Long Run – A Paradise Augmented (A Review)

Long Run - A Paradise Augmented

Long Run – A Paradise Augmented:

There is never a point in life where you can survive without balance. It is balance that keeps us alive and well. Raghu’s story is one such example where one slight imbalance toppled the entire life of a man.

Working in a stock market gave him a lot of money but with it came an accident that changed his life. How he came back is what makes the story worth a read. Life is never the same once it takes a tragic turn. Blinded by the accident, it is more about Raghu’s will power to turn his wheels.

There are basically three phases in the story and the protagonist is jumping timelines to tell his story. The stock market took the mainframe for a while and the amount of information that went in it is just amazing.

The book can be attempted by everyone including teenagers. There is a love story, a job, an experience of a fund manager, a life above everything else. When balance fell, Raghu fell too and that was quite shocking, not just for him but also readers like us.

In this story, Raghu Santhanam has to rebuild his life with his visual challenges to address. But, then even with his shortcomings, he could build his life since he really had the zeal to live.

As life keeps turning around, Raghu too keeps turning around and making the most of it. If you believe that living is all about facing and overcoming challenges, the book can be a good read.

Long Run – A Paradise Augmented is all about balance, balance, and balance! Strike a balance or face the fate.

About the Author

T. Sathish is an Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC) alumnus and an AVP in Cigniti Technologies. His first book, Life in the Sunshine (2019), was an immediate Amazon bestseller. His short stories ‘Looking for Bond’ (Amazon), ‘Hang in there’ (Juggernaut), and ‘Am I Free?’ (Juggernaut) are all highly rated and loved by readers. As a diehard cricket fan and expert, Sathish writes on Cricket in The Roar (www.theroar.com.au), a famous Australian sports platform, as TSat. He is a voracious reader with an appetite for a wide range of topics.

 To buy a Paperback in India – Amazon. in https://amzn.to/3esy1Ww
Good reads link for sharing your review https://bit.ly/3FB8QNh
To buy a Kindle eBook in India – Amazon.in https://amzn.to/3mACNWi
To buy a Kindle eBook globally – Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/3qqtCsG

Should you hunt for wellness & wellbeing?

wellness and wellbeing

The next part of the blog is in continuation with this blog part written for Vandana’s blog on wellness and wellbeing. An extension of the same as to what happened later.

https://www.anewyou.se/should-you-hunt-for-wellbeing-and-happiness/

Once you read the first part of the wellness and wellbeing blog, do read this part for more insight.

That morning I woke up from a good night’s sleep. I barely sleep so smoothly as I always, toss and turn in bed, read and play music at night. Nights are the only time when the world around you is as thin as the air of that place.

While I walked down the stairs, I saw Mackeri cleaning a sword, a beautiful 17th -century sword with a scabbard lying close by.

“What is it, what are you doing?” I asked her as I flipped my hand to check the time by the watch quickly. It was seven in the morning, and she seemed to be long awake. “Did you sleep or were you awake the whole night?”

“Ohh! Hello. Did you sleep well?” She smiled, to which I nodded.

“I was cleaning my old sword, I do it every three months, and that’s a ritual now.”

I could see the sword clearly, right in front of me. Made of a metal with a strange greenish tint, that was not steel, but an alloy, the silvery glaze of the sparkle shone brightly under the Sun.

“Do you know what swords are for?”

“Yes, for killing.” Of course, there could be no other reason for it, whatsoever.

“No, for knowing what death is. Killing is a gross term, and merely killing is what it is used now for. But it is not killing it is to know the essence of life, to know how beings move around. How they cease to exist with just one blow. Their soft flesh can be pierced by anything harder than them, and yet, we fight. This is the insanity people gain from living here, on this planet.”

Words were minced meat under her tongue. I saw her husband for the first time. He lay on the cot, staring calmly at the sky above him.

“You mean to say that actions don’t matter or do they?” I was curious.

How is it a circle?

“You have to always know that every action taken is reciprocal. Actions are boomerangs; they come back to you every time, you throw it to cut down someone else.”      

“It is somewhere in the circle; people get back what they give back. If they create trouble, know well it gets back to them. If something is wrong as per you, and you are not wrong in any way, then it is not yours, but their gift and the ball will lie in their court. There is a strong court where you might have to defend yourself.

But, again there are those who get back just for being mere bystanders. For not getting associated with the good or the bad. For being neutral, as neutral serves no one and is aloof. They often seem stronger. Not participating in something means you either fear it or you understand it. Yet, it is useless to others and thus, is often the first to go out of the equation like my husband.

In some other instances where those who become the medium to deliver it might be gaining slightly now from it but will also get back for the imbalance they bring, eventually. If they need another birth to give back, that too will happen. It is how this world works that the laws are written in the very matrix that surrounds us and you cannot avoid it, but take it.”

“It is difficult, but I will eventually understand this part of wellness and wellbeing.” I tried soaking in the words as much as the sun, both seemed precious right there.

“You mustn’t harm without being very sure that you must and for that you have to prove yourself. To prove it, you must work towards it and the sword is good then. Killing neutrals will not help, killing the ones supporting good will also not help. Use your judgement judiciously.”

What happened next?

“Yeah, I know.” I nodded.

“Unless someone finds you worthy enough to understand all of it, you cannot understand it. Most of us are born here but not all are worthy to understand the wisdom for which we come here. If you are proven worthy the portal will open since this is the only portal that is beyond the reach of ordinary humans.” She smiled.

“Okay, I will see what I can do.”

“Stand to the life you are given, till you die. Here, take this, a dragon vein and keep it close. Anger is your fire, bury it deep or transmutate it. Learn and learn till this life ends and come back whenever you can.”

She turned back and went inside with the sword; I had packed my bag, and cleaned up already when I came down. Near the well was a small tiffin box, I grabbed it and took a peek- warm momos with my favorite soup was waiting right there.

I paid her back an amount I knew will be valuable for her to survive some hard months and, that was my hard-earned money. I went off to meet my grandma who was in the next quarter. With just the train fares left, I knew I would have to beg to grandpa to help get back where I came from remembering well, life moved in circles.

There is a bit more to the wellness and wellbeing story for later.

The impact of global warming on many species of plants

global warming

Global warming is not the new talk of the town, in fact, its old.

Old enough for many generations to know about it.

The rising global temperatures are erasing trees, literally making them extinct. Species are being doused in fire or gobbled up by hellfire, but the truth is WE ARE LOSING THEM!

Ever since a child grows up, they remain in the cover or canopy of this environment, specific just to Earth. It is as unique in the galaxy as are humans from one another. Space scientists and astrophysicists have found many planets like Earth, but nothing is Earth.

Your child can be like you but cannot be you, so is it with your parents.

Extinguishing Earth is not a sane process!

But, how do human lives cope then?

Many argue, humans have just one home, and resources are limited.

So there is nothing more to exhaust, and humans live by exhausting others.

One human will exhaust several resources to live and only to die in the end. They give way to another similar species called an offspring more often. I am not sure if I can call it funny or aimless. But, human life, till now seems to go nowhere.

More so, or is it that I am wrong.

Global warming is a global phenomenon. No longer global since only a few, behind closed doors understands what we are heading to!

Our entropy, or put it better, our disorderliness.

But now that the global temperatures are rising globally, what is at immediate stake?

Impact of global warming on the tree world

A few more splendid mountain tree species will go down the flames & fumes.

The ones growing in highlands, mountains, and hills are acutely susceptible. Increased carbon dioxide levels and a rise in global temperature levels. Everyone is not sheep or fish and like us, they too, are different.

Each species is different from the other.

Pines are different from oaks and cedars as much as I am different from you.

Be it the tall Ponderosa pines of the western United States or the Apies pindrow of the Himalayan Mountains.

 Some species are trying to climb higher, shifting and changing biomes, even other trees for companions, but then the solution is not a long-lasting one.

Each time these trees are moving higher or sideways, they are taking a risk of leaving their original home. They are also taking precautions to make things more unpredictable, yet chances after chances are making way for only a few more years of sustenance.

That too, meanwhile, if someone is not chopping them off or removing them for food, fodder, medicine, or timber.

Forest fires, Agh! It is another brutal factor, killing Amazon rainforests, and the far-fetched Australian lands.

Making space for more concrete and more buildings is triggering the entire process.

The human population boom that will set in by 2030, now with so many deaths from COVID-19, might shift another few years more.

But then the trees are trying.

The 2005 forest fires devastated the ecosystem of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains around Pueblo, Colorado.

A decade later, the plants tried re-growing back, and in 2016, life changed in these terrains with more greens coming up and the pines returning.

But, the question is, no matter how hard they try, are we, as a human race trying hard enough for them to make an impact?

Can robots reproduce going forth? A myth recreation or a reality?

Robotic Technology

Going forth the advancement of robotic technology will wield the world.

A new breakthrough shows robots can breed!

Do I mean, can robots reproduce naturally?

As naturally as possible but artificially!

With a shocking 7.9 billion population engaging themselves on Earth, natural breeding is what is known for eons to rule.

Why is it ruling, or why did I choose to say it?

I chose the word ruling since there seems to be no visible competitor of this process like others on this planet.

Well, there was no competitor I must rectify.

But, now there seems to be a way coming up.

A century after Karel Capek coined the term, robot for the enumeration of the robotic technology and the world after- and now, after a century, they are laying their first breeding ground.

Wait! What? Did I hear it right? Oh my gosh! Can they breed or reproduce or whatever? Are we so advanced in robotic technologies now?

Well, some humans who are rather known to be scientists are making this phenomenon come true.

 A research group recently showed an automated technology that could be the first breeding ground for robots.

What can robots reproduce and what can they do with it?

  • They can breed for generations.
  • The evolution of the artificial genetic code is possible as robots keep breeding generation after generation.
  • In the process, if they can better adapt to the environment, they live in.

Well, gosh! Yes, it’s happening!

A competitor finally for the natural evolutionary process.

Child robots will have a combination of two-parent digital robots from a pack of robots.

How will the child robots evolve?

There is a process even to it like there is a process through which mankind creates their children.

What is the process in which robots can reproduce? Let’s find out!

  1. The new design once created by uniting the artificial DNA of two robots is sent to a 3D printer.

Ohh yes, it’s an artificial process, remember!

Printers are an integral part of this artificial technology for sure.

  • It designs or creates the shape of the robot, in short, the body of the robot is first designed from the information that reaches the printer.
  • Cool! The robot has a body next to what? It needs a brain, of course!

A brain with control software is attached to the body and mostly looks like shiny dots, specks, and flecks. It is attached to the new body of the baby robot by a robotic arm. The control software is nothing but a combination of software codes inherited by the baby from the mother and the father.

  • Again sensors, wheels, or joints chosen by the evolutionary process are also to be attached to the baby robot.
  • Simultaneously a computer simulation of the baby robot is also stored by the scientists for further use.
  • Due to artificial selection, there is still a scope of bringing together the best of two robots to create a far more advanced species than the parents. It is not though a trait of natural evolution where a child’s qualities get determined by their parents, but the good and the bad exist side by side.

A fast robot and a well-articulated robot can both come together in the new offspring when the robots reproduce.

Biological evolution
robots
computer simulation

Now the most essential point about this robotic technology.

This technology can work without human support.

Self-reliance!

Yes, this technology is a self-reliant process.

For the first time, humans are going to be bystanders in a process created by them.

Well, what is the future of such breeding?

Breeding farms!

Bringing up robots of a specific kind!

Biological evolution imitation

Ethical breeding for robots to reproduce.

Well, as biological evolution, more so natural evolutions show distinct trait choices, so might artificial evolution, scientists hope!

Just like the Cuban vines that have satellite-shaped leaves with dishes amplifying the echolocating signals (used primarily in bats) for turning to their flowers.

As much as the anti-freeze element in Antarctician piscine families where they survive long hauls of frozen grounds to welcome the summers year after year.

In the most similar of ways, it is believed, artificial progenies will also design eventually their own better self.

But there is a catch in this!

What you breed is what grows!

It would thus mean if you breed hate in these artificial creatures, one day, they might become capable enough to smother the entire human race.

But, if you breed love, they might become our best friends protecting us from adversaries we do not even know of.

Till the next generation robots grow, catch you then.

And then there will be competition now, in one of the vital human processes- producing progenies will no longer be natural or maybe not unnatural.

On a hopeful note!

Every basic right will get preserved, slowly, as trees and animals, robots and humans come to co-exist side by side.

The great barrier reef is spawning

great barrier reef spawning

The Australian Great Barrier Reef is spawning (producing sperms and eggs). As they move up in the waters, you feel like comparing them to anything like-

  • A flurry of snow
  • The smoking chimneys, and
  • Even the yellow or pink balls.

The world under the Sea seems to have brightened up in different colors this season as the Great Barrier Reef comes alive to create the grandest sexual event of the world.

Corals are similar to colonies of plants where individual animals called polyps reside. The most synchronized event of the world, millions and millions of eggs and sperms (as the Great Barrier Reef is spawning) float in the water together every year during this time.

In the last few years, witnesses claim the event to be either a trickle or one of the mass explosions. But this year, the whole coral pulses have come together to release their generations forward.

Photos from the Great Barrier Reef show corals unleashing a colorful storm of eggs and sperm
Gareth Philips on 24th November, 2021: Business Insider

Birthing in full swing is a stellar event for those who love the underwater world.

As the water warms, spawning continues to happen. This year seemed to be one of the most wonderful of many.

What role have the oceans played for us?

They too, like the trees absorb the carbon dioxide excess produced by humans. This way the ocean water temperature and acidity are rising all around the globe. But, this way as we are stressing the Earth, we are also stressing the waters.

Due to this extreme stress, corals often expel out the algae on which they depend for food and beauty.

Without the algal mass, the coral reefs will be white.

But soon after the algae are released the corals die due to lack of food.

The event is infamously known as coral bleaching.

This way we have made almost 14% of the world’s corals commit suicide. The data is as per reports from the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.

Why is this Great Barrier Reef spawning special?

How much coral do you think we have killed this way?

More than what is present in the coral reefs of Australia.

But, with this year’s spawning, there seems to be some hope that all is not lost. Since, in five years, there were three coral bleaching events that ripped off the algae from the corals.

Home to more than 25% of the world’s marine animals and plants, it is a source of food, shelter, entertainment, and a guard standing to protect the coastal flooding.

This year the spawning seems to be happening a bit earlier than its usual time due to the warming of the waters, increase in the day’s length, saltiness increase, and also the rising tides.

However, even though it’s happening much earlier, yet it is a mystery for many and a source of joy and hope to others who are desperate to save the planet world.

Zizira Explorers: Know How They Ventured Into The Spice Kingdom?

Zizira Explorers

See how Zizira Explorers have brought ancient herbs back to life mingled with the goodness of science and the art of organic farming.

Get well with herbs and old medicines;

The real nature that blooms bright still in these lands.

Make your soups simmer irresistibly,

Give help to the farmer’s hearts,

Join your growth in dimensions, warm and full of light.

Northeast India, the home to my maternal family is just not beautiful, in fact, it is the spirit of the country – less nurtured but utterly powerful. Visiting these places is like a dream and I have always felt home amid the clouds and the vales; the snow peaks and the bluish mountains.

Home to seven sisters, it is a common belief that nothing that ignores them can flourish. Living in these wonderlands can only bring joy and an enchanting experience.

River Umngot
River Umngot

Meghalaya (Home of the Clouds) is one of the seven sisters with their capital city in Shillong. Lovely smiling faces, glowing skins, melodious songs, rhythmic dances, and lip-smacking food is what represents them best.

One day while browsing through Instagram, I lapped upon this hardworking, unique group that was doing something different – to put it in a better way, they are doing something many cannot even dream of.

They are helping!

Helping whom?

Farmers, you and me!

This edition talks about their efforts.

About Zizira Explorers: Know who they are and what they do?

A unit of Chillibreeze Solutions, Zizira was born on the 15th of September, 2015. Zizira’s founder and CEO, Ralph Budelman, from Illinois, Chicago, visited Shillong in 2004. Chillibreeze offered PowerPoint formatting solutions for consulting firms and Fortune 500 companies.

Zizira Explorers
Founder of Zizira with the team

Being an entrepreneur, Ralph’s vision to start Chillibreeze was influenced by the potential he saw in the youth of the northeast. He wanted to ensure that this potential did not go to waste, so he started Chillibreeze to generate employment and offer better opportunities.  

Inadvertently, Ralph saw the agricultural resources that northeast India had to offer that were being severely underutilized, especially in Meghalaya alone. So, ten years after Chillibreeze’s inception, Ralph took another leap of faith and launched a pioneering initiative called Zizira, a food-based company with a mission to make farmers famous.

Thus, he entered into this e-commerce business venture to promote fair trade for indigenous northeastern produce of India.

Based in Shillong, Meghalaya, Zizira Explorers began their magnificent journey initially with just a team of seven enthusiastic people. In six years, they have grown into a team of 24 committed individuals who are passionate and driven to achieve Zizira’s vision of “Making Farmers Famous”.

Leading ladies of Zizira
Leading ladies of Zizira

The team today is somewhat a big close-knit family. Varied experiences, trials, and tribulations have brought them closer than ever. They share the same vision and purpose and look out for each other outside office hours.

Zizira Explorers
Team excursion

Being a profit-oriented organization but with a purpose to channel that profit, Zizira aims to strike a balance between social, environmental, and community benefits.

Vision of Zizira Explorers

The team of Zizira Explorers aim to “make farmers famous.” With this aim in mind, Zizira’s founder and CEO, Ralph Budelman is working towards promoting sustainable farming. Due to a lack of stable markets, the farmers are often exploited by the middlemen into selling their hard-earned valuable produce at throwaway prices. Thus, Zizira Explorers is making an earnest effort to help the farmers earn a fair price for their products.

Ralph’s vision is to alter the system and establish a new network of marketers to benefit the farmers and also put Meghalaya on the map for its rich undiscovered bounty. When you buy Zizira’s products, you help them create the process of regenerative and sustainable farming. 

How Zizira Explorers are helping farmers of Meghalaya?

Zizira founder with the farmer partners
Zizira’s CEO with the farmer partners

Zizira was launched with a vision to open markets for farmers. Their team also goes on frequent ‘epic trips’ where they venture into the most remote locations inaccessible by vehicles on the outskirts of Shillong in search of credible farmers to source exotic herbs, spices, pure honey, and even coffee.

Farmers of Meghalaya
Farmer partners of Zizira

Local farmers of Meghalaya like Kong Pdiangjingshaihun Dkhar began cultivating Lakadong turmeric long back without even having the faintest idea of its worth in the world market.

People like her have come forward to do business with the Zizira group and supply them with exquisite and indigenous produce. Most farmer partners of Zizira are from the outskirts of Shillong such as the Saphai in the West Jaintia Hills and the Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya.

Such people are no longer remaining small-time farmers but turning into entrepreneurs themselves with Zizira’s help. Many women of the region are also being empowered with such entrepreneurial ventures.

A glance at their line of products

Zizira spices and exotic herbs are available at their online store and also on their Instagram page. Here’s a quick look at their line of products.

Herbs & Spices

You will find a range of exotic, premium quality, pure herbs and spices like the famous Lakadong turmeric powder, Ing Makhir ginger powder, Bhut Jolokia, Szechuan Pepper, and lemongrass.

Lakadong Turmeric
Lakadong Turmeric

Lakadong turmeric – Obtained from Lakadong, this turmeric possesses high curcumin content (7-9%) and is a very effective natural anti-inflammatory and antiseptic agent.

Zizira spices
Ginger

Ing Makhir ginger powder – Also known as “Sying Makhir,” this is an indigenous variety of ginger found in Meghalaya with strong medicinal properties.

Zizira spices
Naga Chilli

Bhut Jolokia – Bhut Jolokia or Naga Chilli made it to The Guinness Book of World Records in 2007 as the world’s hottest chilli.

Sichuan Pepper
Szechuan Pepper

Szechuan Pepper – Sichuan pepper from the hills of Meghalaya possesses antispasmodic, anti-flatulence, and pain-relieving properties.

Beverages

If you are a beverage lover, then Zizira Explorers offer Valerian tea. Besides this, you even find hand-roasted Arabica coffee and Robusta coffee.

7000 steps coffee
Arabica Coffee

Coffee – 7000 steps coffee by Zizira is no ordinary coffee. Grown amid citrus fruit trees and orange trees, pure Arabica and Robusta coffee beans are naturally infused with flavours of oranges and other citrus fruits.

Tea
Tea

Tea – Herbal tea from Zizira make you fit and rejuvenated.

Natural Honey

Raw honey
Raw Honey

Mawsynram receives the highest rainfall annually. But it isn’t just famous for the amount of rainfall it receives but also for its honey. This natural honey is made available to people miles away from Mawsynram by the team of Zizira Explorers. Natural honey can help you deal with pollen and other allergies.

Take time to know more about Zizira Explorers

Wondering what can you find with them?

Well, here’s the answer for you:

  • Exquisite ingredients for cooking.
  • Herbs and shrubs, concoctions, and tonics.

The world of herbs, caressing, nurturing, and growing,

You find hard-working, enthusiastic people, who love their seeds sowing,

Their land is adrift, tucked up in the mountains, giving them the ephemeral glow

A lot remains unexplored and yet, the hearts are tiny gems bold, made of gold – real gold can be found in these hearts as much as in the mines of gold.

Do not let it go to waste, but make haste,

Reach Zizira and you would have helped the soul of the country flourish and grow.

Use their pastes and powders, invent new recipes, and try them out.

Yummy and lip-smacking, I can tell you, you would like it if you are a foodie.

To know a bit more, here are answers to a few questions I put forth and the lovely, enthusiastic group was kind enough to answer.

Here’s a bit about Zizira right from the Zizirans (the word is invented by me!).

How do you collect information about different herbs? Do you collect it from the natives of Meghalaya?

We refer to several sources for information on herbs and spices. Most are based on research from the internet and books. We also rely on traditional folk wisdom which has been passed down over generations. Using our knowledge of the local languages, culture, and drawing information from ancient wisdom and folk medicine, we aim to give customers rare and authentic products, otherwise inaccessible to them. 

Do you cover the culinary specialties of the entire Northeast or do you focus mainly on Meghalaya?

Our focus is mostly centered on Meghalaya and what it has to offer. We live in a region that is considered by some to be ‘the richest, most biodiverse region in India’ and we aim to share its bounty with the rest of the world.

The science behind cooking is quite beautifully captured by your blogs. Do you do your research or is it ancestral knowledge?

We rely on several sources; research, experience, and traditional wisdom passed over from our ancestors. Mostly, we try to incorporate all three and apply ourselves accordingly.

Do you function just like a blog, or do you have other roles? Explain every job role briefly.

The team is split into 4 departments:

  1. Supply Chain – Efficiently manufacturing the products and effectively managing the logistics of delivering them to customers all over India
  2. Product Development – Research and development of products and making sure the products are following all the ethical measures
  3. Marketing – Reaching out to potential customers and enabling them to avail our products
  4. Customer Support – Ensuring each and every customer has a great experience with Zizira.

Do you think that all herbs and spices are a combination of art and sciences coming together to benefit humanity?

In today’s fast-paced world of pharmaceutical drugs and quick fixes, one shouldn’t forget the healing properties of herbs and spices. We are ardent believers of natural cures and remedies which we practice ourselves and propagate as well. We believe that herbs and spices have a high threshold for tremendous healing to benefit humanity especially if incorporated into day-to-day living.

Ending Note

Zizira spices and herbs are not only great for preparing memorable dishes but are also enriched with healing properties. You can connect with them through their website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter pages, and even via Whatsapp. Interestingly, you can even order their products through Amazon. If you follow them on their social media pages, you will see that time and again numerous offers are available for their exquisite range of products.

The team of Zizira explorers including the network of native farmers strive to source natural products from the hills of Meghalaya, grow them organically and naturally, and use hands instead of machines to adapt them into a convenient form of use.

Vocal for Local- Zizira
Listen to their site here

 

ImagesThrillophilia, Zizira website, Zizira IG Page

FAQs associated with Zizira Explorers

Which is the best turmeric in India?

Lakadong Turmeric indigenous to the hilly terrain of Meghalaya enjoys the reputation of the world’s and India’s best turmeric.

What is Lakadong turmeric powder?

Lakadong turmeric powder made from Meghalaya’s indigenous turmeric variety contains a high level of curcumin up to 8-9%.

What are the benefits of Lakadong turmeric?

As Lakadong turmeric has a rich curcumin content and other bioactive compounds, it exhibits powerful healing properties.

Which country’s turmeric is best?

India is the largest producer and exporter of turmeric. India suffices for up to 80% of the world’s turmeric requirements.

What is Chyrmit?

Chyrmit is a local Jaintia or Pnar word for turmeric and refers to a special variety of turmeric, also known as Lakadong turmeric native to the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya.

Snehashree
Snehashree

 

Snehashree is a content creator by profession and storyteller, poet, and abstract artist by passion. She has published her works of poetry on Amazon and several online magazines.

For TST, she likes carving and sharing fascinating tales, pieces of poems, lores from faraway lands, narratives from regular people’s inspiring journeys, and stories about upcoming brands who are striving to make a difference.

When not writing, she can be found reciting poetries in poetry clubs, teaching kids the art of poetry, and reading avidly.

El Salvador Bitcoin City

Bitcoin-City-El-Salvador

For the first time, bitcoins will have a city of their own. El Salvador has issued a legal tender to mine and use bitcoins. While announcing a bill of $1 billion for bitcoin bonds recently, the President was indeed very hopeful of a bitcoin future. An entire city made of just bitcoins is the vision and mission of El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele. The site chosen is the Gulf of Fonseca near the Conchagua volcano. The city will be a circle in the shape of a coin and the center will be a plaza portraying a large bitcoin symbol.

Can you mine bitcoins?

Ohh! Yes, bitcoin mining is a reality but is not done using shovels and gears but technology. It has a slightly different way of utilization than the normal way of using the word.

The President plans to utilize geothermal energy for empowering the Bitcoin city as well as its mining. Mining involves solving innumerable complicated mathematical calculations that have throughout for adding and verifying coins into the Blockchain.

A pilot bitcoin venture is already mining successfully in the city but is drawing its energy from another geothermal site near the Tecapa volcano.

To make it more interesting the President announced a tax free living for the residents of Bitcoin city. The sole aim of this city will be to draw more foreign investments towards it.

Bitcoin bonds! What are these?

The normal definition of a bond is made by the borrower to the lender wherein the borrower makes a promise to pay the sum invested by the lender alongside a profit earned by the borrower from the amount.

A USD 1 billion bond is being issued wherein half of the bond money will go into the maintenance of mining and energy infrastructure. The rest USD 500 million will go towards purchasing more bitcoins from the market.

Bitcoin stream, a Bitcoin service-focused company will manage the bonds and even a small investment of $100 can be made by anyone across the world. As the company is using Liquid Network and Block stream AMP, investments as small as $100 can be accepted from users from anywhere in the world.

Tools assimilated with this liquid network are capable of paying back dividends in due time to the bondholders. Blockstream predicted the bonds will probably introduce a hyperbitcoinization that will in itself be a new financial system over bitcoin.

The city will pave the way to the start of a 2-layered technology called the Liquid Network. Payment of dividends will be instant with in-built cryptographic confidentiality.

The city will sell off some bonds after a lock period of 5 years with an expected 6.5 % profit yield. Once 10 bonds come up, $5 billion bitcoins will be swept off the market for a few years. If ten other countries follow in these footsteps, half of the current bitcoin market cap will be reached.

The value of bitcoin, if and when reaches $1 million then El Salvador can sell two-quarters of its bitcoin and gather a whopping $500 million. 

What will it be like living in El Salvador bitcoin city?

Many wonder what it is to live in a bitcoin city.

According to reports, it will be a normal city with malls, restaurants, residential locations, alongside a port. The city will give way to digital education, public transport means, and different technologies.

The welcome message by Bukele urges people to invest in the city that will allow retaining all the profit that comes from it.

But, you will pay a tax and just one tax- the value added tax (VAT).

Can you imagine just a single tax? When while living in different cities people end up paying innumerable other taxes to just live there.

The money that comes from this tax will go towards paying the municipal bond costs and half of it in maintaining the municipal infrastructure.

A report to AFP says residents will not pay any;

Zero Tax towards
Property
Municipality
Income-related taxes
Zero Taxes

Phew! Seems like the new world is going to take over the old world soon!

The Nanny Manny Video Game

Poetry

Here’s a poem about the modern world.

A light hearted poetry, it focuses on a concept- Gen X and Gen Z

I

For an evening, I was the nanny of a boy.

An eight year old lad, he was both bright and coy.

His mother was to leave for the show with her friends as I stepped inside to take over the chores.

He smiled at me, and waved gleefully with his fingers four.

“Where is your thumb? I asked him.

“Resting.” He said in a whim.

“Video games, I hate it.” His mother screamed from behind the closed doors.

“Ohh!” I merely could utter nothing else fearing I might sound like a bore.

After I sat down with a glass of water,

Juno peeped from behind the living room clutter.

“What is it that you’d say if I ask to join me for a game?’

 “A game of what?” I could see everything else, other than the video game.”

“Video games, PUBG, and what? He stood there, unsure of my reply.

‘Ahh! But your mother does not favour it.” I replied quickly.

‘I can teach you,” he offered a deal I could not deny.

I knew deep within, I felt a bit peevish in not knowing how to play a game, and now here I was having an ally.

Coyly I obeyed my master, too short, to be one.

But I did not go by his size, for don’t they say, size doesn’t matter when you want to learn having fun.

His room was not too tidy, but then he offered me the big bed.

I didn’t mind the breadcrumbs on the floor as I long as I sat upon the homestead.

Then he gave me a small horse shoe or so it seemed at a glance.

Until I noted small buttons- red, green, black and blue,

Slowly, I sipped from my glass to quench my thirst.

A remote, I rectified my thought.

II

He gave me a nod and said, ‘Here we start, you are no longer my nanny but my opponent and you possess the darts.”

I looked at the screen, some cartoon figures brightly dressed, stood there, smiling at me.

“You are this one- Lady Kararoomba,’ the boy spoke as though a kid very smart.

“And you are who?” I asked quaintly, almost loosing my sheen.

“I am the bad king and you are the good girl,’ he said as I shook slightly from fear.

Again he nodded and the screen came alive.

Everything was moving and I felt as though the whole screen was taking a dive.

“Ohh my God, what do I do, what do I do.” I panicked for goodness must thrive.

“Use the buttons dumbo.” He did not look up but on the remote, he stuck his eyes open wide.

I pressed the buttons but I admit the screen was moving faster than my nimble fingers could glide, on the machine.

“Save Kararoomba, save her, you owe your blood to her alone, abide.” The screen screeched and hissed and I was out of my wits again.

The screen came to a halt and with it my heart leaped and leaped.

“Did she die?” I asked him and his eyes grew wide.

“Yes.” He nodded and I could see te from his face slide.

“Haven’t you ever played it?” I was almost in tears for no fault of mine.

Guilty, and ashamed of not having been able to save her.

For in my time, we roamed free to oil our gear.

III

“Fine, let us play Ludo then, I am sure, you know what that is, like my old mother.”

“Yes, yes. I do. I nodded to shake away my guilt and fear.

I remember as a girl, I played Ludo amid the free woods,

Which were long gone and now there stood,

a resort which people visited to cover their moods.

He snatched the remote from my hand.

But, I still felt fear and guilt well up, guilt with shame.

I wish I could set everything right by merely swinging a wand.

I wish I could earn fame as a dame playing the video game.

But, then we played Ludo and spent the evening left, silently until her mother came.

IV

I hid the event from her and I was sure, so would Juno.

That night when I went back home and sat beside my mom,

She asked me what crime I had done to be so numb.

I told her I failed to save Kararoomba from the video game.

“Who?” My mother questioned even when I had explained every bit to her about the game.

I could now see why people get hooked to such games, as my dad stood nodding, understanding nothing,

But just the name in the game.

Transmit data faster using nuclear energy

data faster using nuclear energy

Someone is finally using nuclear energy to transmit data!!

Amazing, isn’t it?

I just loved it the first time I heard the concept.

It reminded me of those witches and wizards who conjure connections and transmit messages out of nowhere.

Numerous other efforts are being made to create better and faster ways of data transmission everywhere, but this one needs a mention as a lot of work is already done in this direction.

For the first time, engineers at Lancaster University have successfully transferred digitally encoded information, in short, data, using nuclear radiation rather than the conventional technological methods used currently.

Conventional energy resources used currently for data transmission requires a bit of attention before we move on to this novel method.

We are surely aware of what data transmission is?

Considering that we are aware of what a data transmission is (wherein we can receive transmitted data from a CPU to the monitor or from a satellite to the Earth), we will move on to the next big question, and that is- How is the data transmitted between two or more digital devices?

In simple words, data is transmitted in bits (not in bits and pieces, yet in bits) but as bits.

For a flawless data transmission, two primary methods are used currently.

Data Transmission

There are two main types.

Neutron Data Transmisison

Serial Transmission:

In serial transmission, there is a single channel. One bit is transferred after the other in this type of transmission.

How does serial transmission work?

Serial transmission is a technology where the data is sent or received in a certain order flowing in a determined pattern one after the other. If you can imagine how the data is being sent, you know that to make sense, the data must be transmitted only in a certain order.

Advantages of serial data transmission

  • The advantage of using serial transmission is that a data bit will not be transferred unless the previous data bit has been completely sent or received.
  • It works best for long-range data transfer.
  • It is also a valuable way of data transfer when the amount of data being sent is relatively small in size.
  • Since data is transmitted in a certain order, data integrity is not an issue with serial data transmission.
  • Parallel Transmission: In this form, multiple channels can send and receive multiple bits all at the same time.

How does parallel transmission work?

The nearness of the data source, available bandwidth and user location are the prime factors that control the transmission of data through parallel networks.

Parallel transmission does not ensure linear data transmission, instead, it could even be haphazard.

Advantages of using parallel data transmission

  • Data can be transferred much faster through this method.
  • If the data sent has a high degree of sensitivity for time, then this method can be a valuable way to send data.

Ideally, electrical data transfer through wired ways uses Electrical Energy (EE).

Through wireless means, data transmission is possible using radio wave manipulations.

And now Tada! We have nuclear radiation to support wireless data transfer.

Here is a way in which fast neutrons from Californium-252 gives out spontaneous emissions.

What is the isotope used?

Californium-252 is produced in nuclear reactors as a radioactive isotope.

Fast neutronic transmissions have an edge over the electromagnetic waves as these won’t be weakened during transmission, unlike the electromagnetic waves that degrade when passing through materials made of metals.

The researchers at Josef Stefan Institute, Slovenia are working in close conjugation with the experts of Lancaster University, the United Kingdom to transfer data using fast neutrons obtained from the continuous emissions of Californium-252.

Modulated emissions were recorded through a detector, and a laptop seemed to satisfy the researchers immensely.

Data transfer through nuclear energy- results

They have transferred a word, an alphabet, even a number chosen randomly. The encoding was done serially into the neutron field modulation, and then its output was detected on a laptop.

A double-blind test was also performed in this regard. What they did in this test was that they encoded a random number generator’s randomly produced numbers into the modulated neutron field without any knowledge of it and then transmitted the same to the laptop. When examined the data transfer was rightfully accomplished through this means, and all other tests that were run concluded with cent per cent success scores.

Benefits of data transfer using nuclear energy

Professor Malcolm Joyce of Lancaster University confirmed that they had built a way to transmit data in places where electromagnetic transmissions cannot feasibly reach or are extremely limited by all means.

Fast neutrons can also be mingled with electronic transfer (done by electrons instead of neutrons), and this way, the data transferred could be more of an integrated transfer.

Using neutronic data transfer could reduce the need for maritime structures on penetrations and is a desirable means to transmit data in situations involving emergency rescue operations.

Whoa!

Don’t you feel like we are moving from Gen Z to the world of Gen Omega?

All we can say is welcome to the world of tales into the real world for the first time ever!

Poseidon’s drones in search for life on Titan

Poseidon

Are you curious about Poseidon?

Well, yeah, even I am!

The names were slightly tingly, and I couldn’t say I could think more, but the image of real space, the Sea of God, Ooops! THE GOD OF THE SEA, and Titan wafted together and collided head-on within my mind, the moment I discovered the news.

Poseidon, the God of the Sea is now the name of the mission to find more about the liquid lakes of Titan.

Poseidon
Image credit: Remo News

Do they promise life?

Were they our home in the past?

Will we live there in the future?

The answer lies in nothing else, but a fleet of drones that will visit Titan (Saturn’s biggest moon as known to mankind so far).

But the name Poseidon is a twist as it can be expanded to (Titan POlar Scout/ OrbitEr and InSitu lake lander DrONe explorer). Phew! That is quite a long name to be but, then, Titan is bigger!

Ideally, there are two spacecraft- a lander and an orbiter.

The lander is the spacecraft that will land on the gigantic moon’s surface, known as The Lake Lander. It is known as the lake lander and acts like a large drone comprised of numerous small drones.

Why Titan, do you wonder?

Well, Titan is the only Moon that bears an atmosphere. Astonishingly, it functions as a planet with lakes, oceans, ice and even rainfall. But Titan has methane and ethane lakes instead of having watery (H2O) lakes. It is the only place ideally after Earth, where the existence of life forms is possible.

Our previous atmosphere consisted of methane and ethane before water, oxygen, and nitrogen came up.

On Titan, it’s so cold that water’s hardness is similar to graphite. Even though methane & ethane, yet, a completeness in the cyclical process responsible for bringing rain to Titan, as on Earth.

With the evolution of human life, definitions have changed and are transforming the very world we live in. So, if we could make use of water, why not methane or ethane is a question, our future generations might have to solve one day.

Till then, we can be lost in the wonder of this massive and brilliant expedition!

Stay tuned for more!