Friday, October 20, 2006

an inconvenient truth.

ok i had a fast but tiring week. the quiz and research assignment today really drained me and i was on some adrenaline high from lack-of-sleep and too many developmental biology knowledge stuffed into my head. wait till you hear us rattle off all kinds of language from french to japanese to swedish to who-knows-what-language. fushi tarazu and siamois anyone?

after satisfying ourselves with western food for lunch we further stuffed our brains with our weekly research assignment, this week we looked at the pioneering papers of DNA structure discovery and realised that watson and crick are really 2 smarties that used other scientists' data and experimental results, analysed it, put them together, use tons of knowledge of physics (x-ray diffraction), chemistry (bond angles, bond energies, hydrogen bonds, molecular structure etc.) and biology to derive the famous DNA double helical structure that we are all-so-familiar with. they did not do any experiments of their own. and admitted that they do not know how.

and yet they got the nobel prize.

and those scientists that slogged day and night doing x-ray diffractions (and getting cancer at the same time, or dying prematurely so they don't get awarded with the nobel prize) and don't know what kind of strange experiments and yet they end up with no big prize of a million bucks and fame.

so ironic.

p.s. cancer is particularly sensitive these days after learning tons and tons about cancer biology and our friend getting bone cancer and us having to deal with carcinogenic compunds and UV light during labs.

but i'm glad this week's over. ok maybe not. 'cos that means its 3 weeks to exams. and i haven't started studying my plants, neurobiology, cancer. ahhhh. am glad at least my research module doesn't really require much mugging. and that's one module down.

monday i treated myself to a free movie (courtesy of nanyang chronicle again) with sam. again i was struck quite hard by the hard facts that were presented.

the movie is An Inconvenient Truth. entirely narrated by former vice-president Al Gore, also former president-to-be before losing to someone.

he talks passionately, not about politics, but about the environment. more specifically, global warming.

yes we have heard so much about it. we have read about it. seen it happen before our very eyes. we witnessed the consequences. we even seen what could possibly happen in the near future in movies like The Day After Tomorrow.

yet we are still so ignorant. indifferent. can't be bothered. we have no response.

Al Gore gives talks about the impact and urgency of global warming all over the world. he has been doing that for years. and he is doing what he can to rally for his cause. and i really admire him for that. not to mention he is really charismatic and humorous. =) hurhur. some of his jokes are really quite funny. and he uses many mediums of illustrations to explain a point. even the cartoon futurama.

ok. for those, who like sam, like documentaries where they're always presented with no sides of a story. this is not one of them. simply because the other side of the story does not exist. there is no claim whatsoever that the activities of man are not causing global warming or its effects, directly or indirectly. the case against what al gore is preaching simply is invalid and irrelevant and totally wrong. hence the seemingly one-sided argument that this documentary presents.

back to the film/documentary. it switches from snippets of his global warming talk to an audience of 200+ caucasians to snippets of his life, the past and present. how he got into what he does. how he tries to use politics to make a difference. and he is just so confident that politics is the key to this indifference. because politics was the key to the ozone layer/CFC emissions project. throughout his presentation he gives an overwhelming amount of evidence that favours the global warming crisis. that's where its really alarming and all the evidence just gets thrown in your face. every fact, every statistic, every picture, every scientific review article (not a single one refutes the claim that global warming is happening.) all points towards our activities. our ignorance. our lack of care and concern.

so for the ones who are not informed fully.

what on earth is global warming?

this is ripped with thanks from the website of an inconvenient truth.

Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere. This is a good thing because it keeps our planet habitable. However, by burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil and clearing forests we have dramatically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and temperatures are rising.

The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it’s already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a natural occurrence. (reference no. 1) The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.

We’re already seeing changes. Glaciers are melting, plants and animals are being forced from their habitat, and the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing.

The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years. (reference no. 2)

Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level. (reference no. 3)

The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade. (reference no. 4)

At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles. (reference no. 5)

If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences.
Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000 people a year.6
Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.7
Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.
Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.
The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.8
More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.9

There is no doubt we can solve this problem. In fact, we have a moral obligation to do so. Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big differences in helping to stop global warming. The time to come together to solve this problem is now – TAKE ACTION

the references are here.

1 According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), this era of global warming "is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin" and "the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence of the global climate."
2 Emanuel, K. 2005. Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years. Nature 436: 686-688.
3 World Health Organization
4 Krabill, W., E. Hanna, P. Huybrechts, W. Abdalati, J. Cappelen, B. Csatho, E. Frefick, S. Manizade, C. Martin, J, Sonntag, R. Swift, R. Thomas and J. Yungel. 2004. Greenland Ice Sheet: Increased coastal thinning. Geophysical Research Letters 31.
5 Nature.
6 World Health Organization
7 Washington Post, "Debate on Climate Shifts to Issue of Irreparable Change," Juliet Eilperin, January 29, 2006, Page A1.
8 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. 2004. Impacts of a Warming Arctic. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Also quoted in Time Magazine, Vicious Cycles, Missy Adams, March 26, 2006.
9 Time Magazine, Feeling the Heat, David Bjerklie, March 26, 2006.

***

like what al gore says. this has gone beyond a political issue. it has become a moral issue.

go watch the documentary and learn about what is happening to our earth. how this earth will not be around for our grandsons and grandaughters. how we would have no place to go.

and how serious this is. please if you can, go see it. it opens in singapore this coming thursday.



Click if you're planning to go see it. =) and spread the word.

An Inconvenient Truth
on Climate Crisis
on IMDB

This girl posted at 9:49 PM

Saturday, October 07, 2006

a thousand days.

need time. discipline. to focus. to pray for strength. exams are looming. week 9 creeps in slowly, destroying my weekend. troubles. seek first the kingdom of God. japan trip. exams first. seattle. preparing for youth conference. priorities.

radio interview was fun. it was relaxed although there was a hint of nervousness of not wanting to talk nonsensical rubbish on live radio (that's beamed to the whole of singapore with thousands of people tuning in) or just blank out. that's the thing about live shows. and the deejay stanley was so calm and professional, doing the thing his whole life. i saw how they do traffic reports, weather updates, news, business updates, commercials etc. dj-ing seems fun.

my name sounds weird when pronounced in the english way, without the chinese sounds. sometimes i cringe when people say it. i cringe when i say it to introduce myself to non-chinese people. hence i was thinking of adopting an english name just for the seattle exchange. if you know any nice name that sounds like my name pls tag me. =)

***

the sweetest song any man can sing for a woman and really mean the words from the bottom of his heart. i wished one day a man would sing it for me. and mean it. bonus points if it's the singer. haha. i wish.

Everything I Have
- Clay Aiken

I feel like I never measure up to who you see
Sometimes I think I can't give you all the love you need
You keep changing everyday
Amazing me in everyway.

If I could be the perfect man in your eyes
I would give all I'm worth to be a part of your life
I could promise the world but it's out of my hands
I can only give you everything I have

I never dreamed I could ever feel the way I do
I hope and pray I will always be enough for you
I can only do my best
I have to trust you with the rest

If I could be the perfect man in your eyes
I would give all I'm worth to be a part of your life
I could promise the world but it's out of my hands
I can only give you everything I have

I promise I will hold you through the changes and fears
When life seems unclear
And when I can't be right there with you
I know there's angels by your side

If I could be the perfect man in your eyes
I would give all I'm worth to be a part of your life
I could promise the world but it's out of my hands
I can only give you everything... I have

***

you know i get so much joy from reading Romans. Romans 6 onwards talks a lot about sin and God. and it is really quite insightful reading what Paul wrote. i love what these verses say about sin.

"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
- Romans 8:3-4

the law could not free man from sin. the law still did not deter man from sinning just because it's in our nature to sin. we just can't help it. we're weak. but God freed us from the clutches of sin by sending His Son to earth as that same man, and He condemned sin and enabled us to walk according to the Spirit instead of the flesh which is weak and sinful. and we're no longer condemned to sin but now we walk with righteousness and grace with the Spirit.

i love Romans 8 especially. because it goes on to talk about how the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses and being the bridging gap between God and our prayers. and that

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
- Romans 8:28

and then it goes on to talk about God's everlasting love. which is always comforting to me.

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
- Romans 8:38-39

there's really really nothing that could separate us from God's love. "If God is for us, then who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31b. really.

i'm always so glad and encouraged whenever things go haywire in my life i know i can always fall back on God's grace and love. whenever people disappoint me or circumstances are just horrifying or i become a disappointment to others.

***

there is an alarming number of top-notch, research papers-publishing, award-winning scientists and researchers settling down in singapore doing research. looks like our government is doing a good job wooing them all here so they can come to my school and give inspirational lectures. ok some part of it is boring. but nevertheless impressive and amazing when i google for information for my tutorials and i see..ehhh that's my lecturer! he has published hundreds of papers on the exact thing that he was teaching us! like the recent phillippe taupin, a master researcher of adult neurogenesis in mammals and humans. his french accent is really quite a challenge. and he jokingly admits it himself. so cute.

and sir david lane just finished his series of cancer lectures with us. the stuff he talked about are sooo up-to-date and current, our textbooks have no mention of them. we have to google. sad. but very inspiring. =)

***

Ian's birthday party at wine network at dempsey road was nice. =) met new people. wore my new dress. since he insisted that the dress code for girls is dresses. happy birthday my dear friend. may you have many more birthdays to come and happy times to go through and i know you like growing old. so must smile more ok? and stop being so cynical.

just came back from a triple birthday celebration at the labrador park restaurant. with good food, good wine, good company and the annoying haze. PSI is now at 140. i feel like my lungs are clogged up. birthday people are joyce, grace and davier, in order of age. happy birthday my dearests! welcome to club21 ahahaha. and the age of votes, singapore shares, R21 movies, organ donation and abortions without parental consent.

***

i love this song!

Spirit Wings

Some birds lived in cages
They never learnt to fly
and like those birds i've never found my wings
but Lord Your love release me
so i could see the sky
and now my heart rejoices as i sing

Spirit wings
You lift me over all the earth-bound things
and like a bird my heart is flying free
i'm soaring on the song your spirit brings
O Lord of all
You've let me see
A vision of Your majesty
You lift me up and carry me on Your spirit wings

Now when I'm feeling lonely
I just look to you
and soon my heart is soaring high above
everything is clearer
from Your point of view
lifted up on Spirit wings of love

Spirit wings
You lift me over all the earth-bound things
and like a bird my heart is flying free
i'm soaring on the song your spirit brings
O Lord of all
You've let me see
A vision of Your majesty
You lift me up and carry me on Your spirit wings

***

and back to adult neurogenesis and its fascinating facts and questions. i'm always so fascinated with neurobiology. sadly it's a killer subject to study for.

out.

***

"But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
- Romans 6:22-23

This girl posted at 4:42 PM