Monday, July 27, 2020

Do you know about the strange phenomenon called "Returning Soldier Effect"?


The phenomenon is that right after a war, returned soldiers tend to father more sons than daughters.



It’s confused scientists for decades and no-one really knows the answer to why this occurs.

Saturday, May 5, 2018

大摇 2018 | 时迁

又是大摇的季节了~ 
说实在的,有发觉到今年看大摇的同辈朋友们越来越少了,一个接一个的被时间,工作绑住,我觉得在老鸟席年纪最大的应该是我了。
这也代表,连续出席大摇最多年的也是我吗?(是的)呜呜呜~

今年呢,想要换个format 来写, 就是想到什么就写什么。

Monday, July 31, 2017

DUNKIRK and life update

I've always wanted to watch movies about the history of World War II (WWII). As with most of the people my age, we are generally more receptive to videos than written words, so history class with videos is more effective than reading mere words on paper.

Nonetheless, one thing I don't like about movies is that they often dramatize or exaggerate the real event to achieve the desired plot.
Image: youtube.com

Dunkirk, however, is no such movie. Sure, it has its fair share of dramatization and fictionalization, but director Christopher Nolan has done a great job in minimizing the fictionalizations of history, using different names as proxies to the real characters in history.

I'm not about to do a spoiler here so please go to your nearest cinema to watch it. My verdict for the movie is that the it is definitely worth your time.

These are a few thoughts after watching Dunkirk:
1) Heroes don't always survive. Cowards don't always die.
2) When facing death, your sworn brothers could easily turn you in to the enemies.
3) Why don't politicians go to war themselves? War is where the decision by the 1% brings death and sufferings to the 99%.

4) Fun trivia: 
a) the narrowest part of the English Channel is about 20.7 miles, or 33km from Dover to Calais (which is near to Dunkirk by the way). That's about an hour's ride by boat or 5 minutes (at 372 mph) by Spitfire fighter plane.
b) The average depth of the Channel is only about 65 meters, while the shallowest part only 45 meters. In comparison, all six of the British destroyers lost in Operation Dynamo were over 90 meters in length. Had all the destroyers sunk hull-first, the stern of the ship could still remain on the surface and could at least sustain the crews for several hours. Heck we need ship designs that allow ships to sink hull/stern first, not sideways.   
Image: wikipedia.org

Lastly, in light of some recent comments dropped on my Facebook, I see the need to clarify that I'm currently single. I'd appreciate no further questions nor comments on this subject especially on Facebook. Thanks.

Malcolm


Saturday, July 29, 2017

Which Animal Murders The Most?

We hear news of people killing one another every other day. 
Have you ever wondered why are we so violent towards one another? Comparing ourselves to other animals in the animal kingdom, are we, Homo sapiens, any more murderous than say, dogs, rats, or lions?

The answer may surprise you.

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