Coffee Break #6: What's hot on earth?

This is a series of emails written by me, inviting fellow colleagues in the Department of Civil Engineering, UTP for the weekly coffee break. Attendee - lecturers, technicians and postgraduate students.

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Assalamuallaikum,

The conventional method of air temperature measurement is by measuring at 1.5 m above ground level. Basically, the temperatureof the free air circulating in the area is measured. However, in reality, the hottest temperature is at the surface of the Earth, where the thermal energy is more concentrated. A report by Mildrexler, D.J., Zhao, M., and Running, S.W. (2006) presented a synthesis a method of measuring the temperature on the earth surface which they argued is more accurate, using a remotely radiometric land surface temperatures (LST). Since air is a poor heat conductor, LST in midsummer can be 30º–40ºC higher than the air temperature. That’s why the air in the beach is more bearable than standing barefooted on the beach sand.

According to the same report, these were recorded:

• In 2003, the hottest LST detected on the Earth’s surface was 69.3°C, in Queensland, Australia
• In 2004, the hottest spot on the Earth’s surface was 68.0°C, in the Lut desert of Iran’s Kerman Province (even bacteria can’t surive the heat!). In 2005, the Lut desert reached 70.7°C

Figure 1 shows the average of the hottest annual maximum LST. Looks like Malaysia is still in the green region despite the heat that we are enduring this last few days. Not so bad, is it?

Let’s have a break?

Day: Every Wednesday (starting 6^th April 2011)

Time: 10:10 -10:40am (official time but you can come/leave as you wish in between)

Venue: 13.02.09

What to do?: Bring your own cup of coffee/tea

References:

Mildrexler, D.J., Zhao, M., and Running, S.W. (2006, October 26). Where are the hottest spots on Earth? EOS, 87 (43), 461-467.

Thanks.

Coffee break #5: Chernobyl and concrete

This is a series of emails written by me, inviting fellow colleagues in the Department of Civil Engineering, UTP for the weekly coffee break. Attendee - lecturers, technicians and postgraduate students.

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25 years after reactor 4 exploded, sending radioactive plume across the northern hemisphere, the effort of containing the reactor is still on-going until today. Workers wearing white protective suits and respirator show up for work every day. The main job? Constructing a new concrete shield to replace a massive sarcophagus built in 1986 that still contains the still-radioactive core. The problem is the isotopes released during the nuclear accident, remain radioactive for thousands of years and the concrete sarcophagus has already shown signs of deterioration.

US$1.1 billion is needed for the new concrete shelter; when completed stands 110 m tall and with a weight of 29,000 tonnes. However, the normal concrete lifespan pales in comparison when measured with the effect of 20,000 years of the radioactive lifespan of the reactor as calculated by the director of the Chernobyl power plant. Another billion will have to be spent over and over again.

Perhaps, ultra-high-density (UHD) concrete should be the answer. It is said to last for 16,000 years. Though, we will not be there to see the proof.

Day: Every Wednesday (starting 6^th April 2011)

Time: 10:10 -10:40am (official time but you can come/leave as you wish in between)

Venue: 13.02.09

What to do?: Bring your own cup of coffee/tea

Thanks.

Coffee break #4: The age of technological singularity

This is a series of emails written by me, inviting fellow colleagues in the Department of Civil Engineering, UTP for the weekly coffee break. Attendee - lecturers, technicians and postgraduate students.

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Dear colleagues,

A technological singularity is a hypothetical event occurring when technological progress becomes so rapid and the growth of artificial intelligence is so great that the future after the singularity becomes qualitatively different and harder to predict.

Ray Kurzweil, in an article published in TIME magazine explained that there will be a time when technology will surpass the human intelligence. At that point, there will be a major shift in how we interact with technology. Consequently, everything else will be shifting – the economy, politics hence the human relationship as well. The argument is simple: As the highest in intelligence, human creates and innovates the lower intelligence (technology). But when the technology becomes more intelligent –surpassing the intelligence of mankind, arguably, humans eventually can no longer innovates the technology.

Science-fiction? Probably not, since the research on this is taken seriously by NASA by establishing Singularity University (http://singularityu.org  - right next door to Google). The main research is on how to face the technological singularity (the US agencies are naming it as humanity’s Grand Challenge), as Kurzweil has predicted, is nearing very soon. His method of prediction is using the Moore’s Theory. Applying the theory, Kurzweil foresaw the explosive growth in worldwide Internet use that began in the 1990s; at the time of the publication of The Age of Intelligent Machines (1990), there were only 2.6 million internet users in the world, now close to 2 billion users. He then predicted that the first machine to exhibit real intelligent behavior (equivalent to human) by 2029. But not to worry, he is also predicting that by 2040, human intelligence will multiply a billion-fold.

The new horror is no longer ghost and ghouls but technology. Dr Shark should start doing a script on this new horror for his theater.

Why not come down and have a chat? Cakes & biscuits are always welcomed ;)

Day: Every Wednesday (starting 6^th April 2011)

Time: 10:10 -10:40am (official time but you can come/leave as you wish in between)

Venue: 13.02.09

What to do?: Bring your own cup of coffee/tea

p/s: Ray Kurzweil is so famous in this area of research that a documentary has been made on him titled Transcendent Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendent_man)

Thanks.

 

Coffee break #3: Why salt makes you happy?

This is a series of emails written by me, inviting fellow colleagues in the Department of Civil Engineering, UTP for the weekly coffee break. Attendee - lecturers, technicians and postgraduate students.

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Dear colleagues,

Salt is a mineral that is composed primarily of sodium chloride. It is essential for animal life in small quantities, but is harmful to animals and plants in excess. Salt is one of the oldest, most ubiquitous food seasonings and salting is an important method of food preservation. The taste of salt (saltiness) is one of the basic human tastes (OK, I copied and paste this from Wikipedia).

Also, everyone knows that excessive salt will harm you. Illness associated with excessive consumption of salts include stroke, hypertension, ulcers, cancer and even immediate death (if you consume a large amount of it in a short time - about 1 g per kg of body weight – example; if you are 70kg, don’t consume more than 700gm of salt at one go). 

However, recent research published in Journal of Neuroscience, reveals that an elevated levels of salt in the body will lower stress hormones and raise levels of oxytocin, a hormone involved in love and other social connections. The activities in the brain was recorded less active compared with those with normal salt levels*. The compound oxytocin, when elevated (due to increase of salt level), will help to create social bonds, between friends, lovers or parents and children. Stress will be less in social interaction. No wonder that this oxytocin is also popularly known as the “love hormone”.

And the most common food that is associated with high level of salt is French Fries. Now, you know why everyone is happy when they got their Happy Meals at McDonalds!!!

Come down and have a chat for our weekly coffee break.

Day: Every Wednesday (starting 6^th April 2011)

Time: 10:10 -10:40am (official time but you can come/leave as you wish in between)

Venue: 13.02.09

What to do?: Bring your own cup of coffee/tea

p/s: * the study was conducted on mice. They were professionals ;)

Thanks.

Coffee break #2: Is it OK to cry at work?

This is a series of emails written by me, inviting fellow colleagues in the Department of Civil Engineering, UTP for the weekly coffee break. Attendee - lecturers, technicians and postgraduate students.

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Dear colleagues,

Crying is a fundamental element of human. It is part of complex human emotions. We cry not necessarily because we are sad but in the time of happiness as well. Crying is normal. But at work???

Recent studies show that by showing your emotion (including crying) makes organizations operates more competitively. The study suggested that we should not avoid being emotional, rather be more rational on interpreting why those particular feelings were triggered and understands what happens on social, psychological and even biological level – to get to bottom of it – the prejudices and reactions. We should not resist our emotion simply because we are “designed” with emotions and our responses have not caught up with the environment. Consider this – without emotion, it is impossible to make decision (study by University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute).

Unfortunately, we are still clueless about how to display and react to anger, fear and anxiety which are fundamental emotions, so we handicap ourselves trying to check our human side at the office door. In summary, we became less human when we are in the office.

Can we see someone crying at the office from now on?

Day: Every Wednesday (starting 6^th April 2011)

Time: 10:10 -10:40am (official time but you can come/leave as you wish in between)

Venue: 13.02.09

What to do?: Bring your own cup of coffee/tea

p/s: From a survey of 700 Americans, 48% of men says it is consider OK to cry at work compare to 41% for the women – the trick is that the men consider “it is more true for women”.

Thanks.

Coffee break #1: The Spirit of Japan

This is a series of emails written by me, inviting fellow colleagues in the Department of Civil Engineering, UTP for the weekly coffee break. The first coffee break was held successfully last Wednesday with the attendance of lecturers, technicians and postgraduate students.

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Dear collegues,

Japanese are well known for their high discipline and spirit in anything that they do. In this, I mean by worldly affairs and humanity. A few examples as follow: When Emperor Meiji introduced modernization, the Samurai ethics and honour were still maintained in their work culture; after two nuclear bombs were dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it took them only a few years to rise back resulting in the fastest train in the world, tracking their railroads in the 1960s. A few years after that, they become the 2^nd largest economic power in the world until recently when they were replaced by China.

You can also see this at a different view but any nation who think they can dominate half the world by war should be credited for the discipline and spirit also. That was in the 1940s (for those who didn’t watch the History Channel on Astro).

On the humanity side, they were known for their courage and compassion. The recent devastating earthquake is one of the example. It was reported in the news that corporation that sells essential day-today products dropped their priced in the spirit of compassion. People who lost their families did not cry out loud as what others do when such tragedy occurs. Queue can reach up to 1km for food but there was no pushing or rushing. Young people find their own way on how to help and becomes volunteers. The engineers were prepared to die by radiation fixing the nuclear power plants for the sake of others. There were absolutely no chaos and no anarchy.

With this spirit, I invite you for our departmental coffee break. There is cake but limited to about 25 slices. Essentials in the pantry may be limited and hot water is scarce. I vow not to have my slice of cake in compassion for others (well, actually I can ask my wife to bake another at home heheh).

See you there!