Blue Asean

01/06/2014

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-27624575

An elephant apparently takes a selfie on a visitor's phone after he drops it at a safari park.

08/05/2014

Thai Doctor Prescribe Bicycles As Preventive Measure for Diabetes

A Thai doctor believe that prevention is much more effective than cure, so he prescribe bicycles with the aim of reducing risk of type 2 diabetes.
Any patient who has been diagnosed as overweight can opt for prescription of a brand new mountain bike with the condition that the patient must loose 2 kilograms within 3 months or else the bike would be repossessed and slapped with a fine of 2,000 Thai Baht.
If you think that is an expensive therapy, the good doctor argues that treating a diagnosed diabetes patient is much, much more expensive than this bike prescription.
This idea is not brand new in the world, I have read of similar examples, but they all seem to be in developed countries - this one is possibly a first in Thailand.
The good doctor is Dr. Pakdi Seubnukarn, director of the Dansai District Hospital in Loei province, some 460 north of Bangkok.
He has been practicing medicine for 27 years and have been awarded literally dozens of awards for his service including Asia-Pacific Award For Committed Medicial Doctor in 2010 and also led his team to win a Terumo Diabetes Patient Care Team Award in 2007.

Sources:
http://dansaihospital.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_8692.html
http://bit.ly/1s75pQU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKmDQDm9FJo

04/05/2014

Seen from Space: Man Made Guitar-Shaped Forest is a Labour of Love

No, it's not one of those practical jokes where you make a crop circle overnight, and it's not even made for fun.
NASA take millions of images around the Earth every year for scientific purposes and what not. But apparently it took them 7 years since this composite image (of several images digitally stitched together) of a plain in Argentina contains what appears to be guitar-shaped forest or at least be bothered to find out what it is and why.
In 1977 a man name Pedro Martin Ureta lost his wife and then, in her memories, started to build this forest shaped like his departed wife's favourite musical instrument and which can only be seen from the sky - or heaven.
You can see close-up pictures from the sky on the links below with details of the start shaped arrangement of trees and contrasting colours of trees for the guitar "strings".
This romantic story was probably first published internationally in 2011 by the Wall Street Journal and now resurface with this recent space image reveal from NASA.

Sources:
NASA http://bit.ly/guitarforest
Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703859304576307251804750800
Atlasobscura http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/guitar-forest

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30/04/2014

Photographers Set Up Fund to Help Families of Fallen Sherpas

On 18th April, 16 Sherpas were killed in an avalanche - one of the deadliest incidents at Mount Everest. 10 professional photographers who have worked with Sherpas before decided to set up a fund to financially aid the families of the fallen Sherpas and their community by selling signed prints on www.sherpasfund.org
50 percent of the proceeds will go directly to the affected Sherpas families and the rest to fund a long-term assistance for the Sherpa community.

30/04/2014

Tiny Java Mouse-Deer Born at Spanish Zoo Weigh Just 100 Grams

A baby Java mouse-deer was born in a Spanish Zoo weighing just 100 grams.
Java mouse-deer is the smallest hoofed animal in the world with an adult weighing just 1 kg and with a sized of a small rabbit.
Native only to the Indonesian island of Java, the mouse-deer is rarely spotted in the wild due its diminutive size and being a nocturnal creature, not helped my shrinking habitat due to massive rainforest destruction.
However, due to insufficient data, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) cannot award it any conservation status.
According to the Spain-based English language news website, The Local, this baby is the eighth mouse-deer born at the Bioparc Fuengirola since 2006.

Source: http://bit.ly/1lzymFh

A baby Java mouse-deer, the smallest hoofed animal in the world, was recently born at a zoo in in the south of Spain, to the delight of staff.

30/04/2014

Rare Serows Surprise Appearance in Khao Yai National Park,
A Thai Facebook user posted this picture of a pair of rare Serows climbing up the stairs to one of the less popular viewing points called Pha Trom Jai in National Park some 160km northeast of Bangkok, Thailand.
The user described that his friend had a morning jog nearby before finishing at this viewpoint where a pair of Serows climbed up the stairs from the far side.
He did not, however, explained what happened next or whether there were more of them than the two pictured.
The viewing point is a public area within the grounds of a Royal Thai Airfoce radar installation atop that peak.
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Serow is on the endangered list and their estimated population in Thailand is around only 1,000.
Their dwindling numbers can be attributed to lessening forest areas, especially hilly or mountainous terrains and also to hunting as many Thai wrongly believe the extract from their head and bones can heal severe cuts and broken bones.
Their sighting is, therefore, rare for ordinary people, but last December a lost its way in to a cement factory complex in Sara Buri province,some 100km northeast of Bangkok, and was brutally beaten by factory workers.
A video clip of the incident was taken by a fellow worker which was uploaded on to social media and quickly garnered massive public outcry and condemnation.

Source: http://on.fb.me/1hehSxb

29/04/2014

The World's First 8-Wheeler Cargo Bike?

German Nico Jungel probably created the world's first 8-wheeler bike with this 8Rad with 10 sqm bamboo truck bed capable of carrying 450kg of load. To help with moving heavy loads, 2 riders can pedal this at the same time using principally the same mechanicals as a tandem recumbent bike. 4-wheel steering enable this behemoth of a bike to turn with similar turning circle as a car.
I do not, however, know whether it could be pedalled in reverse - it might just be easier to get up and push the bike backward.
This is a fun exercise of how you can push the envelope of bike design and engineering, looking very eco-friendly with its replaceable bamboo bed rather than petroleum-derived synthetic rubber or light weight aluminium which require so much water during production of that metal.
If you think of emulating this idea, do consider that it might not be road-legal where you live.

Sources: http://www.nicojungel.net/space.html and www.notechmagazine.com

29/04/2014

Vietnamese Businessman Tests Homemade

Businessman, Nguyen Huu Bao, followed through his life long ambition to build Vietnam's first sea-worthy submarine when he tested his homemade vessel in a lake of Binh City north of on 28th March.
In front of a crowd of hundreds of people, Boa drove his own-design and built "Troung Sa" submarine for about two hours without diving due to the lake's shallow two metre depth.
He declared the test successful as he claimed no technical issue emerged.
Soon after, Boa requested the permission from the Thai Binh City to test his submarine in the river but was rejected due to lack of safety and rescue measures.
It is believed Mr Boa will sort out the shortcomings and re-request again some time this year.
If that test is successful, the next step would be to test at sea, in the South China Sea which is only a few kilometres down stream of the river from Thai Binh City.
This is not the first time Mr Boa tried to build a submarine, for in the late 1960's he - as a young engineer - helped create a prototype micro submarine for defense purpose.
This 21st century experimental version is 9 metres long, 3 metres high, powered by two 90 horsepower diesel engines. It is designed for maximum speed of 40km/h, a range of 800km, maximum dive of 15 hours and a maximum depth of 50 metres.

Sources: and

http://bit.ly/1nCf04o

28/04/2014

Soap maker invents Germ Alarm that automatically warn toilet users to wash their hands after finishing their businesses. According to , 1 in 3 people who use public toilets do not wash their hands after use - ewww! They created a system where the alarm is integrated in to the liquid soap dispenser and rigged to the toilet cubicle doors. When the sensors detect a toilet user has done his or her business the alarm goes off and the only way to silence it is to push for soap - ingenious, right?
The system was launched in the Philippines in late 2013 in schools and fast food chain (notably, the one with yellow and red clown) and you can see how it works here: http://bit.ly/1tU59Zw
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28/04/2014

A Ukrainian photographer, Oleg Oprisco, created amazing surreal images using cheap and old Kiev medium format film cameras as opposed to the present day norm of digital photography and desktop manipulation by softwares.
There's a proverb "it's the Indian, not the arrow" - meaning that skill attributes to results much more so than the tool and this is one of the best examples.
With the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, I hope that Oprisco and co. are safe.
Check out Oprisco's full collection at www.oprisco.com
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