Last week, our lecturer brought us to the House of Parliament which is also known as The Palace of Westminster. The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Commonly known as the Houses of Parliament after its tenants, the Palace lies on the Middlesex bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster, in central London. i dont want to tell you about what is the function of the House of Parliament, im afraid i didnt get the fact straight. but im honored to be inside of this palace and see the inside of it, it is a great experience for me to see the sculpture and art from hundred years ago inside this palace. too bad, we're not allowed to take any picture inside of this building.
Do you know any of the famous opera singer...? no..? neither do I. I love music.. but not this kind of music. But...!! I do listen to classical music which is most of the opera singer sing. Last week, a famous opera singer came to our campus (but im not gonna write about her) to talk about how far can we go if we break our comfort zone. But.. i have my own opinion for being in my comfort zone, i am not sure if anybody gonna read this. Imagine you're in a little bubble which is YOUR comfort zone.. and one day you decide to be out of your comfort zone.. then you will be expose by the new surrounding which is harder than in your comfort zone.. but then, you will get used of your new surrounding and everything become usual to you.. either you realize or not, you actually still in your comfort zone and not out of your comfort zone.. it just your comfort zone became larger than before. BUT STILL...!!! YOU ARE IN YOUR comfort zone.. see..? actually.. non of this matter if you really try your best to become a better person.. as long as you try your best.. God will always help you.. IF you dont believe in God..? its ok.. you still got your friend and family to support you. BUT BEWARE..! dont rely to much to other person...
Well.. this is not my first time being in a museum in London, but this is the first time being in a museum with real dinosaur fossil in it. i dont know how to describe it in word but im really amazed by all those fossil. We came to see the exhibition from the other university in London, but honestly.. im not interested with that.. i interested more to see those 'dead things'. SORRY theres not much pic.. i was too busy looking at those things Do you know about the Great Fire of London...? i went to Museum of London few weeks ago and wander around to find something that catch my interest.. and boom..!! i found this Great Fire of London section. i never knew that there was such a tragedy in London before (which is some kind of cool in my opinion) to have that kind of history. for Londoners, the Great Fire of London is one of the well-known disaster in London's history. the fire began on 2nd September 1666 and lasted for five days..! imagine how great the fire was. according to the news, the fire destroyed one-third of London and became the cause of 100,000 people homeless. this catastrophic event had a devastating effect on the lives of Londoners from all part of society. do you know how long it takes to rebuild the city...? let me tell you, it took 50 freaking years to rebuild the ruined city. London would be a much better place than today if the Great Fire of London didn't happen. But how did this disaster start..? The main reason for this catastrophe is because there was fire. ??? just kidding.. no offend of course. according to the news, the fire might be started by a spark from Thomas Farriner's oven and fell into a pile of fuel nearby. but why the fire spread easily..? That is because London was a very dry place after a long, hot summer and the area around Pudding Lane (which is the place where the disaster happened) was full of warehouse containing highly flammable things such as timber, rope and oil. coincidentally, a very strong wind blew that night that cause the fire spread fast. p/s: some fact saying that the fire's temperature was as high as 1700 degree celcius..!! imagine... Fire is a friend if they small... but become the worst enemy if they become larger
Last week we went to Science Museum London. There are so many interesting things that i never seen before and i feel like i have not enough time there even though i have been there for several hours. Let me tell you you a simple brief about The Science Museum. The Science Museum is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and today is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 2.7 million visitors annually. Even though we sent there by our lecturer to gain more knowledge and experience, we're also assigned to do find something that interest us much and explain it. So first, i went to the Antenna exhibition spot where they focus in Science biggest breakthroughs and surprising science stories. Antenna : The Big Bang Theory Well, the one that place in Antenna exhibition spot that caught my interest was The Big Bang. Throughout history, curiosity has been driving force for humans. we constantly ask how and why things are the way there are. How did the Big Bang give birth to our universe? There are still many unanswered question. To explain the unknown, scientist must push the boundaries of what they understand. And to do this they start with ideas. To understand the biggest thing, the universe, it helps to look at the smallest things. Scientists discovered that all the stuff around us is made up of atoms. By delving inside the atom, they found the nucleus, and inside the nucleus protons and neutrons. When they looked closer they found that protons and neutrons are made up of quarks, particles that scientists think are some of nature's smallest building blocks. But how do these smallest particles shape our world? Over 13 billion years ago the Big Bang gave birth to the universe creating space, time, energy and matter. To understand the laws of our universe now, scientists must work out how particles behaved at its high-energy beginning. They imagine what the universe was like then, but base their ideas on how our world behaves today. Now, to test their theories, they've built a machine to recreate the conditions of our universe just after the Big Bang began. There are lots of things that scientists are yet to discover about our universe. Why are we here? What is our universe made of? Why does anything have mass? To solve these fundamental questions, scientists have imagined possible answers and have built the biggest ever particle physics experiment to put their ideas to the test. To find the answers to the big questions, engineers and scientists have built the biggest ever underground experiment - the Large Hadron Collider. It will smash particles together to produce the highest ever controlled energy on Earth. And it's due to be switched on in December 2007. Scientists hope this incredible machine will enable them to find out if their ideas about the universe are correct. 3D Printing For The Future There are a few interesting 3D printed item i saw in this 3D section. One of them is this... Pneuma 2 (The Lung Armor) This stunning Sculpture was designed by architect and designer Neri Oxman and 3D printed with one of the 3D printer that can print complex object in two kind of material at the same time. The sculpture is one of 18 ‘beings’ featured in Oxman’s collection and is inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’ Book, ‘Imaginary Beings,’ an encyclopedia of imaginative zoology that contains descriptions of 120 mythical beasts from folklore and literature. Each 'being' in this series personifies a particular human function – breathing in the case of ‘Pneuma 2’. Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX) "Emma has a condition that makes it nearly impossible for her to move her arm. Three years ago, when Emma was two, she gave WREX a try - she lifted her arm up for the first time! The original WREX was too large and heavy, so we 3D printed a smaller version in lightweight plastic. Emma now calls them her 'magic arm'." "Its quick and easy to 3D print WREX for young growing children" Another interesting things in Science Museum. Napier's Bone (My Favourite) In the early 1600s, a Scottish mathematician called John Napier, the inventor of logarithms, also invented a tool called Napier's Bones. John Napier's rods (1617) (Napier Rechenstäbchen), also known as Napier's bones, were one of his most important contributions to the world of mathematics. The rods were basically multiplication tables inscribed on sticks of wood or bone. More advanced use of the rods can even be used to extract square roots and cube roots. The surface of the rod is divided into 9 squares, and each square, except for the top one, is divided into two halves by a diagonal line. In the first square of each rod a single-digit number is written, and the other squares are filled with double, triple, quadruple and so on until the last square contains nine times the number written in the top square. The digits of each product are written one to each side of the diagonal and in those cases in which they are less than 10, they are written in the lower square, writing a zero in the top square. A set consists of 10 rods corresponding to digits 1 to 9. In the figure the rod index is not necessary for actual calculations, but is used as an index for quick reference. SpiroGraph The mathematician Bruno Abakanowicz invented the Spirograph between 1881 and 1900. It was used for calculating an area delimited by curves. Drawing toys based on gears have been around since at least 1908, when The Marvelous Wondergraphwas advertised in the Sears catalog. An article describing how to make a Wondergraph drawing machine appeared in the Boys Mechanic publication in 1913. The Spirograph itself was developed by the British engineer Denys Fisher, who exhibited at the 1965 Nuremberg International Toy Fair. It was subsequently produced by his company. US distribution rights were acquired by Kenner, Inc., which introduced it to the United States market in 1966 and promoted it as a creative children's toy. In 1968, Kenner introduced Spiro-tot, a less complex version of Spirograph, for preschool-age children too young for Spirograph. Icy Bodies These swirling, misty patterns form when solid lumps of carbon dioxide (dry ice) fall into the water and warm up. When most frozen things warm up, they go from a solid to a liquid and then to gas. But dry ice changes straight from a solid to gas -it sublimes. As the lumps of dry ice sublimes, jets of cold gas shoot out. this makes the lumps spin around, creating the beautiful pattern you can see. Sticky Liquids
Ever noticed how some liquids are runnier that the others? The runniness of a liquid is measured by its viscosity. Think of some liquids in your kitchen: at the same temperature, treacle (which ooze slowly) has a much higher viscosity than milk (which pour quickly). Which liquid do the air bubbles find it hardest to push through? Which liquid does the marble drop through quickest? So, we've assigned to write about our favorite song. Well, mine is from this band called Avenged Sevenfold. Please listen to this song below while reading the lyric and enjoy the music...!
A construction of Xiely Garden, a green roofed community kindergarten in Wuxi has been started by United Design Group (UDG) China. The spiraling three-story structure wraps around a central courtyard, while its sloping green roof connects the street level to the upper floors. The UDG want the children to be filled with natural light and surrounded with lush vegetation to provide children with a direct connection to nature. This three-story kindergarten is the cause of busy intersection since it is surrounded by high rise tall apartment, and because of that, the children could be exposed to the danger of traffic and city noise. In order to overcome that problem, the architect placed the outdoor playground and flag-rose field at the center of an oval-shaped courtyard. A curved ramp provides quick access from the sidewalk to the third floor and reinforces the spiraling shape of the building. To maximize natural light, each floor is wrapped in floor-to-ceiling glazing and nine rectangular skylights punctuate the green roof. On the south side of the building, UDG added another courtyard nestled between the ramp and the traffic-shielding, vegetated earth berms. The project is expected to complete in 2015. Do you know what is Marshmallow Challenge...? Well, Marshmallow Challenges is an activity that is very interesting and remarkably fun which is also enhances the the spirit of cooperation and collaboration also innovation and creativity among the team. In order to complete this challenge, your teams must build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow in 18 minutes. The marshmallow needs to be on top. The winner will be the team that have the tallest free standing structure. Choose wisely the person that you want to be in your team because that person might be the one that will decide the rise or the fall of your group. Then in 18 minutes you'll have to design and start creating your tower. When the challenges end, a surprising lesson will emerge when you compare all the teams performance. Who tends to do the worst? Why are they the worst? Who tends to do the best? Why they are the best? What improves performance? What kills it? All that questions will make you realize what are your team strength and weakness, and by that information you should know how to improve your strength and how to make up for your weakness. That is the real objective for this Marshmallow Challenges and the team that can reach this objective is the real winner. even though their tower collapse or didn't manage to stand, that doesn't mean they're the loser. As long they can learn from their mistakes and they realize their weakness, it is possible for them to make a taller tower structure than the winner. Right...? Here is a few picture from this Marshmallow Challenges.
The Crystal is a sustainable cities initiative by Siemens, the global electronics and electrical engineering powerhouse. Located at London’s Royal Victoria Dock, the 21,500-square foot interactive exhibition serves as home to Siemens’ Center of Competence – Cities, a team of multi-disciplinary urban experts, and guides visitors through the urban infrastructure of the future by examining the possibilities for sustainable mobility, building technologies, power and water supplies, and healthcare. The Crystal is a very interesting place, when we first entered the building, we were approached by the guide-tour guy there and he explained to us what The Crystal do and its objective. After that, that tour guy brought us to see the exhibition inside of The Crystal. He first brought us to the 'Forces of Change' zone. it is a zone where an immersive black box theatre uses ten DLP projectors to create a dynamic presentation displaying the challenges of Demographic Change, Urbanisation and Climate Change. It is very interesting videos and very well presented. After that, the tour guy brought us to the other zone to discover our Urban Future. The 'Creating cities' zone which includes the “Cities Icon” crafted from LED panels displaying images received from the control room, and a multi-player game which can have up to 5 player at the same time. Then, we proceed to the 'Safe and Sound' zone that features the "fire prevention" exhibit; giant, cut-out lettering on modules spell words related to the security theme, while three interactive terminals enable visitors to modify a big, curved low-resolution LED display of flames with their responses. There is a few zone more but the 'Future Life' zone is the last that i went. This zone centered on an optimistic panoramic show, “Enter the City of the Future,” which is displayed on a nine-metre curved screen by three DLP projectors with short-throw zoom lenses, and shows how cities could look and operate if ideas presented in the Crystal were to be applied. Well, that's it what our visit was, i had a great experience by coming to The Crystal. If i have a free time i'll surely come here again. if you want to read more detail about The Crystal, Click HERE.
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