http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOav5edmU2o&feature=g-vrec

A video I've watched today on youtube, from the history channel.

This documentary provides a good amount of information regarding the major discoveries that help us build up today's image of anthropogenesis in a chronological order, covering the discovery of the fossils of the neanderthal, homo erectus, and the discovery of the fossils of Lucy, a homo Australopithecus.
Its a good thing I've decided to talk about this only after I've watched the entire video. I was about to challenge the fact that for nearly the entire documentary they spoke of neanderthals as 'our ancestors' when it is proven that we are two different species evolving from the same ancestors. Fortunately, they mentioned about this fact towards the end of the video so its pretty accurate afterall.
 
Anthropogenesis: The evolution of the human race

While I used to manage 2 blogs, I've decided to delete my older blog and to stick to this current one. My first blog all started as some silly piece of assignment and then as a way to practice on my language and to talk (lament) about life. My second blog on the other hand served as a platform for me put the things I've read up myself to good use and attempt to explain things as accurately as possible. However, what I've experienced in school as well as what I like to do both makes up important aspects of my life and are both inter-related and dependent on each other, so why not merge them? 

This is no longer just about how I see my life nor how I try to understand it. Its about me experiencing and understanding my life while I live it through. 

Still, there are things from my previous blog which I would like to keep in this current blog, such as the things I've said below. They weren't fond memories but they are things I would not want to forget, for they are still important to me.    

At this crucial point of time the realisation of  the futility of my attempts bestows upon me. A stroke of luck?

What is pride in oneself if all I strove for could not be appreciated by my reason to strive. Perhaps I am forever inferior to one of equal caliber equipped simply with differing talents?

Reality has caught up. Though I may not falter for now, my near future is clouded with uncertainty. 

11 November 2011

''Thats not going to get any better, so break it off from there. That way, a new shoot will grow so that new leaves will grow beautifully''-Honey and clover.  

12 November 2011

In times of sorrow I seek your support and yet, to no avail. A month of turmoil from the major examination my lifetime have ended as quickly as it came. I am now thrown into nothing more than a dull, vacant life, only to despair over your absence.

I spend every passing minute peering over my phone in desperation for your messages, knowing very well that in contrast, you spend your time lavishing every hour of playtime with your friends.
Friends...Was I ever treated as a friend by you? Your absence pains me, second, only to the reality that is dawning upon me. The reality of giving in to fate, which I had worked against ever since the day you were part of my life.    

18 November 2011

Keeping sane

Recently, I often worry about my sanity. The surmounting workload as the teaching of the syllabus goes full-throttle, the long school hours, but most of all the grim reality of the environment I live in- filled with students who could give up everything for the sake of academics achievement, students who delude themselves, becoming completely unaware of the importance of various skills in the real world, teenagers without a purpose nor a goal in life, and hypocritical individuals waiting for you to falter just so as to eliminate you from the 'race' so to speak.

I would only hope that as I learn to treasure what little true friends I possess who would genuinely accompany me through thick and thin, they too would learn and benefit just as much as I would with their support. I believe  benevolent ties would certainly triumph over hypocrisy.

Also, I have owl city to make me feel better  

Anguish

Painful words from the ones I cherish struck me hard again and again. Even as reverberating shocks still resonate within my already empty heart, a series of unrelenting though unintentional words continues to assault me. Just as much as I hope for my desirable outcome, it would never come to be if it goes against the wishes of  others. Human relations have always been in my opinion the most unpredictable and uncontrollable aspect of life. Now, should I salvage whatever remaining debris from a collapsed foundation knowing very well it would never form the perfect piece of architecture I pictured, or should I take to my heels and flee from her life. To flee from my problems and to spare myself from witnessing the construction of a beautiful infrastructure of my own desire, but in this case, not from my own hands. 

A lot of things have happened over the last few weeks. Unfortunately I have not been able to keep to my promise of adding one new post every week to my blog, as I was busy balancing my work with my national martial arts competition for the few past weeks. Looking back at my previous post I've come to realise it was pretty lame... Still, time and tide waits for no man, instead of lamenting over the past I rather look towards the future. Next week, I would be heading to the Nanyang technological university for my first professional science research programme. Life would become even more hectic now. Yet, it is a challenge I would welcome with open arms.

Some of the medals my team and I have won in a single day.

I wanted to write about a sense of belonging, but now that I thought about it, gratitude would be a better title for this blog post. Its going to be short and simple. 
Returning home by train, I came across many of my high school's alumnus who were returning back to my school for a game basketball. It dawned upon me that they return on a weekly basis several years after graduating from the school. They have not forgotten about their team members and made an effort to meet up and enjoy the good old days where they had back in school. Nobody could compare the bond they had with their team members to the bond these alumnus had. It is of no surprise my school's basketball team is among the strongest in the nation.

In Singapore, performers on the streets are rare. Despite my disappointment with the nation's attitude towards these unconventional jobs, I've grown to accept that nothing could be changed overnight. Nationwide, people are still blindly trying to further their education without a goal and even without knowing what they want to become, ultimately working for any company which can pay them and taking up mundane jobs which they do not enjoy. My country is young, sports and arts are just becoming more popular among students who choose to take up a different route in life. I am fortunate to have a performer around my neighbourhood and on board the train, I met him. As a singer, he was travelling alone to another place to perform and I witnessed him struggling with his equipment (speakers, microphones) as he scrambled off with the crowd and alighted at another station from mine. His work sets him constantly on the move, constantly singing for people and honestly I do not see him earning much revenue from performing. Having spoken to him, his fluent speech and polite mannerism would easily earn him a place in a company enjoying more financial stability than he has now, but until today he never did quit on his job.

We should appreciate the things around us which brightens our life and never forget the people who had once been by our side. For without them, you would never had grown into a better person (regardless of how much or how little growth there is) and your life would inevitably become more dull than it is today.

Extrasolar planets

Extrasolar planets are planets not found from our solar system in other words outside of our solar system. Recently astronomers have been finding more and more extrasolar planets and news of these planets appear once in a while. 


To introduce about extrasolar planets one important word we must know is eclipses. A common misunderstanding is that eclipses are only solar or luna eclipse. However, many phenomena are classified as eclipses rather than just the aforementioned occurrences. The proper definition of eclipse is  'The passage of one celestial body in front of another, cutting off the light from the second body'.

Extrasolar planets are difficult to find due to their distance, and the fact that the star they orbit tend to conceal the planets due to their sheer brightness and size relative to the planet. Quoted from a documentary 'The universe' in (discover channel or was it history channel) its like finding a flee in front of a headlight. However, it is possible to find it when an eclipse occurs. When a planet's orbit is positioned exactly at the astronomer's vantage point, a slight drop in the brightness of the sun at a specific point can be detected which suggests that a crossing planet is blocking out part of the sun where it is currently at as it travels. Of course there are many false alarms, but this method can enable astronomers to determine the size of the planets. Sadly most of the planets that are detected are huge gas planets which are big enough to cause a drop in brightness of us to detect.

Definition of eclipse: http://space.about.com/od/glossaries/g/eclipse.htm