Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Sink Hole at Jalan Universiti


PETALING JAYA: A sinkhole so big that it could “swallow” several cars appeared on Jalan Universiti here, bringing traffic to a halt.
At least three cars were damaged when high-pressure water gushed out of a burst pipe that was recently installed in the area.

Two people were injured and three police reports were lodged for separate cars, said Petaling Jaya OCPD Assistant Commissioner Arju-naidi Mohamad.

Deep trouble: This giant sinkhole appeared on Jalan Universiti in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, yesterday and caused several hours of havoc as traffic came to a halt. Two people were injured and three cars damaged in the incident. - S.S. KANESAN /THE STAR

The incident occurred around 4.30pm yesterday. Earth and debris were strewn along the road.

Motorists plying the road during the after-work rush hour were caught unawares and traffic came to a standstill.

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) public complaints director Tengku Nazaruddin Zainuddin said police and MBPJ enforcement officers helped to direct traffic.

“Fire department personnel also helped injured passengers out of the cars and sent them to the hospital.”
Syabas corporate affairs executive director Abdul Halem Mat Som said the pipes belonged to the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry.

Right in the middle: Two of the three cars covered in mud after they were pulled out from the sinkhole that appeared on Jalan Universiti in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

“So there won’t be any water disruption in the area,” he said.

The contractor in charge of the pipe relocation project arrived at around 7pm to carry out repair works.

Cars heading towards the Federal Highway and Jalan Gasing were diverted to a contraflow lane and traffic eased by 8pm.

This article and photos are extracted from The Star Online.

From the picture, the black Honda City actually belongs to my friend's colleague. I guess from the description, he is the first victim of the sink hole.

Lets start from the beginning, once upon a time, the guy, was driving on the said road when suddenly, his car sunk down on and then a great gush of water came from below and flung his car out.

His car overturned and upon the great impact, the airbag mechanism was activated. His driver and passenger seat doors were stucked and he have to escape through the back door with the help from some passer-bys.

He sustained some injury on his arm and scratches on his face and body. Not sure on any other injuries. At least he was still able to walk out from his car.

The best thing or maybe the worst thing is his Honda City was newly bought and was collected last Saturday. On one hand, the car was a total loss but at least the air bag did save his life.

The other victim whose car do not have airbag sustained heavy injuries. So, this guy is quite lucky to have gotten off with lightly.

By the way, this is the usual way I always use to go to and back from Universiti Malaya. Luckily this week I did not go there by any chance.
"A statement by the Energy, Technology, Green and Water Ministry said the incident was caused by a pressure trial test conducted by the contractor who is laying 1,800mm diameter pipes along Jalan Universiti and its surrounding areas.
The steel end cap soldered onto the pipe had failed during the test, causing the pipe to burst."

Extracted from Star Online, 28 April 2010.

Lastly I would like to say is, "Malaysia BOLEH!!"

Friday, April 23, 2010

Announcement for MSPP-DYNAMAX Training

ANNOUNCEMENT

MSPP TRAINING COURSE

Techniques and Instrumentation-

SAP FLOW MEASUREMENTS & WATER RELATIONS MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

13-14 May 2010
UPM, Selangor

Climate change has brought many challenges in relation to adaptive capabilities of plants to extreme climate condition. Water balance in plants would an area that would provide possible to answers to this challenge.
Advances in the techniques for sap-flow measurements have made the measurement of water use in crops, trees and vines a simpler process to monitor. Measuring sap flow directly, provides answer on how much water does a plant need to be healthy, and how much stress can a plant experience without production losses. Hence, a training course is organized on handling, measurement and data handling of sap flow and water conductance in stem and root

Dynamax was the first company to patent and build a practical electronic sap flow sensor, the Dynagage, for measuring actual water movement in the plant stem. Dynamax is recognized as the worldwide leader for sap flow and sap flow loggers in irrigation, phytoremediation, crop science and forest hydrology.

OBJECTIVES

 To expose participants in the instrumentation of sap flow sensors and its applications
 To discuss on the issues relating to water conductance in stems and roots of the plant
 To enhance capacity in data handling data collected on water movement in plants.
 Examine plant water stress indications
 Refine Oil Palm water requirements for irrigaiton
 Control environmental impact with Plants remediation of effluent water.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

 Researchers and students with interest on studies in plant science, crop water status, water cycle measurement, plant-water relations, hydrology, and water quality engineering with Phyto-technology.
 Laboratory technician

*Enquiries and Pre Registration can be made to LABQUIP (M) SDN. BHD by sending registration form to WONG SEE WAH at:
E-Mail: see_wah@labquipasia.com
Tel: 03-7804 4770
Fax: 03-7804 5545
H.P: 012-6768 915

*Please bring your Flow32 with sap flow sensors and TDPs, and HPFM/HCFM, if you have*

SPEAKER
Mr. Michael Van Bavel
President,
DYNAMAX, Inc. Houston, TEXAS

Mr Mike Van Bavel is a member of Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and is the inventor of Dynagage sap flow sensors and the Flow4 Sap Flow Irrigation Control System. He has vast experience in sap flow sensing technology.

COURSE REGISTRATION FEE
Members RM 200.00
Non-members RM 350.00
Payment made to Persatuan Fisiologi Tumbuhan Malaysia
Payment can be made by cheque or bank in before 5 May 2010 to:
Persatuan Fisiologi Tumbuhan Malaysia (MSPP)

Account No. : 1215-0010101-05-8

CIMB Bank Berhad
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
43400 Serdang, Selangor

*Terms & Conditions:

Participants are accepted only after payments are received by MSPP. There is no refund on cancellation. A substitute participant is acceptable. Limited to 40 participants only, first come first serve basis.

Calling all plant physiology researchers!! Don't miss out your chance to this opportunity!!

Lunch and light refreshment is provided.

Click here to check out Dynamax products.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Earth Day 2010

Happy Earth Day to all Earthlings!!

Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever. While climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, it also presents the greatest opportunity – an unprecedented opportunity to build a healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future.

Earth Day 2010 can be a turning point to advance climate policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy and green jobs. Earth Day Network is galvanizing millions who make personal commitments to sustainability. Earth Day 2010 is a pivotal opportunity for individuals, corporations and governments to join together and create a global green economy. Join the more than one billion people in 190 countries that are taking action for Earth Day.

On another note, regarding the crisis in Europe caused by the volcano eruption at Iceland with its hard to pronounce volcano's name, Eyjafjallajokull also affected us at Labquip. Our principal who was supposed to come to Singapore has to postpone his flight due to the closure of air space in major parts in Europe.
 
Airlines toted up losses topping $2 billion and struggled to get hundreds of thousands of travelers back home Wednesday after a week of crippled air travel, as questions and recriminations erupted over Europe's chaotic response to the volcanic ash cloud.


Civil aviation authorities defended their decisions to ground fleets and close the skies — and later to reopen them — against heated charges by airline chiefs that the decisions were based on flawed data or unsubstantiated fears.
The aviation crisis sparked by a volcanic eruption in Iceland left millions in flightless limbo, created debilitating losses for airlines and other industries and even threatened Europe's economic recovery. An aviation group called the financial fallout worse than the three-day worldwide shutdown after the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

It was a lesson in mankind's dependency on air travel, the vulnerability of a vital industry, and the confusion that can ensue when each nation decides for itself how to handle a problem that crosses borders.

The air space over most of Europe opened Wednesday after the vast, invisible ash-laden cloud dispersed to levels deemed safe. Restrictions remained over parts of Britain, Ireland, France and the Scandinavian countries.


Electronic boards in Europe's biggest hubs — London's Heathrow, Paris' Charles de Gaulle and Germany's airport at Frankfurt — showed about 80 percent of flights on schedule as airlines began filling vacant seats with those who had been stranded for days. But with 102,000 flights scrapped worldwide over the last week, it could take over a week to get everyone home.


In Iceland, the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) remained active Wednesday — throwing magma chunks the size of cars into the air, bubbling lava and producing tremors. But it was not shooting ash and smoke four to six miles (6 to 10 kilometers) into the air like it did previously.
Civil aviation officials said their decision to reopen terminals where thousands of weary travelers had camped out was based on science, not on the undeniable pressure put on them by the airlines.
Despite their protests, the timing of some reopenings seemed dictated by airlines' commercial pressures.
The European decision to partially reopen airspace did not come until the fifth day of the crisis, when transport ministers of the affected states met by teleconference. The plan carved up the sky into relative zones of safety where the flight ban remained in place or was lifted according to the concentration of ash.



Thursday, April 15, 2010

WATCH OUT POLYSCIENCE PROMOTIONS!!!



GRAB EBIOX HAND WASH
while stock last!


Save the Earth



What Is Global Warming?
Over the last 100 years, the average temperature of the air near the Earth´s surface has risen a little less than 1° Celsius (0.74 ± 0.18°C, or 1.3 ± 0.32° Fahrenheit). Does not seem all that much? It is responsible for the conspicuous increase in stormsfloods and raging forest fires we have seen in the last ten years, though, say scientists.

Their data show that an increase of one degree Celsius makes the Earth warmer now than it has been for at least a thousand years. Out of the 20 warmest years on record, 19 have occurred since 1980. The three hottest years ever observed have all occurred in the last ten years, even.

Earth should be in cool-down-period
But it is not only about how much the Earth is warming, it is also about how fast it is warming. There have always been natural climate changes – Ice Ages and the warm intermediate times between them – but those evolved over periods of 50,000 to 100,000 years.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Earthquake Everywhere!! What is the world coming to??

It is quite common when we switch on our television and watch the news there will be stories on devastating earthquake in some part of the world.

For year 2010, we heard of Haiti, Indonesia and now China again.

Such occurances might be a way of Mother Earth trying to tell us something. If only we take a bit of our time and listen properly to what Mother Earth is trying to say.

So, what can we do? Maybe we should switch off the light that always stay on even when no one is in, or switch off the air-cond on a cool day, use electronic paper instead of paper for documents, take public transportation on weekends, use reusable bags when buying grocery and etc.

There are many things that we can do to help protect and preserve our natural resources. It is just a matter of whether are you willing to do it or not.

Take one day off your busy schedule, look around you and ask yourself, "What have you done for Mother Earth today?".

Do your part today for Mother Earth as it is the responsibility of everyone that stays and uses the resources that nature provides us.

Save the world.

See Wah signing out.

Picture courtesy of Loft Life Magazine

China earthquake kills hundreds in Qinghai


At least 300 people have died and thousands are feared hurt after a magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck China's Qinghai province, officials say.
The powerful tremor hit remote Yushu county, 800km (500 miles) south-west of provincial capital Xining, at 0749 (2349 GMT), at a shallow depth of 10km.
Chinese TV showed wrecked buildings and people scrabbling through debris.
Officials ordered rescue crews and supplies to Yushu, but the area is hundreds of miles from a major airport.
ANALYSIS
Michael Bristow
Michael Bristow, BBC News, Beijing
The earthquake struck just before 0800 local time - when many people were still at home. It was followed by three aftershocks.
Some media reports say most buildings in the town near the epicentre fell down. Grainy pictures on Chinese television showed rescuers pulling at the rubble of one collapsed structure. Soldiers have been sent to the area to help with the rescue.
The earthquake happened in a remote and sparsely populated area on the Tibetan plateau. The area is regularly hit by earthquakes.
Emergency teams are making their way from Xining and neighbouring provinces - with the first specialist quake team expected to reach Yushu within hours.
"Soldiers have been dispatched to save the people buried in the collapsed houses," local official Huang Limin was quoted as saying by China's state news agency Xinhua.
One official told journalists more than 85% of buildings in Jiegu town near the epicentre had collapsed.
"The streets in Jiegu are thronged with panic - injured people, with many bleeding in the head," Zhuo Hua Xia told Xinhua.
"Many students are buried under the debris due to building collapse at a vocational school.
BBC map
"I can see injured people everywhere. The biggest problem now is that we lack tents, we lack medical equipment, medicine and medical workers."
Many of the buildings in Yushu, a county with a largely Tibetan population of about 250,000, were thought to be made from wood.
In 2008, a huge quake struck neighbouring Sichuan province which left 87,000 people dead or missing.
Quake-prone region
Karsum Nyima, from Yushu county's TV station, told China's state-run CCTV that school students had been assembled in outside playgrounds, although school buildings had not collapsed.
RECENT DEADLY QUAKES
Feb 2010: Magnitude 8.8 quake in central Chile kills at least 450
Jan 2010: About 230,000 die in magnitude 7.0 tremor in Haiti
April 2009: Quake measuring 6.3 in L'Aquila, Italy, kills 300 people
May 2008: 87,000 die in 7.8 scale tremor in Sichuan province, China
Oct 2005: Quake measuring 7.6 hits north Pakistan, killing 73,000
"In a flash, the houses went down. It was a terrible earthquake. In a small park, there is a Buddhist tower and the top of the tower fell off," he said.
"Everybody is out on the streets, standing in front of their houses, trying to find their family members."
Zhuo De, an ethnic Tibetan resident of Yushu, who spoke by phone from the capital of Qinghai province, Xining, said there could be many more casualties.
"The homes are built with thick walls and are strong, but if they collapsed they could hurt many people inside," he said.
The remote high-altitude region is prone to earthquakes, but officials from the US Geological Survey said this was the strongest quake within 100km of the area since 1976.
Residents of Yushu county wait after the quake, 14/04
Residents of Yushu fled their homes after the quake
The region, which is home to Tibetan farmers and herdsmen, is dotted with coal, tin, lead and copper mines.
After the Sichuan quake, five million people were left homeless, and officials estimated rebuilding work would take at least three years.
The government later punished people who had compiled lists of the victims and had suggested shoddy school-building was partly to blame for the high death toll.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Promotions!!


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Visit us at our booth C12 ~ Lab Indonesia from 14th - 16th April 2010