Mathematics is beautiful?

Don't we all love equations?

I mean, don't you like the image of a blackboard covered with unintelligible equations, that seem more like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs?

Now, when you ask someone to give their opinion about mathematics, in one word. The answers will cover almost all the negative adjectives out there.
If we have "Mathematics is ______?" as a question, answers will be something like: boring, confusing, weird, incomprehensible.

But, wait! Maths is BEAUTIFUL?

An article from BBC says that researchers have found that our brain perceives mathematical equations as beautiful. The areas in our brain, that light up when we see a mathematical equation, are the same areas that light up when we appreciate art, or music.

Perhaps, it's the mystery of mathematics that makes us think so.

To me, mathematics is magic. It's the language of the universe.

When I read the article, I felt I should try asking my friends what they think about equations.

I scribbled a few equations (Schrodinger's wave equation, Euler's identity, equation for correlation between two variables), and showed them to my friends.
I asked them how they feel when they see those equations. While some of them gave expected responses, most of them did agree that they found it pleasing to the eye.

Consider the following: You are not a physicist or a mathematician, and you're watching an episode of the popular sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory' or an episode of 'NUMB3RS'.
Or maybe, you're watching the 2001 movie 'A Beautiful Mind'.

Now, there are plenty of occasions in these series, and the movie, where you see blackboards covered, end to end, with equations.

My question is, do these equations, even if they don't make sense to you, stimulate your brain?

Do you perceive them as beautiful? Or do you just skim through them, without a thought?

One of my friends said that the equations make him 'think'. He wants to know the meaning behind the equation, and understand it fully to appreciate it's beauty.
But it does make him wonder how the equation came into being. What great minds could have formulated a concoction of scribbles that define reality.

Mathematics is logic. But, do we appreciate logic?
Or do we appreciate the aesthetics of the equations? Those meaningless scribbles, given meaning by great minds?

To find out, I asked my friends another question.
And, I'll skip to the results. Although, mathematicians find Euler's identity to be the most beautiful.
Non-mathematicians, like myself, will find Ramanujan's infinite series to be more beautiful. Whereas mathematicians find the equation to be the ugliest.

Euler's identity

Only after knowing the logic behind Euler's identity, are we able to appreciate it's beauty.

So, to the untrained eye, complexity means beauty. Interesting

Anyways, if you want to read the full BBC article, click here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26151062

So, do you find mathematics beautiful? Leave your answers in the comments below.

Why science?

"Science is a way of thinking; more than it is, a body of knowledge." -Carl Sagan

Ever since we're born, we have the inquisitive nature to question everything we see, everything we hear, everything we taste, everything we feel. Everything we observe seems like a question.

Somewhere along the way, growing up, we lose the ability to question what we observe around us.

Whether or not we're interested in science, we're intrigued by the great minds science has given us.

These great minds, are now lost in the pages of history.

Carl Sagan says: 

"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows about science and technology"

"Why?" I wonder.

And people often ask me "Why science?" Because I love science. Simple as that.

My journey with science began when I was six. My father bought me a set of four books from a series of books titled "I wonder why?" These books are amazing for kids, and I personally recommend them for kids, age 4+.

These books are still out there, if you want to gift your kid something interesting,.

These books answered some basic questions like "I wonder why I sleep?" to "I wonder why penguins can't fly?" and "I wonder why stars twinkle?".  Other topics included planets, the human body, black holes, animals and dinosaurs.

The next few years, I kept asking for more and more, and my parents kept buying me books on science. By the time I was 11, I had a book shelf full of books on science, encyclopedias, fact books, atlases, books on wildlife, and many more.

Then came along science's worst enemy; high school and junior college.

If you're from India, you must be familiar with the cut-throat competitive exams, and pressure to succeed. It crushes the life out of you. During this brief academic nightmare, I hated science.

Then, I took a year's break, and I re-discovered the joys of science. My nemesis in junior college, physics, was now my best friend. And mathematics became a dear friend, albeit an annoying one.

I then, joined MGM Institute Of Biosciences & Technology, to pursue a degree in biotechnology.
And I fell in love, all over again.

I began to read, and read, and read. Gather as much as I could, for as long as I could.
In my free time, I read physics, and tried to teach myself advanced calculus (I failed).

Physics was a joyride, though. The simplest of observations, understood through mind-bending equations.

Even an inch-long equation such as E=mc^2 can have profound implications, and amazing applications. If that doesn't excite you, I don't know what will.

To think, is human. To wonder, is science.

For science lovers, I'll suggest a few links where you'll find the most amazing science-y stuff

On facebook, there are plenty of amazing pages on science, some of them are:
The Scientist
Wired Science
From Quarks to Quasars
ScienceDump
Physics Today
I F**king Love Science

There are some amazing youtube channels, as well. Some of them are:
minutephysics
Vsauce
SmarterEveryDay
Veritasium
AsapSCIENCE
Sixty Symbols
Nottingham Science
Periodic Videos
Numberphile

And there's my favourite science blog: It's Okay To Be Smart

Enjoy, fellow nerds! *fist bump*

And I hope that one day, people will say "Yeah, SCIENCE!" instead of "Why science?".
(Jesse Pinkman reference, LIKE A BOSS!)

Cluster headaches: NOT your ordinary headache

So, I've been diagnosed with cluster headaches.

Considering that this might be the most painful condition known to medical science, the word "headache" seems more of a misnomer.

It fails to convey the severity of the pain. I believe only those suffering from the condition have an idea of the pain experienced. The rest shrug it off as an exaggerated version of the common headache.

Although the name suggests that someone suffering from CH only has headaches, there are variety of symptoms accompanying the excruciating pain. This is due to pressure building up on the trigeminal nerve due to vasodilation. Although, the underlying cause for CH is still unknown to medical science.

Apart from the obvious headache, other symptoms associated with the condition are: swollen eye, lacrimation (tearing of the eye), phonophobia, photophobia, stuffy nose, confusion, depression and others.

Another feature of this condition is that it is strictly unilateral. The left side of my head, and face are affected. The right side has no effect.

I'm consulting a neurologist, and I'm having prophylactic medicine, along with painkillers to manage the pain, when needed.

The neurologist asked me to identify triggers. So far, I've identified three: stress (physical & mental), change in weather, change in sleep pattern.

Note that triggers may differ from person to person.

For those who are unfamiliar with the intensity of the pain, here's a video of Tom having an attack:

If you've seen the movie Pi (1998), you must remember Max having bouts of severe headache? 

Max had cluster headache. 

Remember him drilling a hole in his head? 

People who suffer from the condition can go to extreme lengths to get relief from the pain. Some have also committed suicide, thus giving the condition it's nickname, suicide headaches.

Why am I writing about this? Because it affects me, and has a far greater impact on my life than you may think. It affects work, my ability to think, affects me as a whole.

Recently, on twitter, I came across a few accounts dedicated to raising awareness about the condition.

You may follow them here:
 @drunkitty2000, @PhilipBagLowe, @ClusterHead, @Clusterheads, @ClusterHeadTom (from the video) 

I'll be updating this post with more twitter accounts, as I get to know more people. But, if you suffer from CH, you should definitely follow the above mentioned. (Hope they don't mind me mentioning them, here. Without consent.)

Anyways, to anyone with CH, my heart goes out to you. I wish you relief and comfort.

Also, share your experiences with CH in the comments below. Or, follow me on twitter. God bless. 

About my Samsung Note 3: Why I love the device, and hate the company.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is perfection, from every angle. In, and out. Perfection.

Anyways, during my last visit to Jeddah, my parents decided to buy me a cell phone of my choice. And I chose the Note 3. Why? Because it's perfect.

And so, we bought the phone from a reputed electronics store, and got home.
We were admiring the device when a tiny brown paper fell from the box, on which was written that the device would work with sim cards issued from certain regions only, along with a list of countries where the phone would work.

We went back to the store, and it turned out, the store's management had no idea about it. Samsung never informed any of the stores about this ridiculous move. And that's not what's annoying. What's annoying is their customer service. Worst customer service. EVER.

Now, anyhow, the guy at the desk asked us to take the device to India, and assured us that it will be unlocked at any Samsung service center. So, we wanted to confirm that.

We went to the main Samsung service center, where we were greeted by neatly dressed gentlemen who were good at one thing: nodding. So this guy at the counter just nods, and nods. Pretending he understood whatever we said.

He goes in, and comes back after about 5 minutes. He asks us to speak to another guy at another counter. Now, this guy supposedly had a PhD in being an obnoxious arsehole whose genius solution for us was to buy a second Note 3 for use in India.

"Sir, this is for use in Saudi. This is Saudi product." In my mind, I'm like "No, bitch! This is not a Saudi product. And I paid 2,799 SAR for this thing. I expect you to work out a solution."

So, the second genius solution from this guy was "You want to unlock phone? Give 200 SAR, I unlock phone. After, no warranty. KHALAAS."

So, we left, muttering to ourselves.

Anyways, I got back to India. And I brought the Note 3 with me.

By this time, I was pretty irritated. I went to the local service center, and asked them to provide an unlock code to deactivate the region lock. They'd never heard of it before. And, they asked me to try unlocking it somewhere else.

My uncle said he knew a guy who could unlock the phone for 1,000 INR.

Now, this guy was also a PhD in being an obnoxious arsehole.

With his face shriveled like a roasted eggplant, he began hitting keys on random on his laptop. Although, all he was doing was trying to buy an unlock code from a website. Turns out, Mr. Obnoxious Arsehole #2 had mistaken region lock for carrier lock.

So, he said he couldn't unlock the phone.

It's been 5 months now, and my phone is lying in it's box. Unused.

Samsung has planned to apply region lock to it's previous devices, along with the Android 4.4 (KitKat) update. And if someone has, somehow, managed to bypass the region lock, it will be reactivated with every firmware update.

I tried contacting Samsung India, and was asked to contact Samsung UAE. While, they also mentioned that they cannot do anything as my phone is carrier locked. I tried explaining to the guy that it's a region lock, but he kept insisting otherwise.

Now I'm going to take the phone back to KSA, and give the Note 3 to my parents.
And I'm thinking of getting a Sony Xperia Z1 as my  Nokia C7 is being a pain (NOTE: it's been 3 long years with my C7!).

I end my rant with "Screw you, Samsung!" 

Where have I been?

Where have I been? I don't know.

A lot has changed since my last blog post, and things have moved from one state to another so damn fast. When I look back at the past 6-8 months, it's nothing but a blur. No actual memories.

I'm attending college, yes.

I'm pursuing my Bachelor's degree in biotechnology.

 I'm done with my first of six semesters. I'm at one of the best colleges, here.  And I'm enjoying every moment of my academic life at MGM's Institute For Biosciences & Technology, Aurangabad.

 I don't know what else to say.

I may have lost my ability to express myself.

It's been long since I last wrote, and I felt like writing. And now I feel stupid for doing this.

Expect nothing from this post, I have nothing to offer.

Ah, anyways. I'm thinking of a facebook page, or blog about science (suggestions are always welcome). I had a twitter science account, but I'm too lazy to log in and tweet daily.

Even this blog. it's gone rusty. It's dying.

My twitter account's practically non-existent. Don't be fooled by the number of followers, I've been at 420 for the past year, maybe. Or maybe more than a year, it seems.

I miss family, yes. I miss them, A LOT! Love my mother's warm smile, my father's reassurances, my brother's hugs.

Ah, sweet memories. I try to re-enact them in my mind, just to make myself comfortable whenever I feel lonely and home-sick. (Hmmm... Home-sick, is that an actual sickness?)

Friends, yes. I've made my acquaintances at my college, young lads. They're good people,they just need a little push in their lives. (So do I)

I've been reading books. Popular science, mostly. Ordered Brian Greene's "The Fabric Of The Cosmos" about a week ago. Next on the list are Brian Greene's "The Hidden Reality", and a book on psychology would be good. (Suggest a few good ones, please)

What else?

I've lost contact with more friends than I've made contact with. So, I guess it's not long before I'm running out of friends. Anyways, quality over quantity. So that doesn't really bother me. (It does bother me a little, though)

Anyways, Granny's calling so I need to go.

Hugs are always welcome. Hope you weren't bored reading this. 

BIRDY!

Birdy is my third charcoal drawing.

THIRST

This is one of my charcoal drawings. I made this one for a friend of mine. So, you like it?

Leave a comment.

It's GODZILLA!

Considering the fact that I have a garden, I shouldn't be surprised, but I'm freaked out whenever I see some creepy-crawly inside the house.

Imagine this: It's 3:30, and I'm awakened by nature's call. I walk into the toilet, all yawning and sleepy, when all of a sudden, I see 'GODZILLA'!
And by GODZILLA, I mean this disgusting house lizard that has been haunting my toilet every night.

I know it won't harm me, but I can't help but gag and run out of the toilet, and force myself to sleep, I say 'force myself' here because I really want to pee. Like, seriously.

Recently, I've bought peacock feathers, and kept one in each room, because I read somewhere that lizards are scared of them.
And you know what I did? I forgot to put one in the bathroom. So, I guess I'd have to get used to sharing my toilet space with this disgusting reptilian.

The little ones are kind of cute, to be honest. But I'd be more than glad if someone just threw a brick at them. (Please don't call PETA)

Thanks to these lizards, I have to double check my raisins before eating them just to make sure.

Some women might think I'm funny, cause I can't stand a 3 inch long creature. I really don't care.
Lizards are disgusting. PERIOD.

Anyways, if you're one of those women who think I'm not cool because I'm scared of lizards, please stare at image below and keep saying this: "I READ NOTHING, ASIF IS A COOL GUY".

Black Holes: A Brief Explanation

OK, so this is the copy of an article on black holes that I wrote to give to a friend who was interested about the subject. 

Click on the images to enlarge them.

The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind

Well, I've been reading this book "The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind" by Dr. Joseph Murphy.

And to be honest, I kinda liked the book. But at times it gets boring with the continuous, repetitive recalling of incidents...
And I found the book to be somewhat self contradictory at certain points.

And even though I relate to what the book has to say regarding 'The subconscious mind'. I just don't seem to understand how the subconscious mind is synonymous with the idea of God?

While the author at some point talks of the subconscious as a positive, all pervading source of limitless energy.
He switches then, to the idea that the subconscious mind is our slave, and we are the master.

I just couldn't get the idea of why the author has such contrasting opinions. Or, maybe I'm not smart enough to get what he's saying


I somewhat struggled to make sense of the book, and at times, I could relate to it.

P.S: Well, my blog looks funny cause the font size keeps fluctuating (I don't know if this word describes it well). I don't really know what bug is causing this. But I'll try to fix it.

I think the contrast's too high...

No, I'm not talking about my LCD.

I'm talking about the headlines we see in the news.

If you're acquainted with the Indian news, you can relate to this post better.

I see a HUGE contrast in the headlines everyday, makes me realize just how badly we need to change.

I'll give you an example:
One fine morning, laying on the cot in my drawing room, I was going through the newspapers. I read "47% of Indian children are still suffering from malnutrition"... As I turned the page I saw a very contrasting piece of news: "BSP uses 1,00,00,000 Rs worth polythene to cover their elephant statues"

The elephant statues being covered up pre-elections.

After reading this, I got pissed off, and started ranting on twitter. But, what good is ranting, right?

I mean, how is it that there's no body or organization that keeps a watch on where or how our taxes are being used by political parties?

Seriously? How can they so lavishly spend our hard earned money? Taxes are meant for development of the country, not for putting up statues worth millions and millions of ruppees!

Like, how is it even permitted? This isn't a monarchy is it? This is the people's money. We work day and night to make a living, and pay our taxes, hoping that we're helping the country. And this is what they do with it?

Someone definitely needs to look into where and how, and for what purpose our taxes are being utilized...