Education.Helix Goes Private!

Posted by HELiX

Eh, not really.

It’s still available for everyone and anyone to view, as registration is open. Just that, you gotta login to view the notes. It’s nothing much, really, so do take the time to register.

For today, Chemistry - Nitrogen Compounds Revision.

But Scribd iPaper seriously ruins the formatting once again, so please visit the Scribd link and download the original .docx Word file.

Have fun mugging!

Comments(0) 11:36 PM 9 September 2008

My Crazy Energy Idea

Posted by HELiX

The X Prize!

From the same foundation that brought you competitions such as the Ansari X Prize, where we saw the SpaceShipOne team spending US$20m to win the US$10m prize by being the first private organisation to achieve sub-orbital flight. Also, the Google Lunar X Prize, in which the first team to send privately-funded robotic rovers to the moon wins US$30m.

And just a few days ago, they launched the Energy and Environment X Prize, a US$25,000 contest on YouTube for people to suggest their ‘crazy green ideas’ which may be the next big thing. Contestants are to film a 2-minutes video answering the main question, “What’s your crazy big idea?”

I don’t have one.

But I just came across this…

There’s this place in Turkmenistan called by the locals, ‘The Door To Hell’, near the small town of Darvaz. I call it, ‘The Earth’s Asshole’.

35 years ago, some geologists were drilling for gas. They suddenly came upon a large underground cavern, so big that they probably shat bricks. The ground on which the drilling rig was placed collapsed, leaving a large gaping hole exposed with a diameter of about 50-100 meters.

Geologist John: “Whoa, check out this hole.”

Geologist Joe: “I don’t know… it smells kinda weird.”

Geologist John: “I wonder what happens if we throw a match in.”

Geologist Joe: “Here.”

None dared to go down there because the cavern was filled with gas. So they followed the scientific method by igniting it so that no poisonous gas could come out of the hole.

Geologist John: Don’t worry, it’ll stop in a few hours.

3 days later…

Geologist John: DUDE?! WTF HAVE WE DONE?

Geologist Joe: What do you mean by WE?! You were the genius who threw the match in there!

Geologist John: No-no-eh, no one comes by here anyway, let’s just leave it as it is.

Geologist Joe: Yeah man, let’s get out of here.

That was in 1971.

Since then, it has been burning for the past 37 years without interruption.

…My point?

So I was thinking, bloody hell, WHY NOT BUILD A POWER PLANT OVER THAT THING?

Comments(0) 5:08 PM 9 September 2008

It’s Been a While…

Posted by HELiX

Ah well, probably the last document I’m going to share openly before I activate the account system tomorrow.

GCE A-Level Essay Questions Collection

Comments(0) 2:07 AM 9 September 2008

Large Hadron Collider Part 2

Posted by HELiX

The LHC is just cool. I think this needs some perspective.

Admitted, when I first read about particle accelerators back in secondary one, I always thought that the scientists at CERN were already happily experimenting on their particle accelerator.

A few years later when I read about the LHC, I thought that they were building another particle accelerator. A bigger, better one this time.

And in recent weeks, because of how the news reports was putting it to everyone, I thought… wait, haven’t they built the particle accelerator for quite some time already? So all this time, CERN never had their particle accelerator completed and for all the years I’ve been thinking about how they have the greatest particle accelerator ever, it’s just nonsense?

But, well, guess what. CERN has a network of six particle accelerators and a decelerator. Each machine in the chain increases the energy of particle beams before delivering them to experiments or to the next more powerful accelerator.

Before the LHC, there were the Linac2 and Linac3, Proton Synchrotron Booster, Low Energy Ion Ring, Proton Synchrotron, Super Proton Synchrotron, On-Line Isotope Mass Separator and Antiproton Decelerator. Something we all don’t care about.

I also remember reading about one particle accelerator back then, being 27km in circumference, which is exactly the dimensions of the LHC. How’s that possible?

Apparently, they used to have their Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP) which is kinda what you’ll read about when you look up CERN in books today. It was their most powerful accelerator, but they had to dismantle it entirely to reuse the same 27km tunnel for the LHC.

Now, that clears things up.

…

I thought this was pretty cool.

A live webcam of CERN and LHC.

http://www.cyriak.co.uk/lhc/lhc-webcams.html

…

I thought this was pretty uncool.

Indian girl commits suicide over ‘Big Bang’ fear

BHOPAL, India - A teenage girl in central India killed herself on Wednesday after being traumatized by media reports that a “Big Bang” experiment in Europe could bring about the end of the world, her father said.

The 16-year old girl from the state of Madhya Pradesh drank pesticide and was rushed to the hospital but later died, police said.

Her father, identified on local television as Biharilal, said that his daughter, Chayya, killed herself after watching doomsday predictions made on Indian news programs.

“In the past two days, Chayya had asked me and other relatives about the world coming to an end on September 10,” Biharilal was quoted as saying.

“We tried to divert her attention and told her she should not worry about such things, but to no avail,” he said.

For the past two days, many Indian news channels held discussions airing doomsday predictions over a huge particle-smashing machine buried under the Swiss-French border.

The machine, called the Large Hadron Collider, was switched on on Wednesday, at the start of what experts say is the largest scientific experiment in human history.

The machine smashes particles together to achieve, on a small-scale, re-enactments of the “Big Bang” that created the universe.

Leading scientists and researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, said the experiment was safe. They dismissed as “pure fiction” doomsday predictions that the experiment could create anti-matter, or black holes.

But in deeply religious and superstitious India, fears about the experiment and the minor risks associated with it spread rapidly through the media.

In east India, thousands of people rushed to temples to pray and fast while others savored their favorite foods in anticipation of the world’s end.

“There were a thousand more devotees yesterday as well as today compared to (any) other normal day,” Benudhara Sahu, a temple official in Orissa state, told Reuters.

Comments(0) 3:08 PM 9 September 2008

Scribd iPaper! Not me.

Posted by HELiX

No notes for today ‘cos Scribd iPaper is messed up and wasn’t able to convert my files.

We messed up. Probably the most likely. We’re working very hard on improving our conversion system to prevent these messages from occurring. Try back again in a few weeks - if the next version of our conversion software fixes the problem, your document will appear automatically.

Hopefully it’ll work tomorrow. Has been for the past week; shouldn’t be a problem.

Comments(0) 11:38 PM 9 September 2008

Class Photos

Posted by HELiX

The class photos were distributed today!

While the Photography Club is insistent on not providing us the electronic JPEG file even after we have bought the photos, I have digitalised them!

This is the kind of photo that reminds me of how vertically challenged I am.

Guys being guys and girls being… nevermind.

Everyone who bought this photo only wanted it because of…

…this. LOL.

A + Head = B
Where A = Girls, B = Guys.

A milestone in pointlessness.

<3 !

Comments(0) 6:57 PM 9 September 2008

Large Hadron Collider

Posted by HELiX

Six years after my friends and I had the idea of building a particle accelerator under the BP compound, the Large Hadron Collider is ready for that purpose.

It’s kinda lame, y’know.

So today, there’s this big deal going around, jokingly, about how the LHC will be the end of the world. By smashing subatomic particles at velocities close to the speed of light, the guys at CERN will end up creating black holes and Sarah Palin’s, which will destroy the Earth more than what the Bush administration is doing.

Oh yes, CERN. The guys who made your Internet.

But look. For today, CERN is only planning to circulate a beam through the entire 27km length of the LHC. Seriously, some particles going for a walk will destroy the Earth?

The first high-energy collisions will only be next month, and nature would be so extremely fragile if puny low-density particle beams can collide and create a gigantic catastrophe.

Anyway, Shaz showed me this hilarious image of the LHC. Mainly understandable if you’re a PC gamer who plays proper games.

If anything, the LHC will open a portal to Black Mesa. Expect headcrabs and zombies!

…

Anyway, for today, just some notes from my school. Math - Complex Numbers Refresher Course.

Comments(0) 6:52 PM 9 September 2008