Refrain from swimming at Pasir Ris beach: NEA

Yahoo! Singapore (September 7, 2010) -

The National Environment Agency (NEA) is advising the public to refrain from swimming at Pasir Ris beach after issuing its annual water quality review of Singapore’s six recreational beaches.

In its latest water quality assessment at Singapore’s beaches, Pasir Ris beach was given a ‘fair’ grade under the more stringent World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines while Sentosa Island, Seletar Island, Sembawang Park, Changi and East Coast Park were graded ‘very good’ or ‘good’ for primary contact activities.

The latest grading for Pasir Ris beach found 7% of the collected samples had enterococcus counts greater than 200 per 100 ml, compared to 8% in 2009. Enterococcus is a type of bacteria found in human and animal faeces.

Pasir Ris beach has been rated unsuitable for water activities since 2008 as the water quality is affected by various possible sources, including minor leakage from older sewers, moored vessels, animals and discharges from small-scale sewage treatment plants (STPs) in remote areas of Pasir Ris.

In a statement released by NEA on Tuesday, it advised the public from swimming at Pasir Ris beach until the next review in August 2011.

Some beach-goers Yahoo! Singapore spoke to were surprised by the findings.

Said undergraduate Steven Chin, 24, “I never expected Paris Ris to be deemed as unsafe for swimming because it looks fine from the shore.”

Beauty consultant Suzanne Luah, 27, agreed. She said, “I never thought our beaches are not safe because I still see people swimming at Pasir Ris.”

Civil servant Mohd. Yazid, 31, hopes NEA will help make the beach safe for activities. He said, “It’s a pity that we have such a nice beach here and we can’t enjoy it, but I think safety is very important and hopefully the green light will soon be given by the authorities for us to swim there.”

To help improve the water quality at Pasir Ris beach, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) has an ongoing plan to extend the sewer network and phase out the 39 STPs in the Halus/Tampines, Changi and Selerang areas by 2012.

Under PUB’s ongoing sewer rehabilitation programme for aging sewers in the area, 23km of sewers will be rehabilitated by 2011.

NEA added that it will continue to closely monitor the water quality at Pasir Ris beach and inform the public of the updated beach gradings in their next annual review.

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Reflections:

I do think that Singapore's sewage systems have to be reviewed because of their age. Although PUB has taken efforts to construct new sewage systems, these do not necessarily prove to be effective. Instead of spending more money on sewage systems, PUB definitely has to review the condition of sewage systems. The problem of large amounts of Enterococcus bacteria present in the Pasir Ris beach has to be eradicated immediately. These bacteria might pose a threat not only to humans but other lifeforms around the area. Enterococcus bacteria have been known to cause life-threatening infections in nosocomial environments. Although they might not necessarily be posing a huge threat, the knowledge of how microscopic organisms can cause problems will be a factor in fighting against them. Hopefully, scientists can develop more methods to remove bacteria present in water. This will be the key to reducing waterborne diseases in poor countries.

My Scientific Journey So Far...

My scienctific journey so far has been enriching but at the same time, the most fun I've ever had since graduating from primary school. Since primary school, I've been fascinated with Science but never truly understood it. Secondary school Science was different. Dealing with it was easier if we knew how to apply the concepts. However, we will be lost if we do not memorise these concepts. Secondary school Science does indeed deal with real-life situations. Misconceptions about Science once told me that it was all about explosions and concoctions. However, as I grew up, that immature personality evaporated and secondary science proved me wrong.

Practicals have simply been amazing. Not only have kinesthetic learners enjoyed the hands-on activities, basking in the fun of learning Science enhanced the experience. Our lessons have taught us the concepts of Science. Not only that, ACE projects actively engaged us in learning Science. Take the project on human systems for example, my group members alone were enthusiastic in adding details to the project. All in all, the results were fufilling as our group presented it to the class. These carefully planned lessons were indeed the best I've ever had in my school life.

I am sure Term 4 will pose another challenge to everyone, especially how our results had decreased significantly. As long as we possess the spirit of learning and the determination, I am sure we can gain success in our quest for scientific knowledge. To end this post, I would also like to thank our teachers for helping us in this journey. =)

National Engineers Exhibition

Today, I visited the National Engineers Exhibition which showcased the wonders of engineering, including some recent breakthroughs in engineering. One of the exhibits which caught my attention was the Rovio exhibit. The Rovio exhibit showcases a groundbreaking new Wi-Fi enabled mobile webcam that lets you view and interact with its environment through streaming video and audio. In this case, this technology can be used in space exploration as communication through this robot can be done a thousand miles away. Below is a picture of the robot. Sorry for the poor quality.

Two other exhibits are definitely the pride of Singapore. The first being the world’s first 1.5m C-Band stabilised satellite antenna. This new technology was jointly developed by Singtel and Seatel and allows sea-going vessels to enjoy a significantly higher bandwidth than a traditional 2.4m C-band antenna at a lower cost. This could also significantly improve maritime operations and efficiency.













Another technology that was developed is a solar-powered car for an international competition to seek the best teams which could develop a environmentally-friendly car. This solar-powered car contains a few hundred cells which can store 3 watts of power each. The team from NTU had to develop a car which could travel from Darwin to Adelaide within seven days. Singapore's sole representative clinched a respectable 11th place. Hopefully, this international competition will bring out more engineering talents who can built a better world for everyone.














In conclusion, engineering has not only enabled humans more efficiency to complete tasks but also to make the world more environmentally friendly, as shown in the segment above. With this, I end my post.

Fireworks Chemistry

Fireworks Chemistry

Here's another ACE Project concerning chemistry and how it is applied in the area of fireworks. When I was young, I was awed by the vibrance and colour of these fireworks. I was in for another surprise when I found out how chemistry was applied to give fireworks their colours. Different substances are used in the creation of fireworks. When reacted, they produce flames of different colours. Surprisingly, this method had been developed in ancient China. This greatly intrigued me and opened up a world of possibilities. To me, this is one of my most fufilling projects ever.

The Nervous System

Nervous System on Prezi

Presenting to you, the nervous sustem! This project was done by my group for a presentation in class. From this project, I have gained further insight of the nervous system. The nervous system is one of the most vital systems in our human body. Made up of our brain, spinal cord and five senses, this intricately constructed system allows us to control, regulate and communicate. At the same time, it is the centre of all mental activity. Therefore, it is essential for our human body in order to perceive and react to our surroundings. The nervous system is also one of the least explored systems of our body as it includes the wondrous human brain!

Why your brain flips over visual illlusions

NewScientist (September 3, 2010) -

IT'S a big skull. No, wait, it's two people under an arch. Hold on, it's a skull again. Two very different images can be perceived in the trick picture Blossom and Decay (see left). Now we are one step closer to working out how the brain spontaneously flips between such views, with the discovery of what may be the relevant brain region.

The precise neural mechanism that provokes the brain to switch its view of a scene is unknown, but it is thought to play a major role in perception by acting as a sort of reality check, says Ryota Kanai of University College London. "We need a trigger to prompt possible different interpretations so that we don't get stuck with a potentially incorrect interpretation of the world."

To find out which part of the brain might be involved, Kanai and colleagues asked 52 volunteers to watch a video of a revolving sphere and press a button when the rotation of the sphere appeared to change direction. Crucially, the sphere was not changing direction; it could simply be perceived to be rotating in either direction. How long each rotation-direction was perceived for was recorded and an average "switch rate" assigned to each of the volunteers.

The team then used structural magnetic resonance imaging to search for active brain regions during this task. This pointed to the superior parietal lobes (SPL), two areas towards the back of the head known to control attention and process three-dimensional images. People whose cortex was thicker and better connected in this region had faster switch rates.

To test whether or not the SPL had a role in triggering the switch, the researchers stimulated each lobe with a magnetic field - effectively knocking out the function of that lobe - while the volunteers rewatched the sphere illusion. The team found that the switch rate slowed when either lobe was exposed to the magnetic field.

"One possibility is that the SPL is actually triggering the perceptual switches by sending a signal to 'reset' the illusion," says Kanai. "Or it could be that people with a large SPL are better at noticing other possible interpretations for the ambiguous sphere, which would also result in a faster switch rate."

Andrew Parker at the University of Oxford reckons the work is intriguing but adds that there is more to be done to confirm that the region is directly involved in provoking these perceptual changes.

Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727764.400-why-your-brain-flips-over-visual-illusions.html

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Reflections:

As you know, our brain is the one of the most ambiguous part of our human body. Certainly, we have barely scraped the potential of our human mind. After taking a look at this article, it dawned on me that there are still many hidden wonders of the human mind. In this article, scientists hypothesised that the part of our brain which controls our the human perspective could be the SPLs which are present in our mind. However, there is insufficient evidence to support this hypothesis. If more research was carried out, it could unlock the secrets within the grey matter contained in ourselves. This research and how it affects our perspective has intrigued me greatly. This part of our brain is probably the secret behind our interpretation and the development of different views. I hope this research can be further enhanced and one day, we can indeed tap into our hidden potential.

Nano-engineered cotton promises to wipe out water bugs

NewScientist (September 3, 2010) -

COTTON impregnated with silver nanowires and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could provide a cheap and effective method of purifying water in remote locations.

A new filter needs only gravity and a weak electric current to produce its sterilising effect, making it suitable for a portable water-treatment device.

The fabric is easy to produce, says lead researcher Yi Cui at Stanford University in California. Cui's team simply dip a piece of cotton into a solution of CNTs and then pipette droplets containing silver nanowires onto the cotton.

Analysing the fabric with a scanning electron microscope reveals that the CNTs stick to the individual cotton fibres, while the slightly larger silver nanowires form a mesh between the fibres. The nanoparticles enable the fabric to conduct electricity, so a weak electric current can run across it. This helps kill bacteria by damaging their outer membranes, while the silver nanowires' anti-bacterial properties do the rest.

So when Cui and his colleagues poured water contaminated with the bacterium Escherichia coli (pictured) through the silver-coated, electrically-conducting fabric, they found it killed 89 per cent of the bacteria. By conducting three successive runs through the fabric, they were able to kill over 98 per cent - enough to make the water safe to drink.

As well as testing the fabric with other micro-organisms, Cui is making sure the CNTs and silver nanowires aren't washed into the water. "So far, our evidence suggests that they don't come off," Cui told New Scientist.

"It is an interesting academic study," says nanoengineer Eric Hoek at the University of California, Los Angeles. He says proving that the potentially harmful CNTs do not leach into the water will be a key step in finding out if it is useful on a practical level.

Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727765.900-nanoengineered-cotton-promises-to-wipe-out-water-bugs.html

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Reflections:

Definitely, technology has advanced at a shocking speed over the years such that appalling discoveries are uncovered almost every day. In the past, such scientific discoveries which were uncovered could cause a public uproar. However, in this day and time, the scientific world is oblivious to us. In this case, this new technology could prove useful in third-world countries where proper sanitation and supply of fresh water is unavailable. However, this could also prove costly if there is not enough research. From the article, we can already see loopholes in this project. As claimed by the nanoengineer Eric Noek, "proving that the potentially harmful CNTs do not leach into the water will be a key step in finding out if it is useful on a practical level." Using CNTs could raise fears that it might become the next absestos which could completely rule out this form of treatment. Despite these challenging factors, I would like to commend on the nanoengineers' efforts in trying to enhance the living conditions of people in remote areas.