Night and Day

1708hrs..
PLAY AND MAKE GOOD CHEER, FOR CHRISTMAS COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR.

And I am glad. Its strange how I get so excited before Christmas and when its here, its such a disappointment. like I spent today doing nothing. There's nothing to watch on TV either! stupid Ch 5.

I think I was excited probably because of all the baking and post Christmas sales.

I like the elephant cookie cutters I bought recently. And I like putting lots of bling on them.

I hope you guys didn't find the gingerbread cookies too hard to swallow.

Anyway, wanna see my teeth?? I went to the dentist yesterday to get an x-ray done.
He says one of my wisdom tooth (on the left of this pic) is unusually big, thus giving me those gum problems. So I got to take it out. The x-ray machine was quite funny tho. It had its own female robotic voice that says, " We are starting the x-ray now, please close your eyes.", then after some robotic sounds for 2 minutes, "Ok, we are done scanning, you can open your eyes." Of course in a totally robotic voice. like those Neoprint machines.

Oh oh, I just read that if you act out your dreams while sleeping, like kicking, punching, crying out, it could be an early warning sign of brain disease like dementia or Parkinson's.

The neurologists found out that people with brain disease are able to move their muscles while dreaming, but in normal people, during REM sleep (rapid eye movement, a period of sleep in your sleep cycle), our muscles are suppose totally relaxed and they do not move.

Anyway, its a rather lengthy article with lots of other details, but its interesting, you can read it here if you want to. The bottom line of it is that sleep disorders, like those I've mentioned are warning signs of developing brain degeneration diseases later on in life. =(

2347hrs..
Soon we will know. I just read on BBC News that doctors in UK and US hospitals have came up with a way to see if the near death experiences that patients claimed are for real.

Like people whose heart had stopped beating but came back to life again usually say they saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel, or that they were floating above the doctors and their own body, looking down at what was going on at the time they stopped breathing.

So now these doctors have installed pictures on top of the shelves in the hospital ward, which can only be seen when u are looking down from the ceiling.

Its super smart right? If the patients actually recounted that they saw these pictures when they are near death, then it means that your soul/spirit/a part of you does leave your body when you die.

If not, then all these light at the end of the tunnel and floating sensation are just simply a load of bullshit illusions that patients get when they are unconscious.

1732hrs..
look at the two pictures below. Its an ant track right? Those they build to facilitate their transportation of food and to move around without getting trampled on by bigger animals.

Somebody please agree with me so it can prove that ants are capable of doing such things. And that I didn't just make these things up.

2039hrs..
It is scientifically proven.Picture taken from one of my textbook.

1116hrs..
I was watching Planet Earth on Central last night, and they showed this.


Absolutely disturbing, and not all seals survive such beating. I know many marine mammals play with their food, like dolphins play "pass the seaweed" (ITS TRUE, I DIDN'T MAKE THIS UP). But these killer whales play "football seal pups"!

The whales will attack the seal pups by heading towards the shore exactly when the baby seals first head to the water to learn to swim. Sometimes these whales get stuck on the shore themselves. (and we thought they were being emo and trying to commit suicide)

So when they get hold of a seal pup, the killer whale will bring it out into the deeper waters and start playing with it by slapping and throwing it around and into the air. This is done together with a killer whale pup to train its hunting skills, and also to kill the seal pup so as to have an easier time eating it. But it is all so cruel. Most animals hunt simply for survival, like kill and eat. These whales sometimes don't even eat the seals even when they have already died, they just keep throwing them around.

Then again, this weird behaviour happens when they hunt other marine animals too, like sting-rays. Its like playing frisbee when they get thrown into the air.

Speaking of which, my colleagues just told me that some time last year they saw a whole herd of dolphins swimming next to the sailors during their training. As in right here, in the waters near the club. Not those pink dolphins from Sentosa, but the real grey kind from the Pacific. The kind that play "pass the seaweed".

2017hrs..
After almost a week of mindless surfing during work, I came to realise that there are actually many uses for vinegar. haha like uber lame, I know.

I was trying to find a solution to this ant problem that I have in my room. I found a WHOLE COLONY of ANTS in my wardrobe yesterday. Damn disgusting. I dunno what they hell they were doing inside the bag section of my cupboard. It’s not like there's any food in my room to begin with.

So anyway, today I googled "How to kill ants", and one way of preventing ants from coming back after killing them is to spray vinegar on the ant tracks and entrances. Because they hate the smell, it will keep them away.

Then the other day I googled, “how to maintain dog’s fur”. Use vinegar to rub through or comb fur with vinegar for shiny and healthy looking fur. It applies for human hair as well, but rinse your hair with it.

Soak your nails in vinegar everyday and they will grow faster and stronger.

Apparently, in the pursuit of fairness, King Something from a long time ago washed his face everyday with lots of vinegar. Vinegar also sooths sunburn, as it helps in the regeneration of new skin. Same whitening effect applies for teeth.

I recently baked a cake without eggs and butter, but with oil and vinegar. And it turned out to be the softest ever cake I’ve made. It’s pretty amazing.

I saw so much more stuff to be done with vinegar, but I am not Martha Stewart, so I can’t possibly remember everything.

Anyway, today on the way to work I saw these two girls who reminded me of Erika and Cheryl Tan. Absolutely random, but ya.

I am on night shift alone today. How wonderful. I love the privacy I am having with the mosquitoes right now. I don’t even want to talk about why my colleagues left me alone here today. I am so bored. Oh, the level of doing of nothingness of my job reached an absolute new low today. My colleagues agreed to help the diving shop copy these diving exam answers- like shade the answers according to the answer sheet, about 10 over copies of them- in exchange for mangoes. OH MY GOD. MANGOES. I want to die. We may be located by the sea, but we are certainly not starving. I had to do it too, “or else we don’t get mangoes” (quote: my colleague)

I still have another two hours to kill. I feel like deleting everything so i can spend the next half hour re-typing this. But of course that is retarded.

1818hrs..
John Elliot's web cast is making me drowsy.

I just got reminded of what happened during social psych lecture last week. Last week's topic was interpersonal attraction and the lecturer was talking about the evolutionary perspective of what leads to close relationships between males and females.

This perspective says that men will be more upset when their partners commit sexual infidelity than emotional infidelity because evolution theories say that the main purpose of males to have a partner is so that he can pass on his genes. So if his partner has sex with another guy, it would mean that her womb is taken up by the other guy's baby, and thus her womb won't be available to pass on his own genes.

But for women, it is the other way round, that we will be more upset by emotional infidelity than sexual infidelity, and that women won't actually mind THAT much if her partner is sexually infidel. So at this point, my lecturer asked why this is the case.

And this Norwegian girl sitting in front said, "Because he is not good enough."

LOL.

haha ok I dunno how come i suddenly thought of that, when John Elliot's web cast is on the elderly AND methodology. (yawn + snore)

In case anyone wants to know the REAL reason why the reverse is true for women, it is because when a guy doesn't love you anymore, he will provide more for the other woman's child, leaving you and your child with little or no resources for survival/ good life. So women would rather her partner be sexually involved with another woman but still remain in love with her than the other way round.

0008hrs..
"But above all, increasing speed is driven by minds unaware of the irony that the race has never been to the swift."

-- David W. Orr

1743hrs..

Now, what could this be?

a) An inflatable float.

b) A breathing apparatus.

c) A Jellyfish.

Answer: d) None of the above.

What this inflatable jellyfish like animal is an invertebrate, the Man- of –war. It does have a rather impressive name, but IS IT impressive?

As I have found out from this article, it is indeed extraordinary.

The Man- of – war is not exactly ONE animal, but is actually a floating hydrozoan, which consists of four types of polyps. The four different simple animals that form the Man- of – war are the float, the tentacles, the feeding zooids and the gonozooids which produce gametes for reproduction.

Click here for more information on polyps.

These different polyps work together to form an intelligence system that functions as a whole. Each polyp has a different function, which helps in the survival of the Man- of – war. For example, the float polyp helps in the locomotion of the Man- of – war. It is like a sac filled with nitrogen, and acts as a “sail” to drift the animal in the direction of the wind and tide. This is also where the Man- of – war derived its name from, as it resembles an olden day battle ship.



With all these different animals living “under the same roof”, one must wonder why they do so and how they do not feel a competition for resources.

Each polyp has different needs and functions. Other than the “sail”, one other part is for reproduction, while the remaining two parts function as the hunting and digesting tool.

Man- of – wars are hermaphrodites; each individual gonozooid consists of male and female parts. The fertilised egg develops into a planktonic larva which then reproduce in large quantity by asexual budding.

The most powerful part of this combined animal is the tentacles, not only do they contain a painful sting which can be fatal, they are also used to catch and trap small sea creatures which will then be slowly dissolved by enzymes secreted from the underside of the float.

As you can see, these four simple animals coexist as “one organism” because the benefit of doing so greatly outweighs the cost involved. Although a single animal has a function by itself, it will never be able to survive alone, as it lacks other necessary functions for survival.

I find this animal really amazing because it has managed to survive even without doing much. There’s no need to swim as the “sail” helps in drifting. Eating for this animal is also like a simple task as it simply traps and dissolves its prey; absolutely no need for foraging or stalking. In addition, there is no need for MATE- SELECTION, a process which many other animals spend alot of time and energy engaging in.

At this point, we wonder what could possibly lead any fish to swim through the deadly tentacles of the Man-of –war.

The answer?



The Nomeus gronovii.

This fish shares a symbiotic life with the Man-of-war.

Want to see the Man- of- war in action?

Man-Of-War Podcast!

Remember to look out for the Man-of –war fish, as well as the enemies of the Man-of-war.

Here's some trivia:

As compared to a jellyfish, the man-of-war is a giant.

As compared to a grown man...

it STILL is a giant!!

2106hrs..absolutely amazing how these artifacts still look so new. Most of them were made during the first century, and yet so many hundred years later, they still appear immaculate and seemingly stood the test of time. i almost thought they were re-makes. Would be quite cool to be like them, never grow old. =)

Here are some of my favourites. Ironic that I should like Narcissus huh?

2035hrs..

I was trying to find pictures of the brain in the hope of better understanding where the heck my supra marginal gyrus, the olivococholear bundle and the whatnots are. instead i found stupid brain images like these.THANKS Google, you have been utterly helpful. Im so going to pass my biopsych test now.

1914hrs..
This was what i spent my national day on. It is something i drew and painted. yes, there are elements of red and white, but it has nothing at all to do with Singapore. This is just an up close shot. i think I'll post the whole picture another time.


School is starting on Monday and i still have not gotten all my modules. But I'm still excited. i know i will be sick of sch after 3 weeks. and you are all allowed to go "i told u so" when that happens.

Just now i was thinking wat i should bring to sch on Mon, which reminds me of how I've been telling kit that i need a new pencil case, and he will give me the "oh please, are u in kindergarten" expression.

He thinks a pencil case is not necessary, because he used to bring only a pen to sch. Both liling and i knew full well what happens when that one pen dies on him.

So, i took his heed and didn't get a new pencil case.

Because i have more than ONE pen.

It's the same case that contained the moving rubber from the launch the other time. i just like it that it is transparent. though i think it will spoil pretty fast like my old see through one.

Anyway, on to something less frivolous, I read an article on Time that psychologists found an explanation to Deja Vu. It is not a sudden recollection of dreams which what a book -"Learn to Dream"- told me, which i went on to tell many people. haha

We all have a gene circuit that regulates pattern separation. Like how the pleasure we feel from drinking coke is quite like that of drinking Sprite, but this gene enables us to distinguish the difference between these two sensation- they are similar but not identical.

Deja Vu, as they discovered is caused by a misfire in this pattern-separation circuit, that causes the new experience that's similar to an older one seems identical.

As for that creepy sense of uncertainty we get when we experience Deja Vu, is due to the conflict that two parts of our brains experienced; one part tells us that this is an entirely new experience while the other thinks it has happened before.

Psychology is so cool. haha

0140hrs..


this picture reminds me of Psychology lecture. gives me a headache.

Fracture is a pretty good show. it made me kinda wished that i was smarter so i can go to law school and fufill my childhood dream of being a lawyer. there are pple who wants to study law to do a different job ok.

but anyway, that was just a childhood dream job. its like how some people wanted to be a doctor, pilot or ninja turtle. which most of us grow up realising that those choices are not quite possible. to be a pilot was my second childhood dream job. until reality tells me that pilots cannot have eyesight with 400 degrees of short sighted-ness in each eye. and i need new glasses.

im hungry. i wish i had a chef in my house.