wonder how much of this will hold true after 5 years? Is the scene going to remain the same? IT sector has definitely opened up lots of opportunities for today's youth and has given the confidence to the youngsters that they can procure job acquiring certain skills. The rest they manage once they enter the jobs. But will the vacancies be as many as it is today?

Back to the confusion of the students. In order to give complete concentration to PCM, should they opt for engineering drawing, physical education, economics, computer science? Surprisingly, the top of the order is won by physical education followed by engineering drawing and then computer science!! The explanation of the order being pretty obvious.
Most of the students have enrolled in FIITJEE or Brilliants for preparation for IIT. With pressure of clearing CBSE boards after two years and to be the top ranker in the engineering entrance tests, can you blame them?

What should be the best advice to my students and all such students of today? Are there any other avenues besides IT? Can they look beyond computer science engineering? What are the various allied courses for which they can explore?

Probability - odds against and in favor