Dolphins!

Dolphins, to most people, mean this cute little sea creature with a reputation for being friendly. Some countries have dolphin parks, where they house and breed dolphins and show them to people. As a three year old I've been to such a park. They are usually associated with large aquaria or zoos. Of course, this wasn't in India - our country sadly doesn't have such a good system that would take care of wildlife - forget wildlife. We're having a serious problem taking care of people as it is.

Anyway, dolphins are supposed to be real friendly creatures. Cartoons of all kinds abound with episodes where dolphins are seen helping out the protagonists in all kinds of sticky situations. They are supposed to be pretty intelligent creatures too. Though what precisely is meant by their intelligence, I don't know. I mean, how do marine scientists define intelligence when they say these creatures are intelligent? For instance, can they count numbers? Or can they recognize different species of aquatic plants they eat as food and decide which one they like best or better? ("Oh, this is plant X... I don't really like this one. Let's see if there's any of plant Y around..." (Hang on a second. Are they herbivores or carnivores? Gotta check that.)) I haven't read A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe.

Can they distinguish between different people? ("Oh there's Joan. I like her; she's real nice." "Hmmm, looks like Matilda is gonna feed us today.") Can they talk to each other?

For the record, dolphins are mammals, NOT fish. It took me half an hour yesterday to convince a friend of mine. In the end I had to show her Wikipedia's article on dolphins to convince her. You can see it too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin Nice, easy-to-read article it is. Dolphins are mammals. They give birth to live young, and they have some equivalent of sexual intercourse.

That article had something else about reproduction in dolphins. Quite a few people apparently know this, nevertheless it was something new that I learnt. Apparently dolphins engage in sexual encounters for purposes other than reproduction, and some of these encounters may be homosexual as well. And they may have such encounters with members of other species too, including humans!

So dolphins, with acute eyesight, sharp hearing, advanced sexual practices, keen intelligence and a general attitude of friendliness, represent creatures of goodwill with rational minds and radical behaviour. I love the whole picture.

And it is so befitting. I walk around now with a pair of leaping dolphins made of gold in each ear. :)

Electrical Machines

I hate the subject. Shameful, since it is part of my chosen branch of study (but that's excusable, since I didn't take it up by choice (but still now so excusable, since I did not chuck it and take up something which was ultimately better for me to have done (but never mind now, and I probably should stop this coz this thread is going on too long!))).

At any rate, at least the textbooks are funny sometimes.

Sample this for instance. Excerpts from Electrical Machines by Vandana Singhal and whoever was the other chap who wrote the book with her:

Chapter 5: Introduction to Synchronous Generators
A synchronous machine has a rotor and a stator. (Wow! I didn't know that at all! As though other electrical machines have something different altogether.) The rotor of this machine always moves at synchronous speed. (Isn't that hard to guess now?) It may be a synchronous generator or a synchronous motor. (Amazing! So we can't have a synchronous transformer!) A synchronous generator receives mechanical energy from a prime mover to which it is mechanically coupled and converts it to electrical energy. (I see. So what do other kinds of generators do?)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH! I'm supposed to give a test to determine if I know this crap???? :P