technothlon

[technothlon]

Learn. Experience. Discover.

Every year, millions of kids in India drop out of school to work in petrol bunks, grocery shops, factories to make a little extra money to support their families. While this does not happen very often in urban schools, it is very prevalent in rural areas. Despite the government providing free and compulsory primary education and even mid-day meals in government schools, the problem prevails. It could be due to the family’s financial situation or simply the lack of interest. We here at Technothlon decided to do our bit in tackling this problem, by doing what we do best, Inspiring Young Minds! It was with this motive that we started conducting L.E.D’s (Learn, Experience, Discover). 

L.E.Ds aim to make education fun, using interesting science experiments to teach simple science concepts. Over the last year, we have conducted L.E.Ds in over 20 schools all around India, spreading smiles everywhere we go. Unlike normal classes, where the teachers drone on and on about the syllabus, and you are expected to learn (or memorize) everything just to score in the boards, L.E.Ds depend on practical learning, and demonstration. Volunteers demonstrate simple, fun, easy to build science experiments to students, and teach them concepts through these. 

Unlike classes, L.E.Ds are interactive. The sessions are designed in such a way that students are always kept involved, and are motivated to think on their own. This ensures that once they learn the concept, they will not only remember it for a long time but are also likely to use it in everyday life. Experiments are also designed in such a way that they can be replicated using simple household items, which further helps the students learn.

Some members of Team Technothlon ‘17 share their experiences:

LED is one of my favorite thing of Tehchnothlon. Showing experiments to younger kids, teaching them the science using simple techniques. It feels great to see their excitement, energy and curiosity.

-Ashutosh Kumar

The happiness and satisfaction that we get from showing the experiments and explaining the concepts to underprivileged students cannot be replaced by anything else. 

-Yash Kothari

As we look to reach out to more people, we have also launched the online edition of LEDs this year. You can find these educational posts on our Facebook Page!

However, to truly realise our dream of reaching out to each and every student in the country, we will definitely need your help! Anyone who wishes to have a positive impact on students all over the world, and would like to be our partners in inspiring young minds may join us and contact us for other details.     

Team Technothlon ‘17

[technothlon]

To all the students who have just gotten their results, this too shall pass!

And just like that, the season of results is upon us. The days you’ve been dreading since the start of your vacations, they’re here. More often than not, this phase proves to be really challenging for students, primarily those who have given their 12th standard boards. While those who have fared well are in for a blast, with congratulatory phone calls from all their relatives, their families celebrating it like a festival, and generally being showered with love, those who have not fared well face something completely different. Calls from family, friends, relatives who you had no idea existed, each and every one of them asking about your marks, and not knowing how to react when you tell them, trying to console you by saying “It’s not that bad”. It’s a nightmare for those poor souls. 

This is where you need to stay strong. It’s easier said than done, but you just have to get through a few hours of this. Only a few hours. Rant to your friends if it helps. What are friends for anyway? Eventually, these calls will stop and everything will be back to normal. Take your time to recover. You need not be too harsh on yourself. This period of anxiety and pressure will soon pass. Understand that everyone needs time to handle disappointments. Figure out what you are disappointed with and try to work on that. Now that that is out of the way, you can start thinking about what you are going to do. If you have just completed your 10th, then you have ample time to work on what went wrong, and perform much better in the 12th boards. Give a fair amount of thought about the stream you want to continue in, but don't let it stress you out. If you have just completed your 12th, then now is the time to figure out what you want to do, what you want to learn. Keeping an open mind now is perhaps the most important thing, as hard as it maybe when you’re in such a grim mood. In our country, most students follow the path their families lead them on. Now is a good time to reflect on your interests, see if you have indeed been following your goals, or if you’ve only been following your parents’. You have a couple of months, go out there and find out what you are truly passionate about. 

 This is not the end. In fact, this is the beginning of the rest of your life. Things are going to get way crazier than ever before. You are going to meet new people, forge new friendships, some will last a lifetime, some will leave a sour taste in the end. Most of you will leave the comfort of your homes and live in a hostel, experience the outside world for the first time maybe, learn to be independent. You will do things you’ve never imagined yourself doing. You will go on crazy trips with your friends, go through intoxicating highs and depressing lows, make more memories than you can count, fall in love, have heartbreaks, do embarrassing things, loads and loads of embarrassing things. But at the end of it all, you will learn, you will grow, you will become the person you’ve always dreamt of being. And most of all, you will realise that your mark sheet can not define you, can not stop you from following your dreams. Maybe you won’t be in a very prestigious institute, but so what? Being in a prestigious institute does not guarantee success, nor does being in a less popular college doom your fate. Set goals for yourself, work towards them, learn from your mistakes and one day, you will realise that you have become the person you have always dreamt of becoming, and maybe, just maybe, that this was the best thing that ever happened to you. As a wise man once said, things always work out in the end. In case they haven’t, it isn’t the end my friend.  ______________________________________________________________

Team Technothlon’17

[technothlon]

Technology in Sports

Technology has been changing lives ever since modern human came into existence and today we cannot imagine a single hour (let alone day) in our lives without resorting to one or the other conveniences that we are so familiar with. But not only our daily lives technologies have helped revolutionise sports as well. In this blog we will sink our teeth into some of the more popular instances.

Hawk-Eye:

A British system made by Paul Hawkins, it uses a computer vision based technology to track the trajectory (and other dynamic variables) of the ball. It is deployed by a number of (generally 6) high speed cameras around the field of play. The imagery from each of the cameras is used to determine the 2-d coordinates of the ball. Now the 2-d data is combined with the relative placements of the cameras to generate a 3-d model for the ball’s trajectory.

Implemented in 2001, it got off to a rough start, with criticism ranging from interrupting the flow of play to the inaccuracy of the system coming from a large group of sports followers, experts and players. But it is recognised with no doubt today that it has revolutionised sports officiating and consumption like no other technology has ever been able to.

Hawk-Eye Innovations Inc. (the parent company) claims that its Ball Tracking and SMART technologies are used in more than 20 major sports, most popular being its use in tennis, cricket and football.

The 2006 US Open is the first Grand Slam event to use the system during play allowing players to challenge line calls. Hawk-Eye’s Electronic Line Calling is used to determine whether a ball has bounced in or out and currently it is being used in more than 80 tournaments over the world. It is known to correctly determine the trajectory of the ball within an error limit of 2.2mm.

Hawk-Eye’s technologies have been used in cricket primarily by the television networks to show the trajectory of the ball in their broadcasts since 2001. In 2008 it was approved for use by ICC and added as part of the Decision Review System (DRS). Its primary use in cricket officiating is for analysing lbw (leg-before-wicket) decisions given by on-field umpires. For this it uses some kind of algorithm to project the trajectory of the ball beyond its point of impact (with the pads) based on its trajectory before it hit anything to see whether it would have gone on hit the wickets. There has been much furore about the accuracy of the system when it comes to the visualisation part. Whether the algorithm and system as a whole is capable of showing a projected path just based on the trajectory data available before collision has been a matter of several debates over the years.

In football Hawk-Eye has been implemented as a Goal Line Technology to determine whether the ball has crossed the goal line completely in case of close calls. We well talk more about it in the next section. 

Goal-line Technology:

According to FIFA, “Goal-line technology is a technical means of instantly determining whether the whole of the ball has crossed the goal line.” It is currently implemented using GoalRef, Hawk-Eye, GoalControl.

GoalRef:

Developed by Fraunhofer IIS in Germany, it uses low frequency magnetic fields to determine whether the ball has crossed the goal line completely. It uses two magnetic fields to do it, one in the goal area and the other in and around the ball. The magnetic field around the goal is permanent but that around the ball is not, it is created through magnetic induction whenever it comes near the goal (three coils are embedded in the football mutually perpendicular to each other). The interaction between the main field around the goal and the field induced in the ball is picked up by coils attached to the goal. By further measurement and analysis of the signals, it is possible to determine whether the ball had completely crossed the goal-line. The result is transmitted in an encrypted form to referee’s wristwatch in almost real time.

GoalRef was used for the first time in the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup.

GoalControl:

Also a German developed system, its functioning is quite similar to that of Hawk-Eye. It uses 14 high speed cameras, 7 directed toward each goal to acquire the visual evidence required to adjudicate whether a goal has been scored or not.

Apart from officiating, the data generated from these technologies at sporting events are extensively used for coaching, to understand strengths and weaknesses of players and to chalk out strategies for games. Hawk-Eye has even made sporting simulators which puts fans in the shoes of world’s greatest players playing at some of the world’s most famous venues taking event experiences to an all new level.

All these beautiful technologies have been made possible due to advancements in the fields of Computer Vision, Image Processing, Augmented Reality etc. brought about by the collaborative efforts of engineers and scientists from all around the world. Despite all the criticism, it is fair to say that if anything, these technologies have made watching sports more interesting than ever before.

Abhirikshma Nandi, Team Technothlon ‘17

[technothlon]

Do Carrots Really Improve Your Eyesight?

With the temperatures beginning to rise, I cannot think of a better chance to express my views about the vegetable which has troubled a lot of children much more than the hot weather - “The Carrot”. The carrot, being a seasonal veggie is on many parental favorite lists, due to one prime reason - “Eating carrot is good for the eyes”. Moreover, each one of us accepts this notion as a fact without any investigation. So with a deep sense of empathy for my counterparts who have weak eyesight, I would like to take the responsibility of looking into the matter.

To begin with, let us study in brief, the compound responsible for good eyesight; Vitamin A. In general, there are two types of Vitamin A, depending on the type of food source it comes from:

·        Vitamin A obtained from animal-derived food is called retinol. Retinol can be used directly by the body.

·        Vitamin A obtained from colorful fruits and vegetables is in the form of “provitamin A” carotenoids, which are converted into retinol by the body after the food is ingested.

Vitamin A helps protect the surface of the eye (cornea) by preventing it from getting dry. In combination with various other antioxidants vitamins, Vitamin A also plays a role in preventing vision loss from aging and night blindness. Vitamin A helps the eye convert light into a signal that can be transmitted to the brain, allowing people to see under low light.

As far as the question about carrots is concerned, the answer is yes, under certain conditions. Carrots are quite rich in β carotene, which is used by the body to synthesize Vitamin A (retinol) which is good for vision as discussed above.

But the million dollar question, which still persists – “Are carrots worthy of the hype?” Let us find out. Most studies look at the benefits of β carotene, and not carrots specifically. Still, other research has shown that β carotene does not convert into Vitamin A efficiently – estimates suggest that it requires 12-21 molecules of β carotene to synthesize a single molecule of vitamin A. This suggests most individuals would be better off taking vitamin A supplements, if possible, instead of downing carrots. Another fact that would break the heart of many people just munching rabbit food incessantly in order to improve their eyesight is that, once you have enough of β carotene in your body, it stops getting converted into vitamin A. Moreover, many food items such as sweet potatoes have higher β carotene content than the carrot. In addition to this, food items like beef, chicken liver, whole milk, and cheese contain retinol which is directly absorbed by the body (β carotene needs to be converted to retinol, then absorbed).

So why did the carrot get such a huge name while its friends like the sweet potato face injustice despite being equally deserving? There is an interesting story which according to some people is responsible for the vision improvement tag associated with carrots. Actually, since the middle ages, carrots have been hailed as Miracle Veggies and were thought to cure anything, from snake bites to STDs (which is obviously false). The Bugs Bunny food was not associated with strong eyesight until World War II.

 During the 1940s the German bombers usually struck under the cover of darkness. In order to make it more difficult for the German planes to hit targets, the British Government issued citywide blackouts. The British Royal Air Force was able to repel the German fighters because of a new, secret radar technology which could pinpoint the German bombers before they reached the English Channel. But in order to avoid exposure of the ‘new’ technology, the Ministry provided another reason for their success – CARROTS! They wove a tale about their skilled fighter pilot John Cunningham, saying that he attributed his excellent night vision to his steady diet of carrots. Soon, it was mandated that everyone should eat carrots to see better in the dead of the night! But it was a fake propaganda which spread around the world like a forest fire. Perhaps, this incident marked the beginning of the association of the carrot with good eyesight; a notion which prevails even today.

So I think that we have uncovered the truth. Carrots are definitely good for eyesight, but the belief which tags the carrot as the exclusive eyesight-friendly veggie is indeed false. Many foods are even more beneficial for a good vision than the carrot. But still carrots are good for your health, so they must be consumed occasionally like any other veggie in your refrigerator.  

Ishan Azad, Team Technothlon ‘17

[technothlon]

Meet The Team

What is Technothlon? Beyond all the brain-freezing and mind numbing questions, it’s just a bunch of 18-year-olds being guided by a smaller bunch of 19-year-olds in a building in IIT Guwahati. But what happens along the way is that this group of previously unknown faces becomes a family. And at its core, Technothlon is about the family of like-minded thinkers who make this nationwide examination a reality. Here’s an inside look into what Technothlon is all about:

How did you come to be a part of Technothlon?

Sparsh Jain: I love solving puzzles and thus wanted to be a part of one of the biggest logic based competition in the country when I came here and hence decided to grab my opportunity and join the organizing team of Technothlon.

Shambhavi Das: After a few weeks of joining the college, there was major hype surrounding which 'team' should one join. All teams offered very different opportunities and tasks. I thought I couldn't possibly work in a team which has monotonous and mindless mechanical work. After attending a few meetings of different teams, I felt like Technothlon was the most welcoming place for me.

Abhay Kshatriya: I knew the level of Technothlon questions before I came to IIT Guwahati. It didn't make sense to me that students could come up with such questions. I joined it as soon as I got news that Technothlon 2017 team was going to have its first meeting.

Jishnu Chander: I had given the examination a few years back and it was a fresh break from the hectic JEE days. This experience motivated me to work as a part of Technothlon and give the same opportunity to many others.

Varun Seshadri: Various Techniche module heads were going around the campus to recruit first years into their respective modules. This was my second encounter with Technothlon, my previous one being the exam itself. I liked the way the heads pitched the work I would be doing in Team Technothlon and hence decided to join the team without any further thoughts.

Which part of Technothlon excites you the most and why?

Shambhavi: The freedom and creativity it offers. I wouldn't hesitate in saying that Team Technothlon is THE place where individuality is appreciated the most. The heads support us and guide us through all our jobs, taking special care to not influence our decisions. The job, in the end, is completely up to us. We are given full freedom.

Abhay: The most exciting part about Technothlon for me is that being in the team, I've learned so much, acquired essential skills and found a new family. What also excites me is the grand prize of Technothlon this year! A trip to NASA!!

Abhishek Dogra: Deciding the Mains events, because in this part one can explore one's creativity in a logical sense. Also one gets a chance to have a hands-on experience with what we have just read in theoretical form. 

Yash Kothari: The fact that the questions asked during prelims do not require any previous knowledge but is based more on common sense and logical thinking. Also, the events during mains are designed to explain difficult concepts using simple examples and experiments. 

Your experience with L.E.Ds

Amartya Roy: To put it simply, it feels like we are doing something worthy for the first time in our lives. After every LED, you can see the smile on the faces of these students, and makes me feel like I’m on top of the world! LEDs are amazing, and I think everyone should experience it at least once in their lives.

Abhay: Conducting a LED was the most fulfilling experience of my life ever. It was heart-warming to see students put in the effort to understand our simple experiments. Learning about these simple and fun experiments amazed them. It made us cry with joy when the teacher came to us at the end and said that the children wanted another LED the next day. It was the one time in my life when all I cared about for the next hour were the students sitting in front of me looking at me with that 'spark' in their eyes. That interest in science is all that we wanted to see. I hope the LEDs grow in numbers and reach.

Abhishek: Experiencing LEDs are one of the best parts of being a part of Team Technothlon. Children get really amazed when they witness basic science experiments. It feels really great to see them enthusiastic about learning new concepts.

Paranjay Bagga: Organising LEDs is an awesome way to interact with school students in a valuable, educative and healthy manner. It is appreciated by teachers and students alike. Students enjoy and at the same time, learn a lot from it.We ourselves, enjoy demonstrating and explaining these experiments. We take it upon ourselves to ensure that these LEDs reach students who need it the most.

What has kept you motivated to work for Technothlon?

K Harsha Vardhan Reddy: The fact that we are organizing a prestigious nationwide competitive exam, that too conducted by an IIT. The reputation of our institution motivates me to work for the team.

Dipjyoti Das: I was aware of the level of questions that are asked in the paper, but I never knew that I could make such difficult questions. I decided to give it a try and since then it has motivated me to frame even more difficult ones and perhaps the feeling of seeing one's questions in the Technothon paper motivates me more.

Ishan: The feeling of responsibility, that a million dreams depend on the work of a team of 50 people, does the job for me. Technothlon isn't just an exam, it is something way bigger. The instant you realize your value as a team member and the fact that the hopes of a lot of students rest on your shoulders it becomes easy to work really hard and to live up to their expectations. To sum it up, an awesome team with adorable heads always keeps me pumped up to work for Technothlon. 

Apurva N. Saraogi:  The main motivation to work for Technothlon comes from the heads, as whatever the situation is, they are full of positive energy. And seeing them work with so much dedication keeps us motivated and gives us the necessary push to work for the module.

Abhirikshma Nandi: That fact that what we are doing is one of a kind! The reality that all of us start as curious kids eagerly trying to make our footprint and end up learning almost a million new things, discovering new passions for ourselves, making wonderful friends for life, to name a few, is what fuels me to do even more.

How would you describe your overall experience of being a part of the Techno family?

Harsha: It's quite refreshing. Be it meeting principals and all the seemingly strict teachers in our vacations or maybe working on the questions or the Mains events. More than being very interesting in itself the whole process is a huge learning opportunity for all of us.

Yagyansh Bhatia: It's an overwhelming mix of emotions. From the amount of pride I can take in saying “I work for Technothlon” to the happiness I get after seeing those children light up in LEDs to the love and guidance of the most wonderful seniors.

Deepak Kumar Gouda: The day when I stop learning something new, it becomes boring. At Technothlon, I keep learning something new. It's been interesting till now and I hope it gets better throughout the journey.

Ishan: It has hardly been six months since I’ve joined the team and I have already started having memorable experiences, experiences that I would love to cherish for the rest of my life. The Techno family is something very special, something which holds a very special place in your heart. It made me a better person with each passing day. I can't really describe the feeling in words, but the Techno family, the bonds I made as a part of it will stay with me forever!

Paranjay: It has been a great experience so far; from collecting registrations for the Prelims, to racking our brains for ‘difficult enough’ questions for the paper, working in the Web Development Module of Technothlon to designing events to be conducted during the Mains. 

Needless to say, Team Technothlon ‘17 is gearing up to give you the best Technothlon experience yet, right from the most brain wracking questions to mind blowing events. So what are you waiting for? Register now, and stand a chance to win a guided tour of NASA, USA. 

Team Technothlon ‘17

[technothlon]

Meet The Heads

In late 2003, a small group of students decided to design and conduct an exam unlike any other. An exam that is as fun and interesting as it is logical. An exam that requires no special preparation and has no syllabus. An exam that motivated students to think out of the box.  And thus, Technothlon was born. The first edition was conducted successfully in 2004, with 200 students participating from Guwahati. Every year since, a small group of students, the heads, have been selected and given the task of not only conducting Technothlon the next year but also making it bigger and better in the process. Over the course of 12 years, with the hard work of several generations of Technothlon heads, Technothlon has grown to be Asia’s largest student organised exam. In fact, Technothlon 2016 saw the largest participation in prelims and the winner getting a trip to NASA’s AMES Research Centre, California, cementing its place as the Biggest Technothlon yet. However, as has been the tradition, in late September 2016, 6 sophomore students of IIT Guwahati were selected and given the task of making Technothlon bigger, and better than ever before.

So, how does it feel, being responsible for conducting Asia’s largest student organised exams? Let us find out from the heads of Technothlon ’17!

Q:Do you think Technothlon ’17 will be the biggest edition of Technothlon yet?

Pratyay Nigam: With a team of such dedicated and motivated juniors, I am sure Technothlon 2017 will be the biggest ever

Jitika Rajpoot: Yes, I know that this edition of Technothlon is going to be its biggest edition yet. We already have very high standards set by Technothlon '16, and we are all set to break all records once again

Vishak Regu: Definitely. This year as well, we have managed to get a guided trip to NASA as our Grand Prize. This will give us a huge boost in terms of registration. Also, we have a very motivated and hardworking team of city representatives. So, there is no doubt that this will be the biggest edition of Technothlon yet

Q: What according to you are the benchmarks you wish to accomplish with Technothlon 2017?

Likhita Konjeti:  Conduct more LEDs, conducting the biggest prelims yet and conducting mains at a very good level 

Udayraj Deshmukh: We are focusing on improving the quality more than the quantity. Thus our benchmark is to meet the quality needs in smoother conduction of Technothlon, certificate distribution and faster declaration of results, and not only the conducting the biggest techno yet.

Pratyay:  As a core team member of Technothlon 2016, we broke the record for maximum participation in any exam conducted by a student body. This year I hope to work more on improving the quality of Technothlon such that Prelims is much more fun and interesting than it ever was. By the way, questions won't get easier though

Q: Technothlon's FB page has crossed 50k likes, Congratulations on the same. What do you feel is the reason for the enormous popularity?

Vishak:  The credit goes to our very motivated team of freshers for making it happen. I think one of the biggest factors for Technothlon’s popularity is that the exam is so much fun. Aside from this, our team works very hard to keep the page filled with interesting content, such as blogs, Techno Coup D’oeil and Factechs

Yash Gandhe:  Technothlon is known primarily for the complexity of the questions. Every year, each head tries to better the elegance of the same and this has probably led to us reaching a new milestone, the milestone being us reaching 50k likes on Facebook

Jitika:  The exam being completely logical, including no school syllabus is one of the very big reasons for its popularity. It is also unique; students participate in teams of two to give the exam. The other reasons I believe are that this exam is conducted by students who have just passed out from school, so they know the interests of school students better and so paper of prelims and the events of mains are designed by them in a way that makes it even more attractive for school students

Udayraj:  Reasons for popularity? Everything that we release contributes to it i.e. Factechs, Techno coup d'oeil, LED, etc. Our branding team also works very hard for it. The website and the app also add to Technothlon's popularity

Q: Which was a better experience - being a part of Team Techno as a fresher and a city rep or as a team head?

Yash: Each of the positions is better in different aspects and the experience necessary to become an exceptional head

Likhita: I can’t compare the experiences because both of them are worth it in their own way. Being a city-rep I learnt how to talk to principals, how to convince them etc. I really miss those moments when we were frustrated with the number of registrations we were getting. As a team head, the scenario is entirely different. You have the power to implement things, have freshers under you, the feeling I get during meetings is different.

Jitika:  All these experiences are better than the others in their own ways. However, Techno as a whole is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And I feel really lucky to have been a part of it and will always work for the betterment of Techno.

Pratyay: Every position has its perks. As a team member, I was responsible in designing the question paper as well as worked on Mains' Events. Being a head is one hell of a responsibility, the six of us are responsible for conducting the biggest student organized examination of the country, it gives us a feel that cannot be expressed in words and at the same time that is what keeps us going. For me, I would say being a City representative has been the best experience till now. Conducting Technothlon in my city for the first time, representing my institution in the city, talking to thousands of students, tens of presentations, getting 600 teams registered and then "The Day: 17th July'16" when all the students are attempting the prelims paper, scratching their heads as well as having fun and then getting reviews on the questions, it made all the effort put in by me and my team the entire year worth it

Q: What is the biggest problem you faced as the head of team techno? How did you overcome it?

Udayraj: Honestly, the biggest problem for me initially was about how to bond with others. As a fresher I was not so open. But then I learned it from our ex-heads and the other five heads, it took a little while but now I think I have a pretty good bonding with others in the team

Vishak: Initially, the biggest problem I faced was getting registrations from the south zone, as a few schools had a problem with giving registrations. However, since then, these problems have been sorted out. Other than this, as a team, we are yet to face a major crisis. And even if we do, with these five people by my side, I believe we’ll be more than capable of facing it

Q: What would you say has been your best moment as a part of Technothlon?

Udayraj:  For me, one of the best moments was when we conducted LED in a small school near IITG. Seeing the faces of happy children was one of the best memories

Likhita:  As a city rep, on the day of prelims when you look at around 1200 students who came for Technothlon, and see them having fun trying to solve questions, you feel satisfied that yes, this was worth all the effort I’ve put in. For me, that was the best moment

Yash:  After the conduction of the exam, parents coming up to you and congratulating you on the successful management of the exam and knowing that you played a part, no matter how small in it

Jitika: As a city representative, the day 17th July 2016 was the best day of my life. The feeling of satisfaction that came just after the completion of the exam was the best. Every faculty member, invigilator, and parents around in the school who came for the exam were all appreciating the efforts. Students praising the paper of techno and everything else on that day was awesome. Techno has given me many, many amazing moments but this one was really the best moment of my life till now

Heads, Technothlon ‘17!

Stay tuned for more interesting blogs!

[technothlon]

The Science Behind Reverse Swing

Image Courtesy: http://www.freeimages.co.uk/

In one of our previous blogs, we had discussed the science (more particularly aerodynamics) behind conventional swing bowling. Why conventional? Because there is another much more intriguing facet of swing bowling: The Reverse Swing. In this edition of the Technothlon’s SportScience blog series, we are going to delve into the science behind the art of reverse swing.

History

Though it is not clear who invented it but Pakistani pacer Sarfraz Nawaz is generally credited as one of the very first practitioners of reverse swing in international cricket. His ball swinging skills were later passed on to Imran Khan and even later to the deadly duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. It is said that during its inception techniques to reverse swing were a well-kept secret within the Pakistani team but now almost every other fast bowler can swing an old ball unconventionally.

What is reverse swing?

Conventionally swinging balls swing in the direction in which the seam is pointed. And it is worthwhile to keep in mind that the movement occurs during its flight. But a ball is said to reverse swing when it swings but not in the direction in which the seam is pointing. So if a conventional in-swinger reverses it will move away from the batsman (out-swing). 

Now, before proceeding any further, we need to get a few scientific terms clear.

Boundary layer: When a body is kept in a region of fluid flow a very thin layer of fluid molecules literally sticks to its surface and are stationary but as we move away from the surface the fluid layers gradually pick up speed to match the free stream velocity, the layers of fluid over which this happens is known as Boundary layer.

Turbulent and Laminar flow:

Laminar flow is a fluid flow in which the fluid layers move parallel to each other and do not cross each other. Any flow that is not laminar is termed turbulent.

How does it work?

Flow asymmetry past a ball is the key to producing any sideward movement. For a normally swinging ball, the asymmetry is created by the uneven and slightly protruding seam. The ball is released with the seam inclined at an angle of around 20 degrees to the initial line of flight, now if the velocity of the ball is great enough (but not too much, you’ll see why very soon) the boundary layer on the seam side turns turbulent but that on the opposite (non-seam) side remains laminar. Now the turbulent boundary layer (on the seam side) is rather good at sticking to the surface of the ball than its laminar brother (on the non-seam side). In other words, the laminar boundary layer separates earlier (or more upstream) than the turbulent one. This causes the flow behind the ball to be deflected towards the same side as the non-seam zone is facing. And this, by Newton’s Third Law, generates a sideways deflection force on the ball in the direction of the seam.

Figure 1: Schematic flow over a cricket ball for conventional swing. (Courtesy: An overview of cricket ball swing, Rabindra D. Mehta)

For the ball to swing effectively it is very important that the non-seam side remains as smooth and the seam as prominent as possible. That is why players are often seen to be polishing the ball on one side by rubbing it against their clothes. It has been experimentally observed that maximum side force is obtained at a velocity of 29-30 m/s (104.4 to 108 kmph), seam angle 20 degrees with the ball spinning backward at 11.4 rev/s. As you might have guessed the spin helps stabilize the seam (a wobbly seam hampers the effect of any kind of swing force). But if the velocity is increased further the sideward force decreases. The reason being that at higher velocities the boundary layer on the non-seam side transitions into being turbulent and hence the flow asymmetry decreases. At a certain velocity, even zero force is obtained! At even higher velocities we enter the regime of reverse swing.  

At these velocities the boundary layers on both the seam and non-seam sides are turbulent but on one side it still has to encounter the seam. This time the seam plays a seemingly curious role, it thickens and weakens the already turbulent layer making it more susceptible to separation than the thinner turbulent layer on the non-seam side. Loosely speaking, the extent of the turbulent boundary layer depends on the height of surface roughness and its quite an intuitive that a thicker layer would separate more easily. Flow asymmetry is created once again with the boundary layer on the seam side separating earlier (or more upstream), deflecting the flow towards the seam side and producing a sliding force away from the direction in which the seam is pointing. Fascinating still is the fact that a ball can reverse swing with the exact same grip and bowling action as a conventional swinger. This makes it even more difficult for a batsman to predict the trajectory of a ball.

Figure 2: Schematic flow over a cricket ball for reverse swing. (Courtesy: An overview of cricket ball swing, Rabindra D. Mehta) 

So is there any way to reverse swing a ball other than just increasing the bowling speed? Yes! Absolutely, all that we have to do is make the boundary layer on the non-seam side turbulent, and it turns out that surface roughness on the non-seam side plays a very important role in deciding the approximate lower limit of velocity for which the ball will turn.

It has been experimentally observed that a new ball will show significant reverse swing for velocities in excess of 130 Kmph but this figure decreases dramatically to around 108 Kmph for old, beaten up balls. Why? Because old balls are rough on their surfaces.

Ball Tampering and Swing

Bowlers have always paid a lot of attention to the physical (including surface) qualities of a ball and their effects on its behavior. But, unfortunately, there have been a number of recorded incidents in the history of the game where players have gone beyond the rules to modify and/or damage the ball so as to make it behave in the desired way.

For a ball swinging normally a prominent seam and a smooth non-seam surface facilitates the movement. The center of ball tampering controversy in the 1970s was players using Vaseline and sunscreen lotion to polish the surface of the ball when the only substances legally accepted for polishing are sweat and saliva. Other than that players are often spotted trying to raise the seam to make it more prominent and aid in the production of the quantum of movement. The reverse swing, on the other hand, has been notoriously associated with ball tampering allegations right from its inception. It was even thought of as an outcome attainable only through illegal ball tampering techniques. There are well-documented cases, dating back to the 1980s, of bowlers trying to make the ball rough by nicking or gouging its surface, rubbing it on the ground etc. They were essentially trying to make the ball rough to help produce swing at lower velocities.

But the thing to be really emphasized here is that reverse swing can be obtained without resorting to illegal handling of the ball. At the outset, the opening bowler should pick a less rough side of the new ball and continue to polish only that side during the course of play, when the other side has roughened enough reverse swing is obtained just by flipping the ball over so that the smooth surface now remains on the side of the seam.

It has been more than three decades since reverse swing was first observed in international cricket. And it has certainly come a long way from being a mysterious, clandestine and almost illegal affair to being called an example of aerodynamic beauty. Credits, once again, go to science.

Abhirikshma Nandi, Team Technothlon ‘17

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The Testudo Formation

 “Wars are not won by taking the enemy’s life..it is won by saving your own life”- Anonymous 

Mythology is full of wars whether it is Indian Mythology, Roman or Greek. The tales may differ but when it comes to war, the situation is the same. Save yourself until the end and the victory is yours. Armies used various formations during the wars to defend and attack the enemy using the available assets in the most efficient way. So here’s another blog in the mythological series which presents you the details of one of the best defensive war formations depicted in the Hindu and Roman Mythology: The Testudo/Tortoise formation.

Structure:

The Testudo Formation was a revolutionary battlefield formation in which the soldiers used their shields in an interlocking fashion, effectively creating a structure like the shell of a tortoise. In the formation, the soldiers aligned themselves into squares or rectangles aligning their shields to form a packed formation covered with shields on the front, the top, and the sides. The first row of the men in the front and the two sides would hold their shields from about the height of their shins to their eyes, so as to cover the formation’s front. The shields would be held in such a way that the formation is protected from all sides. The men in the back would place their shields over the heads to protect the formation from the above. Each soldier in the front row covers the left half of his own body with his shield and the right half of the soldier on his left. The soldier behind him uses his shield as a lid to cover himself and the soldier in front. Each warrior uses the space between his own shield and the one next to him to hold out his long spear. This formation provided solid defense, much like the shell protects a tortoise, but could also be used as a devastatingly offensive battering ram with long spears bearing in on the enemy.

Tactical Analysis:

“It is so marvelously strong that men can walk upon it, and whenever they come to a narrow ravine, even horses and vehicles can be driven over it” - Cassius Dio, Author of “The Book of Roman History” on the Testudo formation

The Testudo formation was used to protect soldiers from all types of projectile attacks. This formation was very strong and could withstand a large amount of force. Hence it was used to defend the army while fighting a large enemy and hurting them without having significant casualties on your own side. This formation was also used to break the gates or give support to the soldiers for climbing the walls of a fort. The formation relied upon the training of the unit as individuals and as a whole. The testudo formation was cutting edge for its time as there didn’t exist any other organized army element with this much cohesion and level of training.

         A variation of the tortoise formation used primarily by the Spartans

The only disadvantage of this formation lied in its mobility. Seeing that all soldiers were required to move in unison for maximum protection, the formation was about as fast as walking speeds.

Though it might seem to be invincible, it was not without its own shortcomings. This chink in the armor is at its rear. If attacked from behind, there is little that the soldiers can do. They are weighed down with heavy spears which pointed ahead. It is difficult to turn around quickly. Furthermore, there is no shield protection at the back of the formation.

 Also, if a soldier tries to turn backward, he will end up hitting his fellow soldier and weaken the front part of the formation thus opening the breach for the enemies from both sides. So, if an enemy were to get behind, he could attack the soldiers and rout them completely.

Ashutosh Kumar, Team Technothon ‘17

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The Mongoose Bat: A Saga

Cricket is, by far, the most popular game of the country. With the youngsters and the elderly both spending sleepless nights just because their team lost the match; with the streets covered with domes of silence due to that close ‘last over’ in the ‘gully cricket’ match and with cricketers featuring on television commercials more often than actors, the cricket fever in the nation has reached its crescendo in the present. Thus, I feel highly obliged to write about something related to the game.

The 3rd season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2010) featured one of the most destructive batting performances in the history of the IPL – Mathew Hayden (93 of 43) for CSK against DD at the Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi. Although there have been better performances by the likes of ABD, Gayle, Murali Vijay and McCullum, this performance by Hayden deserves a special mention due to the MONGOOSE bat he used that day. According to some critics, the bat had more than just a vital role to play in the explosive innings by Hayden. But was the claim reasonable? We will find that out in a bit but let us first know about a cricket bat.

The cricket bat

A cricket bat normally consists of a handle attached to a flat fronted willow blade. The length of the bat may not be more than 38 inches and width no more than 4.25 inches. The blade of the bat is generally flat on the striking face with a ridge on the reverse of the bat. The wood is generally concentrated in the middle of the bat from where the ball is generally hit. This is the thickest part of the bat and is referred to as the “sweet spot” of the bat. The edges of the blade closest to the handle are known as the shoulders of the bat, and the bottom of the blade is known as the toe of the bat.

As the bat is the thickest in the middle, the impact on the ball is maximum when hit from the middle. The bat speed also plays a very important role in the shot. So in order to execute a successful shot, the batsmen tend to hit the ball from the middle of the bat with ample bat speed. The areas of the bat except the middle are not generally used by the batsmen due to the low run scoring potential of these parts. They are sometimes used to play defensive shots.

The Mongoose Bat

The mongoose bat comes with a long handle and a short, thick blade (as the name suggests, the bat resembles a mongoose, which has a short bust and a long tail). Designed and manufactured by the British company, Mongoose, this bat was one of the ideas which accompanied the inception of the shortest format of cricket-T20. The handle of the bat is 43% longer, and the blade is one third the size of the normal bat. The weight of both the bats is remarkably similar. This means the blade of the mongoose bat is thicker and stiffer as compared to the normal bat. Thus, a stiff blade combined with a longer handle generates a torque similar to a golf club in swing; and thus imparts maximum energy to the ball. The greater energy of collision of the bat and the ball results in greater shot distance.

We can clearly see that a mongoose bat is a mini powerhouse in cricketing terms. But still, the production of such bats has virtually halted. So let us look into the reasons for the same:

Why did the mongoose bat become redundant?

There are a few theories which explain the reason for the drastic dip in the usage of mongoose bats. Some say that the bat didn’t obey the ICC laws for designs of bats, but the claims are completely false as the bats were designed keeping the ICC regulations in mind. Another theory blames the low profit margin for the near death of the bats in cricket. As the bats are not very good for defense, due to a smaller blade, they can’t be used in longer formats of the game. Thus most of the players refrain from using it. Thus, the sponsorship costs outweigh the profit made from the production of the bat.

Thus, the usage of the mongoose bat has fallen significantly. But we should not forget that the bat is something which can wreck havoc in the shorter format of the game. And with the T20s gaining popularity, we might get to see the ‘mongoose’ back in action in the future.

Ishan Azad, Team Technothlon ‘17

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The Fosbury Flop

Physics has greatly influenced the progress of most sports. There have been continual improvements in equipment for safety or performance as well as improvements in technique. The Fosbury Flop is a good example of physics helping improve the performances of the sport significantly. The Fosbury Flop is a technique used by athletes in High Jump and is named after Dick Fosbury who won gold in the 1968 Olympics held in Mexico. This is the most used technique in High Jump nowadays. The secret to the effectiveness of the Fosbury Flop lies in the center of mass of the athlete being located below the bar during the jump.

The Center of Mass(CoM) of a body is the average position of all its mass by taking into account how the mass is spread around the object. For instance, the center of mass of a rectangular piece of metal lies at the intersection of the diagonals. Similarly, the CoM of a disc lies at its center.

The CoM of a person standing normally is somewhere around the belly. But this shifts upwards if the person raises his arms. So the CoM of a person varies continuously throughout the day as he performs various tasks. But it is important to note that the CoM need not lie within the boundary of the body itself. The CoM of a boomerang lies outside the body as well as the doughnuts.(see Figure below)

The Fosbury Flop takes advantage of this. So during the jump, at the peak, the athlete’s body is shaped like an arc similar to that of a boomerang. 

At this position, the center of mass of the athlete is located below the bar. You might be wondering how the center of mass falling below the bar helps improve the jump.

The answer is simple. Since the CoM is now at a lesser distance from the ground, lesser force is required by the athlete to lift his body. He thus expends lesser energy in a Fosbury Flop compared to a jump of same height using another technique. 

To perform this jump, use a ‘J’ shaped run-up approaching the bar perpendicularly in the first three to five strides. The Flop style of high jump is characterized by (at least) the final four or five steps being run in a curve, allowing the athlete to lean into his or her turn, away from the bar. Unlike the traditional style of jumping, where the athlete jumps with his face/body facing the bar, he jumps the other way around with his back facing the bar. Additionally, on take-off the sudden move from inward lean to outwards produces a rotation of the jumper's body along the axis of the bar, aiding clearance.

Combined with the rotation around the jumper's vertical axis produced by the drive leg (think of an ice skater spinning round on the spot) the resulting body position on bar clearance is laid out supine(lying face upwards) with the body at ninety degrees to the bar with the head and shoulders crossing the bar before the trunk and legs. This gives the Flop its characteristic "backwards over the bar" appearance, with the athlete landing on the mat on his shoulders and back.

But it is important to note that the Fosbury flop was not a feasible technique back when the landing pits were filled with sand softened with wood shavings. Earlier, the straddle technique was a better option for the athletes taking into factor the high probability of being injured by utilizing the Fosbury Flop. Later on, when the landing pits were cushioned with nice thick foam, the flop became feasible. Another factor contributing to the popularity of the Flop among the athletes is the ease in learning the flop compared to the other techniques. 

To sum up, the high jump competition, along with many other sports, is being exploited by physics!

Varun Seshadri, Team Technothlon ‘17

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Mythological Weapons

Hindu mythology is made out of numerous traditional narratives such as  Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana. All these books contain descriptions of gods, demons, sages, kingdoms, wars, religious practices, rituals, and spells. In this blog, we try and explain scientifically the working of some of these mythological weapons. For magic is but science we don’t fully understand yet.

The Narayanastra:

The Myth: It is said that the Narayanastra fires a powerful outburst of millions of deadly missiles simultaneously. The intensity of the shower increases with the increase in resistance. The only way to defend yourself is to show total submission before the missiles hit. This, in turn, will cause this weapon to stop and spare the target.

Ashwathama used this weapon against the Pandavas in the battle of Kurukshetra. To escape from this weapon Lord Krishna advised Pandavas and their army to drop their weapons and lie down on the ground, in such a way that they all surrender completely to the power of the weapon. Pandavas did so and survived the Narayanastra

Is it possible? Yes, building a weapon of this nature is possible. For fully understanding how it is possible however, one must leave the conventional image of an Astra being maces or arrows behind.

The Narayanastra could be a whole network of missiles. Not one, not two, but literally hundreds, maybe even thousands of missiles connected to each other. Sounds a little impossible? It’s absolutely practical. Almost all developed countries have similar underwater/underground missile systems.

Then how does the increase in resistance increase the intensity of the showers? We know that automation of things is not a dream anymore.Today we have Artificially Intelligent robots which can detect our mood or state of mind by our posture, heart rate, body temperature and facial expressions. The Narayanastra could have been an Artificially Intelligent defense system whose primary objective was the defend the empire, not attack.  The weapon would judge the state of the enemy (whether he is in a state of war or peace) by observing aspects like:

1. Posture

2. What they are holding?

3. Their facial expressions

4.Their heart rate.

If the system found the enemy in the state of peace it would retract. Whereas if the missiles found them to be in a state of war, the system would deploy even more missiles than before.

The Vajra:

The myth: The Vajra is Lord Indra’s weapon. It is said to be as strong as a diamond and is said to have had the power of a million thunderbolts. The weapon is said to have been made from the bones of the sage Dadhichi. The Hindu mythology goes on to state that the weapon was designed specially to destroy an asura named Vritara, who had received a boon that no weapon made of wood, nor metal could harm him.  It is one of the most powerful and feared weapons in the Hindu mythology.

Is it possible? Yes, it is. The Vajra could have been a huge, and extremely powerful electro-laser. To understand this fully, one must first understand exactly what an electro-laser is, and how it works.

The electro-laser is a directed energy weapon, which means that the weapon released highly focused energy which gets transferred to the target and damages it. In this case, the energy is in the form of electricity. As we already know, air is a very bad conductor of electricity. How then can one transfer electrical energy through the air? While air does not conduct electricity, Plasma, i.e, a new state of matter created by heating gas to extremely high temperatures around 5000℃, does conduct electricity. So initially, a high-powered laser is used to create a plasma channel from the weapon to the target, followed immediately by a high voltage electrical shock that is sent through the channel. The plasma channel lights up during the attack owing to the high electricity that’s passing through it, hence giving the appearance of thunder.

But why use bones instead of Iron or Wood? Simply put, the weapon concentrates electrical energy, and hence it could give rise to sparks and high temperatures. Wood would just burn, while Iron conducts electricity, which can harm the user as well. It is also interesting to note that Bones(3038 °F) have a higher melting point that Iron(2800.4°F).

Stay tuned for more interesting, and informative blogs!

Shubhansh Awasthi, Team Technothlon ‘17

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The Science Behind Swing

India is a country of diverse cultures, languages, and beliefs. There are many schools of thought on each subject, a plethora of opinions on every matter. But one thing which has united us all for the better part of a century and still does is cricket. Cricket is not just a sport to the people of the country; it is something that transcends all religious and linguistic barriers. The sport has given immense joy to the people and the country takes pride in its prowess in the game. One of the key aspects of the game, which has been in existence for as long as the game itself, is the art of swing bowling.

The two essential aspects of cricket are batting and bowling. The sport has been graced with a multitude of great practitioners of the art of swing bowling. The great swing bowlers include the likes Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Simon Jones, Zaheer khan and many more. It is an art which has taken years to develop and perfect and involves many intricacies in its execution. We will now see the science behind the art which was developed a hundred years back.

What is swing bowling?

Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling. The aim is to deviate the ball sideways as it moves through the air towards the batsman. The bowlers make changes to the ball in such a way that said deviation is produced. These physical changes produce a difference in the aerodynamics of the motion of the ball through air.

How does it work?

The principle is very simple - The ball when new has both sides shiny. Now the bowlers deliberately make one side a little rough and polish the other side. This makes the two sides contrasting. The asymmetry of the ball is encouraged by constantly polishing one side of the ball by members of the fielding team while allowing the opposite side to deteriorate through wear and tear. With time, this produces a marked difference in the aerodynamic properties of the two sides and results in a shiny side and a rough side. Fast bowlers prefer to swing the ball by making sure the seam is inclined at an angle of about 20 degrees to the direction that the ball is headed, in such a way that about 3/4 of the front of the ball is smooth. That way, the air flows smoothly around the smooth half but it becomes turbulent on the other side since it has to flow past the seam. Also, the rough side has more aerodynamic drag as compared to the smooth side, resulting in lower air velocity on the rough side. According to the Bernoulli’s principle, greater the velocity of air, lesser the pressure. Because of this, the shinier side has lesser air pressure hence more force will be exerted towards the shiny side.

Now when the ball is released, the rough side encounters high aerodynamic friction or also called as air drag and so the air pressure is high. On the other hand, the smooth side reduces the aerodynamic drag, hence less air pressure. Hence a pressure difference is created across the two surfaces of the ball.

Force is simply put, pressure times the area it is acting on. The pressure difference will create a net force which has a direction. This force created will make the ball move sideways. Since the rough side has higher pressure, a larger force acts on the rough side. This force acts on the surface of the rough side, and the net resultant force will be towards the shiny side. Hence the ball will move towards the shiny side creating the swinging motion of the ball. This type of swing is termed as contrast swing.

The above explanation works for an old ball with some wear and tear on it. But a new ball cannot be swung in this way. When the ball is new the seam is used to create a layer of turbulent air on one side of the ball, by angling it to one side and spinning the ball along the seam. Due to the seam being at an angle to the face of the ball, the air flow at the face is separated by the seam into a turbulent state above and a smooth flow below. This once again creates a pressure difference between the upper and lower faces which is responsible for a force which causes the ball to swing in the direction in which the seam is pointing (the turbulent side). This type of swing is termed as conventional swing.

These two methods are commonplace among swing bowlers today but it involves a much more complicated scientific background than one would have thought. This shows the extent to which science has affected sports and the role it plays in any game. This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the scientific phenomenon involved in sports. Stay tuned to the Technothlon blog for more!

Jishnu Chander, Team Technothlon ‘17 

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CityReps Speak: Vamshi Krishna Reddy

Technothlon is driven by over 400  CityReps each year, each one has a different experience. Read on as Vamshi Krishna Reddy, City Representative of Karimnagar, Telangana shares his experiences with us. 

Q. I think we both agree that conducting an exam of this magnitude is quite amazing. And nothing great ever comes easy. What challenges did you face while conducting Technothlon in your city?

A. I would say my biggest problem was me, myself. I was well known for being silent and for my discipline in my school. I have faced a few scenarios which completely disturbed me and hurt me. For example, there were several instances where the teachers and administrators thought that I was doing this for profit. Comments like, “These guys have started early, very good field for profit” really hurt my self-respect because this was something I was doing to improve my skills, not make money. There were some schools which asked for 80:20 commission, some wanted an assurance that we will give them at least one rank in top 50. I had to explain to them clearly that Technothlon was a Non-Profit Organisation and that we don't make any money from this. And there were schools that I had to visit around 8-9 times just to convince the principal.

Q. Overcoming all these challenges, you must have definitely learned a lot. What do you take away from this experience?

A.Firstly, I have overcome stage fear and have learned to deal with people politely. My convincing skills have also improved a lot. There were some cases where the principals did not agree with what I said. I had to intelligently convince them using reverse/counter convincing skills. And I had to use totally different ways to present the same thing to the administration and to the students. In fact, I took 1h 45 mins for a presentation once, and not even one kid was sleepy after the presentation. They actually just asked me questions at the end. I also learned to be patient, because sometimes I had to talk with a person more than 8-9 times for an issue, and he would just say come and meet me later.

Q. How did it feel, overcoming all these challenges and successfully conducting an exam for over 1300 students?

A.  It was a great feeling. Actually, it gave me a lot of confidence, managing so many students at once.

Q.  Students are usually full of surprises, and conducting an exam of this magnitude and managing over 1300 students, you must have had some pretty interesting experiences. Any particular experience, either memorable or interesting, that you’d like to share?

A. Well, we had to deal with loads of cases where students filled the wrong mobile number or shaded the wrong bubbles in their OMRs. But most of my memorable experiences came during the planning and execution stages. With three of my friends, with whom I hadn’t even discussed my marks with before, so you can guess how little we knew each other, we completely made the seating arrangement for 1300 students in a five storeyed building within two hours, that too at 11 PM, the night before the exam.

And the best part was the invigilation in my city was done by two people in each room, a teacher and a friend. After the completion of the exam, the principal of the centre told me that even his staff can’t manage such a large crowd, how was Technothlon organized?

Q. How did your parents and relatives react when they got to know that you were conducting an exam of this scale?

A. At first, I thought they would scold me. But they were very supportive. They motivated me, branded Technothlon within the family, helped me get easy appointments with officials through their friend circle. Helping me in every possible way. And finally, they are very proud that their child is responsible for conducting an exam for over 1300 students.

Q. As you know, this year as well, Technothlon is going to be conducted by a whole new set of city reps. Is there anything you’d want to tell them?

A. The morning after the exam, i.e., the morning of 17th July 2017, you will realize for the first time exactly what Technothlon is, who you are, and what you have managed to pull off. So please be patient and do not judge Technothlon before that morning. 

Q. Any special mentions? Anyone you’d like to thank?

 A. I would like to thank Goli Sai Sharan, who didn’t even sleep for a single minute the night before the exam. Thanks to my parents, their colleagues for invigilation and dad for the media articles. I would also like to thank my Co-CityRep, Devansh, who was my motivation. Even when I said I am not interested in going to a particular school because of a comment the faculty passed on my last visit, he dragged me along.

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CityReps Speak: Uttam Kumar Singh

Every year, Technothlon is held in over 300 cities all over India. Every year, the blood and sweat of over 400 city representatives make Technothlon the largest student-organized exam in the country. What drives City Representatives to make Technothlon the phenomenon it is? Let’s find out from Uttam Kumar Singh, Vadodara's City Representative for Technothlon 2016

Q: Being a city representative is no doubt a huge responsibility and a lot of work. What kept you going?

A: See, I love the concept of Technothlon very much. I mean, the paper is fully based on logic and does not involve any academic syllabus, and top 200 students get a chance to visit IITG for 4 days and learn a lot of amazing things here. This concept always motivated me and made me realize that I was doing something good for my society and city, and I wanted to deliver Technothlon to the maximum number of students and schools. Each night before going to sleep, I would make a proper plan for the next day and was excited about the same. I personally feel that it is the best initiative taken by students of IITG.

Q. Having worked for Technothlon for around 4 months, you surely must have made a lot of memories. Can you share some of your most memorable moments?

A: Yeah, I made a lot of memories from Technothlon '16 which will stay with me throughout my life. Technothlon made each and every day interesting for me during vacations. Earlier, I had stage fear as most of us possess it, and my school teachers knew about it. During the winter vacations, I visited my school for presenting Technothlon, and I presented it well, facing a crowd of more than 400 Students for 30 minutes!! After that, all the teachers applauded me and shook hands with me. They were extremely happy and proud. That's the most memorable moment for me!

Q: It is a tradition that almost every freshman in IIT Guwahati takes up the responsibility of being the city representative in his city and conducting the exam. If someone were to ask you “Why should I become a city rep? What’s in it for me?”, what would you say?

A:  Being a city rep, you get to deliver a truly unique exam to the students of your city. As Technothlon is organized by student fraternity of IITG, it's our responsibility to make sure that it reaches all corners of India. Of course, both school students and City Representatives benefit from it. School Students are motivated to think out of the box. City Reps get a chance to improve a lot in terms of their speaking skills, body language, public speaking, and a many more soft skills. They are always famous in their city, and get huge respect from thousands of students, parents, and teachers !!

Q. You’ve said that City Reps get to improve their skills a lot. What have you learned from this experience? And how has it changed you?

A:  As I have already mentioned, I improved a lot in terms of public speaking. I also learned how to deal with Media Houses- Newspaper articles and all. I had a number of articles about Technothlon in local newspapers and also in World's Leading Gujarati Newspaper- "Gujarat Samachar". I almost perfected my time management skills, as I was handling more than 10 schools at a time, staying in contact with their Principal and teachers.

I have given more than 100 presentations in various classes of schools and coaching centres. As nobody knew about Technothlon in my city, I had to put some extra efforts, and it ultimately turned out to be a huge success. More than 2500 students participated from my city- Vadodara! I got mementos from many Institutes. Blessings from thousands of parents, teachers.

These experiences have made me stronger, more confident and has changed me for the better!

Q:  Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, is there something else you would like to add?

A: Yeah,  I want to thank my family who changed their schedule just because of me, and my friends Bhavik Dalwadi, Ashish Ranjan, Sairaj, Shivam, Tarun, Jeet, Shantanu, Smit, Yash, Kunj, Sunil, Dakshesh, Rijil, Sarang, Abhishek, Hitanshu, Shubham, Deep, Vaman without whom I would not have been able to conduct the exam smoothly. You guys rocked.

And from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank Team Technothlon '16 for giving me such a great opportunity. Especially Akshit bhaiya who always motivated me and made me a responsible City Rep. Technothlon has given me some beautiful memories and loads of experiences which will always hold a special place in my heart throughout my life. I really am in love with Technothlon, and I am sure that if any City Rep works sincerely then he/she can understand my feelings.

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The Chakravyuha

Technothlon presents the first blog of its mythological series, Mythological Battle Formations - The Chakravyuha.

Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other one being the Ramayana. It is a narrative of the Kurukshetra War and the lives of Kauravas and Pandvas. The Kuruksheta War saw many war tactics being used for the first time including several impressive battle formations. Perhaps, the most famous and complex of these formations was ‘the Padmavyuha’ or better known as ‘the Chakravyuha’.

The Chakravyuha was a multi-tier defensive formation which appeared like a wheel (or chakra) when viewed from above. The formation was used in the battle of Kurukshetra by Dronacharya, who became commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army after the fall of Bhishma Pitamah. It was a very special formation, and only a handful of warriors on the Pandava side knew how to break into the formation. And one of them, Abhimanyu, Son of Arjuna, knew how to break into the formation, but not how to get out.  However, in the absence of Arjuna and Krishna, he attempted to break the formation which resulted in his demise. This catalyzed the events of the war, with an enraged Arjuna taking down Jayadhrath the very next day, which resulted in the war coming to a quick close.

Now, coming to the formation itself, this 7 tier formation was used to capture a specific object or person, stationary or moving during time of a military conflict. The more powerful soldiers were placed in the inner layers of the Chakravyuha. There have been several interpretations of the Chakravyuha formation. Several sources have depicted it as seven concentric circles. The following figure however shows the most widely accepted depiction of the formation, as seen on several inscriptions:

The dark lines above were the soldiers standing next to each other with their backs towards the center of the spiral. It is quite noticeable that there is one opening. The idea is to catch a warrior in that opening. Once anyone has reached there all other soldiers would move one step to their left. This would move the entire formation in such a way that the warrior would get pushed deeper into the spiral and would have to face more skilled opponents. If the warrior attacked an opponent in front of him, the ring would again move to the left, covering up the gap formed due to the attacked soldier, and a more skilled soldier would now face the trapped warrior. In this fashion, the soldiers would keep on surrounding the warrior and push him deeper into the chakravyuha without the warrior even realizing that! Finally, when the warrior was pushed into the center, all the soldiers would now turn about and face the warrior. It was now, that the warrior would realize that he had been captured, but it’d be too late then.

It certainly sounds a daunting task to even enter the formation, but in reality it is even harder than you might realize. It is important to remember that the entire formation was constantly moving, not just about its own axis, but also across the battlefield. This formation was pretty much a killing machine going around the battlefield killing enemy forces by the hundreds. It was as deadly a formation as any known. However, as mentioned earlier, a handful of warriors did know how to break the formation. So How was it done?

Breaking The Chakravyuha:

One of the biggest reasons the Chakravyuha is so formidable is that the enemy would be physically exhausted while the warriors in the formations would stay relatively fresh, as none of them will have to engage in a battle with the enemy for more than a few moments, while the opponent has to fight with each and every soldier that comes his way.

There is a seemingly simple strategy to break into the formation. The trick is to attack the person either to the left or the right of the person in front of you. This way by the time you are done with the person, there is an opening right in front of you and you can enter the next tier. But that was not all, the warrior entering the Chakravyuha also needed a lot of stamina. As the warrior goes deeper and deeper into the Chakravyuha, he will be facing more skilled warriors who are also a lot less tired. The density of the warriors would be a lot higher towards the center. Starting to think this is hopeless already? Well, there’s more. The outer layers have a primary job of restricting entry into the Chakravyuha, whereas the warriors in the center are there to make sure that whoever enters the Chakravyuha dies inside it. Also, aside from battling the inner layer, the warriors would also have to battle the previous layer again, as they can just face inwards and engage the warrior. Phew! And this is just the breaking in, breaking out is a whole different ballgame.

The strategy itself seems pretty simple, why then didn’t more warriors figure out how to break the formation? Turns out, it is not as simple as it seems. Strong warriors are strategically placed in key positions on every layer, so as to both impart fear which mentally affects the enemies and to be more effective. According to the Mahabharata, there is both “a right time” and “a right word” that are necessary to break the formation, and only a handful of people knew this. The right time is self-explanatory and probably refers to the time when the formation is in the position depicted in Fig.1 . The right word could refer to the right warrior to attack to enter the formation with more ease, as only the key positions are occupied by the strongest warriors. It also indicates that the maze could have been a lot more complicated than predicted, with the inner layers forming a complex maze instead of a simple spiral. The right words could hence have referred to the key to solving the inner maze.

All this begs the question, why wasn’t the Chakravyuha employed more often? The Chakravyuha was a very large and complex formation which required a very skilled commander and disciplined warriors to be executed perfectly. And if it wasn’t executed perfectly, it would lead to a lot of confusion and the enemies could turn the confusion to their favor and gain the upper hand.

Ancient Indians were no doubt highly skilled in military strategies, and this almost flawless battle formation goes on to prove that. Such stories really makes one wonder, how many more of these gems lay hidden in our mythology? Stay tuned to find out more!

Ishan Azad, Team Technothlon ‘17

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Nazca Lines

In the 1930s, when air travel was gaining popularity as the easiest way to cross the high altitude peaks of South America, passengers flying over the lofty plains of Peru were greeted with quite a sight. Down on the arid, dry plateau of the Nazca desert, which is about 250 miles south of Lima and covers an area of approximately 200 square miles, was a plethora of massive markings, many in the shape of people and animals, although there were also hundreds of crisscrossing, randomly spaced lines. Locals had always known of the strange marks found on the dusty floor, although it was only now, from the air, that their true designs were revealed. The discovery sparked an interest and a study that continues to this day.

 Over 3,000 years ago the area was inhabited by a race called the Nazca, who had developed proficient techniques in pottery, weaving and architecture. It is widely believed that these people were responsible for drawing the lines, although the actual date of the lines’ creation is impossible to determine.

 Perhaps the most celebrated theory behind the lines was the one advanced by Dr Maria Reiche. She tried to prove that the lines correlated to important stars rising in the heavens, and the symbols of animals were actually native representations of star constellations. But her views were not universally supported due to the very fact that the lines cannot be dated. During the 1960s, writers such as Louis Pauwels, Jacques Bergier, and Erich von Daniken famously promoted ideas that the lines were runways or landing strip for alien visitors. Other theories suggest they are an astronomical calendar; that they were used for religious ceremonies; or that they indicated underground sources of water. But exactly why the images were designed to be viewed from the air has never really been addressed. One quite astonishing theory is that the Nazca people were the original human aviators, and had developed the first rudimentary hot air balloon.

 But today the fate of the lines is in serious jeopardy. In recent years, political and advertising agencies have graffitied slogans on the patterns. The expanding local population needs a higher

level of basic amenities, which has meant utility providers are now running cables and pipes over the site. Combined with the effects of natural weathering, this means that the most enigmatic and mysterious visual display of an ancient race is under threat of being lost from Man’s history forever.

- Jyoti Prakash Bal Team Member, Technothlon 2016

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The Mystery of MH370

8 March 2014 started as a normal day like any other, but today it is registered in the history books for being the day on which the world witnessed one of the most tragic incidents in human history. A Malaysian flight MH370 which was scheduled from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared mid air. The world is still unaware of the exact reason why and where  the flight disappeared.

The flight made its last voice contact with air traffic control after an hour of its take off over the South China Sea. Soon, after its last contact, the Malaysian radars detected the flight deviating from its planned route and soon all radars lost its contact and never caught it back.

The aircraft, a Boeing 777 was carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers from 15 different nations.

After no contact whatsoever, a multinational search effort began in the gulf of Thailand and South China Sea, where the flight's signal was last found and was soon extended to the Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea. Despite being the largest and most expensive search in aviation history, nothing of the aircraft could be found. On 29 July 2015, the flaperon of MH370 was found on Reunion Island but the bulk of the aircraft hasn’t been located till date giving rise to various theories about its disappearance.

Aviation experts have failed to find exact reasons to why the plane disappeared and some even stated that the exact reasons could never be proved.Malaysian Prime Minister stated that aircraft's flight ended somewhere in the Indian ocean but no significant proves were provided. Lack of evidence as to what happened gave rise to wild speculations to the fate of the missing plane. Some believe that the plan was shot down by US military , some believe it was hijacked by Russia or North Korea, some say the pilots committed suicide. Getting more impractical, some thought it to be an alien abduction or the plane entered another dimension  or a new Bermuda Triangle took the away.

All said and done, none of the theories have been proven to be true. As of now, all the crew members and passengers have been presumed dead.It scales to be the second deadliest incident in Malaysian history. So, no one really knows what happened to the missing flight and most likely we will never find out what really happened to the plane and fate of the passengers thus listing this incident as one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in the world.

-Pratyay Nigam Team Member, Technothlon 2016