Creature that can survive in space!

I’ve been back in Malaysia for about 3 days and after catching up with all the good food and shopping, I decided to spend some time at home writing. I was wondering what would be interesting, went through my drafts and saw this! I’ve been wanting to blog about this since last year but never found the time. Special thanks to Jiin Joo for telling me about this “alien”-ish creature!

The Waterbear!

This creature is no other than the Waterbear which bears the scientific name Tardigrade for slow-walking animal. For starters, (this will disappoint you) they are not your average-sized mammal but microscopic creatures that resemble a GUMMI bear with a face, claws and paws. They come in Gummi bear colours of orange, red and green too!

Check out this video of the Waterbear walking. You can actually see its paws and feet:

Where can you find them? According to Microscopy UK, they can be found almost anywhere especially in water droplets of dark moss. Among some of the extreme places where their existence has been encountered are at the top of the Himalayas, in hot springs and under thick layers of solid ice. One of the unique traits of the Waterbear that allows them to survive in literally any condition is their ability to “sleep” and “revive” themselves again. They are capable of deactivating their metabolism turning into a suspended state which will “reactivate” when exposed to water. Talk about people who need a bucket of water splashed on their faces to wake up. Watch the video of the Waterbear’s “returning from the dead” process here.

The other extreme conditions they are able to survive in (where most living things suffer/die) are temperatures over 100C, absolute zero, pressures many times the atmospheric pressure, in vacuum and even a decade without water. There are a few parties online who mention a NASA Space Shuttle experiment (which I failed to find on the official NASA website) where a few microbes including the Waterbear were placed on a rock and put in outer space. Upon entering the vacuum, the microbes went into a suspended state and despite long-term exposure their DNAs were not affected by any radiation. In other words, the Waterbear’s DNA is radiation resistant. This rare ability to survive in vacuum and withstand radiation has caused speculations that these creatures are capable of interplanetary travel and may have come to Earth from other planets. It still remains a question of how long the Waterbear will be able to survive in this suspended state(some say a few years) and whether it is able to withstand the harsh conditions that deep space holds to travel to another galaxy.

The Waterbear is certainly one of those marvels of science (and mystery of outer space?) with a lot for us to learn from. Who knows, when we discover the secrets behind their DNA we might be able to apply the knowledge gained to modify and make our DNAs more resistant to radiations and MAYBE… (a huuuge maybe) hibernate long enough for inter-galactic travel. Mysteries are knowledge waiting to be mined and as the saying goes, with knowledge comes great power
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Interesting resources you might want to check out:
The incredible waterbear!
The Waterbear it is! from Scientific Blogging
Earth Life could possibly reach Titan from Slashdot. (Discussions under comments are really interesting)
Hunting for ‘bears’ in the backyard

The NUS Facebook Module: A student’s perspective

Exams have just come to an end for me today! (Woohoo! FINALLY!). It has definitely been an interesting semester with me being in the pioneer group of 2 subjects, one of which is the famous Facebook module. Reflecting on all that’s happened in the past 5 months, I thought some of you might be interested on how the Facebook module went considering the many pre-semester “speculations” about it. So here’s a quick write-up of my experience and thoughts. All comments and questions are welcomed!
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Quick introduction (skip if you already know what the module is about…)
For starters, the official name of the module is CS3216: Software Development on Evolving Platforms. The main objective of the module wasn’t so much to teach students how to create Facebook applications but rather to learn how to use Application Programming Interfaces(APIs) of various web platforms (Friendster, Open Social) to create applications. As Facebook is one of the rapidly growing platforms among students in Singapore, it became the choice of this module. Class is very small with a total head count of 51 students from various faculties (including Law). For more info, read the official introduction here.
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The class structure…
Many thought that non-computing/engineering students won’t be able to contribute much as they can’t code but this turned out to be quite different because of the way the class is structured. The assignments are very open ended with only minimal requirements. By requirements, I don’t mean concrete things like “Your application must be a wall that people can scribble on” but rather “Your application should allow interaction between users and those interactions should be visible to others“.

Grading for the assignments is not based on technical aspects alone either with 70% awarded for meeting stated requirements and 30% for creativity (Final project is FREE FOR ALL with no requirements). Hence having a team with technical prowess alone is not enough to do well in this module. It takes a combination of various skill sets like creative-thinking, design, marketing and coding which gave room for everyone to contribute in their own respect.
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Opportunity to explore
To be honest, I didn’t do much coding even though I am a Computing student (I hate coding!! ^^;;). I contributed more in terms of idea-generation, conceptualization, user interface and incentive design. The way the class was structured allowed me and I believe others to really focus our skills in where our interests truly were and take the leap to try out new things. For example, I got a first hand experience at game architecture and mechanics design which was waaay more brain-draining than I expected. (If I’m not wrong, some musically-inclined people got to show their composition skills as well)

However not everyone had the opportunity to delve deeper into their interests. I know a few who wanted to improve their PHP coding skills but as there was a shortage of talent (e.g: design), they ended up doing what they do best for the benefit of the team. I guess I was lucky to be in teams where both my interests and skills were complementary to the rest of my team members.
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Do what you like for homework
Yea!! This is the part I can’t stop loving. I used to complain and whine about how university assignments take up so much time that I hardly have any left to work on my own ideas. This module was an opening for me. Due to the open-ended nature of the assignments, we could literally do ANYTHING we wanted for homework. From the list of applications created for the final project, one can see that majority of the class’ interest lied in games (guess it goes with the class being composed of more guys than girls). How many modules allow you to work on your dream idea and earn credits for it?

Some cool games: Farm Wars 2, Ant Rush, Alt Real and Law School (Haha the concept behind Law School is interesting.)

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Exposure exposure exposure…
I’d say that the learning curve is extremely steep for this module not in the technical sense but in the post-production segment. Being on Facebook, most of our applications are exposed to the public and hence there is a lot of work to be done once user feedback and statistics start trickling in. I find myself spending more time cracking my head on how to convert user feedbacks into changes that lead to improved user experiences than development. Of course this is not a bad thing because how often do you get to show your homework to the world and know what people think of it? This is definitely one of the most practical module I’ve taken at NUS thus far.

Another element that my professor and teaching assistants have been working hard on was getting exposure for our work and skills among business people. There were many sessions where we could meet with company CEOs, form potential partnerships and showcase our work to them. Even though not many teams took up the deals offered during the company pitching session, it resulted in a few interesting outcomes:

- MTV MyCribs which is a Facebook version of yes, MTV Cribs haha.
- RateMyTurban, Facebook version of RateMyTurban.com.

(And of course not forgetting the free lance project opportunities out there from the exposure…)
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Lastly, is this module for everyone?
The workload was definitely heavy towards the 2nd half of the semester when all the other module deadlines started clumping up leaving most of us with sleepless nights. With 3 assignments, 1 application seminar presentation and 1 final project, I have to say it was quite a handful for many to handle including myself but most of us pulled through in the end. Then again, the module is still new and many things are being changed as more feedback is provided. I heard that the next time this module is offered, the workload will be 2 assignments and 1 final project and they will be less open-ended (and it’ll be using Adobe AIR? Cool!). To tell you the truth, MOST OF US stressed ourselves out not because the module was hard but rather because we had high standards to meet set by our classmates. After seeing stunning applications created in Assignment 2, most of us tried to create even better quality work for Assignment 3 which burnt out a lot of us.

Personally, I think the module is more oriented for students who love a challenging and risky but creative environment. With no bell curve, no exams and open-ended assignments, brute hard work is not going to help much in this module without the passion and creativity for your projects. The module’s focus is not about creating viral Facebook applications with 100K users(but of course if you do I’m pretty sure you’ll definitely get an A) but more on helping students learn be it in terms of coding, design or even communication. Hence I believe students who like to explore new things and challenge themselves in a rather open environment focused on practicalities will be well suited for this module.

Note: If you want to check out all the applications created for the final project, go here.

Are humans really THAT special?

Everytime a documentary runs on National Geographic saying “Humans evolved from apes”, I switch the channel as it is usually a repetition of the same facts proposed over and over by many researchers. E.g: Pictures of hunched humans, bone structure comparisons and capability comparisons. Today however, Wayne told me about this TED video which proposes something along similar lines with a unique twist.

The presentation was made by Susan Savage-Rumbaugh, a researcher who has spent decades in the field of ape language studies who believes that the unique traits(intellectual thinking, language learning) human beings possess may have been culturally nurtured rather than biologically in-grained into our DNA. Her research with the Bonobo ape species has shown that in a culture of interaction where researchers are not “aiming to teach” but rather be part of the Bonobos’ daily lives, these mammals were able to learn through observation very human tasks like starting a fire with a lighter, playing Pac-man and delicately using a scissors to groom their offsprings. A comparison made between stone knives crafted by the Bonobos and those by pre-historic humans from 2 million years ago show stark similarities, creating the notion that we may have once lived like how the Bonobos are living today.

After watching the presentation, I was very convinced that humans developed the traits and capabilities we have today through millions of years of cultural interaction and development. If what Rambaugh proposes is true, then does the widely championed phrase “Humans are special” still hold? Or are we just equals of animals who happen to culturally advance through some chance encounters and interactions with a mix of other species’?

Here’s the video to fascinate your mind:

SG Tech events coming up in April

Noticed that quite a number of my friends are involved in organizing quite a number of interesting events this coming month! If you’re into entrepreneurship and technology, you should consider attending some of these:

Friday, 4th April 2008: Entrepreneurship in Asia & Europe
Europe has a long history in developing advance technologies, particularly in green energy technology, telecommunications and chemical technology. As Asia is growing, the need for such technologies escalates to accommodate the improving Asian living standards.

Together with venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, graduate students, and MBAs from INSEAD, NUS, and NTU, come learn from the entrepreneurial scenes across continents. Come network with an audience of Asian and European background, it will be thrilling explore the opportunities lie within.

Organizers: Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society
Date: 4th April 2008
Time: 7.30 - 9.30 pm (Registration starts at 7pm)
Venue: Munchie Monkey, Yusof Ishak House, NUS (Map)
Fee: SGD10 (Dessert + Free-flow drinks provided)

Saturday, 5th April 2008: Live Recording: 65th Episode of 65Bits Podcast

Tech65 is the one stop place for all your tech information, witty rants, high pitched whining and NTT’s calm and collected voice. We come to you live every weekend with our flagship programme, 65 Bits.

On the week of 5 April 2008 (Sat), Tech65 will be celebrating their 65th Episode! Come and join them for their Live Recording session at Geek Terminal!

They also welcome audience participation - chip in and help shape the news.

In the spirit of 65-ness… they are aiming to get at least 65 people in the audience…

… because 64 just ain’t enough!

Organizers: Tech65
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2008
Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Geek Terminal
Street: 55, Market Street (Near Raffles Place MRT, opp. Golden Shoe Complex)
City/Town: Singapore, Singapore

Wednesday, 9th April 2008: Tech Showcase: Beyond PHP
Listen to entrepreneurs from the Python/Django & Ruby on Rails community showcase their sites and strut the technologies used to build them.

Presenters:
Michael Lim, Founder of Comiqs.com
Chew Choon Keat, Founder of SharedCopy.com
More details…

Organizers: Singapore PHP User Group
Date:9 Apr 2008
Time: 7pm - 9.30pm
Venue: SMU, School of Information Systems (Seminar Rm 2.4 (level 2))
Fees: Free of Charge! (Just BYOL - Bring Your Own Laptop)

Feel free to drop me an e-mail if you know of any other upcoming events ^_~.

Bringing a new dimension to web browsing

After BumpTop’s appearance at TED with the 3D Desktop where you can bump things around, I became skeptical of applications that attempt to turn traditionally 2D interfaces 3D with fancy animations, special effects and features at the expense of usability. When I came across SpaceTime on Mixx, I was adverse to trying it out but upon watching the YouTube videos I decided to give it a try.

What is SpaceTime?
SpaceTime is a web browser that introduces a new dimension to web browsing with the “hope” of enhancing the user experience. For starters, lets check out the interface.

The first thing I did when I started using SpaceTime was search for myself using the built-in Google search located on the top right of the screen. This generated a bunch of result “windows” arranged in a queue.

Command-Line Star Wars Animation

Just when I was starting to get used to the Command-Line Interface of Linux, my prof sent me a link to this pretty cool “2D Star Wars Animation” by the guys at Asciimation. Seriously, I think 2D is an understatement as it is made up PURELY from text characters in the command line. I don’t want to imagine how much time and effort they put into creating this cool animation frame by frame that runs in your command-line interface.

Do check out the full animation here.

For the latest version of their video, visit their website here.

Note: It is better to view the video on the website because you have the option of fast-forwarding and jumping between scenes

Dog goes techy!

My friend Chris sent me a really cute video today from Neatorama of a dog using a machine (similar to the Tennis ball shooter) to play fetch on its own! Check it out.

Judging from the “dog-o-meter” and height of the machine, the owner might have modified it specially for the dog’s use. Creative and innovative way to let a dog have his fun everyday!

Oh lets not forget to give credit to the techy dog!

Update: Friend made a comment that this is an example of an infinite loop!

Facebook Developer’s Garage 2 & Some UI Notes

Last week E27 and the Singapore PHP User Group organized the 2nd Facebook Developer’s Garage in Singapore. As a fresh Facebook developer, I was ecstatic when my teams and I were invited to present 2 of our applications there: AntRush and Prosperity Garden.

I have not written about AntRush before because the application is still in Beta so here’s a quick introduction:

AntRush is a simple online turn-based strategy game where you’re given an ant colony which you can grow and some eggs which you can morph into workers and soldiers. Once you have a big enough army, you can invade your friend’s colonies, kill their ants and rob them of their resources in the process.

Coming back to the event, I felt that we didn’t really give a good presentation because we didn’t have time to prepare for it and hence went with an impromptu style presentation. We mainly spoke about our experience developing the application, how we came up with the idea, the technology used and problems encountered(especially with the user interface(UI)). As promised, I’ll spare the technical details as they can get pretty mundane and focus on writing about the interesting points I learnt UI-wise from my experience of developing these 2 Facebook apps.

The Prosperity Garden!

Hey guys! Sorry I haven’t been updating much. Before I know it, its been almost a whole month since I wrote anything. Yup, I’ve been busy with school work, particularly with my assignments for this module I’m taking at NUS called CS3216: Software Development on Evolving Platforms. To spare you the jargon, its a module where we develop Facebook applications for homework. Even though its been consuming a lot of my time, its the most fun module I’ve taken at NUS so far.

So what is The Prosperity Garden? It is a Facebook application my group and I developed as homework for our 2nd assignment (and also my first publicly released Facebook app). The theme for the assignment was “The Wall” but we didn’t want to make a variation of typical walls that never fail to make your profile look cluttered. We wanted to create a “wall” that profile owners could customize and call their own which was neat, flexible and interactive. Hence, we came up with the concept of a garden which friends could decorate with a gift everytime they sent you a message. At the same time, profile owners can choose to rearrange the gifts they receive so as to decorate their garden to their tastes and liking. And! Since CNY was around the corner, we decided to create a “Prosperity Garden” filled with auspicious CNY items which you could give your friends like ang pows (red packets with money), gold ingots, red lotus flower, firecrackers and etc.

The learning experience was definitely much more fun when we started getting feedback from users, (We got a few initial users who stared at the app and didn’t know what the app was for despite the instructions!), but I’ll save it for another blog post. In the meantime, do check out the app and feel free to drop me any comments / e-mails on feedback, bugs, errors, or even suggestions to further improve the app! ^_~

P.S: I do accept requests for specific gifts to be included in the app, like a blooded dagger for your enemies hehe!! Just send me a request and I’ll illustrate one for the app!

Super intelligent whiteboard

Hey guys! Sorry for not writing for so long. I’ve been traveling quite frequently during the holidays and couldn’t find the time to write until now. Where did I go? Well that’s a story I shall keep for my other blog (if I ever get down to writing about my travels). In the meantime! Here’s a heads up from Jiin Joo about an intelligent whiteboard. I know this news is quite old but I also realized that most of my friends don’t know about it yet (and the fact that it is STILL cool news :P), hence I’m writing about it nevertheless.

The technology used is called ASSIST: A Shrewd Sketch Implementation and Simulation Tool developed by the research team at MIT. It was built with the vision of assisting industrial designers in the early stages of project design. You can simulate any simple situations and diagrams you sketch on the board including your TYPICAL high school truck going down a slope and object on springs, all with gravity and frictional effects included.

The whiteboard is intelligently programmed to understand the common arrows and diagram symbols used to represent various objects, surfaces and force directions in physics. I can imagine how much more fun (and easier) physics in school would be if we had this whiteboard. Instead of wasting time trying to get experiments to work, students would be creatively simulating various situations they can imagine with a pen.

More explanations and a cool demonstration in the video:

Side note: I wonder whether it recognizes stick humans. Would be fun to crash simulate a human being in a free falling lift hehehe!