Coffee

Hi internet, today I am going to talk about my favorite drink in the world. Coffee!:) I love this drink however I do restrict myself to drink about once per month. Apparently my body is sensitive to caffeine hence once I drink a cup of coffee, MY MIND LAST FOR A WHOLE DAY 24 HOURS... Anyways I recently watched a YouTube video about coffee. It talked about its history,uses and benefits. It was pretty good, I will post the video on this blog.

SO HOW DID IT ALL STARTED??

Knowledge 1: The Ethiopians first noticed the effects of the caffeine when they saw goats jumping around after eating coffee berries. Exactly like that goat:)

How was it originally eaten??

Knowledge 2: Coffee are originally eaten by mixing coffee berries with fats but I do not know what kind of fats. I am guessing goat fat:) These delicacies are made by African tribes.

Where do they come from and the consumers?

Knowledge 3:  All coffee berries are grown in the coffee belt. This belt is the area in between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn. Hawaii is the only state of USA that grows coffee berries.

Knowledge 4:  People in Norway would drink about 9.4 cups a day! On average of course. However, the largest buyer of coffee is America.

Knowledge 5: 70% of the world drink Arabic coffee which is mild and aromatic while the rest of the 30% drinks Robusta which is more bitter but has more caffeine.

How are coffee cultivated and its uses?

Knowledge 6: Coffee trees can grow about 30 feet tall but are cultivated around 10 feet for easy-picking. The red berries are picked and dried until all that's left is green berries hence coffee berries must be hand picked.

Knowledge 7: The beans are then roasted at around 500F or 260C. After a few minutes, the bean will pop and double in size. 

Knowledge 8:The trees have caffeine in them which is also used as a insect repellent as caffeine can kill or paralyze insects. However, they do not paralyze us as caffeine can only kill one gram bugs unlike us. 

What does caffeine do to us?

Knowledge 9: 1. It causes an increase in the cardiovascular and nervous system activity.

                        2.Caffeine effects can begin shortly after consumption and remain in your

                        body for several hours.

                        3. Caffeine affects your nervous system by stimulating the nerve endings  

                        throughout your body and increases your brain functions.

                        4.  This nervous system stimulating results in a better mood for some, lessens

                        fatigue, and helps people to think clearly and be more attentive.        

Knowledge 10: There are many types of coffee in the world however I would only state the most common few such as Americano, Latte, Mocha, Cappuccino and decaf. 

I have learnt a lot today, I did not know that coffee had such a long story behind it:) Tell me what you think:)

Blood transfusion

Hi internet, today I would like to talk about blood transfusion. I got the idea of talking about this subject because I was curious about what would happen to someone if his blood was mixed with a wrong blood type. So lets get straight to the topic:)

Knowledge 1: It is a safe, common procedure in which you receive blood through an intravenous (IV) line inserted into one of your blood vessels.

Knowledge 2: Blood transfusions are used to replace blood lost during surgery or a serious injury. A transfusion also might be done if your body can't make blood properly because of an illness.
Such as:  1. Anxiety
                2. Chest or back pain
                3. Difficultly breathing
                4. Fever, chills, flushing, and clammy skin
                5. Nausea
                6. A quick pulse or low blood pressure
                7. HIV
                8. Hepatitis B and C
                9. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ( It is basically a brain disorder )

Knowledge 3: During a blood transfusion, a small needle is used to insert an IV line into one of your blood vessels. Through this line, you receive healthy blood. The procedure usually takes 1 to 4 hours, depending on how much blood you need.

Knowledge 4: Blood banks collect, test, and store blood. They carefully screen all donated blood for infectious agents (such as viruses) or other factors that could make you sick.

Knowledge 5:  To prepare blood for a transfusion, some blood banks remove white blood cells. This process is called white cell or leukocyte reduction. Although rare, some people are allergic to white blood cells in donated blood. Removing these cells makes allergic reactions less likely.

Knowledge 6: Every person has one of the following blood types: A, B, AB, or O. Also, every person's blood is either Rh-positive or Rh-negative. So, if you have type A blood, it's either A positive or A negative.


Knowledge 7: The blood used in a transfusion must work with your blood type. If it doesn't, antibodies (proteins) in your blood attack the new blood and make you sick.

Well, that's one doubt clarified. I learnt quite a lot though, did you? Tell me what you think:)

How are tissue papers made?

Hi internet! In my last post,  I talked about what do we use trees for. I realized that I did not mention about tissue paper so it came to my mind that I should talk about how are tissue papers made.

First, we must know the foundation of tissue paper. It's main component is pulp. Now what is pulp,
Knowledge 1: Pulp is a fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops or waste paper.

It looks like wood shavings... Never mind that. 

Knowledge 2: All kinds of paper are made of 100% wood. This includes newspaper, magazines and even toilet paper. 

Knowledge 3: Tissue paper is produced on a paper machine that has a single large steam heated drying cylinder  fitted with a hot air hood. 

It looks complicated but trust me its not. 

Knowledge 4: The drying cylinder is sprayed with adhesives. Adhesives are bonding agent to make the paper stick. Inside the cylinder, there is a blade to scrape all the dried paper off. The blade is specially shaped to ensure all paper is scrapped off. 

Knowledge 5: The tissue paper is then cut into specific shapes for consumers.

As simple as that:)

Knowledge 6: The nanotechnology industry has been working to produce genetically modified trees, which produce a new type of tissue paper that has a higher quality. They call it "intelligent wood". Groovy:) This might be able to solve the problem of high demand of wood for paper. Well at least I'm glad that people are trying:)

Why do we cut trees?

Hi internet, today I am gonna talk about trees. Not its structure but why do people cut them down for their wood. What do they do with the wood? Well as we all know, deforestation is a very serious problem today. Tree felled at an alarming rate!

Knowledge 1: About half of the world's original forests had been destroyed by 2011.

So, what do use the wood for?

Knowledge 2: The wood obtained for trees are used in many areas.  1. Fuel. It use be a source of fuel back in the days and now it is taken over by fossil fuels now. However, wood is still used as a combustion medium for certain culinary cuisines such as pizza and also use it certain house warmers. FYI most heater now might show digital imae of fire but its not really fire... hehe.

2. Construction. Wood has been an important construction material since humans began building shelters, houses and boats. Nearly all boats were made out of wood until the late 19th century, and wood remains in common use today in boat construction.Wood to be used for construction work is commonly known as lumber in North America. Elsewhere, lumber usually refers to felled trees, and the word for sawn planks ready for use is timber. Hehe, remember what woodcutters say when they chop down a tree. TIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In buildings construction, wood is also used as a supporting material.

3. Furnitures and utensils. I admit wood is used in making furnitures is pretty appropriate but
using it for making utensils is just.... unorthodox......

4.Sports equipment. It is used in almost all racket sports back in the day. FYI, the strings of a
tennis racket back in the day was made of cow's intestine called the serosa.

I mean why do we need to use wood for all of the stuff mentioned above?? Dont we have material engineers to invent different materials to substitute all the uses above. Trees itself is much more valuable than any of the ways we humans use it. Think about it.

Rhinos, should we help or not?

Recently, I have read the 2012 october issue of national geographic about rhinocerous. One thing that has eluded me for eating was the disgusting pictures of hunter killing rhinoceros for their horns. Why do their kill them just for their horns?? It does not make sense. However, there are things that are inereting about rhinoceros.

Knowledge 1: There are 5 main species of rhinocerous in the world. They are the White, Black, Greater one-horned, Sumatran and Javan.

 

 

Knowledge 2: Two of these species are native to Africa while the other 3 are from sounterhen Asia.

Knowledge 3: They are hunted down for their horns. They are currently at the brink of being extinct due to predators constantly hunting them down ILLGEALLY!

   

Knowledge 4 : When predators tries to hunt down rhinoceros, they would usually aim for the brain which is located at around six inches behind the eye and two inches in front of the ear. They also know certain tricks to pry a rhinoceros horn with little effort. This can be achieved by slicing around the seam at the horn's base.

Knowledge 5: If one really wants the horns of the rhinoceros, one can just cut the horns just 3 inches above its base. This allows the rhino's horn to grow back WITHOUT killing them. Why do the predators not do that????

Knowledge 6: In certain countries in Asia, Rhino horns are believed as if grinded with water can cure cancer. Well, this belief is not scientifically proven hence its just hocum.... In my opinion, its just an excuse for killing them.

Honestly, I think it is fine to hunt animals for their meat and other stuff but if one just kills them    just for one part, i think thats very cruel and brutish. According to research, removing a rhino's     horns does not affect the well being of a rhino. Tell me what you think:)                                                                                                                       

 

Examinations has ended!

Hello internet,
Well, I havent been able to post any things for the past few weeks as I was having my school examinations. Good new, I have finished my examinations today! It was terrific, My chemistry teacher mentioned that the exam would be extremely difficult. Boy was she wrong...haha. Anyways I would now have some free time to post some more but you know, I need ideas to make this website interesting. I mean come on, whats the difference between this and just search up on random stuff on google or howstuffs works or whatever website. Maybe I have to express my opinons on the articles I write about, I dont know... Give me some ideas please. Anyways, I will be getting all my results back by 10th october. Then I would have a two and half months holiday. ( God i hate them ) It so unproductive having holidays man come on... So, in order to make full use of my holiday, I have came up with certain things i would like to do during my holidays.
Things to do:

1. Exercise. Fyi, I am a very skinny and weak guy. I get sick on a weekly basis unless I remember to take my vitamin Cs. So in order to boost my immunity, exercising is imperative.

2. Improve on my chinese and english language. Well, langauge has never been my strong suite. I am constantly getting Cs for my english and my chinese is just spinning around B. Yes I know, pretty boring eh... Everyday is just about studying, studying and studying... Well I dont have a choice. In order to go to a good junior college, I have to.

3. Make my computer software. I got a sudden interest towards making computer software after watching the movie " The social network". I was very impressed about mark zuckerberg's success and his intellect. I have been learning how to use visual basic and I got to admit, its pretty interesting. Then i found out about java, it is so complicated... Its gonna take me some time to learn. But hey, I got two and half months. However, I got my chinese O level examinations in November 7th so I've got to focus man....

4. Play darksiders 2. I mean go watch the trailer, Its so good. Well, many people did complain about the graphics but the gameplay is just awesome.

5. Watch taken 2. Ok, maybe. I'm not really very passionate about this movie but all my friends are making a big fuss about it...

Yeah thats about all i can think about, Well if I can come up with something new, I post another new post. Please give me some ideas on how to make this website more interesting:)

Car engines part 1

         Today, I am going to talk about my old obsession, cars. I started to like cars when i was 12 years old,I use to purchase car magazines on a monthly basis. It was expensive but hey, who gives a shit? My interest for car did not last long though after i found out that it is difficult to become a car engineer in Singapore. Hint: Thats one clue about me:D Even though my interest for cars have died out, I am still fascinated by how a car engine works. I am mean seriously, who could have really thought of this... Intake, compress, combustion and then exhale. OOPS SPOILER. Anyways, without further a do, I present to you the CAR ENGINE.


Car engine specificly Honda

Yes i know what you are thinking, what the shit is that? Its actually pretty simple but we are only going to talk about the pistons in the car engine which is the primary contributor to the movement of a car.

Knowledge 1. Most cars use he four stroke combustion cycle which is what is just mentioned. Intake,compress,combust and exhale.

Knowledge 2. As you can see, four pistons are going up and down and up and down... The blue stick which is called a connecting rod whcih is connected to the green circular thing called the crankshaft. The grey circle that holds the two things together is the rod bearing.

Knowledge 3. Now imagine when the piston goes down, air and gasoline is poured into the piston chamber through the intake valve. Then when it goes up, the air and fuel is compressed. It is then ignited by a spark plug at the top of the piston chamber. Whatever uncomplete combustion gas or material is then exhaled through the exhaust port.

Knowledge 4. There have been many designs for a piston engines, each have their own unique purpose. The one on my left is the V shape arranged piston engine. This design was made by Henry ford who is the founder of Ford car company now. The V shape engine has a shorter crankshaft. It would flex less and cut down on main bearing wear and tear. Not only that, it provides more power using less space.

Knowledge 5. This one on the left is the flat engine. It is first patented by German engineer Carl Benz. This engine helps provide better stability and control as it has a low center of gravity.








So now you have learnt the basic function of a car engine and its main components. We have aso covered the different designs of car engine and it advantages, disadvantages and so on. Next time I would talk about the different causes of engine problems, cooling systems, purpose of lubrication and also ways engineers use to produce more power. Thank you, have fun:)

Batteries part 1

              Today, i am going to talk about batteries. One of the most common items in the world. We come across it everytime when we go to the supermarket or convenient store, its always at the counter.
 I am sure everyone knows what are batteries, energizer duracell, does that ring the bell.Although we use batteries in our daily lives, some are not curious to know how it works, though recent technology has rendered most non-rechargeable batteries useless , it is important to know how the history of batteries and how is works. Basically, chemical reactions in a battery provide electricity for functioning any modern conveniences. However, if you want to learn more about it in a more deep manner, continue reading, if not go on and be stupid.

Knowledge number 1. Chemical reactions in a battery is called electrochemical reaction. This reaction provides electricity to run your electronic devices.

Knowledge number 2. Who came up with the idea of batteries? It was actually invented by an Italian physicist called Count Alessandro Volta when he learnt about this reaction in 1799. He created a simple battery from metal plates ( zinc ) and brine-soaked cardboard or paper. He stacked them in alternating layers called voltaic pile. This created a steady and lasting current of electricty.

Knowledge number 3. However, Volta's design was limited as the height at which the layers could be stacked was limited because the weight of the pile would squeeze the brine out of the pasteboard or cloth.

 

Knowledge number 4. From then on, scientists continued to rectify and improve on volta's design which resulted in the batteries we see today in malls.

Knowledge number 5. One was John Frederick Daniell. English chemist who made a new battery called the Daniel cell. It uses a similar idea, by using alternating layers of materials to generate electricty.It uses zinc sulfate then zinc plate(-) then copper sulfate then a copper plate(+).

Knowledge number 6. By 1898, the Colombia Dry Cell became the first commercially available battery sold in the United States. The manufacturer, National Carbon Company, later became the Eveready Battery Company, which produces the Energizer brand.

So now that we know who,who and the battery design, we can further understand more in my next post. I hope you learnt something, personally i would talk about this to my friends but i dont have any so spread the knowedge to other people and have fun doing it:)

Introduction to this blog and me

Hi bloggers,
My name is David Choy. I will not mention much about myself until i feel comfortable about it:) Recently, it occurred to me that sutdents nowadays are so succumbed by their homework to the extend that they are oblivious to the "things" in the world. The purpose of this website is not just intended for just students but for everyone. I want people to learn new things everyday, not just from their work or schools. Some people might think that knowledge gained from other sources than schools are redundant for being successful in life, i respectly disagree. I believe that expanding ones knowledge can project high intellect and also confidence hence the purpose of this website. I would like to teach people about how the things, simple things, in our world work, how they came about and so on. Personally, i find all these things very interesting thus i want to share my interest. I would be posting on either a daily basis or a weekly basis. Hope you enjoy and learn something new everytime you visit this site. Thank you:)