Moved to Malaysia

I moved to Malaysia as my father has relocated here. I am going to study at an international school called Rafflesia. I have already passed PSLE in Singapore.  Then I took an entrance test at the new school and has been accepted to attend Secondary 2. Here is the schools website:http://welcome.rafflesia.edu.my/. I am excited to study the Cambridge Secondary subjects because the syllabus is different from the one in Singapore.

Neutron stars

An artists depiction of a neutron star

Neutron Stars are the left-overs of stars that have died in supernovae. They are the smallest and densest stars ever found. They are very rare and very small. However, they are extremely interesting.

A supernova happens at the end of a giant star's life when they are unable to stop the heavy core of the star from collapsing under the gravity that it produces. This causes a huge implosion, which is the opposite of an explosion, often burning brighter than an entire galaxy. When all the materials from the outer shell is ejected, a lone neutron star, about the size of a city, shines dimly.

The inner structure of a neutron star.
The inner core's structure is unknown

This neutron star, approximately 140000 times smaller than the Sun, weighs up to 3 times as heavy as the Sun! A single teaspoon of neutron star weighs as much as a mountain. Thus, the strong gravitational forces and magnetic fields of the neutron star will destroy any object that comes too close to it.


In conclusion neutron stars are very strange and dangerous. However I am fascinated by them.


Credits for an artists depiction of a neutron star:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANeutron_star_cross_section.svg
By Robert Schulze (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Credits for the inner structure of a neutron star: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANeutron_star_illustrated.jpg
By Casey Reed - Penn State University (Casey Reed - Penn State University) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Vidoe Game Review : OpenTTD

OpenTTD

This is a COMPLETELY FREE (!) free and open source game based on

 Chris Sawyer's 1995 game Transport Tycoon and Transport Tycoon Deluxe. You use buses, trucks, trains, planes and ships to transport passengers and goods over a 32 bit landscape with towns, cities, factories and farms.

You start (by default) in the beginning of 1950 and then you build a transport empire until...forever. You can set AI opponents to compete with. There are random disasters that happen and they can damage your transportation empire. There are new vehicles every few years. There are different landscapes that you can play like sub-artic and Toyland (OH GOSH MY EYES! :o) but they only slightly change the mechanics.

Lastly since there are a lot of mods like one that puts you on the fictional third moon of Pluto called Nix (but that one's not completed yet) and some that enhances AI.

Conclusion: The game is very hard if you don't understand how it works but I still like as you can watch you empire slowly but surely grow. Go to the OpenTTD Wiki to see all the vehicles. I give it a 8 out of 10.

P6 PSLE Exams

This year I turned 12 years old and I had to go to the final year of primary school in Singapore. I was unable to write too many blog posts due to PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination). But, I am now able to create some posts as the PSLE exam is over. Expect one this week.

Spirulina

 During my visit to Myanmar over the holidays. I visited the Twin Taung crater near my home-town of Monywa. This is one of only three places in the world where a type of cyanobacterium (Google that yourself) called spirulina (to be more specific it is Arthrospira plattensis) is harvested and then exported to countries all around the world.

Notice on the map that there are four craters and they are in a straight line. I think that a meteorite came and hit the crater I have been to and then formed the others. The craters then formed lakes due to perhaps rainfall.

Twin Taung

Spirulina is used in health and beauty products. It was first eaten by Aztecs who harvested it from Lake Texcoco then made it into cakes and sold them as described by Cortés's soldiers. It is also found in Lake Chad in Chad.

There are a lot of cattails around the lake and pagodas. It is 200m above ground level. The road leading to it is very bumpy and bullock carts are a common sight. There is a spirulina production factory there.

Conclusion: The view was phenomenal and although it smelled very fishy it was very cool as supposed to the freezing temperatures outside this crater.

Update: The amount of spirulina is decreasing and probably going to run out soon. 15/10/2014

Blue sky? Not!

The sky

The sky is not blue!
It's just light playing tricks on you!
(I knew I was never a good poet)






Sunset

A prism

The sun produces white light, but if you use a prism then the "white" light splits up into the colours of the rainbow. Blue light waves are shorter then red ones so they scatter more easily than other colours so the sky is blue. But, during sunset the sky is red in colour. Why is that so? Well, red has the longest waves so they are the hardest to scatter. During, sunset light has to go through more gas particles in the atmosphere so every colour except red gets scattered so the sky looks red.

Oh and in case you are wondering why the sky is not violet, the shortest wave length, it is because some of it is absorbed by the atmosphere and our eyes are not that sensitive to it. Clouds are white because they consists of particles larger than the wavelengths so all of the colours are scattered equally.

The structure of a type of terpene called Myrcene

Blue haze

                                    Mountainous regions sometimes have a
blue haze. This is because of terpene, which is a class organic materials from insects and plants, particularly conifers which is commonly found on mountains. These terpene chemicals react with the ozone layer and form particles around 200 Nano-metres across so they scatter blue light like the sky.




A blue moon

 Also there is the rare blue moon caused by forest fires or volcano eruptions on Earth. These events cause particles no more than 800 Nano-metres in diameter to spread out. These particles scatter out red light, so the only colour left is blue and that what makes a blue moon.





Conclusion: Because the science behind the topic is fascinating, I give it a 10/10!

Photo Credits:

The Sky: By Mohammed Tawsif Salam (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAppearance_of_sky_for_weather_forecast%2C_Dhaka%2C_Bangladesh.JPG

Sunset: By Alvesgaspar (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASunset_2007-1.jpg

A prism: By Spigget (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADispersive_Prism_Illustration_by_Spigget.jpg

Blue haze: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peasap/2152975621/lightbox/

The structure of a type of terpene called Myrcene: By Ben Mills and Jynto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMyrcene-3D-balls.png

A blue moon: http://spacefellowship.com/news/art17463/blue-moon-on-new-year-s-eve.html

Video Game Review: Spore

Spore is a game where one can create their own creature and control it through the five stages of life in this game. It is quite old now. The storyline is that a meteorite crashes into the planet that you have selected and one of the fragments sinks into the sea. There your cell hatches and the game begins. This game does not have an ending. However, the main objectives of the entire game is to survive, get to the centre of the universe that you live in and defeat the Grox (you can also make friends with them but all the other species will instantly declare war on you and attack you).

A cell

The first stage is the cell stage where you have to eat plants or meat to survive and level up. You also collect cell parts either by finding meteorites or killing cells with cell parts that you do not have. You put these new parts on by accessing the creature creator. This stage is relatively easy.

A creature

 After that stage comes the Creature stage. Here you develop legs (though it is not necessary) and you do the same as the previous stage in the sense that you keep collecting new parts for your creature, eating and killing animals. However unlike the previous stage you can befriend animals and that will also get you new parts. If you attack an egg or a baby belonging to another animals nest then they will instantly attack you and hate you. There is a chance of your family migrating to another nest. The creature creator then lets you put parts on and weapons on like the previous stage. However, now you can modify your creature in 3D. This mode is a little bit trickier as some animals are hard to kill and they will attack you even if you do not provoke them. There are a more variety of animals such as epics that are huge creatures that can kill you in one attack and rogues who very easily provoked but if made friendly there are a useful friend when you want to kill an epic.

A tribe

Then after that comes the tribal stage where you hunt animals and use weapons to destroy of befriend other tribes. There is a new method of playing which is a more strategy-esc method. You can kill or befriend other tribes. There are still epics although they are easier to kill with a more advanced tribe. Once in this mode you cannot change the appearance of you creature but, your tribes-men can use the aggressive or social parts that you fitted on in the creature stage like spit for example and you can change the clothing of your tribes-man. You can also fit weapons like axes and instruments like maracas to help destroy or impress other tribes. Another feature is domestication where an animal becomes your pet which will protect you from attackers and give you food. Also you can use your special abilities to help yourself. Different ones can be obtained by consequence which depends on your actions before each stage.



A city

After that comes the civilisation stage in this stage you have to conquer the whole world competing against different cities. All other cities are your species. The best thing about this stage is that you can create you own vehicles on land, in the ocean and in the air. Land-based vehicles can only go on land (surprise, surprise!) They are useful for taking over the continent which you start in. The sea-based vehicles can help you capture oil derricks in the sea. Air-based vehicles can travel anywhere but they cannot capture oil derricks. Oil derricks boost your income. You control cities and you can put houses (which increases the amount of vehicles you can have and doubles the effects of the other buildings), factories (which increases income but lowers happiness) and entertainment buildings (which increase happiness). This mode is quite easy

Grox

And finally we have the space stage! You have to build an empire by placing colonies on planets. This stage does not end. You have a space ship that has a lot of tools such lasers and machines that makes creatures epics. You can buy more tools from empires but their costs vary depending on the type of empire. You can make friends with empires and eventually buy their solar systems or you can take over the planet and make them surrender. When you travel to the centre of the galaxy you will find the Grox who like the epics will attack you upon sight. Eventually you will reach the centre of the universe and find a mysterious being.

Conclusion: Spore is a great game and it has a lot of content. So much that I have only covered about 20% of the whole game! If you want to find out more then go to the Spore wiki. I give this game a 10/10.