how to suspend water without a cup

this is way too cool!

 

 

please hear our voices – keep the Jurong Line alive

was shocked to see on facebook that LTA is cutting through the jurong line to build a new road which only creates an extra line to reach IMM.

with so many hopefuls petitioning in hopes that the government will listen, im fearing the worst. seriously.

these railway lines are not just a part of history. its really an untouched part of Singapore. the lack of human traffic has made that entire stretch of line (both the jurong line and bt timah line) an haven for birds and natural vegetation.

NSS’s proposal for the Green Corridor includes the jurong line, and it is a great proposal. ive read it. conservation efforts and increasing public awareness on so many nature issues, using the track for nature guides, etc……….

seriously, we’ve gone on fine without a dent to that line, whats the need for an extra road to IMM?

someone who walked the jurong line 2 days ago found that work on removing the tracks has already begun!

tracks on sunset way have already been removed.

and here i was hoping for july to come so that we can move ahead and do more things on establishing the green corridor!

and im angry that im helpless abt this.

this is a disaster. and i hope the govt sees the benefits of this. preserving natural heritage without spending much money seems kinda like a good deal.

here’s pics on my previous trip to the bt timah line.

i understand some people are in a mtg with LTA now – i hope they at least defer and reconsider.

 

Bird Watching on Sunday

i went on my virgin bird watching trip – officially joining a group of bird watchers – to dairy farm nature reserve yesterday. knowing i’m going to be one of the few with lesser-knowledge-than-amateurs, i was excited to learn whatever the experts taught. our guide, Kim Chuah, was very experienced.

he picked out all those bird calls when i couldnt even hear them. he even picked out the various bird calls among a cluster of bird calls! wow… ive learnt 2 bird calls. and learnt to identify 3 species of birds.

i only brought my sony compact camera and my bins – photos arent of the best quality since i used the camera eye piece through my bins and zoomed in to capture them.

enjoy!

this bird is called the Oriole.

these are pink necked pigeons

racket-tailed drongo. one of the calls ive learnt to identify cos its just so… obvious (now).

i think this next pic is the olive winged bulbul

a tiger shrike

an olive winged bulbul on the right side and a tiger shrike on the left.. it took me a while to even figure out that they were 2 DIFFERENT birds!

a woodpecker

other birds we saw were the crimson sunbird – its awesome crimson-red colour was really eye catching!

also saw the blue winged leaf bird, which had magnificent colours…… it took me a while to locate their venue on a huge tree far away……. we had to wait for movement, and believe me, these birds are quite to move!

also saw many bee eaters. the others actually saw the bee eaters going after insects. i didnt. i just saw them flying quite low down near the surface of the water.

then there was the blue throated kingfisher. really nice colours too.

and munias which were actually quite close to us on the shrubs and tall grasses, but, their movements were so quick and they were so sensitive to our movements, i just couldnt get a clean shot of them…

this is another bird, i cant remember what its called.

also learnt while chatting with Kim Chuah how ppl started getting called ‘kuku bird’ – this story of how the Kuku (cuckoo) parasites on the crow. laying its eggs on the crow’s nest, and when the eggs hatch, the crow takes care of them… (or something like that)

halfway through the walk, see what i spotted!

“i can see my house from here!!!”

the walk up was long and draining – having to keep your head up most of the time cos obviously thats where you find most birds.

we finally reached the quarry…….

check out how the group got right down to business – looking out for the tiniest movements in trees so that they can spot the birds!

and the view of course was fantastic!

we saw the common kingfisher (which is actually rarer than the blue throated kingfisher)

the exciting find for the day was the grey headed fish eagle…

of course we were all waiting for the eagle to fly off… and there did appear to be a couple of moments when we thought the bird was getting ready to launch! eventually it did – but only when we all packed up our equipment, ready to head back!

here are other flora and fauna that caught my eye..

i love this shot!

leaf footed bug, i think…

slender squirrel…

2 crickets – looks like one male and one female…?

apple snail (that black circular looking thing in the middle of the photo)

apple snail eggs

showing the stigma and anthers…….. beautiful colours..

i just LURVE seeing young ferns………. they make everything feel innocent and fresh…!

it was a great first experience…………….. i learnt so many things, it felt like i was going on a learning fieldtrip……

and i really enjoyed learning abt these things…….. its like, once you get involved in nature, you get addicted and slowly you’ll want to know everything associated to it……….

 

Pulau Semakau on Saturday

so semakau marked the start of a fantastic next 3 days… had been quite a while since i stepped foot on semakau and was eager to see whats new…

so off we went on the bumpy and slow 1 hour ride on the ferry to semakau.

rain clouds were heading in the direction of the site where we do our transects, and boy was it windy… but still, we went, hopeful, in the adventurous new van that NParks had on semakau island!

when we reached the site, we were graciously greeted by this heron what stood there, dazed.

tide was still high, and it was scary to step into the unknown thick hide of algae, worried abt stepping into stonefish, etc – but we did. here’s another pair working on site 2 transect 1. they had just started – and the water was already almost knee height. for my height, i went in above knee height!

there was live firing at this other island.

later that day, we heard an explosion on that island too..

it drizzled on and off for a while – but when there bright sunlight and high humidity, what follows next is a beautiful rainbow…

after a while, the whole rainbow formed up…

i wasnt far enough to capture the whole thing, but do check out the other blogs to see their pics.

after we finished out transects, we went on to explore as usual.

and the first creature we saw was a blue spotted stingray. so evasive it was that we couldnt get snapshot of it…

here are other creatures and corals..

a crab… (paddler crab?)

a dead clam

a huge sea cucumber

a hairy crab taking cover under a coral

blue sponges

more anemonies

and here’s the poster boy for “why seagrasses are important”. introducing…….. the crabbie…

it was a nice sight, when we saw the crab tear off the seagrass and put it into its mouth. initially we thought i was feeding on the epiphytes on the seagrass, but….. seemingly that wasnt the case.

once again, this defensive crab showing its bright red claw – this ferocious crab doesnt run away from what it thinks are predators! it runs towards them to show them who’s boss! haha…

this other tiny pink crab on the other hand, seemed harmless

here another sea cucumber

a nicely camouflaged shrimp… (a snapping shrimp? it does look like a claw is bigger than the other… not very sure though…)

here’s that white insect that we see ever so often skating on the surface of the water..

a snapshot of the oil refineries

acron worm casts – and the worm was still digging on for its foodie..

tide finally went out, but it was getting dark – we needed to head back..

saw wild pandan fruiting – my first time…

and when its dark – the mozzies come out..

here’s one feeding on Marcus’s palm…

check out its belly……….. euuuu

and one on my hand

and the swelling on it today.

on my way out – the 10 min trek through the dense forest saw more mozzies sucking my blood. 5 on my left arm and 4 on my right. blowing it off didnt work. their proboscis was really long and they held on pretty tight. i slapped one off, and saw my own blood instead!

reaching the dock at semakau after work is quite fulfilling..

looking forward to the next trip. and i hope i get to see more next time!

do visit this website by RMBR to find out more abt the organisms you can find on semakau.

 

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times when ppl blurt out what they subconsciously think

she cut a pear into half. put half on a plate on the table and gave another to him.

“yay… pear!!!!! i want….” and i excitedly reached out and took half the pear.

“ey.. why you take?” she accusingly questioned.

stunned, i softly and apologetically said, “oh, its for him is it?” and headed to place the pear back.

realising she made me feel unimportant, she retorted, ”oh… no.. its ok. take. i’ll cut another pear”

 

she probably didnt mean for it come out the way it did. i dont blame her. i still love her.

 

the thrill of having an ego and being challenged…

it all began with a simple joke that triggered my own ego – i got an A for C maths, why wouldnt i be able to handle A maths? i had to challenge myself, more to let myself know that i still had maths genes in me!

granted, being away from A/C maths for more than a decade, i needed the formula sheets and some trial and errors… and after ONE WHOLE HOUR at the question, i finally did it. and quite frankly, that light you see when you reach the step before the final answer – that light is one joyous bright light.

question was to write f(x)=10cos^2 x -8sinxcosx +4sin^2 x –> Acos2x + Bsin2x + C, where A, B, C are constants.

i looked at the question and thought, “crap! where do i even start!!?!?!?!?!”

slowly, i figured it out. and while the question might be easy to anyone doing A/C maths now, after more than a decade, sometimes i think i still have it in me man… hehehe…

y=10cos^2 x -8sinxcosx +4sin^2 x

y=10cos^2 x – 4sin2x +4sin^2 x

y=10c0s^2 x +4sin^2 x -4sin2x

y= 6cos^2 x + 4cos^2 x +4sin^2 x – 4sin2x

y=6cos^2 x + 4(cos^2 x + sin^2 x) – 4sin2x

y=6cos^2 x +4(1) – 4sin2x

y=6(1-sin^2 x) + 4 – 4sin2x

y=6-6sin^2 x + 4 – 4sin2x

y=10 – 6sin^2 x – 4sin2x

y=7 + 3 – 6sin^2 x – 4sin2x

y= 7 + 3(1-2sin^2 x) – 4sin2x

y=7 + 3cos2x – 4sin2x

therefore y=3cos2x -4sin2x + 7, where A = 3, B = -4 and C = 7

wow…………………. euphoria! ive not felt this way abt maths in a reaaaaaallllllllyyyyyyy long time! the feeling you get when you see the pattern is just everything i needed to brighten up my day! shiok!

nice job TJ and Valentino… it was fun with these 2 ppl who were also very determined to solve this useful-only-till-Os question.

 

the kind of things im anal about…

i rarely have the time to eat a slice of bread in the morning. and on sundays if i do ever wake up before 12pm, i usually eat one. we use the same margarine spreader for nutella and peanut butter. but i only eat margarine and i realise im quite anal abt having a clean spreader for my choice of spread so that my spread isnt contaminated with another spread that i dont want on my ONE slice of bread. so when i find chocolate left overs on the spreader, i go, “arrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!” that inspired this post, on the kind of things im anal about…

that’s no 1.

no 2.

i cannot stand ppl making munching noises when they eat. its like, for goodness sake, please close your mouth cos i dont want to see whats inside your mouth. i know, this is just ME. and i know that many ppl feel they can savour the taste of their food if they chew open-mouthedly. of like in some countries, its considered a good show of how much you appreciate their food. but for ME, chewing with munching sound, slurping your coffee/tea/noodles irritates me. its just ME.

no 3.

boy am i glad i use my own toothpaste. because, (for God knows why) even though im the messiest person ive ever known, i still want my toothpaste squeezed from bottom to the top. and not from the middle to anywhere. yes. im very anal abt this. cos the rest of my family squeezes in any manner. but i just want it squeezed from bottom to the top.

no 4.

i hate when ppl think they know me. i just hate it. i can take a little joke or a short humour. but when ppl put their hands down and say i wont be able to to something or that i will do something, i feel like my head will burst and i feel like yelling at them in all the curse words i know. because how can SOMEONE ELSE know what i can and cant do? and alot of the times i wonder why i even let it get to me, cos i dont need to give a shit abt what someone else thinks… but yes, it does bother me. and hence, my need to outburst and yet i sometimes dont. i HATE ppl telling me what they think i can or cant do. like my colleague who said i wont pass my driving. how the hell would he know… argh! thinking abt it still makes me feel like sticking a stick up his arse. (pardon my language) – i am very anal abt ppl assuming they know me. i just HATE IT!

i cant think of anything else much… so if i do, i’ll update this post.

 

a timely reminder

from Things We Forget…

“Happiness is a direction, not a destination”

i got to get on with my own plan if i were to find my soul back.. ive lost faith in the system and that is changing the way i feel abt almost everything abt myself.

this is not who i am. this is not who i want to be.

i will go for it.

 

 

complements mark enemies as targets

so this article on how the body’s frontline defense decides of a microorganism is an enemy or not was published. ive read the abstract of the paper which was hardly enough and im yearning for more (i’ll need someone from uni to get lend me her/his password for ScienceDirect, but for now, the summary has got to do it, i guess..

the article talks abt how the proteins in the immune system work to mark out foreign cells.

factor H (FH) is a glycoprotein that regulates the activation of complements. one of the complements it regulates is C3b. and scientists found that FH bound 2 C3b to each other and also to the cell surface of the foreign cell. thereby allowing the white blood cells to attack that cell that has been marked. the molecular aspect of this recognition and identification has not been resolved until now. it was found that domain 19 of FH bound to C3b and domain 20 of FH bound to cell surface proteins. the simultaneous binding of these interactions make that cell a target for the WBC. (and yes, suddenly so many questions arise…. and i do need to read up)

as i read this article, i remember learning abt the complement system in immunology couse (BL3225) in NUS. and its frustrating that ive long forgotten most higher order information since i started teaching in sec sch… (its frustrating that all im teaching are that phagocytes engulf pathogens and lymphocytes produce antibodies (honestly, what im teaching the kids is like kindergarden knowledge in comparison to what actually is)- i mean, there’s SOOOO much new information in biology EVERYDAY and yet im teaching what has been taught for like a million years already! i really ought to teach students that what im teaching is just so basic and new information is found everyday. science is way too vast to learn in just a period of 4/5 yrs. I WANT TO STUDY!!!!

anyway, determined to recall what complements are, i flipped through my notes and books, and it brings back sooo much memories!

(ps: this pic has nothing to do with complements. i just found it really attractive that i once learnt all these things abt inflammatory responses.)

still not finding a clue, i went to my textbook… turned to the glossary and searched for ‘complement’ like what i used to do back then..

and there it says, beneath what i underlined, “there are sill unresolved questions as to the exact requirements for alternate pathway initiation …. “

i wonder if this has been solved. in science, a textbook is only relevant to find out existing information. new information is always only found in publications, which i miss reading, but am glad have gotten back to some of it again..

immunology wasnt exactly a branch of bio that i was particularly interested in. but i still love that i love bio.

goodnight world! its back to reality in a few hours!