The ghost army

This was a unique documentary which I watched, thanks to Netflix again! I know a bit about spies and intelligence agencies trying to gather information from the enemy, but this documentary was special as it showcases a different tactic - fooling the enemy by sending out false signals through various means, thereby diverting the enemy's attention from where the real action is happening. Novel, eh!

This unit from the allies operated during the second World war, and they relied on three types of deception : visual, sonic and radio. The visual department's aim was to create elaborate fake armored divisions at strategic locations. They also partly camouflaged the vehicles and  created fake tracks so that reconnaissance airplanes can pick up the 'clues':

Inflatable tanks :)

The sonic division recorded and overlay different sounds for scenarios - building bridges, tanks moving in, Captains swearing at the soldiers, the whole works. And they would play them over some real huge - ass speakers, so that the enemy would pick up the sounds and think that there is some major action happening :

Kick - ass speakers

The radio division studied the actual army's transmissions and used them in planned locations, so that this radio chatter may be picked up by the enemy, thwarting them to believe that something big was going on, when there wasn't:

Radio

The unique thing about these folks was that, they hardly fired an actual shot throughout the war! Their objective was to practically become sitting ducks, diverting enemy attention and fire towards themselves!

After the war, many of the folks from this unit went on well- acclaimed artists. The sketches that they made while at war became points of references to capture emotions which photographs may not.

This unit and their activities were kept under wraps for 40 years after World War two. This was because of the cold war. This tactical unit was supposed to have been very effective during World war 2, and the U.S didn't want the erstwhile U.S.S.R to prepare themselves against such tactics.

Anyone interested in World War two should definitely watch this, as this adds a few dimensions to your knowledge of the war.

*I do not own any of these images. All pictures courtesy their respective owners*

The green prince

This is a story so gripping that few fictitious spy novels have even come close to it . It is so unbelievable that If someone had told me that this is not a true story, I would have believed them in an instant. There are just two central characters in the whole movie. And some dramatized scenarios involving a few others. There is quite a bit of actual footage, too, interspersed between these two people narrating events as they occurred.

This is a cat-and-mouse game, where the players are real, and the stakes are too high. Too high for us to even fathom about. This will give you tantalizing glimpses on the internal working of one of the best intelligence agencies in the world, and for that reason alone, it becomes gold class, instantly . I will not reveal the actual story, as that will be blasphemy. Shin bet (The Israeli security agency) and Hamas are the tag words here.

We are given glimpses of the weight both these men had to carry on their shoulders. Try putting yourself in either persons shoes. It is unimaginable. Each and every choice of theirs had dire consequences, being in the positions they were in. They carved their paths listening to their conscience, morals and justifications of 'right' and 'wrong'. And those paths were so radical and unexepected, that has made all the difference. That is why this is an almost- unbelievable story.

This is a masterclass in psychology, bonding, humanity with a message of hope. We understand some mind-blowing facets of intelligence agencies and how they work. After watching this masterpiece, we realize that nothing is 'predestined'. We are who we chose to be. We make our own choices. We shape our life, our path, our fight and our destiny. Choice. The problem is choice.

If you're interested in the Israel - Palestine situation , spies, the history of Israel, their security division and their previous exploits,  and what exactly is going on in the Middle East, you will revere this movie a lot!! Otherwise you may not appreciate this story so much. I was on the edge of my seat when watching this riveting story. Throughout the viewing, I uttered many expletives, too. Some moments were so unbelievable to digest. This was a truly brilliant story to know about. Thanks to Nadav Schirman for bringing it to the big screen!

*I do not own any of these images. All pictures courtesy their respective owners*

Particle fever

Trailer

This is another  mind-expanding documentary which I got to watch (thanks, Netflix!). It is about the Large Hadron collider (a particle accelerator designed to smash sub-atomic particles together, to understand the building blocks of everything), and the people behind it. What is everyone looking for? The Higgs- Boson, or the "God particle" (manifestation of a Higgs-field, which gives mass to everything known to us).

1,00,000 people from more than 100 countries have been involved in this experiment, which was designed beginning in the mid-80's. Billions of Euros have been poured into this experiment. Why, the layman asks. Why so much money and effort on a stupid experiment (whose outcome we don't know)? Because, the physicists explain, because the quest for knowledge is what makes us human. True story.

What is the experiment?

We meet many people who have devoted decades to formulating different theories, seeking out the pure truth. That was a true pleasure. The theorists are those who come up with new theories relating to the laws of the universe, and the experimentalists are those who work on designing experiments which will approve/ disapprove the theorists :) It is fun to watch fully-grown people gleam in excitement like kids at a birthday party, when it is time to launch the colliders for the first time.

We are given tantalizing glimpses of what supersymmetry (theory which predicts opposite particles for every particle in the standard model) and multiverse  are. The part about cosmological constant ( I knew what this was) and the multiverse theory just blew my mind!

This movie added some flesh and blood to the fledgling knowledge of all the things I mentioned earlier. Things are much more clear now!

The man who began it all - Peter Higgs

If you're someone who wonders about things like(jobless), "how big is the universe", "what happened before the beginning of time", "why, and how are we here", you should definitely watch this. Even otherwise, if you have a general curiosity of things around you, I feel you should still watch this, as you will learn a lot from this movie :)

The conclusion

Facts about the LHC.

*I do not own any of these images. All pictures courtesy their respective owners*

Antarctica: an year on ice

Desolation. Peace.

I watched this amazing documentary by Anthony Powell in a quest to understand more about this wonderful and mostly untouched gift to mankind. This is a labour of love, a collection of 10 years worth of work by Anthony. And this is a place that most people can not dream of going to. So, watch this, people!

Time lapse photography in itself is wonderful, as we see nature's changing colours in a new and beautiful perspective. Anthony blesses us with some out-of-the world time-lapse photography from the 'bottom of the world'. He reasons that, to truly understand this place, one must spend at least one full year here. The slow life. One cannot agree more.

Beautiful

There were many breath-taking moments in the documentary. At many occasions, I found myself with my jaws wide-open, babbling incoherently like a madman, completely stunned by the beauty of the place.  After all, it is a place which will challenge your physical and mental limits. The sun bouncing off the horizon during some days will challenge your mind, as you do not expect it. Watching the Aurora Boeralis has been a dream for me, it becomes a bit of a reality here. (can you imagine going through this in reality?)

Losing my mind

The different colours are caused by the solar wind interacting with Oxygen or Nitrogen at different altitudes :) Now, isn't that something wonderful to understand and comprehend, rather than obliterate your mind space trying to divide people based on language, caste, creed, religion, sex and country? Frankly, I do not understand many people. Not friends. People.

The winter time was one of the most fascinating. Utter darkness, days and days of it. Can you construct a pitch black sky with millions of stars at noon in your mind? As everywhere else, things come with a price. The stark serenity, the incredible beauty, the solitude and the vast gaps play havoc with minds. The T3 syndrome (muscles stock thyroid hormones to keep warm, leading to forgetfulness, cognitive impairment and mood disturbances) is one such example.

Nacreous clouds . Beautiful and dangerous.

The heralding of summer is welcomed, and we are awestuck by the great gig in the sky. The death of the ozone layer is the dance of bright lights in the sky.

The documentary did a good job of having the personal touch of getting people's opinions and experiences about the place, interspersed with mind-altering imagery of the frozen vistas of Antarctica. This was a very enjoyable watch! This is a place which will charm the wanderers, poets, philosophers and dreamers. If you consider to be one of them, then you just cannot miss this masterpiece :)

(Pro tip: try put this movie on mute. Watch it with floyd tracks running in the background. You cannot thank yourself more :). The words and the music will complement this documentary perfectly)

*I do not own any of these images. All pictures courtesy their respective owners*