Wednesday, 16 June 2010

Monday, 14 June 2010

Environment: The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Solutions


While most people are celebrating goals and blowing vuvuzelas, the Gulf of Mexico is still bleeding oil into the originally-blue-now-brown ocean.

Blowing vuvuzelas.
Image from Sky.com


Here's a pretty straight-forward news article from Reuters:

Obama wants independent panel to administer BP payments

By Caren Bohan and Tom Bergin


WASHINGTON/LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Barack Obama's leadership of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill faces key tests this week as the U.S. president gives his first national address on the disaster and meets top BP (BP.L) (BP.N) executives for the first time.

With America's largest-ever environmental disaster nearing the two-month mark, Obama will press BP executives to set up an escrow account to pay damage claims by individuals and businesses hurt by the oil spill disaster.

The crisis enters its 56th day on Monday as Obama makes his fourth trip to the Gulf -- visiting Alabama, Mississippi and Florida for the first time since the well blew out.

He will stay overnight in the region on Monday and return to Washington on Tuesday and make a nationally televised address at 8 p.m. (0000 GMT).

After being briefed on Monday morning by U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, his point person on relief efforts, Obama will host a round-table discussion and meet local residents in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Obama then plans to travel to Theodore, Alabama, where he will see how the clean-up operations are going and make remarks before traveling by ferry in Alabama from Dauphin Island to Fort Morgan. He will spend the night in Pensacola, Florida, home to some of America's most famous beaches.

Millions of gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf since an April 20 offshore rig blast killed 11 workers and blew out the well.

Obama also will call for an independent panel to administer the payments and to ensure cash is disbursed in a timely fashion when he meets Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg and other BP officials at the White House on Wednesday.

U.S. Senate Democrats have written to BP urging them to make a $20 billion initial deposit to such a fund as a good faith showing that they will not shirk their responsibility. 



Wait, wait, wait, let's take a look at how it all started:


And how far has the spill spreaded?


Now that the methods aren't working, what's there can the people do to help the environment?


What's more, after the hair has been collected, they will need great help from our bio-friends, the oil-eating mushrooms:


San Francisco Bay Oil Spill - Oil-Eating Mushrooms (Nov 2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENPkgAEcDoY&feature=related


So, that's cool, huh? But of course, we all try not to damage the environment.


Vocabulary:
disburse -- (vb)[T] formal to pay out money, usually from an amount that has been collected for a particular purpose
shirk -- (vb)[I or T] disapproving to avoid work, duties or responsibilities, especially if they are difficult or unpleasant. ~ responsibilities / duties


Resources:
http://www.youtube.com/v/O10lg_Ugk1k&hl
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1316527220100614
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwQOD_Ir2vQ&feature=player_embedded#!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENPkgAEcDoY&feature=related

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/disburse
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/shirk

Friday, 11 June 2010

Science: More Active Sun Means Nasty Solar Storms Ahead

Came across a news articles on Yahoo yesterday, and it is about solar storm.

What is it? I think it is too detailed for me to list out in our English Playground, but I guess the news article itself has a simple description to it.



More Active Sun Means Nasty Solar Storms Ahead

The sun is about to get a lot more active, which could have ill effects on Earth. So to prepare, top sun scientists met Tuesday to discuss the best ways to protect Earth's satellites and other vital systems from the coming solar storms.
Solar storms occur when sunspots on our star erupt and spew out flumes of charged particles that can damage power systems. The sun's activity typically follows an 11-year cycle, and it looks to be coming out of a slump and gearing up for an active period.
"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity," said Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division. "At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity tosolar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we're getting together to discuss."
Fisher and other experts met at the Space Weather Enterprise Forum, which took place in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club.
Bad news for gizmos
People of the 21st century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. But smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity.
A major solar storm could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina, warned the National Academy of Sciences in a 2008 report, "Severe Space Weather Events—Societal and Economic Impacts." [Photos: Sun storms.]
Luckily, much of the damage can be mitigated if managers know a storm is coming. That's why better understanding of solar weather, and the ability to give advance warning, is especially important.
Putting satellites in 'safe mode' and disconnecting transformers can protect electronics from damaging electrical surges.
"Space weather forecasting is still in its infancy, but we're making rapid progress," said Thomas Bogdan, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo.
Eyes on the sun
NASA and NOAA work together to manage a fleet of satellites that monitor the sun and help to predict its changes.
A pair of spacecraft called STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) is stationed on opposite sides of the sun, offering a combined view of 90 percent of the solar surface. In addition, SDO (the Solar Dynamics Observatory), which just launched in February 2010, is able to photograph solar active regions with unprecedented spectral, temporal and spatial resolution. Also, an old satellite called the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), which launched in 1997, is still chugging along monitoring winds coming off the sun. And there are dozens more dedicated to solar science.
"I believe we're on the threshold of a new era in which space weather can be as influential in our daily lives as ordinary terrestrial weather." Fisher said. "We take this very seriously indeed."


I also found a very simple yet cool page on the Discovery Channel that can help you understand. When you get to that page, just click on the buttons and information box will pop up from the left side. From that website, I learn that the next Solar Maximum is next year.


I have also found a short video from the Discovery Channel website.

And the full version is here Part 1 to Part 4:

Perfect Disaster -- Solar Storm Part 1


Happy learning and happy weekend!!

Resources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100609/sc_space/moreactivesunmeansnastysolarstormsahead
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/perfectdisaster/tours/solarstorm/solarstorm.html
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6r5ne_solar-storms-alert-2008-2012-discov_news

Locky's English Playground with a NEW LOOK!

Hi guys! Thanks for visiting my English Playground and it has been 193 postings since the opening on the 8th March, 2009. The playground hasn't changed its look too often and so I thought it is time for a renovation.

I hope you like this new design and come visit regularly.

Remember that this playground will upload new articles tri-weekly, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

You are welcome to come and play anytime you want!

Happy learning!

Cheers!

Locky
Founder of Locky's English Playground   =)

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

Business Vocabulary: The Cogs -- The Cash Group


Let's continue with the next group of Business Vocabulary, people who need to deal with cash. If you want to recall the business vocabulary in the last entry, click Business Vocabulary: The Cogs -- The Law Group




Image from HedgeWizardDiary




Short Change - From cheating someone by giving them less change than they should after a purchase. Refers to a person who treats others unfairly or deceitfully. Alternately, someone who borrows money but fails to pay back the lender in full. 


Image from CartoonStock

Penny Pincher - Someone who spend little money, who is exceedingly careful with expenses and money. (such as Ebenezer Scrooge)
Image from coverbrower



Tightwad - A cheapskate, or someone who is stingy. "Wad" means a number of especially flat and/or small objects pressed tightly together, say cash notes.
Image from TruthWorks



Bean Counter - A financial person who is concerned with quantity of products, such as bookkeeping or accounting, often neglecting other matters.



Number Cruncher - A person who performs numerous calculations.


Image from Instructify



Money Bags - A rich, often extravagant person.
Image from Like a Whisper



Loan Shark - Someone who lends money with excessive rates of interest.
Interest costs an arm and a leg.



Robber Baron - Someone who becomes wealthy by unethical means, such as questionable stock-market operations and labor.


Image from DakotaVoice



C.F.O. - Chief Financial Officer. The corporate executive having financial authority to make appropriations and authorize expenditures for a firm

Image from prophix

Monday, 7 June 2010

News Article: The Ugly Side of Beauty Parlour

As a man, I honestly don't mind seeing more pretty ladies on the street. As the lady herself, I suppose being more beautiful gives her more confidence. Sound like a win-win, the end result is that Hong Kong will become a prettier place to live.
Botox Injection

Then what is the problem when there isn't a problem?

I still remember my dearest friend John's concern he told me many years ago. He said that he wanted to marry a girl who is extremely beautiful, because only a pretty girl carries a "pretty gene" and thus the offspring of him and his beautiful wife will surely be gorgeous.

Charles Darwin
Image from Jacob's Weblog

Reminds me of Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory on natural selection and sexual selection. Anyway, I suppose my friend John will have big trouble now since the lovely ladies he sees might not carry any "pretty gene" and Charles Darwin must be really impressed with how modern ladies play their own role of God.

Charles Darwin's illustration of sexual selection.
Image from Wikipedia

But if you remember Newton's Third Law of motion, the action-reaction law,

Skaters forces on each other are equal in magnitude, and in opposite directions
Image from Wikipedia

"To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction: or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions."

So maybe,
"To every surgical action done on the face to improve the look there is always an equivalent amount of action done on your cash in the opposite direction."

But is that all?

Please read the article below from the Standard:


The ugly side of beauty parlors


Patsy Moy
Monday, June 07, 2010



Plastic surgeons have expressed alarm over a sharp increase in complaints against beauty parlors.

The biggest rise in complaints involved injections of beauty serum and chemicals, such as botox and skin-whitening serum, according to the Hong Kong Surgical Laser Association.

The Consumer Council has received 48 complaints against parlors in the first four months of this year, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the 124 recorded last year and in 2008.

Until the end of April, 11 complaints were about injection of beauty serum and chemicals such as botox, placenta and skin whitening, compared to 16 complaints last year and 15 in 2008.


Hong Kong Association of Cosmetic Surgery president Walter King Wing-keung attributed the rise in complaints to the growing use of syringe treatment in beauty parlors, which gives consumers the wrong impression that it is safer than plastic surgery.

King warned most parlors are run by non-doctors who do not have enough medical knowledge to conduct risk assessment. Some customers ended up suffering from severe allergies and rashes after injections, he added.
However, the parlors fail to provide follow-up treatment.

Surgical Laser Association president Chan Wai-man also blamed the parlors for ignoring health risks by organizing tours for customers to receive plastic surgery in Japan and South Korea.

Chan warned against the use of laser treatment in beauty parlors particularly. He said the equipment requires highly competent technical staff to operate it or both customers and equipment operators could be put at risk.

Chan said there were complaints from customers and even repair workers that their eyes were burned accidentally by the laser equipment, causing permanent injuries.

He called for tighter government controls and advised customers to be more cautious before receiving beauty treatment.

Instead of seeking treatments from beauty parlors, customers should go to doctors for better and safer services, Chan added.




Do you remember the Online English Manga website I have recommended? There you might just find the truth for obtaining non-gifted beauty:

Image from Bokutachi No Blog

From FullMetal Alchemist,
"Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth"

Of course, now we know that something of equal value must be lost can be more than just money. So, are you willing to pay?


BOTOX (from Wikipedia)
Botulinum toxin is a medication and a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and is known to be very toxic with an LD50 of roughly 0.005–0.05 Âµg/kg making it the most toxic substance known to man. Despite its deadly toxic effect, it is sometimes used in very small doses to treat muscle spasms. Popularly known by one of its trade names, Botox, botulinum toxin is now commonly used in various settings for cosmetic procedures

Side effects:
muscle paralysis: drooping eyelid, double vision, uneven smile or loss of the ability to close eyes, headaches, dysphagia, flu-like syndromes, and allergic reactions.


Vocabulary:
beauty parlour /salon/shop -- (n)[C] a place where your hair, face and body can be given special treatments to improve their appearance
serum -- (n)[C or U](plural serums or sera) a substance in beauty products that is designed to improve your hair or skin and make it less dry
placenta -- (n)[C] (plural placentas or placentae) the temporary organ which feeds a foetus (= developing baby) inside its mother's womb
attribute sth to sb/sth -- (phrasal verb) to say or think that something is the result or work of something or someone else
syringe -- (n)[C] a hollow cylindrical piece of equipment which is used for sucking liquid out of, or pushing liquid into something, especially one with a needle which can be put under the skin and used to inject drugs, remove small amounts of blood, etc.
allergy -- (n)[C] a condition that makes a person become ill or develop skin or breathing problems because they have eaten certain foods or been near certain substances


Resources:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=99094&sid=28496026&con_type=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception_of_Darwin's_theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_laws_of_motion
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/05/comics-online-english-manga-free-2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botox#Side_effects

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/beauty-salon-parlour
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/serum
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/placenta
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/attribute-sth-to-sb-sth#attribute-sth-to-sb-sth__2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/syringe_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/allergy#allergy__3