The Paw Print
Novi Middle School's Student Newspaper
Volume 23/Issue 2 - January 2023
Mount Vernon
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
Is Novi Middle School’s Washington DC Trip Worth It?
By Udita Jutur
Imagine skipping school for 4 days and having fun with your friends in a different state. Every year, Novi Middle School holds a 4 day field trip to DC. Students in 8th grade go on an eleven hour bus ride to Washington DC and stay there for 4 days. When I went I got to see a lot of sites, go on tours, and have a great time away from school with my friends. From eating at new restaurants to being spooked by the ghost tour, DC was amazing and memorable, but of course very pricey. So, is this trip worth the money and time?
Learning Real Time History and Having Fun
Ever seen a huge statue of Thomas Jeferson or been able to take photos with a Martin Luther King Jr statue? These were just two out of the many cool places my friends and I saw on the trip. I also saw the White House in person- and I was mesmerized. It was beautiful and the biggest house I’ve seen in my life. I was fascinated by how beautiful some of these sites were, and they made for great pictures. Learning about all the statues and the history behind them was interesting. Seeing these buildings was just the beginning of it though, we also got to go to interactive museums. I loved seeing the sparkly Hope Diamond and seeing how huge the Star Spangled Banner was. In the National Museum of African American History & Culture, I got to go inside a segregation bus and see for myself how bad racism was back then. Learning about the story of Emmett Till showed me how unfair and cruel racism was. This trip taught me about the different places, seeing them, and being able to touch the statues. One of the biggest highlights of the trip for me was the night I saw the reflection of the Washington Monument in the water. The lights from the areas surrounded the water, and everyone sat on the edge of the ground, their legs dangling above the water. That was a once in a lifetime memory.
Journey
Although the bus ride going to and coming back from DC was long, it wasn’t boring. Of course it was a bit uncomfortable, but I was with my friends. We played music, played games, talked, and had fun. So, the bus ride isn’t something to worry about. We walked to a lot of our destinations throughout the day which was slightly tiring, but to our long destinations we took the bus. We left most of our stuff there, like our big bags, and snacks. So overall, the traveling part of the trip wasn’t bad.
Fueling Our Energy by Eating Food
We had to get up early in the morning and get ready at 8.00 am to eat the widespread breakfast buffet at the hotel each day. Our lunches were at the malls, food courts, and dinners at different restaurants. I loved the food courts and malls the most as they have a variety of different fast food choices like McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Subway, etc. I didn’t really relish the breakfast or the restaurant food. It was pretty bland and I’ve had better food, but I guess that’s just how DC food is.
Where We Rested
At the end of the day when we got to our hotel, it would be relieving. We were exhausted. The hotels weren’t that dirty but they only had two beds that were small so you’d have to make sure you’re not taking up too much space. My roommates took turns to shower in the night, while I showered in the morning. I woke up at 5:30am but the chaperones woke us up at 6:15. Before we went to bed, we’d watch TV and talk. Other than the hotel being dirty, I liked it a lot.
Others' opinions
8th grade student, Jaynie Chen Jiang, said: I think the DC trip is pretty reasonable. $800+ is kind of a scam but it's alright because you get to make so many great memories with your friends! The trip is a rare opportunity and it would be a shame to pass on it. Personally, I found the hotel and buses to be alright, but I heard it was better and worse for some others. The trip was fun---too bad it only lasted for three days. But the food was great!
The places we visited were very fun and interesting and educational and pretty! And the tour guides are absolutely rad! You do get to bed quite late, as well as getting up a bit early. But I would say you should go on the DC trip because it's very entertaining, intriguing, knowledgeable, and nice.
8th grade student, Juliana Gibson, said: The trip was definitely worth it. I loved being able to travel around DC with my friends and make special memories I'll always remember. I loved being able to travel to historical sites and learn the history behind it. The buses were super nice. It was also really cool just to see these things in person. Some of my favorite places we went to were the WWII memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument. The money was definitely worth it because this is like a one in a lifetime thing. And so was the time despite the bus ride being long.
8th grade student, Saksham Patel, said: The Washington DC trip was a spectacular trip. You could do so much stuff there and had opportunities to visit multiple national artifacts. One of the best parts in my opinion of the trip was hanging out with your friends. You can choose your roommates and traveling group which makes it even better. Having many friends, you and your friends can hang around with each other and visit the places that we visit with your friends and you can also experience new things on this trip. One of my favorite places that we went to was the Alexandria Ghost Tour and the Spy Museum. For all the scary story lovers, the Alexandria Ghost Tour is a must. You will be guided by a tour guide that will take you around the town telling you stories of buildings and homes from hundreds of years ago. You will visit a cemetery in the night and will go on a long walk which will have cool stuff during the walk. The International Spy Museum is also a must. You will visit a huge museum dedicated to the history of spying. You will learn how to be a spy and how difficult it was to be a spy for many others. The Washington DC trip is a must and I recommend everyone that gets the opportunity to go, should go. You will experience lots of fun things and will overall have an amazing time on this trip. I hope everyone in the future that goes to 8th grade should definitely go.
8th grade student, Sonam Mishra, said: It was so worth the time and money, if you were with the right group, which I was. It was amazing going to all the monuments and memorials, especially on the first day, when our bus went to see the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. We were Bus 4 by the way, since different buses went to different locations each day. Some areas where there could have been room for improvement and some things I just didn't like AT ALL: the buses were WAY too cold, at least our bus was. It broke down on the way home, and we had to wait in it for an hour, where there was no A/C, and it was boiling hot in there due to all the body heat. Another thing I would like to point out is that the bathroom in our room, mainly the shower, broke on the second day, and we had to fix it ourselves. The drain also wasn't working properly; it was so slow to drain all the water out, and even talking about it now makes me want to throw up. Speaking of throwing up, can I just mention that the food was TERRIBLE?! The bacon was raw, the egg wasn't cooked right, and there was basically nothing decent to eat except the potato tots and the pancakes, and even THAT wasn't right. However, if we ignore these things for now and instead, look on the bright side, the trip was so much fun! We went to so many places each day, though, personally, the walking around was a bit too intense for me, considering that we walked about 8-10 miles each day. Other than that, we not only got to see memorials and monuments, but we also got to see museums, which for me, were the highlights of this trip. So, based on what I said and my opinions of this trip, overall this was a great experience and I will cherish the memories that I made with everyone on the trip!
Conclusion
So, is Novi Middle School’s Washington DC Trip Worth It? Yes, you make memories you’ll never get to experience again. It brings you and your friends closer, and it’s so much fun. This is the last trip we go to as a school together, a wonderful way to build lasting childhood memories.
Science & Technology
FIRST Program
By Diya Ural and Arav Raman
The Challenge-
Every season, teams from all over the world compete in a challenge (FTC) based on the season challenge. In FTC, you are supposed to design, build, code and present a robot, with a group of people. The amount of areas here you can specialize in is many such as marketing, programming, driving the robot, building the arm, etc. so the finding room for a possible interest is plenty. This season is called Energize and the challenge is called PowerPlay. The goal is to pick up cones from different spots on the field and place them on junctions of varying heights (ground, low, medium, high). Teams aim to complete a circuit following the Energize theme. Teams can score points by securing cones on junctions, parking autonomously via a signal sleeve, moving to certain spots and more. Right now, Novi has 11 middle school (FTC) robotics teams competing all over the state.
Why Robotics is so popular in Novi-
Robotics in Novi is one of the highest percentages all over Michigan. There are over 6400 FTC teams globally, 11 in MI alone, but why is it SO popular? In order to know that, you need to know what FTC is first. FTC stands for First Tech Challenge. The organization FIRST’s mission is to inspire more kids to become STEM leaders. 2022 was the 31st competition of FIRST. One reason that FTC became so big in Novi might also be the more interest in STEAM jobs in the future. Robotics is also something colleges will look for especially if you are applying to an engineering college such as University of Michigan. With the competition in Novi, having robotics as one of your extracurriculars can be one of the reasons that they might choose you to go to their college.
All in all, the FIRST program is a very good opportunity that is available to anyone and everyone. We hope we were able to inspire you to join FTC and help you learn more about it.
Browser games that you can play RIGHT NOW!
The world of online games is chaotic and mysterious. Some are innocent, others are places of nightmares. However, a mysterious figure who’s online persona is an axolotl, shall show you some greats of online browser games. #3: Tetr.io Tetris is one of the most played games over time. The same gameplay of stacking blocks to clear lines in order to avoid reaching the top of your board has been consistently played since the 80s. So it’s not too surprising when people remake the game, but with a unique take. Tetr.io is a familiar block-stacking game, but instead of just trying to survive for as long as possible, your goal is to make the other player lose, by sending lines to them when you clear lines. The gameplay becomes even more depthful when you start learning how to T-spin, Perfect clear, and improving finesse, to the point where it’s a completely different game by the time you become good at the game. #2: Super Auto Pets A cute game where you buy pets, assemble a team, and have them fight to the death in order to win. Great, wholesome fun! Every pet in the game has a unique ability that changes the way you play, every time. Sometimes your just trying to use pets that improve other pets to stack effects and become unkillable, or your trying to sell your pets to get stat boosts, or your trying to intentionally get your pets to hurt each other, so that they can get extra damage, there are so many different strategies that can get you a victory that it makes the game extremely replayable. #1: Bonk.io Lastly, a personal favorite of the mysterious figure, Bonk.io. In this game, you are a ball, trying to knock enemies off of the map, by slamming into them. You can also choose between having a bow or a grappling hook, giving you more options to win. Being a physics based game, there’s a huge amount of depth in the game when trying to use the physics to your advantage, that you never stop improving your skills as long as you're playing the game.
Physicists Created a Holographic Wormhole!
By: Jayaram Ganesh, Adithya Dudeesh, and Atiksh Pardeshi
A group of scientists from the California Institute of Technology have created a wormhole using a Quantum Computer! Specifically, they’ve created an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, a concept from a paper published by Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen. The Einstein-Rosen Bridge is a wormhole that travels from one place to another, and uses extra dimensions of space to do so. The group of scientists used a property in quantum mechanics called “quantum entanglement”. Quantum entanglement is when 2 particles “entangle” with each other, and send information simultaneously. The Einstein-Rosen Bridge and quantum entanglement seemed very different in the late 20th century up to 2013. In 2013, scientists Leonard Susskind and Juan Maldacena proposed that both concepts describe the same concept of the wormhole. So, these scientists at Caltech, combined these 2 phenomena to create a mini-wormhole (Quanta Magazine).
But don't get too excited. This isn’t the type of wormhole you think it is. It’s a holographic wormhole. An holographic wormhole is where you can only send information through the wormhole. But, that is still a major breakthrough. But using this technology, we can create a wormhole that can transport humans or maybe spaceships like in Star Wars in the near future!
If you want to learn more about this topic, check out these resources:
Physicists Create a Wormhole Using a Quantum Computer | Quanta Magazine
Scientists simulate ‘baby’ wormhole without rupturing space and time | Space | The Guardian
https://quanted.substack.com/p/scientist-just-created-a-mini-wormhole
Here’s a good documentary about this topic:
Latest Space Explorations:Artemis 1 Mission!
By: Kaushal Guntury
The Artemis Mission- NASA’s new multibillion dollar spacecraft has successfully returned from the moon on Sunday, December 11th, and because of this, NASA is one step further to getting astronauts back on the moon by 2025. The Orion Capsule circled around the moon and then made its splash landing in the Pacific Ocean.The Artemis mission was a test of circling the Orion capsule around the moon , clearing the way for future and more daring moon missions to come. The span of the whole trip was approximately 25 1⁄2 days. The Orion capsule traveled 1.4 million miles, circling the moon. This mission was considered a test flight and because of that, there were no real astronauts but mannequins with cameras installed in them. After closing in on Earth’s atmosphere, the Orion capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean, facing Mexico’s Baja Peninsula on Sunday, December 11, 2022.
What Next?- The spacecraft finished the final stage of its mission when it closed in on Earth’s atmosphere and then splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, near the Baja Peninsula. “I’m overwhelmed,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Sunday. “This is an extraordinary day.” As a result of the Orion capsule’s landing speed to be 32 times the speed of sound, the capsule was heating at approximately 5,000 degrees Farenheight as soon as it hit the air. “The next big test is the heat shield,” Nelson had told CNN in a phone interview Thursday.” As the capsule slowed down on its descent into the Pacific Ocean, shedding thousands of miles per hour, increasing the speed of the capsule which caused the parachutes to deploy and make the capsule splashdown into the Pacific. [source:CNN]
The Midterms: What Happens Now?
By: Silas Hunter
On November 8th of 2022, voters across the United States cast their ballots in the Midterm Elections. These elections had a lot at stake in them, so here it is, broken down;
What was at stake?
In the elections, there were elections at different levels of government. At the Federal level, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. In the Senate, 35 out of 100 seats were up for election. There were 36 governor or “gubernatorial” elections, along with various elections for state legislatures. Many local elections also took place.
What was expected?
Throughout most of the history of the U.S, the midterm elections benefited the party that did not hold the presidency. Since Joe Biden holds the presidency, and is a Democrat, the Republicans were expected to win big. This was supposed to be a “Red Wave” year, meaning that the Republicans were expected to win big because there was a Democratic president. The last time a Red Wave happened was in 2014, two years after president Obama’s reelection. The last time a “Blue Wave” happened, when the president is a Republican and the Democrats are expected to win big, was in 2018, two years after president Trump’s election.
What Happened?
The results of the most important elections can be broken down into two parts, Federal and State results.
Federal Results
In the House of Representatives, the Republicans gained control from the Democrats. They won 222 seats, and the Democrats won 213 seats. In the Senate, the Democrats held onto power. They won 51 seats, and the Republicans won 49 seats.
State Results
Out of the 36 governorships up for election, the Republicans won 18 and the Democrats won 18. This brings the total control of states’ governorships to 24-26 in favor of the Republicans. In many states, at least one part of the state legislature flipped to the Democrats. This would include states such as Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. In some states, the Democrats expanded on the majorities they already had. Republicans also won in some state legislatures too. They expanded on their majorities in states like Florida, North and South Carolina, and Wisconsin, among others.
What are the Effects?
The results of the midterms could have a massive impact on president Biden’s agenda. Though the Democrats kept their majority in the Senate, they lost the House. Without control of the House, the Democrats would have to get some Republicans to vote in favor of Democratic legislation to further president Biden’s agenda. House Republicans also have stated that they will investigate the actions of the Biden administration and possibly begin impeachment proceedings against members of the Biden administration. However, even if Biden or members of his administration are impeached, the Democrat controlled Senate would easily acquit them.
Sources:
Around the World
Waste Management
by : Charley Weaver
If you’re not careful, and not disposing of things properly in a recycle bin or garbage bin, and throw it on the side of the road it can build up in the ocean or a landfill. Glass bottles and containers, aluminum cans, or electrical supplies or even plastics used for drinking can be harmful to Earth and sea life in lots of different ways.
For example, plastic or aluminum can be dangerous for marine life or for fresh water life. Why? Because fish and other sea life can mistake it for food, or in cases with glass, can cut themselves or possibly die from poisoning or injury.
According to Cleanwater.org, “Food containers and packaging are the largest component of the municipal solid waste stream (80 million tons or 31.7 %).” So, what should we do about this? Start disposing of food waste like cans, bottles, plastic, wrappers, etc. in a proper way. Place it in the trash can properly or take it to a recycle bin and recycle it. Another way to get money and recycle is take your cans and bottles to the store and return them and get money for it. They will crush up these cans and bottles and use them to make new products like plastic wrappers, bottles, or tin cans.
Plastic bottles aren’t the only answer. Buy a hard plastic reusable water bottle or use a reusable tin can or cup. It is cheaper than constantly buying new drink containers, and it will help the earth and save more money. Buying a reusable bottle or cup can easily affect the Earth. We don’t want to see so much waste around the Earth or the oceans. We want to see more sea life with good quality water.
Water and marine life isn’t the only things that are affected by throwing away trash in the world. Chemicals that are released as items decompose can pollute the air, and cause breathing problems for humans and animals. Waste isn’t the only part of what’s wrong with our earth. Factories use oil, gasoline, and sometimes smoke.
For example, trains and cars and other land motor vehicles can produce smoke and carbon dioxide and affect our breathing and the breathing of animals around us. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “Limiting the amount of time . . . locomotives spend idling their main engines can result in significant emissions reductions. Idle reduction can also reduce noise and save fuel. Locomotives typically consume between 3 to 5 gallons per hour depending on the ambient temperature.” This is important because if you’re not using the vehicle, and it’s still on, you’re wasting gas and it is polluting the air unnecessarily.
In conclusion, waste buildup, smoke, oil and gasoline pollution and factory pollution are all bad for the environment. We should stop accumulating food waste around landfills and oceans, and start turning it in where it can be recycled, like at a grocery store pay machine. If you’re not using locomotive vehicles or your car, please turn it off, because it can majorly affect us, others around us, and the earth. Also, if you can, walk or ride a bike. This is how we can prevent waste and air pollution from vehicles and factories.
US-Russia Prisoner Swap
Recently, the Russian Government made a ground-breaking & controversial deal with the United States government. It involved the 2 time olympic gold medalist and 7 time WNBA all-star Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury, and a notorious Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death”. So, how did we get here? On February 17 of 2022, Griner was accused of carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil. According to NYT, “Hashish oil is a marijuana concentrate that has a high concentration of the psychoactive chemical THC, and it is commonly sold in cartridges that are used in vape pens.” She was arrested and later convicted. Now that we know about Griner’s situation, who is Viktor Bout? He is a notorious arms dealer, who has supplied weapons to terrorist groups like the Taliban, as well as Rwanda rebels. In 2011, he was convicted of conspiring to kill americans. This was a controversial move by the American government. Many people believed that the US should have tried to bring Paul Whelan home, an ex-marine held prisoner in Russia for spying. One opinion article written believed that Griner deserves American cash, with many readers arguing that she only deserves jail time, with some allegations of Griner saying that she hated America. Even more recently, former president Donald Trump has said that he had a chance to bring Whelan home in 2018, but declined, because he believed Bout was too dangerous.
Book & Movie Reviews
Popular Books and Movies
By: Aliana Benjamin
Books:
The fault in our stars-
Hazel is being kept alive by a tumor-shrinking miracle, she is also an inscribed diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist, Augustus Waters suddenly appears in her support group, her story begins to be rewritten.
The girl who drank the moon-
Every year, the people of Protectorate leave a baby in the woods for the witch who lives in the forest. They hoped to not upset her, but the witch lives with many other creatures and returns these children to the town on the other side of the woods.
Holes-
Stanley Yelnats is under the same curse that his grandpa had. His grandpa had also started this curse. Stanley is sent to an unjustly boys detention center, at Camp Green Lake. This detention center forces boys to build character by building holes, every day, and all day. These holes that they spend all day digging have to be exactly 5 feet wide and five feet deep. Stanley tries to dig up the truth about why the warden is looking for something in the dried up lake.
Warriors (1)-
Four clans of wild cats have always shared the forest, this idea was placed by their ancestors. But one clan, the ThunderClan is in grave danger, the sinister-evil ShadowClan grows stronger over time. The Noble warriors are dying, and the deaths are all mysterious. One ordinary house cat may be the strongest of them all.
The summer i turned pretty-
Belly always spends her summers with the Fisher family in Cousin’s beach. But, before this she hadn’t developed feelings for the Fisher boys, before this summer.
Other words for home-
Jude never thought that she would be leaving Syria, but here she is leaving her brother and Dad behind and traveling to Cincinnati to live with their relatives in America. She still hasn’t gotten used to her surroundings, and expected to fit in.
A good kind of trouble-
Shayla is 12-yrs-old and allergic to trouble, and likes to follow the rules. Whereas her sister leaves a lot to fight for her rights. She is now starting her junior-year and all the rules have changed. She is questioning everything around her, including her background and friends. She feels like she only has one toe in her sister’s world. When seeing how her sister reacts to things she realizes that some rules are worth breaking.
A tale of magic-
Brystal Evergreen always knew she was special. She has always wanted to escape the oppressive Southern kingdom, where girls don’t get rights. Brystal applies for the job of maid in the town library, she discovers a secret room. But guess what? All the books in this secret library are banned books! When this fairy comes looking to recruit students for her academy of magic, Brystal is the first to be recruited. She makes friends and saves the magical world of fairies and magic more than once.
Between the lines-
There is one book in the library that keeps being checked out, between the lines. It is checked out over and over and over again, by Delilah, who reads to escape the world. But one day her book character Oliver, and realizes she can travel between worlds. To find out why he can speak to her, Delilah and her best friend travel to the author’s home, and found her inspiration for the story. Later in the story the princess from the book world gets traded for her best friend, and she has to get her back from the book world.
Movies:
Enola holmes/Enola holmes 2-
There are many types of detectives, and this one just happens to be a sibling of the famous Sherlock Holmes. She has never spent a day away from the house, and now her mom is missing. Instead of teaching Enola normal things like how to be a good housewife instead she learned sports, education, the martial arts, the arts, riddles, and hiding in plain site. She does all of these with a young man who is promised to be one of the next lords, who in the meantime Enola is trying to teach how to be a man, and falls in love with Tewkesbury on their adventures.
Wakanda forever-
Black Panther continues on, with the memory of Chadwick Boseman in our hearts. There is a war going on between two clans of people that hide from the world, because of their resources. The Wakandans wanted peace, and so did the tribe from the water. But the two go to war when Shuri becomes the Black Panther. She does this after her entire family is gone, because they needed someone to protect the people, the movie closes with Shuri realizing she’s an aunt.
Black widow-
If you’ve seen the marvel movies you know Natasha is a big deal and her is her story. If you haven’t known she finds her family, and we realizes she had a sister, the whole time we are battling the people of the red room and the people of russian prisons like never before.
To all the boys i’ve loved before-
Lara Jean doesn’t believe in love, at least she didn’t believe in it before her sister sent out her box of 5 love letters. To avoid the problem of everyone messing with her, Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky start a fake relationship that turns into something more.
Recurring Series
Indian Mythology Part 2: Mahabharata
Once upon a time there was an emperor named Shantanu who ruled a vast empire in the name of Hastinapur. He was once at the shore of the pure lake Ganga when a beautiful girl came to his view. He asked the girl her name and she said Ganga. They marry, but to a condition that the king will not question whatever she does. After a year their 1st son was born but she drowns him in the river but the king doesn’t question her because of the condition. Like this she drowns her 7 sons but when she was about to drown the 8th son, Shantanu stops her then she turns into her true form (goddess) and says “Before the rebirth of these 8 babies they were Gandharvas while doing a mischievous prank one of the Gandharvas kills a cow when the Brahmana that owns the cow comes he curses them to be born as humans in the next birth, with a gloomy heart they came by me, as I could not lift the curse I gave the 8 a blessing that in the next birth they will be born by me but as the 8th one killed the cow he needs to fulfill the curse. That is why I drowned our 7 sons but this one I will train him and after that take care of him ” Saying this she leaves. After 25yrs.. Shantanu meets his son Devartha (Bhishma) but he loved a fisherman’s daughter (Satyavati) and the fisherman kept a condition that his daughter's son should become the king but as Bhishma is there he didn’t agree. But after months of watching his father become restless he goes to the fisherman’s house and says that the king agrees to the condition but Satyavati says that “what if your sons want the kingdom?”. He then makes a promise that changes his life forever he swears on his mother that he will never marry. Hearing that his father comes and tells him to take away the promise but he doesn’t so he gives him the blessing of dying when he wants. Satyavati has 2 sons, they grow up, 1 son dies, another son gets married to 2 daughters of Akash Raj (Ambika and Ambalika) but right after the marriage he dies. One story happens at the time of Swaymvar(A princess choosing the prince to marry) the 1st daughter loves another king but Bhishma comes for his brother (it is illegal but he goes on the command of his stepmother) and wins the 3 but the 1st daughter curses him that she will be his death and goes to meditate. After a few years, Ambika and Ambalika have babies by the blessing of a saint but Ambika gets scared and closes her eyes so a blind son was born to her, Ambalika becomes pale so, her son is born as a very pale person. Since Ambika has a blind son,Satyavati tells her to go again but she sends her servant and she does everything correctly as told so she gets a healthy born child. They all grow up learning war techniques from Bhishma. Dhritarashtra, Pandu, Vidura are the names of the boys. Dristarashtra gets married to Gandhari along with her, her brother, Sahkuni comes along with her to take revenge (tell you another time) . Pandu is married to Kunti. Kunti when she was a teenager, to her kingdom Durvasa maharishi came, she served him well so he granted her the boon of giving the birth to a god’s son. To try the boon she tests it on the sun god, she gets a beautiful baby boy with a war suit, she being little she makes a boat and leaves him in the river he is found by Adhiratha and Radha. Pandu marries another queen, Madri. They all go hunting and they accidentally kill a Rishi so he gives him a curse of dying. He and his wife went into exile. Kunti says she has the boon and gets 3 sons with the boon and shares the mantra to Madri and lets her have twins. They are Yudhistira(Yama’s son), Bheema(Pavan’s/wind’s son), Arjuna(Indra’s son), Nakula & Shadeva(Ashwini Kumaras son). Meanwhile, with jealousy Gadhari hits her pregnant stomach which gives birth to a meatball. By the help of Rishis the meatball is divided into 101 balls and stored in small cans that will later grow all balls into babies. Pandu dies,with that Madri jumps into the deathbeds’ fire with him. Kunti with her 5 sons goes to Hastinapur. By then all the sons of Kunti and Gandhari were boys. After the moment they entered the palace there was severe fighting between the 105 brothers. There was 1 sister since the meatballs grew into babies and one became a girl. Duryodana tries to kill Bhima with poison and throws them in the sea. He meets his great grandfather who is the king of water snakes and gives him the power of 1000 elephants so he fights the poison and comes back. They all go to the ashram with Dronacharya. He teaches them the arts of war with his son Ashwathama who becomes a friend of Duryodhana. The war continues there too. Eklavya learns archery better than Arjuna, Drona who promised Arjuna to be the best in archery cuts his thumb as fee to teacher.Karna (1st son of Kunti) comes to the ashram to help him learn the art of war but since his caste is low he refuses so, Karna goes to Drona’s Teacher to learn the art of war… That was the backstory. The main story begins in the next article…
Life of Marie Curie
By:Ananya Vanchiselvakumar
Who was Marie Curie?
Maria Salomea Sklodowska Curie was a Polish-French physicist and chemist. She conducted pioneering research on radioactivity and was the first woman to win a nobel prize, the only woman to win a nobel prize twice, and the only person to win a nobel prize in two scientific fields.
What was her Life?
Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw in Congress Poland on November 7th, 1867. She was the fifth and youngest child of two well known and respected teachers.Her family lost their property and fortunes through patriotic involvements in Polish national uprisings aimed at restoring Poland's independence from Russia. This condemned much of the generation including Maria and her siblings to a difficult struggle to get ahead in life. Her father taught maths and physics at a boys school while her mother ran a prestigious girls school in Warsaw which she resigned from ten years after Maria was born. Maria’s mother died in May 1878 from tuberculosis when Maria was just 10 and a few years earlier her older sibling, Zofia, had died of Typhus. Her mother was a devout catholic, but the deaths of her mother and sister caused Maria to become antagonistic and give up catholicism. At the age of 18, she took a post as a governess.From her earnings she was able to finance her sister Bronisława’s medical studies in Paris, with the understanding that Bronisława would in turn later help her to get an education.In 1891 Skłodowska went to Paris and, now using the name Marie, began to follow the lectures of Paul Appell, Gabriel Lippmann, and Edmond Bouty at the Sorbonne. There she met physicists who were already well known—Jean Perrin, Charles Maurain, and Aimé Cotton. Skłodowska worked far into the night in her student-quarters garret. She came first in the licence of physical sciences in 1893. She began to work in Lippmann’s research laboratory and in 1894 was placed second in the licence of mathematical sciences. It was in the spring of that year that she met Pierre Curie. They married on July 25th, 1895.Following Henri Becquerel’s discovery of a new phenomenon (which she later called “radioactivity”)Marie looking for a subject for a thesis, decided to find out if the property discovered in uranium was to be found in other matter.”Turning her attention to minerals, she found her interest drawn to pitchblende, a mineral whose activity, superior to that of pure uranium, could be explained only by the presence in the ore of small quantities of an unknown substance of very high activity. Pierre Curie then joined her in the work that she had undertaken to resolve this problem and that led to the discovery of the new elements, polonium and radium. While Pierre Curie devoted himself chiefly to the physical study of the new radiations, Marie Curie struggled to obtain pure radium in the metallic state—achieved with the help of the chemist André-Louis Debierne, one of Pierre Curie’s pupils. On the results of this research, Marie Curie received her doctorate of science in June 1903 and, with Pierre, was awarded the Davy Medal of the Royal Society. Also in 1903 they shared with Becquerel the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of radioactivity.” Marie Curie’s work was not interrupted by the birth of her two daughters, Irene and Eve as she was appointed lecturer in physics at the École Normale Supérieure for girls in Sèvres in 1900 and introduced there a method of teaching based on experimental demonstrations. In 1904 she was appointed chief assistant in the laboratory that was directed by Pierre Curie. The death of her husband, Pierre Curie on April 19th, 1906 was devastating to Marie, but it was also a turning point in her life as she decided from then on, she’d devote all her time and energy to alone completing the scientific work they’d undertaken.”On May 13, 1906, she was appointed to the professorship that had been left vacant on her husband’s death; she was the first woman to teach in the Sorbonne. In 1908 she became titular professor, and in 1910 her fundamental treatise on radioactivity was published. In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel prize for Chemistry, for the isolation of pure radium. In 1914 she saw the completion of the building of the laboratories of the Radium Institute (Institut du Radium) at the University of Paris.” During World war 1, with the help of her daughter Irene, Marie devoted herself to the development of the use of the X- radiography which is the modern day X- Ray.”In 1918 the Radium Institute, the staff of which Irène had joined, began to operate in earnest, and it was to become a universal centre for nuclear physics and chemistry. Marie Curie, now at the highest point of her fame and, from 1922, a member of the Academy of Medicine, devoted her research to the study of the chemistry of radioactive substances and the medical applications of these substances.”One of Marie’s outstanding achievements was to have understood the need to accumulate intense radioactive sources, not only to treat illness but also to maintain an abundant supply for research in nuclear physics.The existence in Paris at the Radium Institute of a stock of 1.5 grams of radium in which, over a period of several years, radium D and polonium had accumulated made a decisive contribution to the success of the experiments undertaken in the years around 1930 and in particular of those performed by Irène Curie in conjunction with Frederich Joliot, whom she had married in 1926.This work prepared the way for the discovery of the neutron by Sir James Chadwick and, above all, for the discovery in 1934 by Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie of artificial radioactivity.Sadly, A few months after this discovery, Marie Curie died as a result of aplastic anaemia caused by the action of radiation.In 1995 Marie Curie’s ashes were enshrined in the Pantheon in Paris; she was the first woman to receive this honour for her own achievements. Her office and laboratory in the Curie Pavilion of the Radium Institute are preserved as the Curie Museum.
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