Monday, February 28, 2011

Fantasy in Reality

People can actually fantasize while they're awake, do you know that? Yes peeps, these people are daydreamers. And please don't make fun of those because you are one of them. Everyone is a daydreamer. Don't go and deem yourself as a healthy and normal person just because you don't dream during the day. Alliteration, again. Girls, I know we are all the same, keep thinking about our crush, be it celebrity or your very own classmate in class. And boys, I have nothing against you just show up already and admit that you guys did the same, or maybe, even worse.*gasp*




Daydreaming is a fairly common phenomenon, but still, it should not be indulged in excessively though it is not harmful. You are not in touch with the reality, and you can be distracted from all the fantasies. But we tend to focus on the bad side. Try to look for the silver lining in the cloud. as for a child, daydreaming fosters a child imagination, and enhances creativity. Daydreaming is looked upon negatively because it represents 'non-doing' in a society that emphasizes productivity. Well the truth is, even most of the famous people have been daydreamers and obviously the have brought something into the world, so we cannot simply claim all daydreamers are non-productive and only lazing around. The best of all, daydreaming allows you a range of possibilities which, in the hard cold light of reality, aren't possible.


Specifically, daydreaming helps you relax your mind and body, curb anxiety as well as to manage personal conflict, maintain relationships and boost productivity. Fact says that daydreaming aids people to gain more energy and be more productive in a long run. So, don't be scared to daydream.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Microwave Trick

Hello people. I was home for a week *a week that felt like only a day long* and I got the chance to watch this educational programme on channel TVIQ called Clever!. It is an adaptation from an English show just like what Roda Impian and Who Wants to be A Millionaire have come up with. The show is overall informative and jam-packed with many hands-on activities and lab experiments. And I was really keen in one of the experiments conducted in that episode, in which they talked about how to make a soap floats in the water. Interesting right? :) There are three options given, whether you are to rub the soap with sea salt, make a hole out of the soap bar or maybe you can cook the soap in the microwave.

Basically, everything is related to density. Density is the measure of the mass of the substance divided by its volume. As we all know, water is less dense than soap, and as a result, the soap will sink. The chemical composition of soap in general is what causes it to have its particular density. Ivory soap in particular, is known for it can float in the water. In other words, its density is lesser compared to water (H2O).


Let's take a look at the package of Ivory Soap
So this is how it looks like. I'm not sure if there is any in Malaysia. I guess there is.
*edit : yes, there is.


When we rub salt onto the soap, it still sinks down under. Same goes to the second option. Even if we make a deep hole out of it, the soap will eventually sink. So, how does an ivory soap float in the water? Lets grab our lab coats and safety goggles and yeah, we are scientists now. Wannabe scientists. *cough* Time to hit the lab! These are the materials we need ; a bar of Ivory soap, various bars of another brand soap, deep bowl of water, paper towel and last but not least, a microwave oven.

1. First thing first, fill the bowl with water. Drop the bars of soap into the water and notice all the other brands sink but Ivory soap. Why?
2. Take the ivory soap out of the water and break it half to see if there is any pockets of air hiding in the middle of the bar.
3. Place the Ivory soap bar in the middle of a piece of paper towel and place the whole thing in the center of the microwave oven.
4. Cook the bar for 2 minutes long. Dont take your eyes off the bar as it begins to expand and erupt into beautiful puffy clouds. Be careful not to overcook it.
5. Allow the soap to cool for a minute or so. The soap looks puffy on the outside but it is rigid when you touch it. 
Soap souffle - the result of the cooked soap

Dont waste it. Use it when you're taking shower and it will still float. How does it work actually? Ivory soap floats because it has air pumped into it during manufacturing process. In 1890, the air-filled soap accidentally happened when one of the workers forgot to turn off the mixing machine which then caused so much air to be whipped into the soap. Procter & Gamble then chose to capitalize on the mistake by marketing a brand new product of floating soaps, which gets favoured by the public.


Thursday, February 3, 2011

Let's Talk Science

Okay lets see.So far, we have come upon some haircare tips, Grammar, and Facebook. I've been thinking for some time to share these interesting facts on human body. Shall we start? *grins*

Do you know?

  • Babies have more bones than we do
Newborn babies have 300 bones in their body. When they reach adulthood, they are left with only 206 bones. This is because the smaller bones eventually join together to form stronger single bones.
Fun fact(s) : 1/4 of the bones in your body are in your feet. Try drop a hammer or lesung batu whatsoever to see if your feet bones crack hard. Ha.
  • Human's hair is almost indestructible
Yes you heard it right. Your hair, my hair, no, everyone's hair decays at such a low rate that it is almost impossible to get rid of. If you still remember watching those documentaries on Egypt, pyramid and Mummies, the Mummies are all left with no flesh. Nothing but bones and yes, hair. Be it change of climate, weather, or other natural forces, the hair is hardly bothered or destroyed and it is resistant to many acids and corrosive chemicals.
Fun fact(s) : Next to bone marrow, hair is the fastest growing tissue in the human body. On average, redheads have 90000 hairs while people with black hair have about 110000 hairs. Imma go count my hair after this.
  • Sleep no, food yes.
We can survive without food but not without sleep. Yes both are essential in our daily lives, we need food to produce energy and sleeping helps in retaining the energy. But many neglect the fact that humans can actually survive longer without food than without sleep.An average person could survive a month to two without food, with water alone. But a few sleepless night will cause the person to experience radical personality and physical changes such as having panda eyes dark circles.
Fun fact(s) : Average person fall asleep in seven minutes. The average human will eat an average of 8 spiders while sleeping :O
  • There are about 9,000 taste buds on the surface of the tongue, in the throat, and on the roof of the mouth. taste buds contain chemoreceptors that responds to chemicals from food and other substances that are dissolved by the saliva in the mouth.
Fun fact(s) : 85% of the population can curl their tongue into a cube.
  • Go remove a large part of our internal organs and we survive
The human body may appear fragile, but our body is stronger than we could imagine. Even after removing the stomach, one kidney, one lung, 75% of the liver, 80% of the intestines and almost every organ on the pelvic, it is still possible to survive.
Fun fact(s) : The small intestine in teh humanm body is about 2 inches around, 22 feet long.
  • The eyeball of a human weighs approximately 28 grams.
  • We blink over 10,000,000 times a year.
  • When we sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even our heart.
  • If we yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days we could possibly produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
  • If we farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb. Whoa.
  • In a month, a fingernail grows an eight of an inch.