The Apollo 11 ephemeral : Mankind's Giant Leap

It's now been nearly four entire long  decades since Neil Armstrong took his "giant leap for mankind" but that's only if he ever set foot off this planet. Conspirators say the U.S. government, desperate to beat the Russians in the space race, faked the lunar landings, with Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin acting out their mission on a secret film set, located  either high in the Hollywood Hills or deep within Area 51. With the fact that photos and videos of the Apollo missions only available through NASA, there's no independent verification that the lunar landings were fake or real.

While the worlds mouth was left wide open when Neil Armstrong stepped on the.moon, some people disbelieved that the incident took place.

Even now these people clog up YouTube with their various proofs and theories that either  humans did not walk on the Moon or  they have lost all touch with reality.
All over the internet, one can find conspiracy theories from wrong shadows projected, no stars in the background , no blast crater created,the foot prints way too preserved,American flag "flowing"

Another claim , largely based on a claim from a Russian cosmonaut, which siad that the astronaut's could not have survived the radiation from the Van Allen radiation belt . However,The short time it takes to pass through the belt, combined with the protection from the spacecraft, means any exposure to radiation would be very low.

 Coming to the other side of the coin, "If you think the moon landing was fake, the you need a new brain " is what Buzz and Professor Brian had to say on Twitter to the conspiracy theories.  Acoording to The Washington Post, 9% of the respondents said that it was possible that astronauts did not go to the Moon and another 5 were unsure.

A 1999  Poll found that 6% of the Americans surveyed doubted that the Moon landings happened and that 5% of those surveyed had no opinion,which roughly matches the findings of a similar  Time/CNN poll.

So while the rest of the world decided to move on and believe the moon landing story there are many who are still are in disbelief. To conclude with ,signing out, hoping there's cheese on the moon.

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Inclusion Education: The Dawn Of A New Era

Inclusion Education

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela

This profound quote has a tremendous importance in educating the children of different disabilities so as to give them the power to change their world and those of others and be a constant source of inspiration. To bring out the best in the differently abled children, inclusion education has achieved excellent results. Inclusion in education was once described as an approach wherein students with special educational needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled students.

Now it is crucial that all policy makers, school boards, administrators, guidance counsellors, teachers, parents and students ensure inclusive practice in all aspects of educational environments. The history behind the roots of inclusion education date back to the 1950’s. At that time, it was widely believed that children with developmental disabilities could not learn. The government, therefore, accepted no responsibility for their education. Parents of children with developmental disabilities, understanding the potential of their sons and daughters to learn and grow, responded by creating their own schools in places like church basements and private homes.

Government slowly accepted responsibility for funding parent-run schools and eventually agreed that not just funding, but public schooling, should be available to children with disabilities. Although the first educational programs developed by school boards were segregated, they successfully laid the groundwork for parents and others to call for the inclusion of children in general education classes. The advocates of inclusion education believe that non inclusion hampers the social visibility, importance and causes more social stigma.

Proponents say that society accords disabled people less human dignity when they are less visible in general education classrooms. Also as the differently abled kids can intermix with their peers and to some extent lead a normal life and it has been studied that students with mental retardation who spend time among their peers show an increase in social skills and academic proficiency. 

Moreover,the typical students who are included with special needs students at a very young age have a heightened sensitivity to the challenges that others face, increased empathy and compassion, and improved leadership skills, which benefits all of society. Thus inclusion education is a win-win situation according to me  as it allows all  kinds of people to have a shot at growing and leading a normal life.

But , there have been many criticisms too. inclusion education does not acknowledge the fact most students with significant special needs require individualized instruction or highly controlled environments. Thus, general education classroom teachers often are teaching a curriculum while the special education teacher is remediating instruction at the same time. Similarly, a child with serious inattention problems may be unable to focus in a classroom that contains twenty or more active children.

It all distills down to the people involved in the process and their outlook. But according to me inclusion education  should be followed as the it benefits society as a whole . And all humans whatever their needs may be should be given the best opportunity to grow.   

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The Lost Identity: Bose's Minority Report

CHAPTER I

Well after 70 years we have certainly appreciated the fact that the mastermind and an extremely radical activist Subhaschandra  Bose never died in a plane crash. Then the question is what happened to him? Where did he disappear? What if I told you that Bose was present at the funeral of Mahatma Gandhi? What if I told you that the greatest of leaders never wanted Bose's files to be opened. What follows now is a heartbreaking and shocking story of controversy, conspiracy, assumptions and sheer politics.

The Outrageous Portrait:

Let’s have a look at what was actually portrayed to us about Bose's death.
In August 1945, a heavy bomber took off from the Saigon airport. The plane was comprised of 13 people including Bose.

After a halt in Vietnam on 18th August, the plane arrived to refuel at Taihoku, Formosa (now Taiwan) and after that the plane didn’t quite take off, according to the pilot's plan. The post engine fell off thus killing almost everyone on the plane except for Bose, he did survive but his gasoline ignited clothes didn’t leave anything but death for him.

But to what extent is this story true?

There was no official report from the government of India as well as Britain which could prove that Bose died in the crash. No dead body of Bose was ever recovered, which is quite ironical because the other lieutenants that were following the plane were quite convinced that they saw Bose's body. The government even refused to get a death certificate.

Then there were rumors that Bose had collaborated with the Soviet Union and was biding his time there. Well others said that he was in China.

A New Theory:

In the early 1950s people believed that Subhaschandra Bose had transmogrified himself in to a monk. Many of the followers of Netaji claimed that he was a chief Sadhu in the Ashram of Shoulmari in North Bengal.

According to a number of reports, Bose came back to India from the Soviet Union, attended Gandhi's funeral in disguise and then chose to become a monk. Well other theories suggest that Bose had joined hands either with the Maoist or the Soviet Union and also attended Nehru's cremation in 1964 which was recorded on a photograph produced below.

An interesting incident occurred soon after Nehru took up the foreign policies after the independence. He appointed Vijaylaxmi Pandit as the ambassador for Russia who was then overtaken by Dr. Radhakrishnan. But witnesses reveal that Dr. Radhakrishnan went on record and said that he met Bose in Russia.

Soon after that a KGB report was found which stated that “We cannot work with Gandhi or Nehru, we need Bose” implies that Bose was still alive in 1946.

The Monk Doppelganger:

Well many reports stated that Bose was somewhere in North Bengal as a Baba, but still no concrete evidence was found until people realized that there was something really peculiar as far as his resemblance with the Gumnami Baba was concerned. Gumnami Baba aka Bhagwanji of Faizabad was more or less a replica of Netaji. Not only his looks but his handwriting, his possessions and the rimmed spectacles were strikingly similar.

After his death in 1985, this Baba left something that historians craved for. When looked for his possessions, what we found was  gold rimmed spectacles, a German binocular, a colorful photograph of Swami Vivekananda and publications of Suresh Chandra Bose (a prolific writer of that time) which Netaji had summoned before attending the Khosla Commission. Others also found a map, a torch and letters and photos of Netaji's death written by many of Bose's followers.

Also an undivided map of India was found which is something that certainly an activist before the independence would possess. Certain clips of Bhagwanji indicate that he celebrated his birthday on the 23rd of January.
Definitely, so much resemblance can even beat the definition of a doppelganger!

Another Convincing hypothesis:

Certain reports also show that the Dictator of the Soviet Union in 1945, Mr. Stalin killed Netaji. Certain witnesses have also revealed that Bose after surviving the attack took shelter in China which was at time under Russia occupation with a ray of hope that Russia would protect him but fate made it go the other way round. Stalin captured Bose and put him in jail in Siberia. He was probably hanged to death in 1953. But then again a question struck everyone’s mind, what about the monk doppelganger?

What happened to Bose is still a big question to the world and certainly a matter of concern for historians. A legend like Bose who was extremely intelligent in disguising was perhaps nothing less than a mystery for people. Maybe he walked amongst the people, maybe he tasted the sweet and the bitter part of our independence the same way as we Indians did or maybe he died in the plane crash. No one knows.

But what we know is that he was tenacious, authoritative and a great leader. His contributions and sacrifices to our struggle of independence are nothing less than an inspiration for all generations. To his contributions, let’s take a bow.

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Carvana: The Car Vending Machine

When we were toddlers, we loved those little dispenser machines that tended chocolates, candies, and sometimes even toys. Put a coin, get what you like, go home, happy. But what if I told you that there is now a dispenser full of Big Boy Toys. Yes, I am referring to cars!

Carvana, the car sales company has now introduced a Car Vending Machine. Phoenix-based car dealership Carvana has done a pretty impressive job of moving the entire used car buying process online. For any vehicle you're interested in, you can examine a long list of specs, ratings, reviews and details, as well as examining it inside and out with a standardized rotating tour that points out every nick and scratch on the bodywork.

Everything down to trade-in and finance is done online. The car is then delivered to your door, and you've got seven days to "test drive" it, after which you're free to return it if you're not happy. The online model allows Carvana to cut down on staff and overhead, and according to its own estimations, save customers around US$2,000 in the process.

Of course, delivery fees cost money too, and Carvana noticed that a lot of customers were excited enough to come in and pick up their cars straight away. The more people came to pick their cars up, the more Carvana saved. So the company decided to make a bit of an experience out of it.

The end result is a giant, five-story vending machine for used cars, which has just opened outside Nashville, Tennessee. Customers roll up after buying their cars online, they're given an oversized coin token to put in a slot, and they watch their car come down from the carousel. Personally, I'm excited when something I buy comes in a nice box, but this takes things to a whole new level.

Carvana sees the "vending machine" as a way to make the pickup process a bit of an experience for buyers, as well as a way to reduce overheads in terms of real estate, staff and the like. And I can't think of a lot of people who'll mourn the loss of the used car salesman from the process, either.

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Eradication of Malaria: Now a possibility!

What happens when the best player of the opposition gets knocked down? Obviously you take a giant step towards victory. Well the scientists trying to find a cure for malaria seem to have done just that. They have been successful in attacking the main organ of this dreaded monster responsible for almost two million deaths worldwide every year. What I mean to say is that they have genetically modified a mosquito to be malaria resistant.

Several research groups have been constantly trying new genetic modifications for some years now. Their hardwork has finally borne fruit as researchers at the University of California, Irvine have successfully created a mosquito chain that not only doesn't allow the mosquito to spread the plasmodial parasite but also pass this characteristic to 99.5% of its offsprings! They surely have taken 'the bite' out of malaria. One more astonishing fact is that after this path-breaking research scientists believe that they may have stumbled across what may be a potential cancer cure !!.This is really great news for humanity.  
                            
Though this  gene modification was done on anopheles stephensis, a species responsible for spreading malaria in urban India, it is expected to work for all species with future experiments scheduled. The main goal of the scientists is to release genetically modified mosquitoes to mate with their wild counterparts causing the modified genome to enter the stain pool, thereby eventually short -circuiting the ability of the species to infect people with the disease.However chief tease archer and molecular biologist Anthony James has cautioned all by saying that this method may not be the entire solution to eradicate the disease, but along with the preventive drugs & future vaccines, it plays a very pivotal role in sustaining elimination of  malaria.

However, every coin has two sides and so does this technology. The moment the students in Anthony James basement in-sectary looked at the glowing eyes of the mosquito they had worked on ,the colour also containing the gene that renders the mosquito ineffective as a vector, they knew they had violated the laws of evolution .Since this gene drive, facilitated by the gene editing technology called CRISPR has evolved, the scientific community has always been at odds regarding the ethical use of this technology. Gene drives are just the latest fantastic power of the CRISPR technology, with speculation that it may be used to create designer human babies! Henry Greely, a bioethics specialist at Stanford says that the environmental effects are more worrisome than a few modified species. The  possibility of remaking the biosphere is enormously significant but realistic. "Indeed,who are we to alter the genetic composition of the Almighty's creation" ,says Dwight Peterson, professor of molecular biology at Harvard.

Well, this debate has no end and only time will tell on what the scientific communities agree. Lets hope that whatever it is,it's in the best interests of humanity.And also lets spare a moment and thank those who have worked tirelessly behind this project.They are the true heroes.

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