Lenticular clouds (Altocumulus lenticularis) are stationary lens-shaped clouds with a smooth layered appearance that form in the troposphere, usually above mountain ranges. One was spotted in Singapore recently...
With 30,000 individual facets, dragonflies have the most number of facets among insects. Each facet, or ommatidia, creates its own image, and the dragonfly brain has eight pairs of descending visual neurons to compile those thousands of images into one picture...
Spectacular and innovative in design, the Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments...
Unlike light, lightning does not travel in a straight line. Instead, it has many branches. These other branches flashed at the same time as the main strike. The branches are actually the step leaders that were connected to the leader that made it to its target...
A T-Rex has 24-26 teeth on its upper jaw and 24 more on its lower jaw. Juveniles have small, sharp blade-shaped teeth to cut flesh, whereas adults have huge, blunt, rounded teeth for crushing bones. Is the T-Rex a bone-crushing scavenger?
On 15 April, Compass One launched its green initiative as Singapore’s first mall to pledge support for The Food Bank’s "Food Wastage Reduction & Fight Hunger" movement.
A strong supporter of the waste reduction cause, this initiative is in line with NEA’s efforts to reduce food waste. Compass One is also the first mall to donate cooked food to Food Bank, which is now included in its food rescue plans. It has actively encouraged mall tenants to participate in this food wastage reduction drive by donating their excess cooked food to The Food Bank.
The pioneer batch of participating mall tenants, such as Kopitiam, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, The Soup Restaurant, Ichiban Sushi and Hong Kong Sheng Kee Pau, has shown enthusiastic support for this food rescue programme. The donated food is stored, managed and distributed to over 300 charity organizations and beneficiaries in Singapore.
In conjunction with the food rescue programme for its green initiative, and with its aim to be a one-stop collection hub for recyclables and excess food within the neighbourhood for Sengkang residents and shoppers, Compass One is also launching a series of fringe activities to encourage the community to actively contribute to waste reduction.
Try your hand at making a bag out of your old clothes : 1) Cut both sides of an old T-shirt to open up the seams. 2) Next, cut the bottom third of the shirt into inch-wide strips. 3) Tie each pair of strips together. 4) Cross tip adjoining strips. 5) You now have a bag made from your old T-shirt.
For more information on the initiative, visit the Compass One website here.
Merlion Wayfarer recently attended The International SeaKeepers Society Asia Awards Dinner. The prestigious event was held at ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove, Singapore.
The event started with an address by Julian Chang, Director and Asia President, of The International SeaKeepers Society, and Richard Snow, President and CEO, and was followed by a sharing by Gail Tay, Director of Operations.
Midway, the presentation by Dr Poh Seng Chee and Dr James Tan of the Universiti Malaysia Trengganu Ocean Monitoring Project, and was followed with a presentation of SeaKeeper Awards, and Closing Remarks.
The ocean-friendly appetizer was Honey Mustard Graviax, Mango Salsa Poached Tiger Prawns, and Peruvian Sea Scallop with shiso cress and xres reduction...
Mains were either the Castaing Duck Confit with apple balsamic-glazed vegetables, whole grain mustard fingeling promme au jus, or the Provencale herbs Cruster White Snapper with vichy carrot, asparagus and grain dauphinoise beurre blanc...
With the dessert being Poached Pear Frangipane Tart with forest berry confiture, vanilla extract and almond crumbs...
About The International SeaKeepers Society
The International SeaKeepers Society supports marine science and conservation by utilizing yachts as platforms for marine research, educational outreach, and to deploy oceanographic instruments. The Society promotes oceanographic research, conservation, and education through direct involvement with the yachting community. It enables the yachting community to take full advantage of their unique potential to advance marine sciences and to raise awareness about global ocean issues. By tapping on yacht owners, expensive vessel costs are reduced while at the same time, permitting scientists to allocate those funds to maximize research potential.
Members of SeaKeepers include influential opinion leaders who believe that the best way to protect the environment is to protect the world’s oceans. They recognize the ocean’s critical importance to the life of our planet and are deeply committed to finding real-world solutions to the problems now plaguing our marine environment. The small but distinguished membership includes entrepreneurs, yachtsmen, corporations, divers, scientists and concerned citizens building a global effort to help restore and protect the world’s oceans. As a private/public collaborative effort, the Society focuses on critical ocean issues in cooperation with government agencies, other like-minded organizations, the academic community, and the public with the motto - "Research, Educate, Protect, and Restore".
For more information, visit their website at www.seakeepers.org/aboutus/.
From now to 02 June 2019, ArtScience Museum visitors will be able to explore the forests of Borneo or dive deep into the coastal seas of Southeast Asia with REWILD Our Planet, Singapore’s first Social Augmented Reality (AR) experience jointly developed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Google, Netflix, ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands and PHORIA. The sensorial experience connects people to nature and one another through immersive storytelling that blends cutting-edge AR technology with stunning 4K video footage from Our Planet, a new Netflix original documentary series voiced by world-renowned naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, that launches today.
“Global wildlife populations have declined by 60 percent in the last 40 years due to unsustainable human activity, which impacts the very natural systems that our survival depends on. We need to not just stop, but reverse, the loss of nature. Bringing the challenges and solutions to life through REWILD Our Planet will help people around the world understand that they have a shared responsibility to act and protect nature. The powerful message conveyed dovetails with a unique opportunity to call for urgent action to protect the one place we call home, sending the clear message that it is no longer acceptable to continue to destroy our environment.”
--- Kim Stengert, Chief, Strategic Communications and External Relations, WWF-Singapore ---
Unlike these children living near the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia where the environmental impact of their everyday daily lifestyle are immediately visible to them, most of our children today live in the cities and are far removed from the impact that their consumption habits can create...
REWILD Our Planet is built around four natural landscapes representing the last wilderness places on Earth:
Forests of Borneo and India
Oceans of Asia
Grasslands of Mongolia
Frozen worlds of the Arctic
Combining spectacular IMAX-style projections with spatial soundscapes and AR, the experience unfolds through the lens of the Google Pixel 3, where groups of participants can work together to build natural landscapes in 3D. They will unlock global weather patterns and magical animal encounters, ending with a deeper understanding of shared solutions and a meaningful pledge to act and help bring nature back.
Where there is no visual with the naked eye, a globe appears out of the blue when the phone is pointed in the right direction. The story of our planet ensues...
To vote, all you have to do is to walk towards the habitat of your choice. The sum total of all the votes will then be totalled on the screen to select the most highly-voted habitat...
Want to play your part to REWILD? Walk around the grid with your phone over the fields burnt for crops and palm oil. Magically, your every step will create a lush green undergrowth...
Watch it happen in these videos...
“REWILD Our Planet showcases how AR has the power to build bridges between people and the places they love. This evocative experience emphasises the connection between human beings and our environment. It generates a sense of presence and interactivity for every individual user. Building this exhibition with Netflix and Google and combining it with compassion-driven narrative from WWF demonstrates how emerging XR technologies will transform the social impact sector for good.”
--- Trent Clews-de Castella, CEO of PHORIA ---
REWILD Our Planet is located at the Inspiration Gallery at Level 4 of the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands. Open daily from 1000-1900 hours, admission is free.
Recently Merlion Wayfarer attended a uniquely Sarawakian evening, which saw the Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, the Honourable Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah launch the Visit Sarawak logo which preceded its tourism campaign.
The "Visit Sarawak" Logo
The overall style of the logo is simple, friendly and approachable while keeping its impactful nature. The brush strokes of the logo font portrays a fun and friendliness, representing the unparalleled hospitality found in Sarawak. The different and vibrant colours represent the diversity and multitude of elements that make Sarawak unique.
Red and yellow indicate the colours in the Sarawak flag, hence their use in the letters “S” and “R”.
Orange represents the strong spirit and vibrant energy of the different ethnic communities within Sarawak.
Green represents the luscious rainforests teeming with life.
Blue reflects the calmness of the ocean along Sarawak’s long coastline.
The stylised “S” in the logo features a curling pattern, imitating a traditional design that is often used in the artwork of the Dayak and Orang Ulu people.
The ‘hornbill head’ in the centre replacing the ‘A’ alphabet represents the “Bumi Kenyalang” that the State has been labelled for many years as well as the cultural significance the hornbill has to the indigenous people of Sarawak. It also adds another natural element to the logo, as one of Sarawak’s main attractions is its nature.
"More To Discover"
The “More to Discover” phrase ensures that a person needs to set foot in Sarawak personally to truly discover all the attractions Sarawak holds. It also promises that once a person has been to Sarawak, there is always more for them to experience and discover, as there is far more within the State than can be experienced by a traveller within one trip.
Discover Culture
As the largest state in Malaysia, Sarawak is home to 27 ethnic groups, speaking 45 languages and dialects, and each with their own stories, colorful cultures, traditions, and beliefs that makes Sarawak a cultural extravaganza just waiting to be explored.
What's a launch event without a bit of excitement?
Here, a tribal performer holds up a wand of balloons while invited members of the audience attempt a tryout with a blowpipe...
Discover Adventures
On land, visitors have a plethora of adventures to choose from – from jungle trekking, adventure caving, to mountain climbing, rock climbing and jungle expeditions. In water, visitors can choose from river activities, diving, water sports, fishing, jet skiing and yachting.
Urban explorers can visit Kuching, which has one of the most interesting architecture mix in Malaysia, with colonial buildings amongst modern architecture.
Discover Nature
Sarawak has a 56 totally protected areas, 37 gazetted national parks, five wildlife sanctuaries and 14 nature reserves, with rainforests the size of Austria. Its rainforests house the world’s richest and most diverse ecosystem - Home to the world’s largest flower, the Rafflesia (that can grow to the size of a coffee table), squirrels and snakes that fly, deer the size of cats, plants that eat insects (and small animals), the orang utan, the proboscis monkey, the hornbill, the Rajah Brooke butterfly and the silverleaf monkey...
The launch of the campaign showed the floral and fauna of Sarawak as a backdrop, fronted by the graceful movements of a dancer...
Say "Hello, sunshine" to Gardens by the Bay’s first-ever "Sunflower Surprise" floral display which brings together the largest variety of sunflowers in Singapore! More than 50 varieties will be on display, from the fluffy ‘Teddy Bear’ to the enormous ‘Russian Mammoth’ with blooms as large as a human face!
In all, over 16,000 sunflowers of various shapes, shades and sizes are being grown for the display, of which more than half are of unusual varieties grown from seeds specially sourced from the United States.
The sunflower display is further enlivened by characters and scenes inspired by the classic tale "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Amidst a field of vibrant blooms, visitors can try to spot Dorothy and her friends Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion as they make their way to the magical Land of Oz.
Journey along the Yellow Brick Road. What will you find?
There's Scarecrow!
Lion's a bit harder to spot and he hides well among the sunflowers...
And hey, Tin Man is sitting there waiting for you...
You'll find be led along a magical world and find the Wizard of Oz...
"Sunflower Surprise" runs till 21 October in Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay.
Date: 31 August (Friday) - 21 October (Sunday)
Time: 9am – 9pm
Location: Flower Dome
Details: Admission charge to the Flower Dome applies. For more information on the floral display and related programmes, visit www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/sunflower.
