The Last Dreamer

It has been almost six hundred years since the third World War. The five hundredth anniversary of the Imperium Era (I.E) was celebrated by the entire planet. The Empire, which governs the Planet Earth now consists of only  four continents. The foundation of the Empire was laid down by the war survived historiographers, who were the greatest contributors of this Scientific Era. Their efforts in saving the human civilization and preserving many of the Scientific inventions and discoveries lead to the formation of the Empire.

The Council of the Empire takes all the decisions which are implicated on the entire planet. All the regions follow the same regulations. There is no religion, no caste and no race discrimination. The people who go against the decision of the council are prosecuted. It was the Empire which saved the humanity from the catastrophe caused by the world war. They worked hard for more than a century to remove the severe nuclear radiation left by the war.

'I asked you something!' frowned Sri.

'umm yeah. what did you ask?' said Ram.

'I know you heard it. whenever I ask this question, why do you smile and ignore it?'

'I didn't listen properly.'

'Okay, now listen. Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful' asked Sri, still looking at him.

'That's the lyrics of a song, right?'

'No idiot. Its my question." frowned Sri.

'Yes. I will. But you can say that without looking at me. Keep your eyes on the track.'

'Why are you worrying, we are not on wheels dear. We are on a Magnetic Levitation Car.' she said.

The MagLev car was moving at the speed of 300 miles per hour. The Empire found the pre-world war road and rail transportation system very inefficient as the vehicles generate enormous amounts of friction and heat as they screech down the roads and rails, leading to mechanical wear and energy loss. By contrast, MagLev cars (Magnetic Levitation Cars)  reach speeds faster than 500 miles per hour while hovering a few inches above the rail. Due to their very high speeds, every car must follow the MagLev transportation speed regulations to avoid serious accidents.

An illustration of the MagLev cars, Image Credit: www.sensiino.com

'What if you find out one day that I have a wife and she is not you?' asked Ram.

'That's no problem dear. It's simple. I will just kill your wife.' replied Sri.

'You are crazy.'

'No I'm not.'

Ram knows that Sri has a good sense of humor but there was a hidden seriousness in her voice. Before he can reply to what she just said, a car moving at the speed of almost 400 miles per hour barged into their car. 

Sri immediately shut down the power supply. The coils of the electromagnets stopped conducting electricity as soon as the power supply was ceased. The car slowed down gradually but it was off the track. As soon as the car touched the ground the air balloons popped out covering the entire car and it rolled on the ground for a while. 

'Sri! Sri! are you alright?' asked Ram

'I'm fine. What about you? Damn it, you are bleeding.'

'No. I'm fine. Where are you going?' 

'I will get some help. You just stay there.' 

'No. Wait. Don't cross the track' he said.

She started crossing the levitation track, still looking at him. A car came out of no where and tossed her into the air. Ram couldn't figure out what just happened.

He took some time to release his emotions and screamed 'No. No. Noooooo.!'

Another nightmare? said Ram's mother.

Ram was sitting on the bed with a blank face, trying to figure out what he just saw. He didn't say anything.

'You don't need to suffer like this' said his mother caressing his back.

'Everything's fine mom. I'm not suffering from anything'

'Okay. Sleep well. We will talk about this in the morning.' She kissed on his forehead and left the room.

'Did I tell you that you prepare the best tea?' asked Ram.

'Yes', said his mother happily 'more than a hundred times I guess'. She continued 'have you decided to go the Memory Remotion Lab?'

'Mom, we are not going to talk about this again.' he said  in a low-toned voice. 'Somebody may inform this to the Public safety police.' he continued.

'Let them inform. It is much better than suffering for those memories and dreams, which you don't even deserve. Remember Ram, pretending you don’t have feelings of  sadness or loneliness can literally destroy you mentally.'

Ram couldn't reply to what his mom just said. She was right after all. But wiping of the memory is not the solution he wants. He leaves the room.

The historiographers created a digital encyclopedia of the pre-world war, which was available in every city of the Empire. Though the encyclopedia was incomplete as the Encyclopedists couldn't save all the data. But this same encyclopedia is responsible for a technologically ahead twenty seventh century of Mankind.

'Welcome back sir. Books on Neuroscience?' asked the encyclopedist.

'Yes. By Professor George Wayne please.' said Ram.

Three Holographic three dimensional interfaces appeared in front of him.

'Total 30 results sir.'

'Thank you'

Ram transferred all the data from those interfaces to his data storage gadget and left the library.

All the neuroscientists  were made the head operators of the memory remotion lab across the entire Empire. They were instructed only to perform the memory removal process on the part of the brain called "Amygdala", where the memories which deals with raw emotions are stored. The purpose was to remove the traumatic stresses.The Neuroscientists were strictly prohibited from conducting any other tests on the brains of the patients. Conditions such as anxiety, autism, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and phobias are found to be linked with the abnormal functioning of the Amygdala. A few neuroscientists claimed that it was still possible for people to get fear who have a damaged or shrunken Amygdala. But the Council of the Empire stated that these neuroscientists intended to destroy public confidence in the imperial government for the purposes of their own and they were convicted of heresy. Later the Empire made it mandatory for every citizen to undergo memory remotion.

The part of the brain which is glowing in pink color is Amygdala ,also Known as the "Fear center", Image credit: Shutterstock

"It's been a long time since someone came to this lab. I thought there's nobody left" said Professor Adam Wayne, who is the chief operator of memory remotion lab at the Hyderabad state.

"Well I thought there isn't anyone who is not fascinated by dreams." replied Ram.

'People don't recognize the value of dreams until they realize their dreams have a purpose, which in turn becomes their purpose to come here. But no one ever talked about dreams or neither anyone told me that he is fascinated about dreams.

who are you?'

'I too have a purpose professor.'

'Presumably you haven't come here for memory remotion. Because when people come here, they loose all those little fascination and excitement. They are traumatized and usually come here with a lot of anxiety. And most of them come here as the memory remotion was made mandatory by the Empire.' 
He continued in a low intense tone 'if you have not come here for the wiping process, trust me, it is not safe to discuss here. The Public safety police keeps an eye on every neuroscientist in the Empire as we are not allowed to discuss anything other than the memory remotion.'

'I figured it out too professor. So where can we meet?'

'Elevator park, floor number 105. And make sure you don't bring any electronic gadgets with you.'

'Sure professor' said Ram and left the laboratory.

'Okay lets move. We need to inform this news to the chief.' said David, covering his face with the hood while holding a receiver close to his ear. 

'You think, he is the guy we are searching for? I mean we still don't know what exactly they are up to.' said Sagan.

'He didn't come to laboratory for memory removal. what else you need for conformation? We must inform the chief.'

'So tell me when did your fascination about dreams start?' asked professor Wayne.

'No offence professor but I can't share everything with you right now. why don't we just come to the point before anyone spots us here.' said Ram.

'We are safe here. Trust me. Now, it may look weird to you but I need to know each and everything between you and your dreams right from the inception.'

'Inception! It was the Inception movie which generated interest about dreams in me, in a great level. Science Fiction fascinates me so did Inception.

'No. wait. I'm not talking about that 21st century movie. I'm asking about your real encounter with dreams, which you are facing to this date. It has to be associated with a girl, right?'

'You made that guess because I'm young and particularly a college student, didn't you?'

'Not exactly. It has been found that more than 90% of the dreams which cause anxiety in men consists of women negative dreams and which in turn indicates almost the absence of men in those dreams.

And people of your age have relationship issues, which has a very negative impact on dreams and in turn leads to uncontrollable dreams, you see.'

'Fair enough.'

'But tell me one thing. Why did you approach me? I could have handled you to the police. What made you to trust me?'

'George Wayne! A great neuroscientist. He was your Grandfather, right?'

'And he was executed by the council. He was going to reveal some secrets about the future plans of the Empire. But that happened long time back.' said Professor. 

'Anyways what do you think? you said dreams are fascinating. what makes you think so?' he continued.

'Well dream activity is no less than the great mysteries of our life and universe. Why would the brain of a living being gets highly activated while the body being paralyzed?

Sometimes I think, someone or some unseen power takes control over our brain and simply plays with it with a few known, unknown and random memories. I think dreams tell us something. I believe it has a encrypted data, which can't be easily decrypted.' said Ram.

'Okay, that's good. what did you tell me you do for a living?'

'Well I'm a student and a Science Fiction enthusiast.

'I see. You have some great views kid. So you were telling me when it all started.'

'umm yeah. It started almost two years back. She was two years younger to me. Both of us were pursuing our graduation in different fields and soon we became very close to each other. Then a time came when we were struggling to discover a word better than 'love'. We couldn't give a better name to our relation so we had to continue with 'love'.

'Oh you are very good at storytelling kid' said professor with a smile.

Ram felt little awkward. He didn't like him calling it a story.

'Continue Ram.'

'She used to love me much more than I did and subsequently I was afraid of it. I was afraid of loosing her. I knew she would never ever leave me. But I was afraid that I may leave her. You know, it is difficult for boys to stick to a single girl especially when you are young.

'No. not at all. I loved only one girl. and I'm married to her till this date' said professor.

He continued 'Its the problem with your generation kid, not of the young age. Sorry to interrupt, continue.'

'She would ask me about our future but I wasn't sure. I couldn't promise her about the marriage.'

'So what do you plan to do after our marriage?' asked Ram.

'You don't know?' said Sri.

'I mean, apart from loving me.'

'I will work as an Encyclopedist. The nine to five job, you know.'

'Why? I mean what's the need?'

'To earn money. We have to earn a lot of money, remember? our dreams?'

'That's why I'm here for. That's my job.'

'So you just want me to stay idle at home? doing nothing?' she asked.

'No. No. You're gonna help me in my work. You will be the editor of my stories. And we will have a Dobsonian telescope, you know, the big one. And you will do the post processing of the images of my Astrophotography.'

And?

'And you will entertain me remaining times' said Ram mischievously.

'Oh look who is talking about entertainment. You are gonna entertain me every time.'

Professor Wayne observed two persons sitting at the end of room. One of them was holding a receiver close to his ear.

'Oh damn. They are following us. We need to move, now!' said the professor. 

They left the restaurant and took the elevator. Ram followed him. The Elevator was taking them to the underground level without any stop.

'You said they won't come here' said Ram in a tensed tone.

'I think they are following you. Did you bring any electronic gadget with you?'

'No. I just have data storage device.'

'Well it's not a normal storage device. Its an electronic storage device my friend and that's how they followed you.'

'So what do we do now?' said Ram who was still very nervous.

Professor Wayne opened his bag and took an aerosol can from it and asked Ram to remove his shirt. Ram followed his instruction as he knew what the professor had in his mind.

The Professor started spraying the liquid fabric on his bare skin which dried almost instantly and became a non-woven cloth . He asked Ram to do the same with him.

'I guess this won't stop them from recognizing our faces professor'.

'What's the time?' asked professor.

'And what difference will it make?'

'A train to Bangalore will be leaving from the station, which we are going to catch in a minute. I hope you won't mind having dinner at my home.'

As soon as they came out of the elevator there were hundreds of people who just came out of a train and the others getting aboard the train. Both of them got into the train.

Two persons were running towards the train, trying hard to catch it. But it was too late.
'Damn it. Now what do we inform the chief?' said  Sagan while covering his hood.
'Well I think you do know the answer of your question. We just missed them.' replied David.
'Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me.' He said in a sarcastic way.

'I never thought to plant an idea in her mind. It wasn't needed' said Ram.

' "Plant an idea?" you mean inception?' asked Professor.

'Yes.'

'But that's not possible. Its just Science fiction.'

'I know professor. I'm sure you will let me complete my words.'
'Carry on.'
'I know it isn't possible. So I decided to plant it in my own mind.'

'You told yourself that you wanted to dream about her before sleeping, right?

'Exactly.'

'And it didn't work.' said Professor, very confidently.
'Well it worked.'
'How?'.

Before the nineteenth century our ancestors slept twice in the night. They used to sleep in two shorter periods, over a longer range of night. This range was about twelve hours long, and began with a sleep of three to four hours, wakefulness of two to three hours, then sleep again until morning. The middle hours of the night, between two sleeps, was characterized by unusual calmness, likened to meditation. This was not the middle-of-the-night toss-and-turn that many of us experienced. The individuals did not stress about falling back asleep, but used the time to relax.

'Okay. Are you telling me that you slept in the same manner which our ancestors did?'

'Yes'

'But why did you do that? I mean what that has to do with planting the idea?'

'We dream not more than four to six times in the night. But what do we remember? Only the last or the second last dream before waking up, which usually occurs after around 2 a.m. I believe that is the time when we undergo REM sleep.'

'I see. You did a fair research about dreams. I didn't expect you  to know about Rapid Eye Movement (REM), where the dreams are occurred as per the early neuroscientists.'

'What do you mean by the early scientists? Don't we dream only in REM sleep?'

'No, we dream in the Non-REM sleep as well.'

Our dream is divided into ninety minutes cycles. the first stages are dominated by the deep sleep when our brain is mainly passive, after that REM and Non-REM sleep occur.

But in the early twenty first century scientists found that we dream in Non-REM sleep too.

'So you were telling you reminded yourself in two stages. And how much time you took to plant that idea?

'Around four to five months.'

'Oh damn! five months is terrible.' 

'Not until you are habituated to the two sleeps.' said Ram

'Okay. What were your thoughts about her when you realized that your idea has been planted in your mind?'

'I was in a stage that I trusted and believed myself to be in a position not to leave her ever.'

'She's a damn lucky girl!'

'No wait! what do you mean by "I trusted and believed". That means not now? You left her, didn't you?' professor frowned. He was very disappointed.

Ram stood silent. He has the answer for the question but it's really difficult to answer. All he knew was that it wasn't his fault.

'I have been calling you from many days. what happened? why you are not picking the call? Anything wrong?' asked Ram.

"I was busy" said Sri.

'So much busy that you didn't even call me on my birthday.

'I didn't remember.'

'What? that wasn't a kind of answer I ever expected from you Sri. You have changed? what happened?'

'Nothing, just don't call me from now onward and don't try to contact me by any means.'

'What do you mean by that?' Ram frowned.

'I mean don't disturb me through any means of communication.'

'What's wrong? why are talking like this today?' said Ram in a tensed tone.

'Why don't you understand? You are irritating me.'

'Okay fine. I am sorry. when you want me to call you back?' He stumbled a little. He was waiting for a positive reply.

'Never' she said in a careless manner.

Ram was going out of control. His hand was literally shaking. He was stammering. 

'I think you got a serious problem. What is it? is it about me?'

'See, I can't talk for a long time, leave me alone.'

'What? wait? what about our marriage? our dreams? which we made together?

'I'm switching off my phone. Good bye.'

'Damn it. How could you loose them? Now how do you think we can intercept Project Avatar? He was our only hope.' said Zimmer, the chief of the Resistance.

'The Neuroscientist helped him chief. He is the grandson of George Wayne.'

'Are you sure?   

'Yes sir, he is Adam Wayne, a neuroscientist.'

'And do they know about the Project?.

'I'm not sure but they didn't talk about it.'

'And what about TET 5? Did they talk about it?'

'I don't think they know about it.'

'I don't care what you think David. He is with a neuroscientist. Don't forget that. We don't have enough time. Find him' Frowned Zimmer.

'Sir! We identified two members of resistance near the Elevator Park.' said the lieutenant of police.

'What were they doing there? Did you take them down?'

'No Sir, we couldn't. We lost them.'

'Then why are you here? for wasting my time?'

'Of course not sir. But they were following someone. I think someone who didn't undergo memory remotion'

'What the hell you are talking about? I got the report by Health commission that there is no one left.'

'The report maybe authentic Sir. But the resistance never comes out unless they are looking for someone.'

'In that case take as many people you require and search him. Don't disappoint me.' said the Commissioner of Public Safety police.

To be continued...

Science of Ancient Indian Flying Machines

The science of flight has been very fascinating for mankind from many centuries. But it became even more enthralling and amazing when Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright demonstrated on 17th December 1903 that it was possible for a manned heavier than air machine to fly.

But has anyone ever flew an aircraft before the wright brothers' first flight?

Did the genius Leonardo Da Vinci flew his Ornithopter or is it merely present in his sketches?

Did anyone ever use the knowledge of Vymaanik Shastra to develop a heavier than air aircraft?

A lot of people who are charmed by the art of flying must have encountered these questions.

I first read the "Vymaanika Shastra" three years ago when I was pursuing my graduation and of course I didn't understand it completely as the shlokas which were translated from Sanskrit to English were not easy to understand and if you are studying Aeronautical Engineering then it makes you even more difficult to empathize and appreciate the text as some concepts opposes the modern science of flight.

But I remember how excited I was and I am sure everyone who read this text must have astonished while reading it. I literally believed everything written in that book because it was a very different concept just like a science fiction movie story.

I believe this is what most of the people do, whenever they find something fascinating, they choose to believe its true because if you want to enjoy science fiction, then you must start believing in it.

If you want to enjoy a magic show you start believing in the magics not the tricks behind it and in order to enjoy the magic you must allow yourself to get fooled for that instant.

Vymaanika Shastra

The Vymaanika Shastra ( Science of Aeronautics) is believed to be written by Maharishi Bharadwaaja in the 4th century B.C. The existence of the text was revealed in 1952 by G.R. Josyer, according to whom it is due to Pandit Subbaraya Shastry, who dictated it in 1918-1923. It has total 3000 shlokas (verses) in 8 chapters and was attributed by Shastry to Maharishi Bharadwaaja.

The topics covered in the Vymaanika Shastra include, "definition of an airplane, a pilot, aerial routes, food, clothing, metals, metal production, mirrors and their uses in wars, varieties of machinery and four planes called Shakuna, Sundara, Rukma, and Tripura, which are described in a greater detail.

This text is claimed to be only a one-fortieth part of a larger work "Yantra Sarvaswa" (All about machines) composed by Maharishi Bharadwaaja and other sages for the "benefit of all Mankind".

The propulsion of those Vimanas according to Professor Dileep Kumar Kanjilal in his book "Vimana of Ancient India" is by "Mercury Vortex Engines", a concept similar to the electric propulsion. David Hatcher Childress found the evidence for this mercury vortex engine in the "Samarangana Sutradhara", a 11th century treatise on architecture.

Now we are talking about the electric propulsion, which in recent times achieved a great development. The Ion Propulsion technology is ready to be used in a spacecraft for deep space missions.

Nasa's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (Next)

NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) project has developed a 7-kilowatt ion thruster that can provide the capabilities needed in the future. This technology is slated to propel the spacecraft that will intercept an asteroid in 2019.

It is really astounding if these texts were truly written some thousand years ago consisting of some technologies like electric propulsion which we have developed in the 21st century and even if they were written around 1912 A.D. it is not less surprising.

Now there are two aspects which brought my attention back to Vymaanika Shastra after a long time. And both of these stroked my mind when I was watching the movie "Prometheus" directed by the Science Fiction legend Ridley Scott.

Prometheus Spaceship depicted in the movie "Prometheus"

First is the Ion propulsion technology, which was used in the Prometheus space ship and second is the unknown propulsion system used by the Alien Spaceship.

I did not find any exhaust gases coming out of the Alien Spaceship which was depicted in the movie. So they (Aliens) must have used a very different propulsion system, that means, its a complete violation to the Newton's laws of motion. But its actually not a violation to them, maybe they have different laws of motion, maybe their propulsion system is much more advanced than ours.

One more important aspect which I observed in this movie is the excellent structural strength given to the alien spaceship by Ridley Scott. When both the spaceships collide in the end, Prometheus breaks into countless pieces whereas the alien ship falls on the ground in a single piece. That means Ridley Scott wanted to show how advanced their technology is.

The Alien Spaceship depicted in the movie Prometheus

And in the beginning of the movie, the alien ship just stands still in the air and it also tilts in the air which makes people to imagine that it has some kind of anti-gravity system.

But the science of aeronautics known to Humans require an understanding of a number of disciplines: aerodynamics, aeronautical structures, propulsive devices, materials, and metallurgy. 

The literature of Vymaanika Shastra describes only propulsive devices and structures of the planes and there is no view expressed on the aerodynamics of the aircraft. It is known to us that the history of aeronautics in regard to the development of heavier than aircrafts is studded with initial failures due to a non understanding of aerodynamics. 

Lets have a brief description of a few planes of Vymaanika Shastra's text.

Shakuna Vimana

As the name suggests, this plane is like a bird. It is supposed to contain the following parts: Peetha (floor board), hollow mast, three wheeled keelakas (hinges) with holes, four heaters, air suction pipes, water jacket, oil tank, shakuna yantra, two wings, tail portion to enable the vimana to fly, owshyamaka yantra or heat engine, etc.

It has several tiers, each one containing different yantras (machines). The drawings show parts like cylinder, piston worm gear, and pumps which seem entirely modern (beyond 18^th century).

A few lines have been devoted in the book to the function of wings and tail and they appear to be incorrect. It appears that great importance is given to the tail portion for the generation of lift. Also the function of the hinge wings becomes unclear in this context. It may be noted that it is the wings which should contribute to the lift of the craft and the tail portion to its controllability.

The height and width of the craft are in such proportion as to put its stability in serious question. There are inconsistencies in the dimensions mentioned in the verses and those given in the drawings.

There is mention of a number of materials. The floor board is made of ‘raja loha’. This material, supposedly, is to be made from ‘prana kshara’ (ammonium chloride), Bengal gram, benzoin, mercury borax, mica, silver, and ‘panchamrita’, all mixed, heated to 800 ‘kaksha’ (unit of temperature), and poured out.

It can be pointed out here that the essential idea of flying like a bird has been tried by many people over several centuries right from the time of Leonardo‐Da‐Vinci, but a successful design has never been obtained. Hence the feasibility of a craft of the above type is a near impossibility  at least as per the modern science of aeronautics.

Sundara Vimana

This plane meant for flight only in the air has five tires and a number of parts. These are: ground plate, smoke chimney, five gas engines, metal pipe wind blower, electricity generator, four faced heater, and outer cover.

The plane has been described in considerable detail, though no basic principles of operation have been mentioned. In this plane the electricity is generated by some means (what appears to be a combination of friction, heat, solar rays, waterfall etc.) through use of ‘jyotirmukha’ and several other materials including sixteen ‘drona’ measures of donkey’s urine. The use of 80 ‘link’ of electricity is expected to vaporize oil. Also, steam is generated separately. It appears that by operating some switches, these two (oil and steam) can be mixed to produce 500 ‘kaksha’ heat. These are then passed through a pipe called ‘shundala’ (like elephant’s trunk) for purposes of propulsion.

Further there is detailed description of some machinery. Looking into drawings and the text leads one to conclude that air is sucked from the bottom, and hot gases are allowed to exhaust through pipes toward the top. And this is expected to produce force to lift the plane up, a statement which is a gross violation of Newton’s laws.

The speed of smoke from the gas engine (dhoomodga yantra) is said to be 2113 ‘link’. Wind speed from ‘nala stambha’ is said to be 600 ‘link’. Speed of the craft is given in: Four hundred yojanas are covered in one ghatika. Ghatika has a standard implication of 24 minutes.

Yojana has an implication of about 8 to 10 miles (some interpret yojana to mean more). Even with the smaller figure the craft speed amounts to 8000 mph, which is a fantastic figure by any standards. It may be noted that no aircraft of today has attained such speed inside the atmosphere.

One of the vessels used for the production of electricity is expected to be filled with apamarga, sampasya, and ayaskanta soaked in elephant’s urine mixed with mercury. Another vessel is to be filled with cow’s urine, and so on.

Rukma Vimana

This plane has a five tier structure, with passenger cabins on the third tier. The plane is meant for flight only in the air.

According to the texts this plane consists of long vertical ducts containing fans at the top. The direction of airflow was not indicated in the text. It can be assumed that upward flight would be feasible by running the fans to suck air from the top and send it down the ducts, generating a lift in the process, essentially like a vertical takeoff and landing craft (VTOL).

The purpose of fans has not been indicated in the text, whereas in the figure they have been captioned as “lifting fans”. Further, like in the previous craft, the static stability is in some doubt.

Tripura Vimana

This plane is supposed to fly in air, and move in water and land. when moving over water the wheels are to be retracted.

No mention of any principles of operation has been made. Power is said to be generated from the generator at the top using Sun's rays and some acids in a manner not described.

The general description and the diagrams seem to indicate the use of electric motors which were known only in the 19th century.

In order to prevent water from seeping into the craft, when it is moving over water,it is said to be covered with a cloth known as Milk Cloth. Also the description of an alloy has been given which is supposed to be light and fire resistant.

A study by aeronautical and mechanical engineering at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India in 1974 concluded that the aircrafts described in the text were "poor concoctions" and that the author showed a complete lack of understanding of aeronautics.

They further Stated "None of the planes has properties or capabilities of being flown; the geometries are unimaginably horrible from the point of view of flying; and the principles of propulsion make them resist rather than assist flying. The text and the drawings do not correlate with each other even thematically."

Even I don't think these planes were ever flown. What made me interested is the texts related to chemistry, advanced metallurgy and material science.

Propulsion as far as the descriptions were concerned, might be defined as electrical and chemical but solar energy was also involved. For instance, the 'Tripura Vimana' according to Italian professor Dr. Pinotti, was a large craft operated by 'motive power generated by solar rays.'

"Tamogarbha Loha", a lead alloy capable of light absorption has already been produced in a laboratory which is light in weight, black in color and found to be resistant to acids. 

A laboratory test done in 1996 in Physics Department of Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, indicated laser absorption characteristics up to 79% of incident light from a laser (this alloy was used in 'Tamo Yantra' for the purposes of absorption of light escaping from a photo chemical reaction which resulted in absorption of light, thereby generating darkness).

"Panchaloha", a copper alloy which is highly malleable and highly corrosion resistant to salt (NaCl) has been produced.

"Chapala grahaka" , a soft glass (of low temperature melt) has already been produced and characterized to be resistant to acids and alkalis and its refractive index is found to be 1.614 (highest known among soft glasses made at low temperatures).

There are many more special materials which have already been produced and some are deciphered and are yet to be produced in the laboratories. 

As an Aeronautical student I don't believe the planes described in the texts ever flew but being a science fiction believer I'm not allowed to believe in impossibility.

If we look in the optimistic way that the planes were actually flown, then according to me these are the probabilities :

• Maharishi Bharadwaaja wrote the Vymaanika Shastra a few thousand years ago and the planes were flown.
• Pandit Subbarayya Shastri has written the Vymaanika Shastra and gave the credit to Maharishi Bharadwaaja.
• As Vymaanika Shastra is only a one-fortieth part of Yantra Sarvasva (All about machines), it is difficult to understand the planes completely without the major part of the book.
• Pandit Subbarayya Shastri rewrote the text and missed many important aspects.
• The mercury vortex engine overcomes all the aerodynamic and stability inefficiencies of the airplanes.

Conclusion

Vymaanika Shastra deals with advanced metallurgy, material science, machine design and mechanical engineering but the planes described in the texts don't have any capabilities of flying in the Earth's atmosphere. The text describes detailed procedures in the preparation of several hundreds of materials such as Alloys and Glasses which are unknown to modern science. Some of the materials have already been reproduced and most of them can be reproduced in the laboratory even now. 

It has been found that they have special properties which are not available in any known materials of modern times. One machine “Vakra Prasarana Yantra” was reproduced as a working model and is found to be novel gear mechanism with sixteen gear wheels. In addition, “Agni Sthambana”, a fire proofing spray, “Anahara” a food substitute have also been produced. Patents are also being obtained for some of these items.

While it is not clear how these texts originated or whether they are authentic. Even though some persons have hinted at the whole text being a modern work, composed by the oral deliverer himself, the experimental results of special materials uphold the veracity of the textual contents and also indicate lack of availability of these materials and machines in their exactness in modern times, thereby hinting at an ancient historical origin.

As a Science fiction lover, I was actually very disappointed what I found after studying them, that the planes described in the texts were actually not possible to be flown.

As you know every great magic trick consists of three parts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary, consider its a fiction concept which you come across . The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. This is the part when you believe the fiction can actually be Science. And finally every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige" in which you will find whether the fiction can be converted into Science or its merely a fiction.

But being a Science fiction admirer doesn't mean I should believe in every concept which I come through. Believing in fiction is one part and realizing that the fiction can no longer be converted into exact Science is an another important part.