QUANTUM 5 | NOVEMBER 2014W W W . I S S U U . C O M / T H E F E A T H E R S

INDIANSRUN THE WORLD

COVER STORY | 08

CONTENTS

PARALLEL UNIVERSES

34LAST [5]16

RATHINAKUMAR

12

OPEN LETTER TOSACHIN28

08

12

16

22

28

30

34

COVER STORYMODEL PORTFOLIOLAST. EPISODE 5

SPORTACUSLETTER TO SACHINA GIRL’S PAGEPARALLEL UNIVERSES

CONTENTS

02

I recently read Digital Fortress, Dan Brown’s first novel. The cover said “A new master of smart thrills”. I have had a strong desire to use the F word ever since. Yes, Dan is good, no doubt. But why is he so much more famous than the real masters of smart thrills? I read contemporary novels selectively, and among those I have read, Dan is certainly not the best.

James Rollins has always impressed me with his work. The amount of research he goes into, the way he makes us question the truth. I was completely taken by surprise when I read his SIGMA Force books, especially The Judas Strain and the Doomsday Key. A man of his cadre, of his talent, deserves much more than he has now. I was saved when I got to know that a SIGMA Force movie is underway. With some luck, if this movie is a hit, maybe we can hope for more of his blockbuster books.

CONTENTSEDITOR IN CHIEF

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

COVER PHOTO

WRITERS

AR MUTHU KUMAR

SGA THOMAS

NEENA SABARI MENON

SOMA SUNDARAM

03

Why not the best?

EDITORIAL

04

05

Welcome to OutFocus.

Did you know OutFocus is entirely an online based magazine? Members from all over India, organized by the Feathers, bring together this magazine for all of you out there. You can participate too.

#TenthEveryMonth

Photography: Indhu Kanth [InK]+91 9445651095

Shiv Nadar University, Noida.

06

BHEJA FRY

SETTER: AFTERDARK

Here is the solution to last issue’s Bheja Fry puzzle. Sadly, we didn’t receive any right answers, but for

those who tried, better luck next time :)

07ADVERT

08

IN(dian)FLUENCEon the world

COVER STORY | SGA THOMAS

Arati Prabakar

09COVERSTORY

Earlier this year, Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer as Microsoft’s CEO, underlining the rise of Indians and Indian-Americans in the US tech world. And below are three famous personalities who have, in their own ways, shown the world about the IN(DIAN)FLUENCE

Arati PrabhakarFor those who are fond of Action-fiction/Detective/Spy thriller genre, you must have come across the acronym “DARPA”. DARPA is the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. And it’s current head, Dr. Arati Prabhakar is ethnically Indian.Born on February 2, 1959, Ms. Prabhakar came to the United States at the age of 3 with her mother, who was seeking an advanced degree in social work at the University of Chicago. When she was 7 the family moved to Lubbock, Texas, where she grew up. Her mother encouraged her to pursue a Ph.D. from a very early age.She has a 1979 bachelor of science in electrical engineering

from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. She earned a Master of Science in electrical engineering in 1980 and a PhD in applied physics in 1984, both from the California Institute of Technology. She was the first woman to earn a PhD in applied physics from Caltech.Prabhakar subsequently worked at DARPA from 1986 to 1993, initially as a program manager but later as the founding director of DARPA’s Microelectronics Technology Office.Dr. Prabhakar has spent her career investing in world-class engineers and scientists to create new technologies and businesses. Her first service to US national security started in 1986 when she joined DARPA as a program manager. She initiated and managed programs in advanced semiconductor technology and flexible manufacturing, as well as demonstration projects to insert new semiconductor technologies into military systems. As the founding director of DARPA’s Microelectronics Technology

Office, she led a team of program managers whose efforts spanned these areas, as well as optoelectronics, infrared imaging and nano-electronics.At the age of 34, in 1993, President William Clinton appointed Dr. Prabhakar director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a position she held from 1993 to 1997. After NIST, Dr. Prabhakar moved to Silicon Valley in 1997 as the Chief Technology Officer and senior vice president of Raychem from 1997 to 1998. She was then the vice president and later president of Interval Research from 1998 to 2000.She joined U.S. Venture Partners from 2001 to 2011, focusing on investment in green technology and information technology startups. On July 30, 2012, she became the head of DARPA, replacing Regina E. Dugan.Dr. Prabhakar is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a Texas Tech Distinguished Engineer, and a Caltech Distinguished Alumna.

Satya Nadella

10

Seetharaman NarayananThe name sounds familiar ? Yes, You are right. I’m sure you stared at his name a lot, particularly when your Photoshop is loading slowly. Although he could probably retire and enjoy his life on a certain tropical island, Seetharaman Narayanan chose to continue his work in Adobe. His name appears right after the No.1 Thomas Knoll in the splash screen.Seetharaman Narayanan is the Lead Adobe Photoshop Engineer. Seetharaman (Seetha) is recognized for his amazing team working skills, strong ability to handle pressure and overall humble nature when it comes to taking credit for his outstanding work. Seetha first joined Adobe in 1991 as a deputy engineer on the team responsible for bringing Photoshop over to the Windows platform and later repeated his efforts for Lightroom. Seetha was also one of the key people responsible for the Photoshop port to Mac OS/X.Narayanan has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Regional Engineering College (now

National Institute of Technology – NIT) in Tiruchirapalli, India. He came to the U.S to pursue a Masters in Engineering at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and also obtained another Masters there in Computer Science. He was employed by CrystalGraphics for several years before joining Adobe Systems.Because of his work porting version 3.0 to Microsoft Windows, he is thought of as the “Windows Guy” on the Photoshop team.‘After laying the foundation for the Windows effort, one of the first things I did for the product was to make it multi-threadable.’He worked on Bridge 1.0 and has worked on getting Adobe Lightroom ported to Windows. But he says “Photoshop is always my home”.

Sundar Pichai:Appointed as Google’s new Product Chief by Google CEO Larry Page on 24 Oct, 2014, Pichai Sundararajan, better known as Sundar Pichai, is an Indian businessman and a Senior Vice President at Google, where he oversees

Android, Chrome, Google Apps, search, research, maps, commerce, ads, infrastructure, and Google+. Pichai worked in engineering and product management at Applied Materials and in management consulting at McKinsey & Company. Then he joined Google in 2004, where he led the product management and innovation efforts for a suite of Google’s client software products, including Google Chrome and Chrome OS, as well as being largely responsible for Google Drive. He went on to oversee the development of different apps like Gmail and Google Maps. On 19 November 2009, Pichai gave a demonstration of Chrome OS. On 20 May 2010, he announced the open-sourcing of the new video codec VP8 by Google, and introduced the new video format WebM.On 13 March 2013, Pichai added Android to the Google products he oversaw. He serves as a Member of Board of Advisors at Ruba, Inc. He was a Director of Jive Software from April 2011 till 30 July 2013.

“it’s execution and results that matter in the end, regardless of where you come from.”

11COVERSTORY

Pichai is married and has a daughter and a son. Born in Chennai, Tamilnadu, he did his early schooling in Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Chennai. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree from IIT- Kharagpur. He holds an M.S. from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.

And the list doesn’t end here. It goes on. This cover story is just to give a breif outline of 3 Global Influential people in top US firms, who were born in India. “It’s just one more symbolic thing that validates that our world is becoming much more global and is crossing boundaries,” says Padmasree Warrior, chief technology officer of Cisco Systems. And above all one study reports that around 15% of startups in

Silicon Valley are founded by Indians.

What if they stayed at India ? Well, I will leave it to your Imagination. But Padamsree also gives us hope whilst stating, “it’s execution and results that matter in the end, regardless of where you come from.”

“Photoshop is always my home”.-Seetharaman Narayanan Seetharaman

Narayanan

RATHINA KUMAR12

K Rathina Kumar

About me :I am K.Rathina Kumar, 23, theatre artist, Director & Cinematographer. I have Directed & Acted in a few short films and some telecasted in Adhithya TV.

Mobile Number: 9944362627https://www.facebook.com/rathinakumarthedirector

Previous films:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-8gVYpgNz4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1X7GjYEK0s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO_Sr9A6Vtwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOiIQ9IrArk

PORTFOLIOS

14

Photography: Neena Sabari Menon+91 9488859390McGan’s Ooty School of Architecture.

15FOTOGRAPH

16

I started shaking in fear as if I was a mobile on vibrate. The creature howled again. May be a signal. It came near to me. It eyes were cold and was fixed on me. Deep down, it haunted me. My breath started to calm down. It locked me down there for nearly 30 minutes. What was this thing waiting for? Why didn’t it kill me? We were looking each other eye without a blink. Fear was now at bay but not sure whether it would disappear. I stretched my hand; it went back a bit, looked at my empty hand and then me. It was 6 feet tall, and had two legs. It face had a two luminance eyes, that resembled those of cats. “Who are you?” I asked it.It stared at me.“Stop staring. Are you the Post Human? If you are, you could talk, right? “ A strange noise.A strange noise surrounded the atmosphere. Computer voices. I could see lines of program codes getting executed out of nowhere.

“WARNING!”“DISEMBODIED SYSTEM SUSPECTING ITS STATE”“WARNING!”“REQUIRED: ADDITIONAL ASSITANCE AND SUPERVISION” BEEP BEEP BEEP “WARNING!”“ACTIVATING EMERGENCY PROTOCOL: ACCESSING ARCHIVES”“PERMISSION REQUIRED”“PERMISSION GRANTED” I couldn’t resist the sound. It’s everywhere, filling the void. I shouted. BEEP BEEP BEEP----The same breeze made my eyes open. The same beach.The same child is playing with his sand dolls.My professor and his friend were standing there and watching the boy play. My professor turned back and looked at me. “Hey, come! Up on your feet”“Sir?”“Come on.”“What’s happening?”

“Dude, come on man, Recreation process is going to begin”, his friend called him.“Give me a minute”“What is that? What’s happening here?”“Recreation”. He said with a smile.“Come with me.” He took my hand. Suddenly the whole beach turned into that bunker. “Did you brief him?”“I was about to”“Carry on”My professor turned towards me and said,“You very well know that dreams are part of your consciousness.”“Yes.” “This project was started to preserve a human’s consciousness.”“Why do we need to preserve?”“So that, during times of disaster, Dreams from consciousness would help us win.”“I am not getting it.”“The government has approved the POSTHUMAN PROJECT”.

[to be continued]

17STORYSERIES

LAST. ”RECREATION”

5-SGA THOMAS

18

19SPOTLIGHT | TV SUPERHEROES

Best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani on the NBC sitcom, Friends and its spin-off Joey, Matthew Steven “Matt” LeBlanc was born on July 25, 1967 in Newton, Massachusetts. One of the most influential trendsetters during 1995s, LeBlanc found success in the role of Joey Tribbiani on Friends, and went on to play this character for twelve years — ten seasons of Friends and two seasons of Joey. “Friends” was successful and LeBlanc, along with his costars, gained wide recognition among viewers. In 2011, LeBlanc began appearing as a fictional version of himself

in Episodes, a BBC/Showtime television series about a British television series. In February 2012, LeBlanc appeared in the second episode of the eighteenth series of Top Gear, where he set the fastest time of 1:42.1 in the Kia Cee’d, narrowly beating previous holder Rowan Atkinson by 0.1 seconds.

He appeared in two of Jon Bon Jovi’s music videos: “Miracle”, from the Young Guns II soundtrack in 1990, and “Say It Isn’t So” in 2000. He also appeared in Alanis Morissette’s single “Walk Away” in 1991

and the Heartbreakers “Into the Great Wide Open” and in Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” in 1994.He has appeared in the films Lookin’ Italian (1994), Ed (1996),Lost in Space (1998), Charlie’s Angels (2000), and All the Queen’s Men (2001).His production company, Fort Hill Productions, coproduced the made-for-TV movie, The Prince, in 2006.

He has won Screen Actors Guild Award and Teen Choice award for Friends, People’s Choice Award for Joey and a Golden Globe Award for Episodes.

MATTLEBLANC INFLUENCIAL TRENSETTER DURING THE 90S

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21FOTOGRAPH

Photography: Indhu Kanth [InK]+91 9445651095

Shiv Nadar University, Noida.

22

TENDULKARD E C O D E D

_SOMA SUNDARAM

23SPORTACUS

‘Beating the Field’, ‘Straight from my heart’, ‘The Test of my life’ -

Can you guess the latest phrase in this series? Need a clue?

They are autobiographies of Cricketers - ‘Beating the field’ is Brain Lara’s autograph, ‘Straight from my Heart’ is from Kapil Dev’s desk and ‘The Test of my life’ is Yuvaraj Singh’s. Now, the list is extended and this time the reviewer is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

“I knew that agreeing to write my story would need me to be completely honest, as that’s the way I have always played the game. It would require

talking about a number of aspects I have not shared in public before”, as said by Sachin before, ‘Playing it my way’ lights some of his secret cauldrons. Of that, his fallout with Greg Chappel, former Indian cricket coach gathered attention in social medias.

In the book, he shares as many incidents, right from first picking up a cricket bat as a child, the practice sessions that expensed him four bus travel every day, his first international chance, theories behind his scars, the halcyon day when he recovered from injuries, the depressed hours when he was called ‘endulkar’ and asked to quit

cricket because of his transient out of form, the quest for the hundredth hundred, winning the world cup finals against Sri Lanka at his own city, the final test he played and on.

The book is co-authored by Boria Majumdar, renowned cricket historian and media personality. The book is pressed by Hodder & Stoughton for worldwide and by Hachatte for distribution in India. The price tag marks 899 Indian currency. However, the cost sounds reasonable as it is going to be used for the alleviation of malnutrition in children and for providing clean water to under privileged.

Abhimanyu Kumar Singh

THE

KARGIL WARAir Operations

From May 11 to May 25,

ground troops supported by

the Air Force tried to contain

the threat, assessed the enemy

dispositions and carried out

various preparatory actions.

Entry of the Air Force into

combat action on May 26

represented a paradigm shift

in the nature and prognosis of

the conflict. In operation Safed

Sagar, the Air Force carried

out nearly 5,000 sorties of all

types over 50-odd days of

operations.

The Western Air Command

conducted the three-week-long

exercise Trishul three weeks

before Kargil. During Trishul, the

IAF flew 5,000 sorties with 300

aircraft using 35,000 personnel

and engaged targets at high

elevation in the Himalayas. The

IAF claimed to have flown 550

sorties in Kargil, though just

about 80 were on or close to

the target. Soon after Kargil,

both the commander-in-chief

and senior air staff officer

of the Western Air Command

were mysteriously transferred

to the Central and Eastern

commands.

Operations in this terrain

required special training and

tactics. It was soon realized

that greater skills and training

were needed to attack the

very small/miniature targets

extant, often not visible to the

naked eye.

The shoulder-fired missile threat

was omnipresent and there

were no doubts about this. An

IAF Canberra recce aircraft

was damaged by a Pakistani

Stinger fired possibly from

across the LoC. On the second

and third day of the operations,

still in the learning curve, the

IAF lost one MiG-21 fighter

24

PATRIOTIC SERIES:

FALLEN,BUT NOTFORGOTTEN!

3

and one Mi-17 helicopter to shoulder-fired missiles by the enemy. In addition, one MiG-27 was lost on the second day due to engine failure just after the pilot had carried out successful attacks on one of the enemy’s main supply dumps. These events only went to reinforce the tactics of the IAF in carrying out attacks from outside the Stinger SAM envelope and avoiding the use of helicopters for attack purposes. Attack helicopters have a certain utility in operations under relatively benign conditions but are extremely vulnerable in an intense battlefield. The fact that the enemy fired more than 100 shoulder fired SAMs against IAF aircraft indicates not only the great intensity of the enemy air defenses in the area but also the success of IAF tactics, especially after the first three days of the war during which not a single aircraft received even a scratch.

The terrain in the Kargil area is 16,000 to 18,000 feet above sea level. The aircraft are, therefore, required to fly at about 20,000 feet. At these heights, the air density is 30% less than at sea level. This causes a reduction in weight that can be carried and also reduces the ability to man-oeuvre as the radius of a turn is more than what it is at lower levels. The larger radius of turn reduces maneuverability in the restricted width of the valley. The engine’s performance also deteriorates as for the same forward speed there is a lesser mass of air going into the jet engine of the fighter or helicopter. The non-standard air density also affects the trajectory of weapons. The firing, hence, may not be accurate. In the mountains, the targets are relatively small, spread-out and difficult to spot visually, particularly by pilots in high speed jets.

The Indian airfields nearest to Kargil were Srinagar and Avantipur. Adampur near Jalandhar was also close enough to support air operations. Therefore, the IAF operated from these three bases. The planes used for ground attack were MiG-2ls, MiG- 23s, MiG-27s, Jaguars and the Mirage- 2000. The Mig-2l was built mainly for air interception with a secondary role of ground attack. However, it is capable of operating in restricted spaces which was of importance in the Kargil terrain.The MiG-23s and 27s are optimized for attacking targets on the ground. They can carry a load of 4 tons each. This could be a mix of weapons including cannon, rocket pods, free- fall and retarded bombs and smart weapons. It has a computerized bomb sight which enables accurate weapon delivery. These planes were, therefore, ideal for use in the mountainous terrain of Kargil.

25PATRIOTISM

26

However, on May 27, the MiG-27 flown by Flt Lt Nachiketa, while attacking a target in Batalik sector, developed an engine trouble and he had to bailout. Sqn Ldr Ajay Ahuja, in a MiG-2l, went out of the way to locate the downed pilot and in the process was hit by a Pakistani surface- to-air missile (SAM). He ejected safely but his body bearing gun- wounds was returned subsequently. The state-of-the-art Mirage-

2000s were used for electronic warfare, reconnaissance and ground attack. This fighter delivers its weapons with pinpoint accuracy. In addition to carrying free-fall bombs, it also fires the laser-guided bomb with deadly effects. In fact, it was this weapon that caused considerable devastation to Pakistani bunkers on the ridges at Tiger Hill and Muntho Dhalo. In the Mirage attack on Muntho Dhalo, Pakistani

troops suffered 180 casualties.

Because of the need to engage Pakistani targets in the valleys and on ridges, the slower helicopter gunship became an important requirement. The load-carrying Mi-17 was modified to carry 4 rocket pods with air-to-ground rockets. This helicopter proved effective in engaging Pakistani bunkers and troops. On May 28, while attacking Point 5140

27PATRIOTISM

in Tololing sector, one helicopter and its crew were lost to a Stinger heat-seeking missile. Thereafter, because of the number of SAMs being fired, helicopters resorted to evasive tactics but persisted with the attacks.

The operations restricted to Kargil area did not lend themselves to the use of air power. There was a constraint of not crossing the Line of Control (LoC) to the Pakistan side. The IAF was, therefore, not at liberty to destroy the Pakistani supply lines and smash the logistic bases across the LoC. However, such attacks were done on Pakistani facilities on

the Indian side of the LoC. The targets were identified along with the Army and engaged by day and by night in precision attacks by Mirage 2000s and Jaguars. Supply lines, logistic bases and enemy strong points were destroyed. As a result, the Army was able to pursue its operations at a faster rate and with fewer losses.

To obviate the threat from SAMs, bombing was done accurately from 30,000 feet above sea level or about 10,000 feet above the terrain. In these high level attacks, the infantryman does not see his own fighters and, therefore, feels that air support is not there. It is

estimated that in operation Vijay, about 700 intruders were killed by air action alone. The IAF has intercepted a number of enemy wireless transmissions indicating the effectiveness of IAF attacks.

Pakistan Air Force fighters were picked up on the airborne radar of our fighters but the PAF planes did not cross to the Indian side of the LoC. Nevertheless, as a precaution, IAF , strike aircraft were accompanied by fighter escorts. After all, in the recent past no war has been won without control of the air space in which operations are conducted.

[will rage on]

28

An Open letter to Sachin (well he is on a first name basis with me, I know him for 25 years)

Well, to begin with an autobiography is one’s own story. That’s what the words mean right??

But, when you are amidst an intense media coverage for 25 years, there is very little of your life that is not known in the public space. At least, what you did in public. A guy like me can write an autobiography, and for everyone it is a revelation. Because nobody knows me. Or like some authors, I can write auto fiction. About what I wish happened to me and what if I acted differently in a situation.

Here, we have someone who was a part of our lives (my boss whenever I cribbed about me getting less compared to someone else, used to ask me ‘why aren’t you comparing yourself with Tendulkar?) .. So from 1989 at least we know you and what kind of a prodigy you are. Well that’s not really fair. Many of us picked up a bat just when we knew how we can stand in two legs. And you, as we all knew was obsessed and like Malcolm Gladwell would say in Outliers, you simply practiced harder than the rest of the world. It doesn’t come as a surprise to me.

An open Letter to

Sachin Tendulkar

29OPENLETTER

We know you whom we called God.

And then I pick up something you say you have thought about for 3 years and you gives me accounts of the matches you played? Can we have a bet Mr.Tendulkar? I will tell you more about your career than what you would know yourself. That six of Aaquib Javed’s slower one in 1992 world cup was a work of a genius for whom the game genuflected.

No, I am not one of these fashionable icon bashers. You are the closest I ever was to theism.

You always had a stage. And people listen when you talk however childish your voice was always. You were a man whom we respect (note the tense please). You had an opportunity to set something in motion about fixing. I don’t remember right, was it Singer Cup when you were told that the match was fixed, you wowed to win it through your blade. I saw you terribly emotional thrice. One when your dad died and you came back to score that century and looked skywards. Then when we won the world

cup at home.

And when you quit. (that respect to the 22 yards). India meant so much to you and you were demonstrative about it unabashedly. The tricolor in the helmet and the grips of the last match. Don’t you think you can do more for this country? Was it all about centuries? (well you did them for us, I won’t bitch about it)

You yourself ask whether any of our ex-cricketer’s comment on Ponting and Clarke would find headline in Melbourne Age and Sydney Herald. Then why does Ian Chappell feature in your book? Greg I understand. He was associated with Indian cricket. Your duty is to us. These incorrigible Indians who would pre-order 1 Lack copies and spend 7 hours straight to read what you said. If your life is not interesting enough for 500 pages, I should just text mine.

If you know, all middle class Indians wherever they are and whatever they do and make it somewhere, go through all of what you did in the past, and we crib about our children not being us. But are we the same people anymore?

You and Ponting, both got out to this guy Chandala whom we think is a fixer. You should have been fuming inside. I know that. And you don’t say anything about it. Who is even going to castigate you (a defamation suit maybe, but with your money and Indian courts, even Arjun Tendulkar would not have heard the end of that case). And about your Ferrari…

Mate, we grew up together. I was somehow feeling that you will give me an answer to how to survive in this silly world. And all I get is, ‘focus on your work’… Wasn’t the same thing said thousands of years back in Bhagavad Gita?

Sachin, I love you. That moppy hair kid with a printed shorts holding that bat is an image I will carry to my grave. And the reverberation of Sachin you mentioned, I was one in that chorus.

The calluses in my palm of holding a bat for ages and still not scoring a century even in a side lane game with my cousin is the same as the guy who did 100 international centuries. Now I know.. The game… That is God. Not you….

Shrikanth Thirumalaiswami

30

31A GIRL’S PAGE

A voice, or perhaps a noise reached my ears while I came across a lady speaking a language that I never knew. Often we are exposed to various vibrations with or without our consciousness. Out of all those, our minds choose only those that we like. Our favorite song even when played from a long distance reaches us better than the voice of a person speaking next to us. Again, beyond the fact of liking there’s an aspect of knowing...

Deep in the murky things that are unknown, a noise is hidden. This silent noise troubles the mind without our knowledge. Constantly and quietly our mind is in search of ‘knowing the unknown’. Sometimes we are caught in tantrum as an effect of this silent noise in us. In this life of mystery not that we can get an answer for all the questions. Still we yearn and try our best to attain the maximum quotient. Noise is not an entity of the external world but a matter that makes us. In other words, our life thread. Only the vibrations are built upon in every cell of our body. So always mind to let in the positive vibrations to be strung in you...!

K N O W I N G T H E U N K N O W NSARU MATHI

32

NEENA SABARI MENON+91 9488859390McGAN’S OOTY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

33FOTOGRAPH

NEENA SABARI MENON+91 9488859390McGAN’S OOTY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

34

RESEARCH:

disproving theALTERNATE UNIVERSES theory

ARMUTHU KUMAR

35RESEARCH

Before discussing about alternate universes, one must understand the three major time travel theories.

1. C o n s i d e r yourself to have invented a time machine that can take you back in time. You go back to where Hitler was born and you replace the child with a different one. But the future will not differ. The child you replaced with Hitler will grow up to become the same Hitler who was misplaced. This can be called the theory of conservation. No one can change the flow of the universe. 2. C o n s i d e r yourself to have invented a time machine that can take you back in time. You go back to about 70 years and kill your own granddad. Hence your dad wouldn’t have born. So you wouldn’t either. You have disrupted the flow of the universe and

so you have changed the universe forever. Let’s call this the theory of changing universe.

3. Consider the same possibility. When killing your grandfather, you created a new set of possibilities. You will still exist (in your universe), but you have inadvertently created a new universe where both your father and you were never born. This is the theory of alternative universes.

Let’s see it another way. You are standing at an intersection on a road. You can choose either to go straight or left or right. For each decision you make, you create a new universe. This, coupled with multiple other random factors, you can imagine how many universes can be created. So the universe we live in is actually one of millions of other universes created since the beginning of time.

There are an infinite number of universes. Or so some scientists have argued for a century.

But I beg to differ. So here goes why.

Now for the first one. So the assumption is that we are able to travel back in time. If that assumption is nullified, the theory does not hold.Consider yourself in a train moving at almost the speed of light (hypothetically). Mid-way through the journey, you get up and walk in the direction the train is moving. This would add your velocity to the speed of the train. It should mean that your speed has exceeded the speed of light. But the universe has a way of avoiding that. The universe slows you down so that you wouldn’t exceed the ultimate speed. In your perspective, the time around you is faster than the time for you. If this goes on for a

36

considerable time, your time would be in so much out of phase from the time around you. By the time you return to Earth, you would be far ahead of your time. You would be almost the same age as you were before you made the journey but your colleague would have become old, or might have been dead. You have successfully travelled into the future.

The problem is that the (hypothetic) technique will only allow an into the future time jump. It will not allow a reverse jump. Time is like a

piece of rubber. You can stretch or compress its length but you cannot make it negative.When time cannot run in reverse, the theory that a time jump will create a new universe is negated.

The second idea is based on multiple possible outcomes of an event. Each new possible outcome creates a new parallel universe. What if there is only one possible outcome for any event. We just don’t know all the variables that affect an event. You might regret what already happened, but

in truth if placed in the exact same incident again, the exact same will happen again.Consider a coin toss - the basic example for any probability theory. Two random outputs and there is no way to predict the output. Or is there? What decides the output of a coin toss? Some of the major factors are the velocity and direction the coin is tossed, the gravity factor and the wind factor. Though it is unlikely to measure all these parameters and predict the possible outcome, the fact is that the event

FORMATION OF PARALLEL UNIVERSES

37RESEARCH

is indeed influenced by these parameters.

You might think of choosing a random apple or orange as a random possibility. In truth it is not random. The brain is a complex mechanism – we all agree on that. It is a mechanism. It is programmed, and

programmable. We just don’t understand all the variables that influences a supposedly ‘random’ choice.

With the knowledge and understanding I have today I argue that the alternate universes theory, no matter how

good in fiction, is not possible in reality. If someone has a very good counter argument regarding how time can be manipulated to run in negative or how random events are indeed random, please respond to us atC o n t a c t F e a t h e r s @yahoo.com

ALL THE UNIVERSES EXIST SIMULTANEOUSLY, BUT A LITTLE OUT OF SYNC

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