I received an email from a friend yesterday, and got a shock when I looked at the images. I also decided to share with people who have not seen such amazing paintings before. You may click on the pictures to enlarge the size.


Caption: the artist

This is the artist who is so famous with 3D paintings on buldings. According to the email, his wife is an artist too. Anyway, there are few before-after images posted below, where you can observe how brilliant their drawing is. How is it possible to be some artwork? I mean, I might be those people who have not seen great artwork before, especially painting on buildings. This is probably the first time seeing all these (those brilliant artwork found in cathedrals in places like Italy are crafted, and not really painting). For me, his work is really amazing, and so, I think it is really worth sharing them here.


Caption: picture 1: before the painting


Caption: picture 1: after the painting

How can this be real? Oh my god! Anyway, here are the remaining pictures (below).


>Caption: picture 2: before the painting


Caption: picture 2: after the painting


Caption: picture 3: before the painting


Caption: picture 3: after the painting

There are questions written in the email: "How many birds or human will bang on the walls as if the painting is so real?". I don't know, I might probably be one of them? Lol.


Caption: picture 4: before the painting


Caption: picture 4: after the painting


Caption: a closer view of picture 4

Amazing isn't it? If so, the images below might amaze you more. Probably due to the environmental light inside the building, which makes the painting looks much realistic.


Caption: picture 5: before the painting


Caption: picture 5: after the painting

Take a closer look (click on the image to enlarge the size) at the painting. Look at the texture of the wall painted. Impressive!

<
Caption: side view (picture 5) of the painting


Caption: a closer view of picture 5

I was surprise when a friend send these video links to me. It looks like Microsoft is producing a new generation of computer. If you watch the video clip in the below, you may see some new technologies, interacting computer with banking, purchasing something with credit card, transfering an image to your phone by just dragging the picture to the mobile. This is something very interesting, yes?


Caption: new technologies developed by Microsoft

In fact, I attended some conferences at Cambridge university in 2007. The Microsoft representer demonstrated something similar to this. However, they have no concrete idea of how are they going to utilise the technology developed, as yet. So, they started with some minor research, producing an augmented reality notice board. Augmented reality is referred to some new technologies, emerging computer generated graphics onto the real world. In other words, it represents the augmentation of artificially synthesized graphics into the real-world environment.


Caption: an example of augmented reality


Caption: another example of augmented reality

These are new technologies which has attracted many researcher to set a focus on it. In the past few years, researcher manage to interact the augmented reality (AR) technology into the design of haptic interface, with which we could now touch the computer generated graphics with a data glove.


Caption: data glove

Sometimes, I was imagining if the AR technology could be useful in minimising some security related issues. If shops selling gold jewelery implemented AR technology in their shop, will that help to reduce security issues? Well, this is just an opinion :)

In the conference, the Microsoft presenter suggest that this electronic notice board will be useful in school (but he only explained very briefly, guess the lack of idea at that time). Anyway, this new technology is a depiction of future computers, where we do not need to have a keyboard or mouse as controller in the user interface.


Caption: a demo of Sony's pocket-sized unknown technology

On the other hand, Sony came out with some relatively similar technology. I personally believe that this technology would be very beneficial for people especially when dealing with e-commerce.


Caption: latest Japan technology

Recently, BBC reported some kind of mechanical technology developed by the Japanese. Equipting some machines such as talking device and GPS system, this machine is definitely not a normal one.

Very cool isn't it?

Do you dream? How often do you dream? A dictation from the cambridge dictionary, stating that dream is "a series of events or images that happen in your mind when you are sleeping". However, there are some facts stated that the term 'Dream' derived from the word Dreme, a term used for joy and music. Sometimes, it is very hard to explain brain works since human mind itself is complicated, and usually overloaded with massive information at all time. This is why human do dream even when they suppose to rest during sleep time. If you try to observe carefully, a person's eye ball will keep rotating when they are dreaming :O That is visible even when he/she closes his/her eyes while sleeping.


Caption: dreaming

In fact, many researcher stop focusing on certain factors of the creation of dream. They do not believe that dreams are expressions of our unconscious desires. In many cases, we are concious with our dream. This is why we sometimes dream of something we like. Some people think dream is meaningless, but some strongly againsts the statement. For me, I believe dreams are definitely not meaningless and not useless. Instead, I do treasure every dream I have had if that dream concerns my family members, and of course, striking lotto in the other day after dreaming is not exceptional :)


Caption: lucid dream

There are many types of dream.

Daydreams: Concious dream or imagination. You should have at least 70-120 minutes of day dream a day. As your mind begins to wander and your level of awareness decreases, you lose yourself in your imagined scenario and fantasy.

False Awakening Dream: Have you ever thought of waken up, doing daily activities and finally realized that it was just a dream? I usually have this dream when I start dreaming of writting :O

Lucid Dream: This is probably one of the most common dream. You know you are dreaming. When you wake up, you know this was just a dream, but you are usually happy with the dream. This is because you are able to control your dream. For example, in your dream, you know walking to workplace is tiring, so you controlled yourself to fly instead of walking.

Nightmare: Nightmare is usually disturbing. It causes you to feel anxious and frightened. We classify nightmare as post-traumatic Stress Nightmare. Research shows that most people who have nightmares regularly have a family history of psychiatric problems, are involved in a rocky relationship or have had bad drug experiences.

Recurring Dreams: Have you tried dreaming something for one section, and continuously dreaming of the same thing in the following day? This dream usually contained nightmarish content. Dreams may recur because a conflict depicted in the dream remains unresolved or ignored. In other words, once you solve the problem, your recurring dreams will cease.

Signal Dreams: This type of dream usually help you to make critical decision in your life.

Healing Dreams: Research shows that asthma and migraine sufferers have certain types of dreams before the attack. Your body are able to communicate with your mind through dreams. The dreams will inform you that something is not right with your body even before any physical symptoms show up. If you have this dream, please take good care of your health.

Prophetic Dream: This dream will help to forecast your future. One rational theory to explain this phenomenon is when your dreaming mind is able to explain bits of information and observation that you may normally overlook or that you do not seriously consider. In other words, your unconscious mind knows what is coming before you consciously merge the same piece of information.

Epic Dreams: The details of such dreams remain with you for months, or perhaps years, as if you just dreamt it again last night. These dreams possess much beauty, providing happiness and normally contain many archetypal symbology. When you wake up from such dream, you feel that you have discovered something profound or amazing about yourself or about the world. It feels like a life-changing experience.


Caption: dreaming

Dreams are interrelated to emotion. This means we can hardly understand how dream works because emotion is not easy to be explained since there is no direct attempt to explain emotion support in cognitive psychology. However, many new research believe that the amount of rapid eye movement during sleeping will determine the greater processing of dream in memory. But why is that so? I believe the amount of eye movement will allow us to relief powerful emotional memories without stress. That is why we keep what we observe or believe in the memory, but the emotion accompanying it gradually lessens.

This is exciting and I think it is important to understand the concept of dream. Dreams may usually be influenced by external factors such as scent. To those people who snore oftenly, the good news is that a person will not dream while snoring. There are some facts stated that most people will usually have a long and intense dream when they are trying to stop smoking and / or have some disease. Some articles stated that children of age 3 to 4 will not dream. Men usually dream more of their same gender. Women on the other hand will dream equally about men and women. Sometimes, a friend may say they do not dream. In fact, everyone dreams everyday. You might have forgotten what you dream but that does not mean you don't dream! In medical view, a healthy person will usually dream (though the understanding of dream in psychology suggest that the dreamer dream because he/she does not provide suffice rest to their brain). There may be a sign indicating the lack of protien if the person does not dream regularly. You might sometimes be able to tell what you have dream, but usually approximately half the content of the dream is forgotten if you are able to recall 5 minutes after the dream ends (or when you wake up). However, 90% of the content of the dream is usually forgotten if you are able to recall the dream 10 minutes after the dream ends. It is very normal thing for males to experience an erection (and female experiences increased vagina blood flow) when dreaming, even when they are not dreaming anything related to sexual. This simply means that "wet dreams" is a very common thing and may not necessarily coincide with overtly sexual dream content.

Of course, if you dream of 4-6 numbers, and striking the lotto (or jackpot) the other day, then that would be really great. I've read some psychology books, stating that dreaming is not good for a person. Guess that referred to the lack of resting for the brain. Therefore, do drink plenty of water every day. I heard that helps to relax your brain more.

There are some interesting facts of human blood. Recently, I have read some articles of different blood types and the compatibility. Many of us might know a little of these facts. The transfusion of animal blood into human was first attempted sometime around 1600. These experiments were proven disastrous. In 1900, the 4 major blood types (AB, A, B and O) were identified by Karl Landsteiner. This is why today we have the blood bank all over the world, providing some blood donation and services to people who really need them.


Caption: blood cells

Anyway, the 4 main blood types were divided into 8 different types: AB, AB-, A+, A-, B+, B-, O+ and O-. The picture in the below explained the four types of blood. Clearly seen in the below, there are distinct molecules called agglutinogens attached to the surface of the red blood cells. A broader level of specificity added to the blood type chart. This is done by examining the presence or absence of the Rh protein in our blood. Each blood type were subcategorised either in positive (+) or negative (-). A positive blood type shows that the person's blood contained the Rh protein. On the other hand, negative blood type by mean no Rh protein. For example, a person whose blood type is B+ has both B and Rh proteins on the surface of their red blood cells. This is why there are some restrictions for recipients from donors, depending on their blood type.


Caption: molecules and red blood cells


Caption: blood types compatibility chart

I think this is quite general, and therefore, I will only explain briefly. The chart above shows that recipients may only receive blood from compatible blood donors, such as: recipients with 0- blood type may only accept blood from O- blood type donors. AB receipients on the other hand may accept blood from any blood donors. According to research, there are only approximate 7% people on earth having O- blood type. This makes it much more difficult for people to look for blood donors for this blood type.


Caption: ABO blood plasma chart

Okay, this is interesting. Blood type is genetic. The A and B blood type are called codomimant alleles. In other words, the A and B antigen molecules on the red blood cell surface are produced by 2 different enzymes. O blood type is recessive, it is not apparent if the person inherits an A or B allele along with it. Therefore, this has generate some possibilities of blood combinations in particular blood type. Since everyone on earth inherit their blood type from their parents, there are some possible outcome of blood type from these combinations. For example, Mr. A whose dad has O blood type whilst his mom has a A blood type. The usual outcome is A blood type for Mr. A. However, I will not deny some other possibilities of Mr. A having O blood type, since there are random issues, specifying the combination of A (mom) + O (dad) blood type may result in O. However, this is certain. If one of your parents has O blood type, you (and / or your siblings) can NEVER have AB blood type as outcome. If they do, then something dealing with their DNA is definitely wrong.


Caption: blood type and inheritance

The Rh value in the red blood cells work similarly to blood type groups. If you are Rh (+), you may have genes for both positive and negative. If you are Rh (-), you have two genes for Rh negative. In the chart above, the child's Rh value is written in the white area.

Speaking of intelligent from part 1 of this post (click HERE), in science, we have Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. In music, we have Glenn Gauld. Too many geniuses in this world, and therefore, I really wanted to understand how different is their brain compared to ours. I have decided to read on some articles related to Einstein's brain and I found some really interesting facts of his brain.


Caption: a portrait of Albert Einstein

Back around a decade ago, in 1999, I have read an article in the readers digest, stating that the usage of brain cells are recognised in % basis. These % usage of the brain will determine the intelligent level of a person. An example was given: a high-school student's brain should normally contain 5%. However, it was stated that Einstein's brain contained 44%. If so, in mathematical calculation, Einstein is 8.8 times more intelligent than an average high-school student.



Caption: Einstein agreed that his brain to be analysed after death

Harvey Thomas (a pathologist in Princeton) splitted Einstein's brain in 240 pieces and kept it in a few jars in his car. According to Thomas, his brain looks a little shrunken, probably due to aging and therefore, it is slightly smaller than average. But anyway, as stated in a previous post (click HERE), the size of a person's brain will not determine his intelligent level. In other word, the size of a brain will not affect their intelligence. Later in 1980, a neurologist from California University (US) analysed some section of Einstein's brain, partly from the prefrontal and parietal lobes. What amazing is that the scientist found that Einstein's brain contained more glial cells (glial cells: non-neuronal cells that serve as support cells in the nervous system and help to protect neurons) to neurons (also known as nerve cell: a cell that is specialized to conduct nerve impulses). Glial cells are originally thought to only provide energy and resources for human. After the experiment, we now understand that glial cells are involved in neural processing and signal transmission. It is surprising that the amount of glial cells in Einstein's left parietal region were doubled compared to normal human. Some research indicated that damaging the left parietal of our brain will cause Gerstmann's Syndrome (difficulties with mathematical calculations/ writting formulae). Therefore, eminent neuro scientists believe that this region of the brain is important for visuo-spatial cognition.


Caption: brain stucture and regions

Einstein claimed to be dyslexic (a symptom of impairment in the ability to recognise words or difficulties in learning to read), with poor memory for words. There are possibilities that damaging the left parietal region in the brain may cause dyslexia, proven in many neurosciences research. Therefore, the low neuron-to-glial in this region may result in verbal difficulties rather than reasoning skills. Parietal lobe of the brain is responsible for processing sensory input (i.e. what we see, taste, smell, listen) and sensory discrimination. It is also called the ‘association area’. It is also responsible to receive and utilize from the lower levels of the brain (human brain has upper and lower level, and will be explained in the next few posts), any information of temperature, taste, touch, and movement from the rest of the body such as distance and position of objects. It is also responsible for reading and arithmetic (mathematics).


Caption: in-depth brain structure (cortex)

Another study in mid 1990 was conducted to look at the cortical tissues from Einstein's right prefrontal lobe. This lobe of our brain deals with working memory (short term and long term memory), planning, decision-making and motor coordination (communication between the brain and limbs). The scientist from Alabama University reported that the number and size of neurons in this region of the brain remained normal, but the cortex size was thinner than average. Supposely the cortex size of a person is 2.6 millimetres. Einstein's cortex size was reported to be thinner by 0.5 millimetres. This means that the cortical neurons (nerve cells that make up the cortex of the brain) in his brain were more densely packed than other people's brain. In general, the thinner size of the cortex may result in closer and speed-up communication between neurons.


Caption: a picture of Einstein's Brain (by National Geographic)

By the end of 1990's, Witelson (a neurologist) studied Einstein's brain again. He found that Einstein's brain are normal, except for his parietal lobes. He explained that the size of Einstein's parietal lobe is approximately 15% wider than average, producing a more spherical shape. He also found that a person's brain are asymetrical (parts in a brain is not similar in shape/size), but Einstein's parietal lobes were symmetrical (same in shape/size).


Caption: upper view of Einstein's Brain


Caption: left and right view of Einstein's Brain

The combination of the three different findings in the above have proven the differences of intelligence of a person. Though John Sweller (a famous cognitive scientist) suggests the distinction between expert and novice in learning will mainly rely on the aspects related to memory configuration: (1) how a person solve a problem, and (2) features used in categorising different problems, I assume there are much more areas for analyses although the key factors appointed by Sweller (memory region) seemed to have some interrelation to different lobes of the brain. For me, this areas (combination of cognitive and neuro psychology) are worth looking by researcher if you are planning for a PhD research.

This post is relatively important for people who has high blood pressure since this may significantly destruct your health. High blood pressure comes from the medical term, referring to hyper tension. The high blood pressure is one of the several risk factor that may result in developing heart attack, stroke, and some greater risk effects.


Caption: high blood pressure

The understanding of blood pressure is important. Blood pressure is also measured in mililitres of mercury (or mmHg), as two figures (the two normal figure of pressure is usually 150/95 mmHg). 150 is referred as the sytolic pressure (the pressure in the arteries when the heart contract). On the other hand, 95 is referred to diastolic pressure (the pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between each heartbeat).


Caption: a Sphygmomanometer (blood pressure measuring machine)


Caption: measuring blood pressure manually

The development of high blood pressure happens when the pressure in our arteries (we also called that as blood vessel) increased significantly over a period of time. This could refer to two possibility: either the blood pressure sustained or exceeded the 2 measurements of pressure of 150/95 mmHg (sytolic and diastolic pressure), let says 170/70 mmHg or 120/104 mmHg. The first example (170/70) shows that 170 has exceed the normal pressure unit of 150 whilst the second example (120/104) shows that 104 has exceeded the normal pressure of 95. This usually only happen when we have high blood pressure.

Some friends have asked: "what happen if our blood pressure exceeded 160/100 mmHg?". If so, the blood pressure is relatively high, and the person will usually be asked by his/her doctor to reduce it through medication. If your blood pressure is between 140/90 and 160/100 mmHg, you are usually infected by various disease / problems such as (1) high rish of developing cardiovascular disease (2) diabetes or (3) damage to the heart and / or kidney. Therefore, high blood pressure is a relatively serious health problem.


Caption: blood vessel

High blood pressure is commonly diagnosed by various symptoms: frequently anxious, stressed, people with diabetes, genetically inherited by family members and some other conditions, such as kidney or hormone problems that may also cause high blood pressure. However, the high blood pressure could be reduced through the reduction of overweight, execising regularly, healthy diet, reducing alcohol consumption, reduce/stop smoking, and low salt/caffein consumption. This risk may also be reduced when a person consume plenty of fruits and vegetables. Since high blood pressure is a risk that causes no symptoms, you are then adviced to regularly attend medical checkup (once every 3-5 years).


Caption: a picture of psychological capture for high blood pressure

There are also some solutions to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, with suppliments found from some medical articles.

Co-Q10. This nutrient is also known as Coenzyme Q10, a gem when it comes to cardiovascular problems and managing heart risk factors. People usually consume Co-Q10 when they have heart related problems. Co-Q10 is an essential ingredient for cellular energy production, but it’s also a potent antioxidant (antioxidant is potentially useful to also help reducing the risk of cancer). This ability to limit oxidative stress reduces inflammation and also enhances blood circulation. Co-Q10 is one of the supplements discovered to have shown to lower high blood pressure by up to 15 systolic points and 10 diastolic points. Nutritionist suggest to consume 100–225 mg of Co-Q10 daily in divided doses.

Magnesium. This mineral is known as remedies for high blood pressure. Magnesium has a direct impact on the ability of arteries to expand and contract, and deficiencies can cause arteries to spasm and constrict of potentially blocking blood flow. To control high blood pressure, consume 500 - 1,000 mg of magnesium daily.

Nattokinase. This supplement would help to prevent abnormal thickening of the blood, one of the main cause of high blood pressure. Nattokinase would have the potential of lowering blood pressure by 10–20 systolic points and 5–10 diastolic points. Start with 50 mg a day and increase the dose to 100 mg after a week. (Note: If you’re taking any kind of blood thinning drug (i.e. Coumadin), then try avoid consuming nattokinase. The combination of both could cause your blood to become too thin.

Fish oil. The omega-3 fats in fish oil have shown to be able to reduce blood viscosity. It was suggested by nutritionist to consume 2–3 grams daily.

B-complex. B-complex is useful to help in relaxation (i.e. stress and pressure, read more about B-complex HERE). This is why it is useful to reduce high blood pressure. First, it helps to replace the B vitamins lost in your urine if you’re taking a diuretic to control your blood pressure (all B vitamins are water soluble). Second, specific members of the B-complex family, such as vitamin B6, have antihypertensive effects. Folic acid contained in the B-complex is also helpful, particularly for women. You should always consume B complex vitamins, either in a stand-alone product or as part of a high-quality multivitamin. Just be sure consume at least 100 mg of B6 and 800 mcg of folic acid daily.

Vitamin C. Vitamin C is essential for building and maintaining healthy blood vessels. It is also a potent supporter of the body’s antioxidant system. This is why people consume vitamin C daily to help reducing the risk of flu and cough. It’s especially important for increasing levels of glutathione, a free-radical scavenger. Both of these effects support healthy blood pressure. It was suggested to consume 1,000 mg daily.

L-arginine. This amino acid is the main ingredient that your blood vessels need to make nitric acid, a substance that helps keep them properly dilated. Eating foods or taking supplements that provide 4–10 grams daily has helped lower blood pressure by 6 systolic points and up to 7 diastolic points. Foods rich in L-arginine include peanuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, soy, coconut, diary, meat, and variety of seafoods.

Quercetin. Similar to nattokinase, quercetin is usually found naturally in onions. It helps to break down blood clots and keep blood flowing properly. In many studies, people with high blood pressure who took 730 mg of quercetin daily for a month experienced a drop of 7 systolic points and 5 diastolic points.


IMPORTANT: Please follow the direction or prescription on the bottle, or get consultation from nutritionist if necessary. It is important to ensure that the nutritions you consume is appropriate and will not have any stimulant property. If they do, it may worsen the illness.

I think I have missed the Perseid Meteor shower in Britain a couple of days ago. It was believed that the Earth passes through a stream debris by comet, when it began to shower heavily on Thursday morning.


Caption: a picture of meteor taken in north of Geneva, Switzeland

People staying in the north of England and Scotland should have a clearer view of the meteor. Southern area such as Wales or Birmingham etc. could have a little chance seeing the meteor.


Caption: a picture of meteor somewhere near Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas


Caption: a picture of meteor taken in the north of Britain, Scotland


Caption: a picture of meteor flying passes Mont-Tendre in Switzeland


Caption: a glimpsed of meteor in Florida

Sometimes, I was wondering myself, is it true that we will be granted a wish when we see meteor flying pass us?