The Whisperer: August 2011

Monday 8 August 2011

Cell Divison

Cell Division

View more presentations from Julie Roberts

Form 3 Science Chapter 4 - Reproduction

Life Science Chapter 4 Cell Reproduction

View more presentations from walajtys

Saturday 6 August 2011

Asylum seekers: Australia will not grant exemptions to children

SWAP DEAL: Myanmar refugee Tial Za Eng Sung plays with her children and her young relative (right) in their flat in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is poised to receive the first batch of refugees under a swap deal with Australia aimed at helping both sides to tackle a rising influx of refugees. Under the agreement, Malaysia will receive 800 unprocessed asylum seekers from Australia which in return will accept 4,000 refugees whose claims have been approved for resettlement. — Reuters photo

MELBOURNE: The Australian government said it will stick to its plans to ship the latest asylum seeker arrivals to Malaysia, and will not grant exemptions to the large number of minors.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said those coming to Australia or who put their children on boats should work on the basis that they would be taken to Malaysia.

“No blanket exemptions. I’ll not have the situation where we provide a reward for people who put their children on a boat and undertake that dangerous journey,” he was quoted by the Australian Associated Press as saying.

The Australian Immigration Department yesterday confirmed there were 18 children among the latest boatload of asylum seekers.

The department said it had checked the ages of all asylum seekers who had claimed to be minors and found one to actually be an adult, bringing the number of children to 18, including 13 who were unaccompanied.

AAP said the high proportion of children on the vessel had been interpreted as a deliberate move by people smugglers to test Canberra’s resolve in implementing its Malaysian solution. — Bernama

Bowen said the government would adopt a case-by-case approach to any particular vulnerabilities among the asylum seekers.

“But I know, sure as night follows day, that if you’ve blanket exemptions people smugglers would exploit that loophole and put children on boats, and we’d be dealing with the dangerous situation of boatloads of children,” he said. — Bernama

Its been two days

Lol. Its been 2 days I haven't log in to The Whisperer. First of all to my readers I'm sorry if there ain't any new post at my blog. I've been busy for all this time. I want to share something to you guys. There's is an Operating Program/System called Linux and one of it is Ubuntu. Ubuntu is as same as Mac Software and Windows 7. Ubuntu is even greater than Windows 7 and has less effected by Viruses. Ubuntu has its own weakness that its has a slow reading on printers. But Ubuntu doesn't need to installs software from Google search because its has its own software center. You can search what you need in Ubuntu Software Center. Ubuntu version 11.04 is the newest and if you want to try it go to http://www.ubuntu.com. If you want Ubuntu you must save all of your important files in other computer because Ubuntu will remove all Windows 7 software and anything in your computer. Be careful if you don't want to lose your files.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Much ado about Pluto

Recent discoveries of Pluto-like objects in the outer solar system have sparked debate about the nature of the tiniest "planet"

Feb 17, 1999: In 1979 the Solar System became a bit mixed up. That's when Pluto, which travels in a highly elliptical orbit, temporarily moved closer to the sun than Neptune. Every 248 years the two planets swap places and for about 20 years Pluto becomes the eighth planet and Neptune the ninth. This topsy-turvy situation was rectified last Thursday, Feb. 11, when Pluto crossed Neptune's orbit and became the ninth planet once again.

Right: Pluto is the only planet that has not been visited by a spacecraft. Even the Hubble Space Telescope can resolve only the largest features on its surface, shown in this image of one hemisphere. The brightness variations could be due to craters and basins, methane and nitrogen frosts, or even areas of primordial organic matter. No one knows, and the mystery may remain until some future spacecraft pays a visit to this distant planet.

One of these things is not like the others

But is Pluto really a planet? That's what astronomers have been discussing since late last year when some members of the International Astronomical Union suggested that Pluto be given a minor planet designation. Why? For one thing Pluto is very small. It's 6 times smaller than Earth, and even smaller than seven of the solar system's moons (the Moon, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Titan and Triton). Pluto's own moon, Charon, is larger in proportion to its planet than any other satellite in the solar system. Some astronomers consider the pair to be a double planet.

Recent Headlines
December 3: Mars Polar Lander nears touchdown

December 2: What next, Leonids?

November 30: Polar Lander Mission Overview

November 30: Learning how to make a clean sweep in space

Pluto's elliptical orbit is also unusual. It is the only planetary orbit which crosses that of another planet (Neptune), and it is tilted 17 degress with respect to the plane of the solar system. Astronomers once thought that Pluto may have been a satellite of Neptune's that was ejected to follow a tilted elliptical path around the sun. However, careful simulations of the orbits and dynamics of Pluto and Neptune indicate that this is an unlikely scenario.

Pluto's composition is unknown, but its density (about 2 gm/cm3) indicates that it is probably a mixture of rock and ice. All the other rocky planets -- Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars -- are located in the inner solar system, close to the Sun. Except for Pluto, all of the outer planets -- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune -- are gaseous giants. Once again, Pluto is a misfit.

Pluto behind the 8 ball

Despite its well-known peculiarities, Pluto's official status as a planet was never in jeopardy until 1992 when David Jewitt and J. Luu discovered a curious object called 1992 QB1. QB1 is a small icy body, similar in size to an asteroid, orbiting 1.5 times further from the sun than Neptune. QB1 was the first hint that there might be more than just Pluto in the distant reaches of the solar system.

Right: Kuiper Belt object 1995 WY2 observed UT 1995 Nov 18 using the Keck 10 meter telescope by D. Jewitt (University of Hawaii) and J. Luu (University of California, Berkeley). These are the discovery images. Each is a 900 second integration. The images are separated by about 18 minutes, during which time the object moves 1 arc per second. Stationary background galaxies are also evident in this short movie. The apparent magnitude is V = 24.2.

Since then nearly 100 objects like QB1 have been found. They are thought to be similar to Pluto in composition and, like Pluto, many orbit the sun in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune. This swarm of Pluto-like objects beyond Neptune is known as the Kuiper Belt, after Gerard Kuiper, who first proposed that such a belt existed and served as a source of short period comets. Astronomers estimate that there are at least 35,000 Kuiper Belt objects greater than 100 km in diameter, which is several hundred times the number (and mass) of similar sized objects in the main asteroid belt.

So, is Pluto really a planet or is it more like a dormant comet, simply the largest known member of the Kuiper Belt? That's the question that astronomers have recently been debating.

Other than its relatively large size, Pluto is practically indistinguishable from the Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) and short period comets. The main difference is Pluto's reflectivity, which is much higher than that of known KBOs. "Pluto has a higher albedo (60%) than we suspect for the other KBOs," explains Dr. David Jewitt of the University of Hawaii. "But this is an artifact of size - Pluto has enough mass & gravity to retain a tenuous atmosphere from which bright surface frosts may be deposited on the surface."

David Jewitt and his colleagues at the Institute for Astronomy are leaders in the search for new members of the Kuiper Belt. They are presently scanning a 50 sq. degree area of the sky for KBO's using the University of Hawaii's 8192 x 8192 pixel CCD camera, and are experimenting with an even larger 12,000 x 8,000 pixel camera for faster searches. So far their efforts have met with considerable success. They have discovered over 40 KBO's in recent years, some of which are comparable in size to Pluto.

"We've already found objects 1/3rd the diameter of Pluto," says David Jewitt," even though we have examined only a tiny fraction of the sky. An example is 1996 TO66, which is 800 km diameter. It would be incredible in its own right if Pluto proved to be the only 2000 km object. I think we'll have Pluto II, Pluto III....within a few years."

artist's concept of
the Pluto-Kuiper Express mission. Credit JPL

Right: Artist's conception of the Pluto-Kuiper Express, a spacecraft that NASA planners hope will visit Pluto and Charon around 2010. Pluto is the only planet in our Solar System not yet viewed close-up by spacecraft. As a result many basic questions about Pluto remain unanswered. For example, what are the mysterious dark patches revealed in Hubble images of Pluto? Could they be due to photochemical reactions caused by cosmic rays, or perhaps areas of primordial organic matter? Does Charon, like Pluto, have dark spots and an atmosphere? Or is it a very different kind of body? Mission planners hope to answer these questions and many more. Depending on the success of the Pluto-Charon encounter, the space probe could go on to visit objects in the Kuiper Belt.

Nine's a charm

Dr. Jewitt raises the interesting possibility that Kupier Belt objects might one day be discovered that are even larger than our ninth planet. If that happens, what does it mean for Pluto? Should it be stripped of planetary status and reclassified as a member of the Kuiper Belt? Or should newly discovered "Plutos" be classified as planets as well?

Left: A Hubble telescope image of Pluto and its satellite Charon.

These are difficult questions that await the astronomical community. For now, however, Pluto's status as a planet seems secure. In a press release dated Feb. 3, 1999 the International Astronomical Union stated that "No proposal to change the status of Pluto as the ninth planet in the solar system has been made by any Division, Commission or Working Group of the IAU responsible for solar system science. Lately, a substantial number of smaller objects have been discovered in the outer solar system, beyond Neptune, with orbits and possibly other properties similar to those of Pluto. It has been proposed to assign Pluto a number in a technical catalogue or list of such Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) so that observations and computations concerning these objects can be conveniently collated. This process was explicitly designed to not change Pluto's status as a planet."

Mistaken reports that the IAU intended to strip Pluto of its planetary status caused an uproar among astronomers and in the popular press. It seems that Pluto is a sentimental favorite to remain a planet among both scientists and the public. However, if more trans-Neptunian objects are discovered that are even larger than Pluto, the debate could begin anew.

10th Planet Discovered

Astronomers have found a new planet in the outer reaches of the solar system.

July 29, 2005: "It's definitely bigger than Pluto." So says Dr. Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology who announced today the discovery of a new planet in the outer solar system.

The planet, which hasn't been officially named yet, was found by Brown and colleagues using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego. It is currently about 97 times farther from the sun than Earth, or 97 Astronomical Units (AU). For comparison, Pluto is 40 AU from the sun.

Right: An artist's concept of the new planet.

This places the new planet more or less in the Kuiper Belt, a dark realm beyond Neptune where thousands of small icy bodies orbit the sun. The planet appears to be typical of Kuiper Belt objects--only much bigger. Its sheer size in relation to the nine known planets means that it can only be classified as a planet itself, Brown says.

Backyard astronomers with large telescopes can see the new planet. But don't expect to be impressed: It looks like a dim speck of light, visual magnitude 19, moving very slowly against the starry background. "It is currently almost directly overhead in the early-morning eastern sky in the constellation Cetus," notes Brown.

The planet was discovered by, in addition to Brown, Chad Trujillo, of the Gemini Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz, of Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. They first photographed the new planet with the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope on October 31, 2003. The object was so far away, however, that its motion was not detected until they reanalyzed the data in January of this year. In the last seven months, the scientists have been studying the planet to better estimate its size and its motions.

"We are 100 percent confident that this is the first object bigger than Pluto ever found in the outer solar system," Brown adds.

Right: The new planet, circled in white, moves across a field of stars on Oct. 21, 2003. The three photos were taken about 90 minutes apart. Image credit: Samuel Oschin Telescope, Palomar Observatory.

Telescopes have not yet revealed the planet's disk. To estimate how big it is, the astronomers must rely on measurements of the planet's brightness. Like all planets, this new one presumably shines by reflecting sunlight. The bigger the planet, generally speaking, the bigger the reflection. The reflectance, the fraction of light that bounces off the planet, is not yet known. Nevertheless, it is possible to set limits on the planet's diameter:

"Even if it reflected 100 percent of the light reaching it, it would still be as big as Pluto," says Brown. Pluto is 1400 miles (2300 km) wide. "I'd say it's probably [about] one and a half times the size of Pluto, but we're not sure."

The planet's temporary name is 2003 UB313. A permanent name has been proposed by the discoverers to the International Astronomical Union, and they are awaiting the decision of this body before announcing the name. Stay tuned!

I am very disappointed

Nothing to Share, Nothing to Fear, I was in solitary confinement, Should all this have to happen to me, I was stranded in the darkest gaps, Alone without anyone who cares, I'm better off dead than alive.

Ocean noise rings alarm bells

The impact of continuous, high-intensity noise in the oceans could be considerable.

The rising tumult in the oceans caused by human activity may be causing devastating damage to giant squid and sea life in general.

Research by Rolex Laureate Michel André has found that squid and octopus suffer trauma in their acoustic organs similar to that discovered in land mammals exposed to loud, low-frequency sounds.

Professor André, of the Technical University of Catalonia, received his Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2002 for pioneering a system to prevent collisions between ships and whales.

The researchers, who exposed 87 individual cephalopods – including squid, cuttlefish and octopus – to short sweeps of low intensity sound, found, for example, that the fluid-filled organs which enable squid to maintain balance and position displayed signs of damage. Over time, the nerves in these organs swelled and large holes appeared in the organs’ walls. Although squid probably do not “hear” in the conventional sense, these organs fulfil a vital balance role similar to the human vestibular system.

André says this is the first evidence that manmade noise may be causing havoc even in ocean life which is not sound-dependent. “If the relatively low-intensity, short exposure used in our study can cause such severe acoustic trauma, then the impact of continuous, high-intensity noise in the oceans could be considerable,” Prof. André says, adding that noise-induced damage “would likely affect the cephalopod’s ability to hunt, evade predators and even reproduce; in other words, this would not be compatible with life”.

The findings have prompted him to pose the question: “Is noise pollution capable of impacting the entire web of ocean life?”

The results of the research by Michel André and his colleagues have been made public in the latest issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a leading environmental science magazine published by the Ecological Society of America.

Julian Cribb

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Encouraging innovation for the next generation

The first forum held by Rolex in the Middle East tackled some of the most challenging issues facing the Arab world.

A day-long series of lively debates at Dubai’s Madinat Theatre on 19 November 2008 drew an audience of 300 people, most of them university students. The forum was the culmination of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise outreach in the region over 15 months, including the 13th international Awards ceremony.

Panellists included former and current Rolex Awards Selection Committee members and one past Award winner and their regional counterparts. “These 16 exceptional individuals are here today to share their insights and knowledge during three plenary sessions on issues pertinent to the Arab world,” said Rolex Awards director Rebecca Irvin in welcoming the audience.

Dubai, 19 November 2008, ©Rolex Awards/Kirsten Holst
Signature Forum, (from left): Kathryn Sullivan (2000 & 2008 Rolex Awards Jury Member), HE Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Rebecca Irvin, Director of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise

The state of science and innovation in the MENA region
“I think it is particularly important in helping children learn the sciences to actually listen to and let them express what they currently understand”.
Dr Kathryn D. Sullivan, panellist and 2000 & 2008 Rolex Awards Jury Member

One of the main conclusions of the first panel discussion was that young Emiratis and others in the Middle East and North Africa must be encouraged to think more for themselves. With an impressive 90 per cent of UAE students going into higher education, there was a need to “retool” our educational system, said Dr Tayeb A. Kamali, UAE Higher Colleges of Technology vice chancellor.

World-renowned heart surgeon professor Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub similarly stressed how more originality of thought and centres of excellence, such as the one he has spearheaded in his native Egypt, were required, while scientist Dr Kathryn D. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, challenged the young population to follow their dreams and dare to break barriers.

Preserving the natural environment and cultural heritage
“If we destroy our nature, our biodiversity, it's like destroying… hundreds, thousands of libraries, because these are repositories of information, of knowledge, much of which we still haven't discovered”.
Geh Min, panellist and 2008 Rolex Awards Jury Member

This panel took into account both the region’s unparalleled construction boom over the past 20 years and the demographics of the UAE, where expatriates comprise over 80 per cent of the population. “Marrying conservation and business is a real challenge here,” said Abdul Aziz Al-Midfa of the Sharjah Environment Authority. “People must understand why it is important to save sand dunes rather than converting huge tracts of land into golf courses.”

The six panellists agreed that both a “top-down” (governmental) and “bottom-up” (grass roots) approach to conservation were required. “In Oman, we have a clear directive to preserve the environment,” added Colonel Sulaiman Mohamed Albusaidi, adviser to the Omani environment minister. The solution, he said, was public awareness, especially among children.

The role of women as forces for social change
"I think women are really are the secret weapon of every country if they want to develop in a sustainable, pro-growth way”.
Dr Kanwaljit Soin, panellist and 2000 & 2004 Rolex Awards Jury Member

The third panel spurred intense questioning by the many young Emirati women attending. “Women here adapt to modernity, while holding on to Arab customs,” observed Singaporean surgeon Dr Kanwaljit Soin. “They are the key agents for sustainable development.”

Dubai, 19 November 2008, ©Rolex Awards/Kirsten Holst
Signature Forum, Panel three (from left): Farkhonda Hassan (2008 Rolex Awards Jury Member), Kanwajit Soin (2000 & 2004 Rolex Awards Jury Member), Yolanda Kakabadse (2008 Rolex Awards Jury Member), Fatma Al-Sayegh, Najla Al-Awadhi, George Kordahi (Moderator)

Editor of the Journal of Social Affairs, Dr Fatma Al-Sayegh, noted that education had been the cornerstone of change for local women. Najla Al-Awadhi, a member of the UAE Federal National Council and deputy CEO of Dubai Media Inc, urged the audience “Don’t compromise. Keep going and be passionate about what you want”.

Rolex Awards entries reach record high

Record number of entries

for 2012:

3,512 applications

from 154 countries

A record number of individuals, including a higher percentage of young people, have applied to the 2012 Rolex Awards for Enterprise, more than doubling the figures from recent series.

Rolex has received 3,512 applications for this edition, which represents by far the highest number of projects submitted to the international philanthropy programme since its launch in 1976.

“We are thrilled that so many people are putting forward projects to benefit our planet,” said Rebecca Irvin, head of the Rolex Institute, who attributes the dramatic rise in applicants to greater awareness worldwide of issues such as renewable energy and the need to protect biodiversity, and to a growing recognition of the power of the individual to change the world.

The application process for the Rolex Awards has also been simplified and this has likely encouraged more people to apply.

Analysis of the entries of the current edition and the previous edition in 2008 (the last comparable Awards series) shows a drop in the average age of applicants from 46 years old in 2008 to 41 today; the percentage of women applying rose to 28 per cent, up from 23 per cent in 2008, and the highest percentage ever recorded; and there was more than a 20 per cent rise in the number of countries in which people submitted applications (126 to 154). Of these countries, a striking number are developing countries.

Rolex welcomes the high level of interest in the Awards. However, as a result, the period for screening entries has been extended. Applicants may have to wait longer than initially anticipated to be informed about the status of their applications. All applicants should receive a message before the end of the year.

The names of the eminent scientists, explorers and environmentalists on the 2012 Jury will be announced in September. The jury will meet at Rolex headquarters in Geneva next year and the winners will be announced in late 2012 on the Rolex Awards website and at a special prize-giving event.

Riot police ready to confront boatpeople

Australian Federal Police riot squad on Christmas Island

Australian Federal Police riot squad train on Christmas Island yesterday to handle boatpeople who face being deported to Malaysia. Picture: Stephen Cooper Source: The Daily Telegraph.

RIOT police are training daily in a jungle clearing on Christmas Island in preparation for the arrival of 54 asylum-seekers due to be deported to Malaysia.

Shortly after dawn yesterday, the group of about 20 Australian Federal Police from the public order management team practised near a Buddhist temple deep in the rainforest in full riot gear, including shields, shin and kneepads, helmets and batons.

The drills came as the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees moved to distance itself from the controversial refugee swap, with its regional head in Australia, Ric Towle, saying it was "too early to say" whether the transferred asylum-seekers would be protected once in Malaysia.

"Nobody has test-run the arrangement in reality," Mr Towle told The Australian yesterday. "I'm not able to speculate on that."

Asked whether the deal carried the endorsement of the UNHCR, as both the Australian and Malaysian governments have suggested, Mr Towle replied: "We're not signatories to the agreement."

The UNHCR's cool response came as Immigration Minister Chris Bowen was unable to say who would run the immigration transit facilities that will house the detainees when they arrive.

Nor could Mr Bowen say how, or where, an asylum-seeker's right to work would be codified in Malaysian law after they had been transferred from Australia.

The director of a leading Malaysian human rights group, Lawyers for Liberty, Renuka Balasubramaniam, said the Malay-language press packs dealing with the agreement made no mention of work rights. "It seemed to be only Bowen that was saying that," Ms Balasubramaniam told The Australian yesterday. "The thing about how they will be given the right to work is a big question."

In training yesterday, the AFP officers shouted phrases such as "get back" as they went through their drills, which included charging up an incline with batons above their shoulders.

The Christmas Island authorities have been told to expect children among the first asylum-seekers due to reach the Australian territory on Thursday aboard a Customs vessel.

Officers ordered to put the asylum-seekers on charter flights can use teargas, batons and beanbag bullets, in line with the rules about police use of force.

"Obeying instructions here is not a question of volunteering," Julia Gillard said yesterday.

"People will be given an instruction to board a plane. We will be looking to people to obey that instruction. If it's not obeyed, then we have security personnel, we have the Australian Federal Police, we also have counsellors available to talk things through with people."

The Prime Minister said the government was "determined to get this done".

"The Australian Federal Police can speak on operational matters, but we will do what is necessary to ensure people who are taken to Malaysia under the agreement are taken," she said

There are 70 AFP officers on the island. Those on assignment to respond to detainee unrest are not allowed to drink alcohol and they keep fit with daily running.

The potential use of force on asylum-seekers who refuse to go to Malaysia has appalled the Coalition of Asylum-Seekers, Refugees and Detainees.

CARAD chair Rosemary Hudson Miler said she remembered forcible removals from the mid-2000s when detainees were offered and accepted sedatives.

The prospect of that happening again was alarming, she said, because it was widely understood that detainees in such stresssful situations were not in a position to give full and proper consent to taking a sedative.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship aims to remove the asylum-seekers quickly.

The AFP said the riot police were on the island to respond to unrest at the detention centre, as well as any resistance to the deportations to Kuala Lumpur.

"The AFP's role is to provide security escort services during the flight from Christmas Island to Malaysia," a spokesman said.

"Officers will be deployed to staging and departure areas to provide support to DIAC during the transport of people on to the aircraft - this is to ensure security and safety."

The AFP's security role will end at the door of the aircraft when it touches down in Malaysia.

From there, the responsibility for moving the asylum-seekers into transit facilities will rest with the Malaysians.

The Whisperer

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Circulatory System

Unit 34 Reproductive System

Micro Organisms

Cell cycle & cell division