Pin In A Haystack?

Its been nearly 20 days since the Malaysian Airlines MH 370 flight went missing off radar and still we haven't been able to locate it. With modern technology and the use of satellites, locating something as massive as an airplane should not take this long, despite the vast expanse of the oceans.

Until the aircraft is found and the debris examined, it is impossible to arrive at any conclusion as to what might have brought the aircraft down. At this point it is more important to concentrate on finding the aircraft rather than speculating the cause of the crash. An interesting point to note is that every modern aircraft carries a Cockpit Voice Recorder (called the "Black Box") to record conversations in the cockpit. This black box is equipped with a beacon that emits radio signals if the aircraft crashes. The position of the black box and hence the aircraft debris can be identified by picking up these signals and locating the beacon. The beacon emits these signals for a pretty long time (a span of about a month according to my knowledge). Its astonishing that these signals still haven't led to the aircraft being located.

However, on the slightly brighter side, hope still floats that there may be some survivors, however unlikely it may seem. A source of inspiration is the "Miracle of the Andes". In 1972, a plane carrying a rugby team crashed in the Andes mountains in South America. The plane could not be located and the search was called off in sometime. However, some brave people had survived the crash, and it was only after more than two months in the bitter cold that they were rescued. A few of the brave hearts traversed the Andes mountains on foot until they reached a settlement and asked for help for their fellow survivors. This was truly a miracle as they had survived the freezing temperatures without appropriate clothing and no food.

So let's hope that a similar miracle can save the passengers of the MH 370 flight and that the aircraft is located as soon as possible. Till then the relentless effort must continue and we all must pray for MH 370.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper's Strings

Any fan of The Big Bang Theory will know how much Dr. Sheldon Cooper prides himself in being a theoretical physicist. One of the recurring things that Sheldon talks about is String Theory and how that is the toughest subject in the universe. I, being a Sheldon and Physics fan, decided to explore the realm of String Theory. Although my understanding is still rudimentary, I realized the potential of String Theory and just how difficult but at the same time interesting it actually is.

Even my friends who dropped science in the 9th grade will tell you that an atom is made up of protons, electrons and neutrons. We were made to believe that these particles were indivisible, but the truth is that neutrons and protons are actually made up of smaller particles called "quarks". String Theory hypothesizes that these quarks are linked together by strings. Of course these strings are not the common strings that we use everyday! The strings could be a chain of gluons (another sub atomic particle). These strings vibrate in different ways to produce different particles. Thus if we could master the vibrations of these strings then we could explain everything in the universe, from the Big Bang to things like parallel universes.

String theory also tells us that there are more than the four dimensions that we know about. The dimensions we know are the X,Y and Z coordinate axes and the fourth dimension being time, but there could be as many as 11 dimensions, the rest being invisible to us. These extra higher dimensions could lead to the possibility of parallel universes and the stuff of science fiction movies could actually be real. The strings could grow to form membranes, and our universe could actually be one membrane in a much larger higher dimensional space, where the particles on this membrane are bound and cannot get off the membrane. This theory can also explain the Big Bang, by stating that the Big Bang was only a collision of two such membranes that led to the formation of our universe. Thus there may be parallel universes in the form of membranes, but we cannot see them as we cannot see these higher dimensions.

Thus the potential of String Theory covers sub atomic particles as well as things bigger than the universe! Therefore String Theory could actually be the Theory of Everything. I would recommend anyone interested in String Theory to watch a few of the documentaries on the same subject on YouTube. For a more technical understanding involving Mathematics, one can see the series of video lectures on String Theory from universities like Stanford (again on YouTube), just as I do. Nobody can say for certain whether String Theory is actually true or not, but it does open a pathway to things beyond our wildest imagination.

My Manchester United Starting Eleven

All Manchester United fans will agree that this season hasn't gone according to script. Since the last few months I have been baffled by some of David Moyes' team selections. Do not get me wrong, in no way do I advocate that Moyes is not the right man for the job. I believe he will eventually do well, and it is only a matter of time, a transition period.

Over the last few months I have seen many cases when the starting eleven selected and substitutions made have not been up to the mark. Adnan Januzaj has been the shining star for us this season. Still in so many games instead of him Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia have started, despite the fact that the latter two haven't been in any form this season, other than Ashley Young's 2-3 game blitz few months back. Against Olympiacos in the first leg of the Champions League last-16, Januzaj wasn't included in the match day squad despite the fact that Juan Mata is cup tied, and the lack of creativity clearly showed on the pitch. In the same game Marouane Fellaini didn't start, although he was a standout performer in the Crystal Palace match, prior to the Champions League tie. Also in many games when we have been a goal or two down and have had to chase the game, a striker is brought on for a defensive midfielder. This invariably means that Wayne Rooney has to fill in the void in midfield, which limits his attacking potential and thus the best attacker in the side is forced to sit back and not contribute enough in the final third.

However, in recent games the situation has become better, with Rooney, Van Persie, Mata and Januzaj starting, so let's hope the trend continues. As David Moyes says, there WILL be big summer signings so we should look forward to those. Moyes has already done three big things - signing Fellaini and Mata and renewing Rooney's contract, so the future looks bright!

My current Manchester United starting 11 would be:

David De Gea - Has been brilliant so far
Patrice Evra - No other choice as Buttner is not experienced enough
Nemanja Vidic - Despite leaving in the summer, the Serbian is still rock-solid
Johnny Evans - Seems to be Vidic's replacement for next season
Chris Smalling - Rafael has not been good enough in a defensive sense
Michael Carrick - Hasn't been the best season for him, but his passing is still needed
Marouane Fellaini - He has shown his attacking threat since coming back from injury
Adnan Januzaj - Although he is young, he is fearless
Wayne Rooney - Nothing needs to be explained here!
Juan Mata - The Spaniard brings creativity
Robin Van Persie - The best finisher in the team

Although the season has been a let down, hope still floats!