Why I Hate Signing Up A New Number

Malcolm

纯文艺恋爱

最近有点忧郁。

想念屁街旧家。。。就拿起久违的吉他和口琴，配上 FLUTE 乱乱来一番。

不管那么多，谁叫这是我的 blog~~。



Malcolm

Puffer Fish Toxin Is 1,200 Times More Potent Than Cyanide

And yet the Japanese love devouring them.

The Puffer fish is considered the second deadliest vertebrate in the world, after the Golden Poison Frog. The common image we have of this creature is that it inflates when threatened. I had a pet Fugu a few years ago but it didn't inflate at all. It died four hours after the transaction.

What makes Fugu so popular is the lethal toxin in its liver, skin and the ovaries, and the fact that the Japanese treat it as a delicacy. Pretty ironic I guess? By the way it is extremely expensive and prepared only by trained, licensed chefs who, like all humans, occasionally make mistakes =P.

The World's Biggest Armed Forces (Year 2010)

Image: The Economist Online

In absolute numbers, rich and populous countries such as America, China and India keep the biggest militaries. Countries that have seen war (Iran, Vietnam) or are situated in strife-torn regions such as the Middle East also feature prominently. The most heavily militarised country of all is North Korea, where there are 49 military personnel for every 1,000 of its people.--The Economist

Image: Wikipedia.org

Malaysia has a slightly larger army than Jordan, so we're ranked somewhere around 42nd or 43rd in the world. Not bad for a country of 28.3 million(2010).

Among ASEAN countries, Vietnam tops the chart with almost half a million active soldiers, followed by Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Malaysia is ranked 7th, Singapore 8th, Laos 9th, and finally Brunei, with only 7000 active troops.



Malcolm
info:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/07/armed-forces?fsrc=scn/tw/te/dc/armiedtothehilt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_troops#endnote_MYS

Heating A Pot Noodles By Using A Laser

It is claimed in the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory that it is possible to heat up a pot of instant noodles with the laser that they have in a laboratory.

Fortunately for scientists in the real world, the show also provided details of the type of laser(oxygen iodine laser) and its power(500kW). So what are you waiting for? =)

How Radioactive Is A Banana?

I stumbled upon a number of VERY INTERESTING papers recently, which are in fact genuine scientific investigations into matters we often take for granted, for eg. the radiation level of bananas.

Image: dvice.com

I've read about radioactive bananas(oh by the way, all bananas are radioactive) in my nuclear physics class, and yet I never got bothered by it.

UM Library Comic

In Belarus, A One-Armed Man Was Arrested For Clapping...

Like Malaysia, the leaders of Belarus are also under intense pressure.

Unlike Malaysia though, the people aren't seeking electoral reform, instead they are pressuring the government over a collapsing economy that's gutted living standards and left hundreds of thousands out of work since January in the little post-Soviet country of 10 million.

Science Knows No Boundaries

The World Conference of Science Journalists(WCSJ) held in Doha, Qatar last month was by all account a successful one. 724 renown science journalists across the globe attended the conference, which also included some 120 Arab science journalists.

Image: nationalscience.org

In spite of the success, the conference was unable to break free from the never-ending Palestine-Israel political struggle.

大便有难

大便有难。

此话和解?

臭屁常识

自己放屁，让我们舒服。
别人放屁，让我们抓狂。

奇怪，大家放的都是气体，为什么我们对别人的屁特别有偏见？每个人都会放屁，我，你，他，美女，帅哥，老师，学生，歌手，演员，国王，总统，只要是活物，并且拥有肠胃及消化系统的通通都必须放屁。就连刚刚过世的人也会放屁。

低落

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Crow Remembers

We all know that some birds are smart, and Corvidae, the cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks and magpies are especially so. The birds have excelled in mirror tests--demonstrating high cognitive ability, and they also possess tool-making ability.

A recent study shows that crows remember the faces of threatening humans, and would subsequently react by scolding and prompting other crows to mock the threatening humans. Given that crows have impressive memories, people who ruffle the feathers of these birds could experience years of retribution.

Mantis Shrimp

Mantis shrimp.
Ah... In cantonese we call it 攋尿蝦(pissing shrimp). Why pissing? Because they tend to shoot a jet of water when picked up.

Image: trekearth.com

Anyway, this seemingly harmless crustacean is actually one of the wonders of nature. Mantis shrimp is neither mantis nor shrimp, and the name was given simply because of their resemblance to praying mantis and shrimp.