SpideY's MobLog Reloaded: September 2009

Sunday, September 27, 2009

My Travel Profile

Destinations traveled so far ...

Profile

Cities

Virtual is an explorer that:

does their own thing

doesn't mind roughing it

lives on the edge

Travel cred: high

I rank in the top...

0.1% most cities visited - Holy See (Vatican City)
0.3% most cities visited - Taiwan
0.6% most cities visited - Egypt

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Lots of places in the world yet to visit! (",)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Photos of Scandinavia

I'm back to Singapore and I've enjoyed my holidays at Scandinavia, although it's too early to see autumn leaves change color or fall.

I'm still tired and recovering from jet lag. On the whole, the trip has covered much with fabulous views which cannot be captured through photography, partly because of regular rain and the motor coach traveling at high speed most of the time. People in the group are not all that fun although some are quite nice. Privacy of time is nearly zero with busy bodies chattering lots of unimportant things and constantly blocking camera views.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Why Do Leaves Fall in Autumn?

I am now enjoying my holidays in Scandinavia, north of Europe, taking in the beautiful scenes of autumn, the colors and the falling leaves. Have you ever wondered why leaves fall during autumn?

Many people believe tree leaves fall and die during the autumn season because of weather changes, but studies have shown the real reason for the fall is drought. This is because the primary function of leaves is photosynthesis, and photosynthesis requires the use of water, carbon dioxide and light to create food in the leaves to generate organic compounds and oxygen. In order to induce a suction force, the leaves will need to constantly sweat, and in winter season shed them so as not to get dried. Daylight, however, gets shorter during fall and causes the leaves to suffer thirst because of the reducing absorption of water with the shrinking daylight. This means even when trees live in wet climate with abundant snowfall and rainfall or even when in the warmest of autumn seasons, the trees will still lose their leaves, triggered by the shorten length of daylight.

Many changes occur in the leaves before they finally fall from the branch. According to Joe Lamp’L of DIY Network who wrote an article on ‘Why do leaves fall in autumn?’ at ScrippsNews.com, changing colors of leaves during fall is part of an important and complicated process known as abscission which ends in the leaves being shed at the end of each growing season. The trees, in protecting themselves, purge diseased, damaged or dead leaves, while they seal the point where the petiole connects to it. As the climate and light conditions of autumn evolve, tree hormones change as well, the most notable of which is auxin, a hormone in trees that promotes root formation and bud growth. The balance of auxin levels between leaves and branches is the key to determining if and when the leaves drop.

During the active growing season, production rates of auxin in leaves are consistent with those in other parts of the tree. As long as these rates are steady, the cells of the abscission layer remain connected, which in turn, keeps leaves attached. However, as days shorten and temperatures cool, auxin production in leaves starts to decrease. As a result, fracture lines develop at the base of the leaf petioles and scarring builds up at the same point to form a protective barrier. Eventually, it's just a matter of time before wind or rain provides that last nudge and the leaves are released, at least for most trees.

Although leaves falling in autumn are a predictable event, leaf drop is not only seasonal. Trees can lose leaves for other reasons as well, such as drought and other physical or environmental stresses. So this autumn, enjoy and savor the brilliant display of color, but be thankful always for the deciduous trees, because in spite of all the leaves on the ground, they are doing more good than you can imagine, because these leaves provide vital organic matter to the soil, returning to the soil nutrients and building structure and water holding capacity.

Source of Information: Why do leaves fall in autumn?

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Mickey Mouse with Spider-Man?

What has Mickey Mouse to do with Spider-Man?

Well, Spider-Man is going to be Mickey's favorite superhero and Disneyland is going to see Spider-Man swinging around its castles! This seemingly unusual twist of events can soon become a reality, with the recent deal of the Walt Disney Company acquiring Marvel Entertainment for US$4 billion.

According to The New York Times' story Disney Swoops Into Action, Buying Marvel for $4 Billion on August 31, 2009, certain Marvel characters can be immediately integrated into Disney’s theme parks in California, Paris and Hong Kong. For now, however, Walt Disney World in Florida is off limits because of a pact Marvel has in place with Universal Studios there.

The IrishTimes on September 2, 2009 in its top story news headlines 'Mickey welcomes Spiderman to the castle' said of the Disney and Marvel’s marriage that since the Pirates of the Caribbean cycle wound to a halt and the Narnia films made their way to another studio, Walt Disney Pictures has been looking a bit short of live-action franchises. With the announcement of this new deal, the Mouse House had dug some change from the back of the sofa and bought itself the cornucopia of characters that goes by the name of Marvel Entertainment. Henceforth, Spider-Man, Hulk and The X-Men will sleep in the same dormitory as Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Buzz Lightyear and that woman Sandra Bullock played in The Proposal.

Good or bad, it looks like the landscape of animation is going to change.

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