Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Smoking Can Cause Earlier Andropausal Symptoms

A study by two American universities shows that every puff (not every cigarette, take note smokers) could bring about an earlier onset of symptoms of andropause, which is the equivalent of menopause in men.

The study showed that andropause set in at an average age of 50, for patients who smoked 10 or more cigarettes a day compared to 55 for non-smokers.

Dr Richard Chen, Consultant, Endocrinology, Changi General Hospital, said: "Andropause is a clinical syndrome of declining testosterone in older men with advancing age, with a set of distinct symptoms such as reduced libido, diminished drive, lack of motivation, tiredness, poor concentrating ability and sometimes even mood changes."

There are no statistics available for those afflicted with andropause in Singapore.

But while menopause affects all women, medical experts say andropause hits 20 to 30 percent of males above 50 years old.

The study also indicated that most men were unaware they were undergoing andropause, and often attributed it to the normal ageing process.



Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Do You Know What Is A Hurricane, Typhoon Or Cyclone?


In the US, very powerful storms called hurricanes threaten the eastern and gulf coasts of the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbea every year between June and November. In other parts of the world, they may be called typhoons or cyclones. When these hurricanes make landfall, they can wreck serious havoc and kill thousands of people and cause billions of dollars of property damage if they managed to reach densely populated areas.

The National Hurricane Center defines "hurricane" as a name for a tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean. "Tropical cyclone" is the generic term used for low-pressure systems that develop in the tropics. Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 17 meters per second (39 mph / 62.7 kph / 34 knots) are called tropical depressions. Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at least 17 m/s, it is typically called a tropical storm and assigned a name. If winds reach 33 m/s (74 mph / 119 kph / 64 kt), then it is called a "hurricane."

How does a hurricane form?
Hurricanes form in tropical regions where there is warm water (at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit / 27 degrees Celsius), moist air and converging equatorial winds. Most Atlantic hurricanes begin off the west coast of Africa, starting as thunderstorms that move out over the warm, tropical ocean waters. A thunderstorm reaches hurricane status in three stages:

* Tropical depression - swirling clouds and rain with wind speeds of less than 38 mph (61.15 kph / 33 kt)
* Tropical storm - wind speeds of 39 to 73 mph (54.7 to 117.5 kph / 34 to 63 kt)
* Hurricane - wind speeds greater than 74 mph (119 kph / 64 kt)

It can take anywhere from hours to several days for a thunderstorm to develop into a hurricane. Although the whole process of hurricane formation is not entirely understood, three events must happen for hurricanes to form:

* A continuing evaporation-condensation cycle of warm, humid ocean air
* Patterns of wind characterized by converging winds at the surface and strong, uniform-speed winds at higher altitudes
* A difference in air pressure (pressure gradient) between the surface and high altitude

Warm, moist air from the ocean surface begins to rise rapidly. As this warm air rises, its water vapor condenses to form storm clouds and droplets of rain. The condensation releases heat called latent heat of condensation. This latent heat warms the cool air aloft, thereby causing it to rise. This rising air is replaced by more warm, humid air from the ocean below. This cycle continues, drawing more warm, moist air into the developing storm and continuously moving heat from the surface to the atmosphere. This exchange of heat from the surface creates a pattern of wind that circulates around a center. This circulation is similar to that of water going down a drain.

"Converging winds" are winds moving in different directions that run into each other. Converging winds at the surface collide and push warm, moist air upward. This rising air reinforces the air that is already rising from the surface, so the circulation and wind speeds of the storm increase. In the meantime, strong winds blowing at uniform speeds at higher altitudes (up to 30,000 ft / 9,000 m) help to remove the rising hot air from the storm's center, maintaining a continual movement of warm air from the surface and keeping the storm organized. If the high-altitude winds do not blow at the same speed at all levels -- if wind shears are present -- the storm loses organization and weakens.

High-pressure air in the upper atmosphere (above 30,000 ft / 9,000 m) over the storm's center also removes heat from the rising air, further driving the air cycle and the hurricane's growth. As high-pressure air is sucked into the low-pressure center of the storm, wind speeds increase.

Once a hurricane forms, it has three main parts:

* Eye - the low pressure, calm center of circulation
* Eye wall - area around the eye with the fastest, most violent winds
* Rain bands - bands of thunderstorms circulating outward from the eye that are part of the evaporation/condensation cycle that feeds the storm.

Hurricane damages:
Hurricane brings with it huge amounts of rain, flooding the area that it crosses. High sustained winds also cause structural damage. These winds can roll cars, blow over trees and erode beaches (both by blowing sand and by blowing the waves into the beach). The prevailing winds of a hurricane can push a wall of water, called a storm surge, in front of it. If the storm surge happens to synchronize with a high tide, it causes beach erosion and significant inland flooding. Hurricane also creates smaller tornados which are concentrated cyclones and they will cause more damages.





Monday, August 28, 2006

A Real Life(size) Gundam!



Now many of you know Gundam, many of you don't. What I'm trying to say is this: Gundam, in the anime, is a giant robot that is supposed to be about the height of 7 men and you know what? This Gundam is REALLY THAT TALL! Not only that it is 7 meters high, 3 meters wide, weighs 2 tons and apparently took over 10 months to build, IT FREAKING MOVES!

Check out the cockpit and hydraulic pistons in the next 2 pictures.



Crazy? You bet! If only I knew the secret location of the base where this Gundam is kept!



Friday, August 25, 2006

No More 9 Planets In Our Solar System

meet the new solar system

That's right, you may have heard it on the news, our solar system has only 8 planets now. Pluto is out. Not that it exploded or anything, it is simply removed from the list. Why? The reason is kinda interesting.

Reason 1: Category
The inner planets in our solar system, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are called terrestrial planets. This means that they have a hard surface (rock) to stand on.

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are called the Jovian planets, since they are all a lot like Jupiter. (Jove was another name for the Roman god, Jupiter). They are also called gas giants. This is because they are made of gas and liquid (but not water). There's no hard surface to stand on. Pluto, however, doesn't get to fit into either of these categories.

Reason 2: Definition of a Planet
The definition of a planet has also been vague, and there has been much debate over whether or not to define Pluto as one.

A old draft by the International Astronomical Union states, "A planet is a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet." The shape of objects with mass above one-ten thousandth of the Earth and diameter greater than 800 kilometers would normally be considered planets.

Reason 3: Orbital Path of Pluto
Pluto's orbital path is known to cross Neptune's, hence this created much debate over the years as to whether a planet's path must be cleared of neighbouring objects.

Reason 4: More Planets Discovered
In addition, three likely planets are discovered. Ceres, Charon and 2003 UB313. Ceres was discovered in 1801 between Mars and Jupiter, and Charon used to be thought to be a moon of Pluto. The categories and definition for these 3 planets (and more in the future as they are discovered) are more complex than Pluto and this may be the main reason to remove Pluto from the list.

So, who are the scientists behind this resolution? How much weight does it carry?

The International Astronomical Union is an association of professional astronomers founded in 1919 to, in part, designate celestial bodies. More than 2,500 members gathered in Prague this month for the 26th general assembly, held every three years, to discuss their research and settle the planet debate. Each member -- generally astronomers nominated by their national professional associations and selected by the IAU's executive committee -- gets a vote, though just a few hundred members stuck around until the end of the conference to weigh in on the issue.

The group can't force planetarium owners, textbook publishers and others to go along with its findings. "You can ignore it if you wish. We have no authoritative power," IAU Vice President Bob Williams told the Rocky Mountain News earlier this month.

Still, the change may not be as dramatic as it seems, since educators and researchers had already begun to diminish Pluto's role in recent years. "I don't think it will have a major impact on modern textbooks, most of which say there are eight large planets, and Pluto," Dr. Rabinowitz said.

In the end, the IAU passed Pluto for Resolution 5A and failed it for Resolution 5B. The exact details voted by the IAU are as follows:

RESOLUTIONS
Resolution 5A is the principal definition for the IAU usage of "planet" and related terms. Resolution 5B adds the word "classical" to the collective name of the eight planets Mercury through Neptune.

Resolution 6A creates for IAU usage a new class of objects, for which Pluto is the prototype. Resolution 6B introduces the name "plutonian objects" for this class. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "plutonian" as:
Main Entry: plu • to • ni • an
Pronunciation: plü-'tO-nE-&n
Function: adjective
Usage: often capitalized
: of, relating to, or characteristic of Pluto or the lower world

After having received inputs from many sides -- especially the geological community -- the term "Pluton" is no longer being considered.

IAU Resolution: Definition of a Planet in the Solar System
Contemporary observations are changing our understanding of planetary systems, and it is important that our nomenclature for objects reflect our current understanding. This applies, in particular, to the designation 'planets'. The word 'planet' originally described 'wanderers' that were known only as moving lights in the sky. Recent discoveries lead us to create a new definition, which we can make using currently available scientific information.

RESOLUTION 5A
The IAU therefore resolves that planets and other bodies in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:

(1) A planet(*1) is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

(2) A dwarf planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape(*2), (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.

(3) All other objects(*3) orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".

*1. The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
*2. An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet and other categories.
*3. These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.


RESOLUTION 5B
Insert the word "classical" before the word "planet" in Resolution 5A, Section (1), and footnote 1. Thus reading:

(1) A classical planet(*1) is a celestial body . . .

and

*1. The eight classical planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.



IAU Resolution: Pluto

RESOLUTION 6A
The IAU further resolves:

Pluto is a dwarf planet by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects.

RESOLUTION 6B
The following sentence is added to Resolution 6A:

This category is to be called "plutonian objects."


Final Note:
By passing 5A, but not 5B, astronomers have determined that "dwarf planets" are not to be considered planets. Had 5B also passed, it would have created two subsets of planets: classical planets and dwarf planets. This would have included Ceres and Pluto in the planet club. It also would have opened the door for as many as two or three dozen planets in the solar system. I believe that was the principal objection to passing 5B.

The Wikipedia entries for Pluto, the Solar System and planet were quickly updated.



Ozone Hole Has Stabilised

Efforts to stop the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic from growing have worked, leading US scientists said today.

Two decades after research began, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the level of ozone-depleting gases was decreasing and it seemed the hole over the Antarctic had been stabilised.

David Hofmann, director of NOAA's global monitoring division, said: "We can say the patient isn't getting any sicker because the ozone hole isn't getting any deeper, any broader."

His colleague, senior scientist Susan Solomon, said the discovery of ozone depletion and the response of the scientific community were "nothing less than a scientific success story".

But they said Antarctica had yet to see a build up in ozone levels and it was too early to talk of "an unambiguous recovery" in the ozone layer over the area.

The scientists were speaking at a conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the arrival in Antarctica of four teams of researchers from NOAA, Nasa and two American universities.

Their work began in 1986 following the discovery by a British team that there had been a decline in stratospheric ozone over Antarctica.

The ozone layer protects the planet from ultraviolet radiation, which at high levels poses a number of dangers, including increased risk of skin cancer and cataracts.

The scientists discovered a hole in the layer that appears between September and November, the southern hemisphere's spring. Early theories about the cause included solar activity affecting the magnetic field, atmospheric motions and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in refrigerators and aerosols.

The work conducted by the scientists was the first to show a link between CFCs and ozone loss, and led to the Montreal protocol in 1987 under which countries agreed to stop producing CFC-like compounds by 1995.

The gases had been used since the 1930s in refrigerators and aerosol sprays and are found in insulating foam used in some buildings and white goods.

Although CFCs are not used in new goods, they are still being emitted as old fridges and foam are disposed off, and at much higher levels than anticipated, said Dr Solomon.

"This is working against the Montreal protocol to some degree," she said.

Continued CFC emissions, together with climate change, could slow down the recovery of the ozone layer, but both scientists said they were "optimistic" it would one day return to previous levels.

"It will not be until the middle of the century though," said Dr Solomon.



Friday, August 18, 2006

Tips To Help Your Child With Their Homework

As I am in the educational field, I am sometimes asked how parents are able to help their child with their homework. Well, here are some tips I have collected from multiple sources, hope it'll help you.


1. Decide what you want your child to accomplish. Do you want your child to get good grades or understand what he is learning in school? Write down your goals, stick it in the study room where you will be helping your child and look at your goals whenever you study with him/her.

2. Determine your child's learning style. Many children don't process visual information well, but are quick to learn if the material is spoken out loud. Some are the opposite. Your child's teacher can help you determine what teaching methods work best for him, or you can do some tests with him yourself. You are still the person who knows your child best!

3. Set how much time you're going to devote to help your child with his homework. If you find yourself getting frustrated with the amount of time it is taking, tell yourself that you promised you would help for an hour and you are not taking any more time than what you have assigned to your little one.

4. Make sure you understand his/her assignment before you begin to help. If there are special instructions on how to do it, make sure you understand it clearly from your child or the teacher. Ensure that you are familiar with the subject that you are helping, review the material if you have to. Do not let it become an embarassing moment that you and your child will remember for years!

5. Let your child do as much as he can. This is the most difficult to control. As the assignment is easy to you, you might not be able to resist it and may even lose your cool if you see your child struggling. Wait until he's stuck before you reach out to help. Ask leading questions, for example, if he does not know whether to add or subtract, ask him to show you how to do simple addition or subtraction. Then ask which of those two is closer to solve the problem. Try different ways to get him to figure it out himself.

6. Praise or reward your child if he managed to solve all the problems himself or did them in a short time. Complimenting not only will make him feel good, it will make you feel like your time was well spent. It also builds up the bond and trust your child have with you.

7. Always be on the lookout for ways you can educate your child. For example, if he is weak in addition, ask him to add up your groceries for you. Bring him to the zoo and ask him for the names of the animals that he sees there and if he could spell them correctly. Make it interesting for him to learn by blending it into his interests.

Finally, know that grades are simply measurements of his learning ability. Do not rush him/her if he is not able to pick up a new topic quickly. It is easier and better for a child to learn in a relaxed environment and you can help by ensuring that study time is planned when the child and you are not stressed or tired.

Word of caution: DO NOT make excuses or cover for your child if he is reprimanded by his teacher for not doing his homework. He must learn to take responsibilities for himself too.



Hybrid Mutant Discovered in Maine

A community in Turner, Maine, has been terrorized by an unidentified beast for many years. Domestic animals were beaten to death and a recent dead carcass of an animal found by the road side suggested that could be the animal. Jump into the link for a picture and more details.



Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Did You Get Feed?


Ok... Some of you may go "huh?", but that is normal if you have not heard of the terms "Feed", "RSS" or "Atom" before. One example is this very blog that you are reading now, if you look to the right column with all the icons at the end, you'll see the orange RSS/Atom Feed icon.

RSS/Atom Feed icons may look like these too:






What it does is very simple. If I update this blog with a new article, the feed will automatically notify you if you subscribe to it. This way, you can subscribe to any website or forum that has a RSS/Atom feed and just check your feeds for any new articles or posts.

In order to subscribe to the RSS/Atom feed, you will need a RSS/Atom feed aggregator. Basically, all it does is to show all your feeds in one place. There are two flavours of feed aggregators, web-based or desktop software. Feeds.reddit has an good web-based feed reader. Google also has a web-based feed aggregator, Google Reader, which you can use to read plain text feeds. If you want to subscribe to feeds with pictures, podcasts or videocasts, you should install a feed aggregator on your computer. Free aggregators which are simple but get the job done are FeedReader and SharpReader. There are more aggregators with much more powerful features that allows you to customize how the feeds are delivered and displayed. A search for "RSS feed aggregators" at Google will yield you many results.

Once you installed a RSS/Atom feed aggregator (or signed up to the web-based ones), you can simply click on the Feed icon on a website to subscribe to it. Your feed aggregator should add the Feed to its list automatically. If it did not, you can also copy and paste the feed URL into your feed aggregator. You will then be able to receive updates from that website!

So, go ahead and get one of the RSS/Atom feed aggregators and remember to subscribe to my Feed too! Get more Feeds on Gadgets and Beauty too!



Thursday, August 10, 2006

Have you been reading any books lately?

I am reading a book now after a very, very long time. I'm glad I did too. As it turns out, reading was quite a joy if I'm reading a topic of interest. I had never wanted to touch a proper book in the past (besides comic books). Probably because I was not a studious person.

Now that I have picked up some interest in certain areas that I am really interested in, I find it quite hard to find books for them in Singapore. I had to get mine from Amazon.com. I scratched my head, quite a few times, wondering why. As I found out recently from someone, there might be reasons deeper than simply an economical choice by the major bookstores.

Let us look at some possible reasons that might have caused this. Now, we can always attribute the lack of intellectual fodder to the effects of demand and supply. No demand, no supply by the bookstores. However, looking deeper, where is the demand? Isn't anyone interested in reading in intellectual materials? I believe there are, but they may be few and far between.

The reasons may be further attributed to the education system that we have and the mindset of the people here in Singapore. We are required to do two languages, English and our mother tongue. Most of us are not even fluent in one of them, let alone both. And we do not really bother ourselves with it, arguing that we are too busy to realise, or that we are able to speak or write fluently as and when we want to, easily.

Take my cousin for example, I should just say he is a really educated person and that he should not be having any troubles conversing in London. Just the opposite, he was dumbfounded a few times as he was shocked to find that he was not able to communicate as freely as he would like to be.

We could, and should, give some thoughts about this and may we see more people reading and enjoying more books in the future.



Tuesday, August 08, 2006

I think I may have a hearing problem

Maybe it's because I use my headphones too loudly, maybe it's because of work related problems, or it may be that I club way too much when I was young.

I realised recently that I tend to speak very loudly and I have to turn up the volume of my HT system when I watch TV.

Do I have a hearing problem? It seems that there are many signs to indicate a hearing problem. Tiredness when you are with a group of people as you need to try very hard to concentrate listening to them. Friends wonder and tell you that you did not respond to them when they greeted you. Sometimes there is a constant noise in your ears. Family members say they have to speak louder to you than to their friends.

I do not have most of these, but I am not taking any chances. Time to make an appointment with my family doctor and hope I will not need a hearing aid.

Hmm, I wonder what will help me to speak softer?



Monday, August 07, 2006

Do you think you have a secure lock for your house?

Well, you may need to think again.

This video, shows you how easily it can be for any ordinary person to open even some of the most difficult mechanical lock you can imagine. With bump keying, it doesn't matter if you have a $10 lock or a $100 lock, it can be opened.

Now you may think "this is great, what am I going to do now?" Well, there are ways to protect against it, and I will tell you some of them. Note, you will need to be quite mechanically inclined (especially in locks, I lockpick for fun sometimes ^_^) to understand these information.

First, you can add a third tumbler to your row of two (typical of most locks). This will cause the top one to be thrown instead of the one crossing the shear line. You can also put one or two of the smallest length pins in your already small pin line.

Another method is to add a top pin of different material, for example, you can put a lead pin and/or a magnesium pin into your 8 tumbler lock. When you bump the lock, the shear line will be clear at different intervals of time, reducing the chances of success.

Third, strengthen one or two springs. You can replace a couple of the springs in the lock w/ stronger ones or stretch your springs out a bit to make them push harder at their natural position.

Well, even though this is good information, I understand that not many of you will be able to understand it. However, know that bump keying still requires a good technical knowledge of the lock and actually having the bump key to use with that lock. So, it does not look so bad, yet. Maybe one day, you might be able to buy a lock which is 'bump-keying-proof"!



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