Science & TV: Fun Facts About Christmas We All Should Know -- Virgin Birth!

Is this true? Let's see!
Image from buzzdixon

Hello! Everyone! It's Christmas again! Remember that in 2009, I wrote Vocabulary: Christmas Stuff and in 2011, I wrote Vocabulary: Christmas Words To Learn and  taught you guys some words related to Christmas? If you don't, do feel free to check out the post. It has some excellent Mr. Bean videos there!

Today, I want to share some fun facts about Christmas!

First, let's check out this video.

What about it? In the movie, the female dinosaurs were able to breed without a male dinosaur. So what's special about turkey? Well, female turkeys can give birth to babies without the fertilisation of a male counterpart! It's called parthenogenesis or commonly known as "virgin birth".

Although the chances is not very high, 19% according to the video and few will actually hatch, it is one miracle of nature!!

"Life Finds A Way" -- Dr. Malcolm @ Jurassic Park

In fact, virgin birth does not only happen in turkey, it occurs in honeybees, flatworms, snails, sharks and gecko.

What about humans? Can humans reproduce through parthenogenesis? Wanna ask Dr. House about it? He did talk about it in this Season 5 Episode 11.

Dr. House said "no", but what does science say?

Well, there you have it! Virgin birth has never been proven to occur in humans but it is scientifically plausible though extremely rare.

So, don't even think about faking anyone this Christmas with "virgin birth"!

Have a happy Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas!


Vocabulary:
virgin birth -- (n) see parthenogenesis
parthenogenesis -- (n) [U] a form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization.




Resources:

Jurassic Park @ IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/

Top 5 Favorite Turkey Facts @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCPQ208K9Gw

Life finds a Way - Jeff Goldblum - Jurassic Park (1993) movie scene @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkWeMvrNiOM

Does Virgin Birth Exist? @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/ql2HPVSAiog

Pathenogenisis @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathenogenisis

House MD Season 5 Episode 11 Joy To The World.avi @ NowVideo
http://www.nowvideo.sx/video/bqucnxbrhj0wi

Vocabulary: Christmas Stuff @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2009/12/vocabulary-christmas-stuff.html

Vocabulary: Christmas Words To Learn @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/12/vocabulary-christmas-words-to-learn.html

Food & Animal: Hasma & Common House Gecko @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/04/food-animal-hasma-common-house-gecko.html

Message: Why Still No Post This Week?

Do you hunchback?
Image from gawkerassets

Hi everyone, sorry for not writing anything till now. Several things happened this week. First thing, I was having too much fun acting as a human swing for my baby girl and/or maybe I was too exhausted being woken up 3 times in the middle of the night, my bottom of my neck "cracked" loudly last Wednesday when I sneezed and then from my neck down to the left hand fingers, there was only severe pain. I had to call the chiropractor whom I have recommended on this blog before. Checking the past records of my neck injuries, it appeared that I basically visited him every year. However, the chiropractor's business has improved so much that he said he wouldn't have a single slot for me until 2015! Thus, I had no choice but to visit another Chinese physician and lucky that now I have my left arm and neck working fine again.

The morale of this story, when you sneeze, be careful!

Image from chartclinic.co.uk

Nah! The real morale of the story is we should all pay more attention to our sitting as well as our 'smartphoning' posture.

Image from phdcomics

Second thing, after months of waiting, I finally received an interview invitation for the PhD program I have applied. It was Monday and the interview was on Thursday, so I devoted all possible time for revision and preparation. I was lucky enough to have done well, but before the result comes back, I try not to get ahead of myself.

Hotel buffet
Image from Openrice

Third thing, my baby girl was officially a month old on the 18th, and so we are planning for some sort of celebration. Checking the price of hotel buffets, it appears that it is more expensive to book the entire venue than booking all seats individually. Doesn't quite make sense to me. Since the food and drinks are the same and there isn't anything added to the services. I don't really need the stage for any special show, I don't even need the microphone, so I don't know what the hotels base on to charge me more. Maybe this is an unspoken rule in the industry?


Vocabulary:
'smartphoning' -- (n)[U] The action of using smartphones
posture -- (n)[C or U] the way in which someone usually holds their shoulders, neck, and back, or a particular position in which someone stands, sits, etc.:
get ahead of myself -- (idiom) To focus excessively on one's plans or on prospective future events without paying adequate attention to the present.
unspoken rule -- (n)[C] unspoken rules are behavioral constraints imposed in organizations or societies that are not voiced or written down. They usually exist in unspoken and unwritten format because they form a part of the logical argument or course of action implied by tacit assumptions.


Resources:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get_ahead_of_oneself
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/posture_1?q=postures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unspoken_rule

Culture & Usage: "Lufsig", False Friends & Bad Words

Lufsig -- a must-buy in Hong Kong
Image from IKEA

"What should we do this Christmas?" 
"Let's throw something!"
"Throw a party?"
"No, throw Lufsig!"

If you are not aware of the recent news from Hong Kong, or you are not into Hong Kong cultures, you probably won't get the above conversation, but in fact, it is packed with dark humour and politics.

Lufsig on its way to attack CY Leung
Image from Mingpao

Lufsig, an IKEA plush toy from the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, has become a recent phenomenon in Hong Kong. Ever since the unknown toy was thrown at the much criticised 'Wolfman' Chief Executive of Hong Kong CY Leung, the toy sparked an immediate craze in the city. Overnight, 'Lufsig has been sold out at all Ikea stores.' Netizens who wish to purchase the popular toy have to place bid on Yahoo! Auction at almost quadruple of the original HK$58.

Image from Yahoo! Auction

There are several reasons to this,

1. Chief Executive CY Leung, commonly known as 'Wolfman' for his cunningness and absence of integrity, fits perfectly with Lufsig's character -- "fond of play and mischief".
2. Lufsig's China website translate the name into Cantonese "Lo Mo Sai", which resembles the profanity "mother's cxxt".
3. Adding to the profanity, "Throwing" or "Hanging" "Lo Mo Sai" resembles "fxxk mother's cxxt".
4. The plush toy comes with an old granny toy which can be "eaten" by Lufsig and "rescued" from its tummy. Either way, she's someone's mother.
5. There are just too much unhappiness and pressure among the Hong Kongers towards the government, especially without the right to choose their leader and continual suppression in freedom of speech. Lufsig offers a marvelous mean for stress relief and voice out.

"Lo Mo Sai" -- Lufsig on IKEA China on 11th Dec 2013
Image from IKEA China

The Lufsig phenomenon has led to an explosion of creativity. Not only does Lufsig have a Facebook account, there are also Lufsig throwing competition, Lufsig monster cards, Lufsig posters, selfies with Lufsig, and many more in progress. As BBC reports, "Ikea toy wolf becomes Hong Kong protest symbol".

"Lo Fuk Sai" -- Lufsig on IKEA China on 12th Dec 2013
Image from IKEA China

A spokesman from the IKEA headquarters in Sweden later said, "Our intention is that product names should not reflect politics or religion" and so they have given a new Chinese name to Lufsig -- "Lo Fuk Sai", which worsen to "Aggressively Fxxk (Someone's) Cxxt".

Nice job IKEA!!!

False friends in a Dutch advertisement actually meaning "Mama, that one, that one, that one ..." "Please.", In English this could easily sound as though the child is telling her mother to die, although the word is not pronounced the same way in the two languages.
Caption from Wikipedia, image from thingamababy

False friends as funny as Lo Mo Sai isn't solely a Cantonese thing. In the above Dutch advertisement, "Mama, die, die, die...""Alsjeblieft", actually means "Mama, that one, that one, that one...""Please" in English, but which English speaker will realise the Dutch meaning when the kid in the ad looks like she wanted to kill someone?

Asking around the Hong-Kongers and you'll find out that one of the most classic false friend examples happens in Thai-Cantonese homonyms. A video on the internet shows martial art master Tony Jaa teaching Thai to two Hong Kong artists, pronouncing

• Colour (English) = See (Thai) = Shit (Cantonese)
• White (English) = See-Kou (Thai) = Lion's Ball (Cantonese)
• Pinkish Blue (English) = See-Fa (Thai) = Ass (Cantonese) / 
• Green (English) = See-Keau (Thai) = Shitty Idea (Cantonese) 
• Brown (English) = See-Nam-Dang (Thai) = Whatso-fxxking-ever (Cantonese)
• Black (English) = See-Dom (Thai) = ????
• Rainbow Colours (English) = Lei-Lai-See (Thai) = You shit (your pants) involuntarily / You have fecal incontinence!!

False friends exists in all languages, wanna learn some false friends in German? Try BBC German!

You might have realised that the more foul false friends are, the more intriguing it gets. That's because humans naturally need foul language. Michael of Vsauce has a rather detailed video about bad words.

So bad words / foul languages are not as simply as they seem.

Their history and evolution has much to do with the class differences. The higher class used elegant words, the lower class used less classy words which some eventually turned into bad words we use today.

And why do we like bad words? Because we can use them as a mean of lalochezia. Lufsg as anti-government symbol? Now you know why.

Enjoy researching!



Vocabulary:
dark humour -- (n)[U] Humor that is viewed as dark, morbid, cruel, offensive to some, and or graphic in nature and is yet, still found funny.
fecal incontinence -- (n)[U] Fecal incontinence (FI), also called faecal incontinence, bowel incontinence or anal incontinence, is a lack of control over defecation, leading to involuntary loss of bowel contents—including flatus, liquid stool elements and mucus, or solid feces.
lalochezia -- (n) [U] (rare) The use of vulgar or foul language to relieve stress or pain.


Resources:

Lufsig @ Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Lufsig?ref=nf

Lufsig @ IKEA China
http://www.ikea.com/cn/zh/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/children/

Ikeagosedjur i Hongkong-protester @ GP
http://www.gp.se/ekonomi/1.2205428-ikeagosedjur-i-hongkong-protester

IKEA Toy Wolf Becomes Unlikely Anti-Government Symbol In Hong Kong | Yuen Chan @ Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yuen-chan/lufsig-hong-kong_b_4414080.html

Toy wolf with a rude name becomes a must-have for Hong Kong protesters @ South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1377007/toy-wolf-rude-name-becomes-must-have-hong-kong-protesters

Cuddly wolf sinks teeth into Leung @ The Standard
http://thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=140470&sid=41100584&con_type=1

Vocabulary: Jargons With A Hong Kong Flavour @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/07/vocabulary-jargons-with-hong-kong.html

Ikea toy wolf becomes Hong Kong protest symbol @ BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-25314580

Ikea toy wolf Lufsig gets new name after its claim to fame @ SCMP
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1378290/ikea-toy-wolf-lufsig-gets-new-name-after-its-claim-fame

False Friends @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friends

What's so funny about German? -- False Friends @ BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/comedy/false_friends.shtml

Tony Jaa 教泰文(森美、吳君如主持)，笑到你lai屎。 @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/3RQ07P4qbGA

Kari Byron No Pain No Gain H O T @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/etl3frIvLEY

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dark%20humor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_incontinence
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lalochezia

Slang: 'Selfie' or 'Unselfie'? 'Fularious', 'Interesting' or 'Meh'?

It's true! That's Pope Francis' selfie.
Image from Telegraph

I have always said, we don't need Oxford or Cambridge when it comes to slang. However, they always get to the news when they do add an internet word into their dictionary, even if it is just the online version they are adding... like the netizens don't already know them.

Last month, Oxford Dictionary made "selfie" the word of the year, beating 'twerk' and other increasing popular words such as 'showrooming', 'binge watch', 'bitcoin' and 'schmeat'.

For those of you who are still unfamiliar with the above words,

selfie -- (n)[C] once known as a self-portrait taken with a smartphone
twerk -- (vb)[I or T] once known as to perform a butt dance or booty dance, a word supposedly first seen in 1889 and peaked in 1975.

showrooming -- (n)[U] The act of going to retail stores like Best Buy and Walmart to check out certain products and then once satisfied with the look and feel, purchasing the item online on Amazon or other retailers.
binge watch -- (vb)[T] once known as TV series watching marathon, modified from binge eat.
bitcoin -- (n)[C or U] an open source peer-to-peer payment network and digital currency introduced in 2009 by pseudonymous developer "Satoshi Nakamoto".
schmeat -- (n)[U] the synthetic meat grown from a soup of antibiotics and foetal bovine serum.

A slab of schmeat
Image from The Guardian

For those of you who have already heard of these terms, how about learning some I have come across when reading online articles?

Image from mashable

You know I like Tesla Model S very much, and as I was reading an excellent article about the company, I found a cute little one,

"Tesla isn't just a car, or even a brand in the sense that nearly every other for-profit company is a brand ... It's actually the ultimate mission -- the mother of all missions -- and that is, to wean our planet off its addiction to fossil fuels, helping to create a long-term sustainable society; one that our grandchildren can enjoy and be proud of.

No automaker that chooses to concurrently produce internal combustion engine vehicles, can ever be authenticated as having a 'mission' that is as purposeful and meaningful as Tesla's is. This mission -- in combination with a brilliant product -- is the reason everyone wants to own a Teslaand the reason everyone wants to work for Tesla. It is creating an unfathomably powerful brand that makes us say "meh" to BMWs, Aston Martins and even Ferraris. We subliminally ask owners of these vehicles: "what good are you doing for the world?", and then smugly laugh to ourselves, because a 10 year old company is making cleaner, more high-tech, and better performing cars than companies that have had generations to perfect their products."

So what is meh?

meh -- (exclamation) indifference; to be used when one simply does not care.

I guess I will use this really often from now on. It's short and sweet! It's 'fularious' or not?

fularious -- (adj) 

Image from Urbandictionary

Do you know what is "unselfie"?
Image from PetaPixel

Can't let selfie steal the show, right?

unselfie -- (n)[C] a self-portrait which doesn't show your entire face.

Do you think this is 'interesting'?

interesting -- (adj)

Image from Urbandictionary

Slang from Internet is and will continue to play a key role in the expansion of all languages, particularly English and Chinese, due to massive number of users globally. Keep reading and you will learn what tuhao means!

Wanna create your own slang? Yes, you can! I did! Maybe very soon you will see 'typhooliday' on Urbandictonary just like millions of others!

Want to understand how the modern English language has evolved? You are recommended to take a look at this article too! Urban Dictionary, Wordnik track evolution of language as words change, emerge @ Poynter.

Resources:
Selfie the 'Word of the Year' and on course for the Oxford English Dictionary @ Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10457525/Selfie-the-Word-of-the-Year-and-on-course-for-the-Oxford-English-Dictionary.html

Cameron Diaz shaking her ass booty dance @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9UqVxZ6b0M

Instagrammers Boosting Aid for Typhoon Victims With 'Unselfies' @ PetaPixel
http://petapixel.com/2013/11/18/instagrammers-boost-aid-typhoon-victims-unselfies/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=selfie
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=twerk
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=twerk&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ctwerk%3B%2Cc0
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=showrooming

Medical Vocabulary: Medical Words from House M.D.@ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/07/medical-vocabulary-medical-words-from.html

Bitcoin @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

Schmeat: a tasty-sounding word, but what does it mean? | Books @ The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/books/shortcuts/2013/nov/19/schmeat-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-synthetic-meat-sheet

Tesla Brand Is Crown Jewel To Big Automakers @ Seeking Alpha
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1885311-tesla-brand-is-crown-jewel-to-big-automakers?source=yahoo

Meh @ Urbandictionary
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meh

We Said "meh" @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCcZqcPOlNM

Urban Dictionary: Six Million Words You Won’t Find in Webster’s @ Information Today
http://www.infotoday.com/LinkUp/Urban-Dictionary-Six-Million-Words-You-Wont-Find-in-Websters-76779.shtml

Man Buys $103K Tesla Model S With Bitcoin @ Mashable
http://mashable.com/2013/12/09/tesla-bitcoin/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fularious
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=interesting

Urban Dictionary: 12 Surprisingly Useful, Unknown Words @ HEAVY
http://www.heavy.com/entertainment/2013/02/12-surprisingly-useful-unknown-words-from-urban-dictionary/

Urban Dictionary, Wordnik track evolution of language as words change, emerge @ Poynter.
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/158438/urban-dictionary-wordnik-redefine-meaning-of-meaning/

Culture: "Typhoo-lidays", Britons and Weather @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/06/culture-typhoo-lidays-britons-and.html
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=typhooliday

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 5 @ Wine and Deli by m.a.x. concepts

Image from Locky's English Playground

Wine and Deli by m.a.x. concepts at Cityplaza has been around for quite some time, but it was really my first visit last week. Located right besides the ice-skating rink, the cafe had an entrance that resembles a Paris cafe on the road side. 

Green-looking cafe
Image from Locky's English Playground

Or, to be more precise, the entrance is like the junction of a pedestrian walk which leads you to even more eateries, when in fact, it is one restaurant as a whole.

Lighting is fantastic!
Image from Locky's English Playground

A restaurant that is semi-food court-like, where diners queue up to buy their food and then collect a number stand to wait for your food to be delivered to your table.

Frozen Yoghurt counter
Image from Locky's English Playground

As a restaurant, no surprise to see that they sell froyo there,

Hong Kong-style tea sets
Image from Locky's English Playground

What is surprising is that the restaurant actually offers food of a Cha Chaan Teng -- a Hong Kong local cafe.

Curry Beef Rice
Image from Locky's English Playground

A glance through the menu on the wall unveiled several curry dishes. As always, a chance as such cannot be forgone, so I ordered the classic curry beef rice, which cost HK$56.

Image from Locky's English Playground

The look was actually quite average, but the lightning made it looked way better than it deserved, so I give 4 star for the clever use of lighting.

The taste was really quite good. The temperature was at its optimal making the curry taste sweet and rich enough while keeping the spicy tone at a touch-and-go level. The beef portion was "really generous" at first glance but consisting the price paid I had to downgrade it to "reasonable". Marinating was slightly over for my taste causing a minute loss of beefiness, still, it is way better than all so many Cha Chaan Teng around.

Smell-wise, it was barely noticeable at nose tip, with the addition of fried onion bits, it smelled like a Singaporean curry with much less coconut milk. It's not bad, but not as good as I would have expected.

Overall, it is still a decent curry rice with a stomach-fulfilling amount of beef (and potatoes). If you are looking for a high-class Cha Chaan Teng with nice curry, this may be the one for you!


Scores:

Look:            ★★★★☆ 4/5

Taste:            ★★★★☆ 4/5

Smell:            ★★☆☆☆ 3/5

Textures:       ★★★★☆ 4/5

Temperature: ★★★★★ 5/5

Overall:         ★★★★☆ 20/25

Resources:
m.a.x. concepts
http://www.maxconcepts.com.hk/tc/deli_n_wine.asp

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 4 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2013/07/food-search-for-great-curry-part-4.html

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 3 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/04/food-search-for-great-curry-part-3.html

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 2 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/04/food-search-for-great-curry-part-2.html

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 1 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/03/food-search-for-great-curry-part-1.html

Auto & Science: How To Cut Fuel Consumption When Driving?

Volkswagen XL1 has a drag coefficient of 0.189, the lowest in all production cars to date
Image from NewCarShow.com

Before we go into how to cut fuel consumption, I would like to find out,

1. exactly how far can a supercar go with just one gallon of fuel, and 
2. just how much does driving style affect fuel consumption? 

Jeremy Clarkson of Topgear has the demonstration for us.

After watching the whole video, you'll know that driving style does play a key role in fuel consumption. Even a BMW M3 can be more efficient than a Toyota Prius!

But exactly what makes a good driving style? What's more, do other factors also play a part in fuel consumption? We have the answer below!

Here's the summary

1. Shape --> Aerodynamics --> Air resistance --> Drag --> Drag coefficient
2. Weight --> Light material 
3. Less cargo and fewer baggage
4. Tire pressure
5. Slower Drive

The more streamlined the car is, the better the aerodynamics is, which leads to lower air resistance and thus lower drag and drag coefficient. The lighter the car is, the more fuel efficient. Properly inflated tires minimise contact with the ground and thus friction with the road. Finally, the optimal fuel efficient driving speed is 55 mph (88kph).

Drag Coefficient of production cars ranked by Cd
Image from Wikipedia

Talking about aerodynamics and drag coefficient, my dream car the Tesla Model S has a .24 drag coefficient  (see Technology & Opinions: My Tesla Model S Hands-on Review ) -- the lowest of all production cars in 2012 until Mercedes-Benz CLA and Volkswagen came along in 2013.

Tesla Model S has a drag coefficient of 0.24
Image from Autoblog

Just how do auto companies test their drag coefficient? They make use of something called a wind tunnel. Volvo has a nice detail video which shows us how this is done.

Hope you have learnt how to save money on the road and understood after the science behind it. Let's start driving wisely for the weekends!



Resources:

2012 Tesla Model S [w/video] First Drive - Autoblog @ Tesla
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/2012-tesla-model-s-first-drive-review-video/

Automobile Drag Coefficient @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_drag_coefficient#Typical_drag_coefficients

Top Gear : Supercars: The One Gallon Fuel Crisis Race - Top Gear - BBC @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/JmxUsGiGp3w

4 Ways To Cut Gas Costs @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLv_KyZM-ag

Technology & Opinions: My Tesla Model S Hands-on Review  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/10/technology-opinions-my-tesla-model-s.html-

World: Fun Facts We All Should Know -- Part 2 (Viewer Discretion Is Advised) @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/08/world-fun-facts-we-all-should-know-part_29.html

New Volvo Wind Tunnel @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/TtLh2P56LvY