昨晚睇咗一套非常好的紀錄片Chris Tarrant Extreme Railway Journeys Series 2 Crossing the Andes 安地斯山脈.
在影片開頭, Chris 介紹了他要去睇 Nitrates Mine, 在19世紀Nitrates又叫white gold, 非常值錢是用來製造 gun powder 的 guano (海鳥屎含豐富的硝酸鹽).
guano: The word "guano" originates from the Andean indigenous language Quechua, which refers to any form of dung used as an agricultural fertilizer.
就是裡d 海鳥屎引起了War of Pacific,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Pacific
自1883年後, 玻利維亞失去出海口，成為內陸國.
我知道雀屎都有用的時候, 是我睇咗 Nauru: An Island Country Destroyed by Phosphate Mining:
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/06/nauru-island-country-destroyed-by.html
不過, 佢地叫雀屎為phosphate, 唔係guano.
The Toyota Prius is a lemon that environmentally conscious people are prepared to live with in order to minimise pollution. The Prius has an engine power of 73 kW plus a battery bank. To put this into perspective, a family car like the VW Golf R has an engine power of 206 kW
The Toyota Mirai (Japanese for “future) has a hydrogen fuel cell with a power output of 9 kW and the same battery bank as the Prius. So one could say the Mirai is an 8 times greater lemon than the Prius.
9 kW is probably sufficient power to keep the batteries fully charged in a Tokyo traffic jam with more charging time available on red traffic lights than driving time, but don’t take the Mirai for a spin in a hilly country side with a full load of people on board, the batteries will be empty in no time and 9 kW of fuel cell power does not get you over, even the most gentlest of, hill slopes.
It is obvious that the Mirai is just designed as a gimmick for the 2020 Olympics with the driving routes well defined and within the physical limits of the vehicle. I am also sure that Toyota has already space allocated in the local scrapyards to take all the Mirai’s after the closing ceremony of the 2020 Olympics is over.
The web site claims that the Mirai will store 5 kg of hydrogen in two bottles at a pressure of 100 bar. Hydrogen has a density of 0.09 g/l, so 5 kg of the compressed hydrogen would take the space of 5000 g / 0.09 g/l / 100 bar = 555 l. Scaling the fuel tanks size from the picture below, my best estimate is that they will hold a volume of about 100 l, that is about one fifth of what Toyota claims. This maybe ok for the transportations required at the Olympics and who cares how much hydrogen they can hold in the scrapyard.
豐田Prius(油電混合動力車)是一個檸檬(即買了回家, 才知道是爛貨). 只是一些有環保意識的人準備與它一起生活，以減少污染。Prius 發動機的動力加上電池組才擁有73千瓦。 給大家一個相關的比照: 一個家庭的汽車，如福斯高爾夫R擁有206千瓦的發動機功率.
豐田Mirai(日語為“未來"）是用氫燃料電池和Prius相同的電池組, 其輸出功率為9千瓦。因此，可以說 Mirai 比 Prius 是一個8倍更爛的檸檬。
9千瓦大概是足夠的動力來保持電池完全充電,如果你開在交通堵塞的東京, 特別如果加上交通燈常紅的話(道理很易理解吧, 當車不開動的時候, 動力肯定就用去充電的了). 但千萬不要拿 Mirai 載滿人去郊外兜風，該電池肯定好快是空的. 9千瓦的燃料電池動力, 什麼樣也不可能會載你跨越甚至是爬上最不斜的小山坡。
很明顯，Mirai 只是為2020年奧運會設計出來的噱頭. 依據了奧運會範圍內固定的駕駛路線來設計並推它至物理極限。我肯肯定，當2020年奧運會閉幕儀式後, 豐田預留的廢料堆放場空間將用來放置他們的 Mirai。
豐田網站聲稱，Mirai 將存儲5千克氫在兩個瓶子，在100巴的壓力下。氫具有0.09克/公升的密度，所以5公斤壓縮氫氣將需要5000克/ 0.09克/升/ 100 巴 = 555公升的空間。從下面的圖片我依照油箱大小比例去計算了一下, 車上最多只有持有約100公升的容積，即大約五分之一的豐田在網頁中聲稱(555 l)。100公升的容積可能就是為了迎合在奧運會運輸所需吧. 可是又有誰在乎它的氫容積持有多少呢, 反正奧運結束後, Mirai就要堆入廢料場!
No, the Mirai is not the car of the future, neither is any other fuel cell powered car. For some further reading on fuel cell cars see http://edwardwechner-9.blogspot.com.au
不，Mirai 絕對不是汽車的未來，甚至其他任何的燃料電池動力汽車也沒可能是。
有興趣知多一些有關燃料電池汽車, 請至: http://edwardwechner-9.blogspot.com.au
According to Mr. Siu two dimensions is a circle, three dimensions is a ball and four dimensions is a banana. I have never heard of anything more weird and misleading.
We know that space is four dimensional since Einstein came up with the General Theory of Relativity, but we cannot readily visualize the four dimensional space, we see only three dimensions, but we can observe some effects of the fourth dimension by the way light is bending around a massive object like a galaxy and we can measure how time is affected by the proximity of a mass by measuring the time difference between an atomic clock located on the earths surface and an atomic clock located on a satellite in space.
By definition, the fourth dimension of the universe is time, time can be measure in meters due to the constant velocity of light.
The distance of the fourth dimension is c * t, where
c = the speed of light in m/s, &
t = time in s, & m/s * s = m;
so time can be measured in meters like the other three space dimensions that we can readily visualize.
recommendations for further reading:
According to Mr. Siu two dimensions is a circle, three dimensions is a ball and four dimensions is a banana. I have never heard of anything more weird and misleading.
We know that space is four dimensional since Einstein came up with the General Theory of Relativity, but we cannot readily visualize the four dimensional space, we see only three dimensions, but we can observe some effects of the fourth dimension by the way light is bending around a massive object like a galaxy and we can measure how time is affected by the proximity of a mass by measuring the time difference between an atomic clock located on the earths surface and an atomic clock located on a satellite in space.
By definition, the fourth dimension of the universe is time, time can be measure in meters due to the constant velocity of light.
The distance of the fourth dimensions is c * t, where
c = the speed of light in m/s, &
t = time in s, & m/s * s = m;
so time can be measured in meters like the other three space dimensions that we can readily visualize.
recommendations for further reading:
Experiment 1. Misconceptions about falling objects , YouTube channel, Veritasium:
Dr Derek Muller takes to the streets with a 5kg medicine ball (exercise ball or fitness ball) and a 1 kg basketball and poses the question:
when dropped from the same height, which one will hit the ground first? You may know the correct answer, but can you explain why?
According of what Dr. Derek Muller’s explanation: the force on the medicine ball is greater than the force on the basketball, but it has more inertia and what's really important is that the ratio of force to inertia is the same for all objects, so everything accelerates at the same rate and lands at the same time.
Let’s have a look at another experiment from Brian Cox:
Experiment 2. Feathers and bowling ball:
In this experiment, a bowling ball and feathers are dropped in the air of the atmosphere, and then again in a vacuum. The result...might not surprise you since you learned what would happen in secondary school science class.
P.S. : the same experiment was done by Apollo 15 Hammer and Feather Drop (Aug., 1971):
So, why does the basket ball and the medicine ball take the same time to hit the ground? they are in air, not in a vacuum chamber!
How can you explain why the feather and the bowling ball in Brain Cox’s experiment do not arrive at the same time, when the experiment conducted in air?
The force on the bowling ball is greater than the force on the feather, but the bowling ball has more inertia, so that the ratio of force to inertia is the same for all objects, and everything accelerates at the same rate and lands at the same time. But the fact is, in air, the feather falls much slower than the bowling ball due to the air resistance. The air resistance on the feather is much greater than the air resistance on the ball.
What is wrong on the Dr. Derek Muller’s experiment?? It seems everything he said is correct!
Comparing these two videos, we find:
Dr. Muller’s experiment : the medicine ball and the basket ball, their size and shape is exactly the same. Professional Brian Cox’s experiment: the feathers and the bowling ball, their size and shape is different, so they have a different air resistance!
The reason why Dr. Muller is using the same size balls for his experiment is because they have the same air resistance , so he doesn’t need to do the experiment in a vacuum chamber to prove that gravity is a constant at a given place on earth.
Let us use now Newton’s second law to calculate the velocity in the Dr. Derek Muller’s experiment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_of_Earth
F = Force [N] Newtons, m = mass [kg] kilo grams, a = acceleration [m/s2] meter / second2
basket ball :
F = 1kg x 10 m/s2 ( actually, it should be 9.81 metres (32.2 ft) per second every second, for simplicity, we use 10 instead of 9.81)
F = 10 Newtons.
medicine ball :
F = 5kg x 10 m/s2
F = 50 Newtons.
because : a = F / m
basket ball:
a = 10 Newtons / 1kg = 10 kg * m / kg * s2 = 10 m/s2
a = 50 Newtons / 5kg = 50 kg * m / kg * s2 = 10 m/s2
That is the proof that the acceleration of earth is constant ! The gravitational constant. (check this out : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_constant )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Experiment 3: a 15 kg dumbbell and a 25 kg dumbbell :
And now, we are sure that:
A 15 kg dumbbell and a 25kg dumbbell will accelerates at the same rate and lands at the same time, when they are being dropped in a vacuum room.
But how about if we make a dumbbell with 15kg that has exactly the same shape and size as the 25kg dumbbell would it also land at the same time if we drop them in air?
The answer is conditional, if we would manage to keep both dumbbells exactly aligned with each other during the fall then they would have the same air resistance and consequently land at the same time. But if the dumbbells are out of alignment with each other, during the fall, one could have more air resistance than the other and consequently they do not land at the same time.
This does not come into it in the experiments with the balls because the ball shape is homogeneous and thus the air resistance is not affected by the rotational alignment of the balls, the same does not apply to the dumbbells!
Further more, it is worth to mention that the earth acceleration has the dimension [m/s²], it is only a force when we multiply it with a mass [kg], [m/s² * kg = N] N stands for Newton which is a force. So we can talk about all forces of the universe, which are measured in Newton.
We have 4 forces in the Universe:
1. The electro magnetic force
2. The weak nuclear force
3. The strong nuclear force
We know all about these three forces but not all about the fourth force.
4. The gravitational force : we know how big it is ( very very small) and we know all about its behaves, but we do not know what it is, as yet.
But there is some hope that with the discovery of the Higgs Boson (they call it the god particle) we will be able to explain gravity.
What is gravity? :
As you can see, most of the people will answer that it is a downward force that stops you from flying away from the earth. Or a force that pulls all matter together. The more matter, the greater the gravitational attracting force, so the things that have a lot of matter such as planets and moons and stars have a lot of attraction force.
We all learned these answers in the secondary school, so we just need to remember it!
But fact is that even science still cannot explain what the gravitational force is!
They know how it behaves and they know how big it is, but they still don’t know what it is!
We know that every massive object falls to the ground and we know this is because of gravity.
But back in time of Aristotle the scientific opinion was that the speed at which an objects falls was directly related to their relative weights. Thus, a heavy object would fall faster than a lighter object. After all, pick up a feather and a rock and drop the two of them, and Aristotle’s view will be prove,
the rock will indeed fall faster than feather.
As mentioned before, the gravitational force pulls all forces together. In the examples of dropping balls, feathers and dumbbells onto the ground we have ignored the movement of the earth. But since the mass of the earth is so massive as compared with our dropping items used in the experiments, we can ignore the earths movement, it is immeasurable small. Nevertheless if the falling objects getting larger, like the size of the moon for example then the movement of the earth is detectable which is shown in the following video.
.
If an object with comparable mass to that of the Earth were to fall towards it, then the corresponding acceleration of the Earth would be observable.
Experiment 1. Misconceptions about falling objects , YouTube channel,
Veritasium:
Dr Derek Muller takes to the streets with a 5kg medicine ball (exercise ball
or fitness ball) and a 1 kg basketball and poses the question:
when dropped from the same height, which one will hit the ground first? You
may know the correct answer, but can you explain why?
According of what Dr. Derek Muller’s explanation: the force on the medicine
ball is greater than the force on the basketball, but it has more inertia and
what's really important is that the ratio of force to inertia is the same for
all objects, so everything accelerates at the same rate and lands at the same
time.
Let’s have a look at another experiment from Brian Cox:
Experiment 2. Feathers and bowling ball:
In this experiment, a bowling ball and feathers are dropped in the air of the
atmosphere, and then again in a vacuum. The result...might not surprise you
since you learned what would happen in secondary school science class.
P.S. : the same experiment was done by Apollo 15 Hammer and Feather Drop
(Aug., 1971):
So, why does the basket ball and the medicine ball take the same time to hit
the ground? they are in air, not in a vacuum chamber!
How can you explain why the feather and the bowling ball in Brain Cox’s
experiment do not arrive at the same time, when the experiment conducted in
air?
The force on the bowling ball is greater than the force on the feather, but
the bowling ball has more inertia, so that the ratio of force to inertia is the
same for all objects, and everything accelerates at the same rate and lands at
the same time. But the fact is, in air, the feather falls much slower than the
bowling ball due to the air resistance. The air resistance on the feather is
much greater than the air resistance on the ball.
What is wrong on the Dr. Derek Muller’s experiment?? It seems everything he
said is correct!
Comparing these two videos, we find:
Dr. Muller’s experiment : the medicine ball and the basket ball, their size
and shape is exactly the same. Professional Brian Cox’s experiment: the
feathers and the bowling ball, their size and shape is different, so they have a
different air resistance!
The reason why Dr. Muller is using the same size balls for his experiment is
because they have the same air resistance , so he doesn’t need to do the
experiment in a vacuum chamber to prove that gravity is a constant at a given
place on earth.
Let us use now Newton’s second law to calculate the velocity in the Dr. Derek
Muller’s experiment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_of_Earth
F = Force [N] Newtons, m = mass [kg] kilo grams, a = acceleration
[m/s2] meter / second2
basket ball :
F = 1kg x 10 m/s2 ( actually, it should be 9.81 metres (32.2
ft) per second every second, for simplicity, we use 10 instead of 9.81)
F = 10 Newtons.
medicine ball :
F = 5kg x 10 m/s2
F = 50 Newtons.
because : a = F / m
basket ball:
a = 10 Newtons / 1kg = 10 kg * m / kg * s2 = 10
m/s2
a = 50 Newtons / 5kg = 50 kg * m / kg * s2 = 10
m/s2
That is the proof that the acceleration of earth is constant ! The
gravitational constant. (check this out : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_constant
)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Experiment 3: a 15 kg dumbbell and a 25 kg dumbbell :
And now, we are sure that:
A 15 kg dumbbell and a 25kg dumbbell will accelerates at the same rate and
lands at the same time, when they are being dropped in a vacuum room.
But how about if we make a dumbbell with 15kg that has exactly the same
shape and size as the 25kg dumbbell would it also land at the same time if we
drop them in air?
The answer is conditional, if we would manage to keep both dumbbells exactly
aligned with each other during the fall then they would have the same air
resistance and consequently land at the same time. But if the dumbbells are out
of alignment with each other, during the fall, one could have more air
resistance than the other and consequently they do not land at the same
time.
This does not come into it in the experiments with the balls because the ball
shape is homogeneous and thus the air resistance is not affected by the
rotational alignment of the balls, the same does not apply to the dumbbells!
Further more, it is worth to mention that the earth
acceleration has the dimension [m/s²], it is only a force when we multiply it
with a mass [kg], [m/s² * kg = N] N stands for Newton which is a force. So we
can talk about all forces of the universe, which are measured in
Newton.
We have 4 forces in the Universe:
1. The electro magnetic force
2. The weak nuclear force
3. The strong nuclear force
We know all about these three forces but not all about the fourth
force.
4. The gravitational force : we know how big it is ( very very small) and we
know all about its behaves, but we do not know what it is, as yet.
But there is some hope that with the discovery of the Higgs Boson (they
call it the god particle) we will be able to explain gravity.
What is gravity? :
As you can see, most of the people will answer that it is a downward force
that stops you from flying away from the earth. Or a force that pulls all
matter together. The more matter, the greater the gravitational attracting
force, so the things that have a lot of matter such as planets and moons and
stars have a lot of attraction force.
We all learned these answers in the secondary school, so we just need to
remember it!
But fact is that even science still cannot explain what the gravitational
force is!
They know how it behaves and they know how big it is, but they still don’t
know what it is!
We know that every massive object falls to the ground and we know this is
because of gravity.
But back in time of Aristotle the scientific opinion was that the speed at
which an objects falls was directly related to their relative weights. Thus, a
heavy object would fall faster than a lighter object. After all, pick up a
feather and a rock and drop the two of them, and Aristotle’s view will be
prove,
the rock will indeed fall faster than feather.
As mentioned before, the gravitational force pulls all forces together. In
the examples of dropping balls, feathers and dumbbells onto the ground we have
ignored the movement of the earth. But since the mass of the earth is so massive
as compared with our dropping items used in the experiments, we can ignore the
earths movement, it is immeasurable small. Nevertheless if the falling objects
getting larger, like the size of the moon for example then the movement of the
earth is detectable which is shown in the following video.
.
If an object with comparable mass to that of the Earth were to fall towards
it, then the corresponding acceleration of the Earth would be observable.
Nearly 10 years ago, I had moved to Australia. My new neighbour Ron called me to see him close to his fence in our backyard. Ron lived behind our house and he used to be a famer, he grew vegetables and loved to check us out, he wanted to know what we are doing.
When I walked closer, he said : “Mei, do you know that the red back spider is poison and deadly?” I told him that I did not know that and I did never see one yet!
Then he pointed his finger to the fence just between both of us, and then I saw a spider with a red point on the black who was hanging in a tiny web. I screamed immediately. Ron laughed and put his finger on top of the spider and squashed it, he killed the spider. He told me this is a piece of cake, he kills red blacks all the time.
After then, I did kill one myself when we renovated our backyard. I was moving a brick which has 6 holes in the middle, a red black did hide in one of this holes, when I moved it, I saw a red back spider moving, it was already close to my finger, I was scared and dropped the brick onto the floor, the spider was thrown out and fell onto the floor, I immediately stepped on it.
Then I knew red back spiders are not aggressive, just don’t wait until they bite you, you will be fine.
當我初來澳洲住, 我家後花園有個老鬼鄰居, 常常關注我家的動靜.
有天他見我在後園種花. 他叫我走到圍欄去聊天.
並問我道: 你可知否悉尼紅背蜘蛛是惡毒無比嗎?
我剛來報導, 當然對那些小動物是沒什興趣的, 當他知道我一無所知..... 就開始陰陰咀笑....
佢用手指一指角落, 說: 看, 那隻就是啦!
我看到一隻細小黑蜘蛛, 背部圓圓上是有一小紅點. 動也不動, 掛在蛛網上.
隨著, 老鬼便用手指往蜘蛛上一擠壓, 我"嘩"一聲, 老鬼覺得好不威風. 他說他殺紅背蜘蛛當食生菜.
後來, 我家後園重修, 我自己也看到過不少紅背蜘蛛, 也自己殺死過一隻.
當時是好害怕的, 它就是躲在一磚頭裡, 當我移動磚頭時發現了它, 立即就嚇到掉到地上, 它也被拋出掉在地上, 我好自然就往它身上踩去.
依我所見, 紅背蜘蛛根本不活躍的, 不是網上說的會向你攻擊的. 它們行動不快, 你有足夠時間殺鬼死它們, 肯定快過它們襲擊你.
Red Back Spider - Attenborough: Life in the Undergrowth – BBC
Red Back Spider - toilet spider
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redback_spider
紅背蜘蛛是一種劇毒蜘蛛，身長在2—8mm之間，背部有個紅色印記，攻擊性極強，被咬中五分鐘後傷口開始發熱發痛，如無血清治療，半小時內死亡。但自1956年以來，並無記錄在案的因紅背蜘蛛咬傷而死亡的案例。
紅背蜘蛛偏好棲息於黑暗乾燥處，雌性紅背蜘蛛會在交配後，把消化液注入雄蜘蛛的身體和把雄蜘蛛吃掉。據研究發現，母紅背蜘蛛壽命有2-3年；公蜘蛛壽命只有6-7個月，有83%的雄性紅背蜘蛛在沒有交配之前就死掉了。
有趣:
1. 紅背蜘蛛網: 晚上建築, 並且是三維建築的, 不單是和橫濶, 而是向下向深. (睇BBC, attenborough – Life the Undergrowth 就是.) 只要你想像天上就是一般的蜘蛛網, 可是他從網中一些線向下再築更多的支線接觸著地面或平面. 當有小動物經過觸摸到, 就被纏著整隻獵物被彈起. 因為彈起在半空, 而沒有了其中東西可以被依靠, 紅背蜘蛛就可以爬下來把你用網絲包起來, 慢慢吸食.
2. 紅背蜘蛛 原來是外來客. 不是原產澳洲! (睇片: Red Back Spider - toilet spider)
When my papa left me in 2006, I was always afraid of death, because I was with him in hospital the last few days before he died...... all the terrible things around him, breathing facility, all the plastic pipes from his lungs, arms, mouth... all around his body....etc. I always think may be one day it will be my turn to be in the same situation like my papa was.......
Tonight, I watched a documentary, Billy Connolly's Big Send Off, I think it is a good documentary and it is worth to spend some time to have look at it........ for those who care for elderly parents or any other family member in that situation. It is inevitably that we are all going to die.
Billy Connolly embarks on a personal and enlightening journey where he looks at our attitudes towards death. He immerses himself in a range of experiences and talks about death with his pal Eric Idle.
---------------------------
In the documentary, it did mention :
Drive-thru funeral parlor
Want fries with that? Not a likely question you’ll be asked at this drive-thru.
For nearly 40 years, a funeral home in southern Los Angeles county has been adding a dash of convenience to the business of death.
The mortuary, located in Compton, claims to offer an efficient way for prominent members of the community to be viewed en masse. Elderly who have a hard time walking don't have to leave their cars.
One possible reason for the drive-thru's success could stem back to the 1980s, when Compton was a hotbed for gang violence. The LA Times reported that cemetery shootouts made gang members reluctant to gather for graveside services. And since the glass partition of the Robert L. Adam's funeral parlor is bulletproof, it became a popular location for gang funerals.
-----------------------------------------------------------
In the documentary, it did mention :
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish funeral.
I do have some questions :
1. Why are they swaying their heads non- stop during prayers, I wonder if it does not hurt their neck muscles, over the years? I think this shuckling must cause a disease and have a special name.
2. will they dig out the dead bodies several years later? otherwise they would run out of room in Jerusalem.
p.s. after searching with google, I found this article below, and I believed that they bury the dead bodies there forever, that is why Israeli people need to find more places for new cemeteries, and that's why they put their new cemeteries on Palestinian land!!
http://alt-arch.org/en/graveyard_metropolis
--------------------------------------------------------
In the documentary, it did mention :
Neptune Society Columbarium of San Francisco
This is a special place, because it tells a story about the AIDS epidemic that struck San Francisco, most AIDS sufferers died, ............and no funeral homes were taking the people for fear of AIDS infection.
I'm touched hearing Billy say " the whole story is in that wee box"........ " I love and I miss you"
------------------------------------
In the documentary, it did mention :
I wonder if it is a good idea making a tattoo for the memories of my loved one???!!!
http://www.allsaintstattoo.com/#!__menu
------------------------------------------------------
In the documentary, it did mention :
The Chinese Traditional Funerals. they did introduce 陰司紙 in English, it is called a hell bank note, 路票 in English, they call it a spirit world traveller's cheques. But they did not mention 紙紮屋, 紙紮公仔...等等的祭品, I wonder what it would be called in English. So, I go to the google.... and I found a lot of funny things that I never knew before.
紙紮祭品 in English, it is called paper offerings or Joss paper goods 紙紮衫, 屋, 車.... in English, it is called papier-mâché clothes, houses, cars, toiletries, electronics and servants.
鬼都唔住啦! I don't think a ghost would like to live in such an ugly house :
I want to become a rich ghost :
紙紮豪宅 papier-mâché delux houses: NT$ 77,000
紙紮度假式行館 papier-mâché delux holiday villa NT$ 6,300
http://www.skea.com.tw/hot_house.htm
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And Finally, I told Edward that I would love to end up in a university autopsy room. Edward said, yes, my dear, if you don't end up in southern Indian ocean first.
