A TMOD theme titled “Unravelling the Bermuda”

UNRAVELLING THE BERMUDA

No place on earth has baffled humans more than the Bermuda Triangle. Of course that’s not counting women’s brain as a place. But the Bermuda triangle has remained a mystery for centuries now. It’s so popular that I don’t even need to mention the why. Everyone has heard about the disappearing ships and crashing planes. So many of these have vanished in this triangle that it’s now nicknamed as the Devil’s Triangle.

But what causes the unsinkable ships and airplanes with radios to disappear in a small triangle? Until now, people thought it was alien activity or the workings of the Atlantis city underwater. You see its human tendency to assign anything not explained to super powers or magic. But Scientist as you know are curious cats who want to both dissect aliens and locate the Atlantis city. They weren’t happy with angry God’s causing thunder nor with aliens abducting the ships and aircrafts they made. So they set about unravelling the mysteries of the Bermuda. And now we have some solid scientific research to explain what’s happening down there.

Wanna know? We will know how the Bermuda Triangle works in a while but for now let’s understand how Toastmasters work. Every Toastmasters meeting is divided into three parts. The first part is the prepared speech section where members prepare a speech in advance, get it mentored and deliver the same. The second part is the impromptu session where anyone including the guest can participate. And the third part is the most important evaluation session where we will all learn how to improve ourself. Let me now invite the General Evaluator to explain his role. Please help me welcome TM Name with a big round of applause.

Once the General Evaluator has explained his role, start the prepared speech section. After this session, continue with the theme as under.

Imagine a perfectly stable unsinkable ship carrying crew and cargo approaching the Bermuda Triangle. They see neither storms ahead of them nor any Tsunamis, not that they would pose significant danger to these vehicles. And suddenly it sinks. Can there be something underwater not visible to our eyes and instruments that may be at play? At least in labs there is.

In a lab experiment, scientist created a mock environment mimicking the Bermuda Triangle and unleashed bubbles upon the ship. Not just a few but literally tons and tons of bubbles, methane bubbles to be precise. And then they witnessed it – a perfectly fine mock ship sinking to the bottom of the vessel. Methane bubbles decrease the density of the water causing ships sailing on them to sink. Since a long time now, scientists have known that there are pockets of methane underneath oceans. And do you know where the world’s biggest such pocket is? It’s below the Bermuda Triangle. Calling it a pocket may be an insult because it’s more like a trove of methane. You may want to check the experiment on YouTube; it makes for a fantastic video. But for now, let’s give our Table Topic Master an opportunity to create some bubbles of thoughts. Please help me welcome TM Name.

Once the Table Topic Session is over, continue with the theme as under.

The bubbles may sink the ships but they can’t reach up to the aircrafts. So what caused the aircrafts to disappear over the Triangle? Mostly it was rough weather and geomagnetic anomaly. Violent weather conditions cause winds blowing at 30 kmph to suddenly pick up speed reaching 90-120 kmph. Unpredictable Atlantic storms can yield waterspouts that often spell disaster for pilots. The Bermuda Triangle also happens to be one of the two places on earth, the other being off the coast of Japan where the true north and magnetic north align. This causes navigators to misread their compass and report instrument malfunctioning. Beside these, in many cases, it has been found that accidents have been caused due to human error or simply due to inexperienced people behind the wheels.

Thankfully for us, it’s now time for experienced Toastmasters to give their evaluation of the meeting today. Please help me welcome TM Name.

Once the evaluation session is over, conclude the theme as under.

The Bermuda triangle is frankly no longer a mystery. With advanced instruments and precise weather readings, it is possible to keep track of every moment at any spot in the whole world. In fact currently, sailors and pilots no longer avoid the Bermuda Triangle route. Right now if you were to log into skycanner and check aircraft positions in the sky, you may find several of them flying right through the Bermuda Triangle. So there you go, that’s Bermuda Triangle unraveled.

It’s time now for the awards.