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Friendships

I used to be someone with literally hundreds of friends. In school, I was a very popular kid, and I had friends—best friends—with both girls and guys. I was a tomboy, so I felt comfortable with both of the genders that existed back then. When I moved on to undergraduate college, which was a girls' college, I made several friends, not only in my batch but also among seniors and juniors. This was because I was active in social and co-curricular activities, participating in many clubs and events. When I moved on to my master's and PhD, I found myself in a college that felt larger than life. There was so much to explore, so many departments, countless hostels, and an abundance of activities to take part in. As a result, I ended up with hundreds of friends across disciplines and years. However, as I reached the pre-final year of my PhD, my circle of friends began to diminish. Now, I literally have only two people whom I call my best friends and only friends. Not that I don't car
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Power Naps

Well, I never knew what napping is. Since I came into existence in this world, I never napped. I never slept after school when other kids used to sleep, or maybe were forced to sleep by their mothers. I was always the hyperactive type who would rather do something during that time. Instead, I have always, always slept for 8 hours. This is like my standard. I would wake up right when my circadian clock hits the eight-hour mark, and I can't stop appreciating this magical human body. even now, whenever I'm working from home, I prefer not to use an alarm clock because I know if I sleep at 11, I would be awake by 7 no matter what. This gives me a very pleasant start to the mornings as I believe waking up with an alarm clock puts stress on your body, albeit not visibly.  Just my theory! Okay, coming back to napping. I used to always wonder how do people nap? What is it actually? Do you sleep for those 15-30 minutes? Or do you just close your eyes and relax? How do you feel before and
  <iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/xJuj520tH1e9rEGhNG" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/algae-fish-feed-geetanjali-yadav-algal-biorefinery-xJuj520tH1e9rEGhNG">via GIPHY</a></p>
  Biochar: A Carbon Negative Fuel! What is Biochar? When biomass is baked (heated) in the absence of oxygen - it becomes biochar retaining most of the feedstock’s carbon. The carbon in biochar resists degradation and can hold carbon in soils for hundreds to thousands of years!  Biochar is mainly produced through pyrolysis or gasification — processes that heat biomass in the absence (or under reduction) of oxygen. In a crude way, it can also be made in pots or kilns in your backyard! Yes, it's that simple. However, the yield (amount of biochar produced per unit of biomass) depends greatly on the raw feedstock characteristics. Umm..lets say you are going to make a spicy chicken curry..so the amount of time you give to marinate the chicken will make the chicken nice and tender. Basically, it helps absorb the spices nicely.  In the same way, if the raw biomass is processed well i.e. dry (moisture less than 10%) and smaller in size (3-6 mm), it will give the greatest biochar yield!  Ho