ASK!

(What is there more of the less you see? ———————> Darkness! -[1] )

Image is retrieved from: http://prosportsonline.net/2010/02/beneath-brown-bags-saints-had-loyal-fans/

According to Odyssey’s article, Night Vision: Why you can see in the dark?:
“Eyes work by converting light energy into nerve impulses. These nerve impulses are sent to the brain, where we “make sense” of them. A certain pattern of light is a “tree,” another pattern is “my dad,” and so on.

An eye functions a lot like a camera. Light passes through the pupil — the part of the eye that appears black, but is really an opening. It is then focused by a lens, before it lands on the light-sensitive retina -a delicate membrane lining the inner eyeball and connected by the optic nerve to the brain.

Two kinds of cells share space on the retina: short, wide “cones” (7 million of them) and long, narrow “rods” (120 million of these). Each kind has its special uses.
Cones require a lot of light to work. Each one is connected to its own nerve fiber, so they help us to see fine detail. They are also sensitive to small differences in light wavelengths, which we call colors.

Rods work well even in low light. They do not sense colors or fine detail — though they are very sensitive to movement! The retinas of true nocturnal animals are packed with many more rods than ours have.

When your eyes are adapting to low light, several things happen. First, your pupil opens wide to let in as much light as possible. Then the rod cells turn off — there is not enough light for them to work at all. So at night we don’t see colors or fine detail. But we are more sensitive to tiny movements, which makes us jump even when leaves are just moving in the wind. Because there are more rods on the edges of your retina than In the middle, you often see best at night “out of the corner of your eye.” You learn to look slightly to one side of what you see.

True night vision develops slowly — it takes about 30 minutes for It to peak. Over a period of time in low light, your rod cells develop a reddish pigment called rhodopsin. This pigment increases the rods’ sensitivity enormously! But you still see differently than you do during daylight. Seeing at night is a lot like looking at a black and white TV with poor reception instead of a color set with cable.

If your dark-adapted eyes are exposed to bright light, the rhodopsin will instantly bleach white and you will lose your night vision until it has time to develop again.”

The article was retrieved from EBSCOhost Kids Search.

In order to gain access to our eResources such as the one I have shared with you above, simply visit our eResources page and register: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/index.aspx

Reference:
K-S, D., & , Initials. (2007). Night vision: why you can see in the dark?. Odyssey, 16(5), 11-11

[1] – Http://www.kidsjokes.co.uk/jokes/other/night_jokes_5.html. (1998). Retrieved from kidsjokes.co.uk: night jokes

If you want to read more on the topic, here are books that you can check out at our libraries.

All Rights Reserved,  Picture Window Books, c2005.

Look! A Book About Sight by Dana Meachen Rau

Publisher: Minneapolis, Minn. : Picture Window Books, c2005.

Call No.: J 612.8 RAU

Click here to check for item availability

All Rights Reserved, PowerKids Press, 2008.

Exploring Light by Carol Ballard

Publisher: New York : PowerKids Press, 2008.
Call No.: J 535 BAL

Click here to check for item availability

All Rights Reserved, VT : Healing Arts Press, c2004.

How to improve your child’s eyesight naturally : a thoughtful parent’s guide by Janet Goodrich.
Publisher: Rochester, VT : Healing Arts Press, c2004.
Call No: English q617.70083 GOO -[HEA]

Click here to check for item availability

All websites are last accessed on 20 Mar 2010. Please refer to the terms and conditions on the homepages for use.
For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Ms Sharifah A. Latif
Assoc. Librarian, Children’s Services

According to the book, Street Names of Singapore, “it is said that the Burmese street names, which occur in the area around Farrer Park, result from a wish expressed by an important Burmese resident of Singapore. Burma, now called Myanmar, was a part of the British Empire at the time.”

Other Burmese street names include Akyab, Ava, Bassein, Bhamo, Burmah, Martaban, Mergui, Pegu, Prome and Shan roads.

This explanation is backed up in the book, Toponymics: A study of Singapore street names, which explains that the Burmese street names, which are all in the same area, were an idea that “came from an old and respected Burmese resident who suggested it to the Municipality, which accepted the idea”.

Sources:

1. Title: Street names of Singapore

Author: Dunlop, Peter K. G.

Publisher: Singapore : Who’s Who Pub., 2000

Call No.: (R) SING English 959.57 DUN -[HIS]

2. Title: Toponymics : a study of Singapore street names .

Author: Savage, Victor R.

Publisher: Singapore : Eastern Universities Press, 2004.

Call No.: SING English 915.9570014 SAV / RSING English 915.9570014 SAV -[TRA]

 Originally answered by Ms Lynn Koh, Librarian, Adult and Young People’s Services

Found this question interesting? What do you think? Post your comments.
If you have a different question, please email to ask@nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment

ASK! about Events and Outreach

Thousands flocked to the first Book Exchange in 2009, and it’s back again this year!

Give your books a new lease of life – share them with other book lovers and get new reads in return. Give a book, and get a book.

10th April – 23 April 2010

Starting 10th April, make you way down to any Public Library to drop off your used books. While there, exchange one book for one Book Exchange Coupon.

24th April (Saturday) 8.30am – 6.00pm

Bring your coupons down to The Plaza, National Library Building to exchange for other used books.

And there’s more than just exchanging books!

On 24th April, don’t miss the exciting activities for children at the Central Public Library – listen to stories on Bob the Builder, meet Bob the Builder himself, and there will be opportunities to take a photo with him! Catch screenings of the National Geographic’s documentary “Shark Eden”.

More details in the poster and programme flyer.

Posted by Ang Mei Jun,Associate Librarian, Adult & Young People’s Services

Hiccupping is a sudden, unexpected intake of air that happens when the diaphragm spasms. The diaphragm may twinge when you eat too fast or there sould be some particles in the bloodstream that may irritate the organs near the diaphragm.

There are remedies for hiccups e.g., holding your breath, drinking water, etc. The reason that these remedies are thought to work is the view that carbon dioxide build-up in the blood will stop hiccups.

Also, people also believe that drinking water or pulling the tongue can stop hiccups becuase of the view that if the vagus nerve that runs from the brain to the stomach is stimulated, the spasms in the diaphragm can be stopped, thereby putting an end to hiccups. 

Sources:
[1] Title: World Book Encyclopedia
  Publisher: Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Corp, 1917-
  Call no. R 031 WOR ( vol. 9)

2] Webpages on “Hiccups”
  http://www.emedicinehealth.com/
  http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?article=BN_Hiccups

For fun reads on hiccups, you can check out these books!

All Rights Reserved, Grosset & Dunlap, 2010
Title: I Can’t Stop Hiccuping
Author: Lauren Child
Call Number: JP English CHI
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Grosset & Dunlap, 2010
Click here to check item availability

All Rights Reserved, Raintree, 2010
Title: Twitches And Sneezes
Author: Angela Royston
Call Number: JP English 612.2 ROY
Publisher: London : Raintree, 2010
Click here to check item availability

All Rights Reserved, Picture Window Books, c2009
Title: You blink twelve times a minute : and other freaky facts about the human body
Author: Barbara Seuling
Call Number: J English 612 SEU
Publisher: Minneapolis, Minn. : Picture Window Books, c2009
Click here to check item availability

Posted By:

Ms Chen Wanying
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services

Why do some wines taste sweeter than others? What goes into the process of making wines sweet? To know more, read on the fascinating ways how wine producers make their wines sweeter.

How do wines become sweet?

Wines are sweet due to two basic methods: the natural method and the interventionist method. The natural method allows the grapes to overripe naturally as this increases the sugar level of the wine. The interventionist method is to use man-made techniques to make the wine sweeter.

The natural method ensures that during fermentation where most of the grape juice will turn into alcohol, a sufficient residual sugar is left unconverted to give sweet luscious wine. Another natural method is botrytis-affected wines. This variety of mould called Botrytis Cinerea grow on overripe grapes. Botrytis punctures the grape skin which allows water content to evaporate. The concentrated grape pulp makes rich, thick and sweet wines.

The interventionist method involves adding unfermented grape juice into the wine fermentation process thereby making it sweeter. Another way is to dry ripe grapes on mats for many months until they become raisins. They are then pressed for their juice and fermented to make sweet wines.
(Source: www.thegoodwebguide.co.uk/?PAGEID=010227
Last accessed on 2 April 2010)

The excerpts below are extracted from the online database Factiva from the article “Sugar high Forget cheese; have fun pairing wine with desserts” by Elizabeth Downer:

“ … What makes the wine sweet varies with the individual wine, but it never is a matter of adding sugar to the grape must. The most common ways of producing a sweet wine are by late harvest or by fortification. Late-harvest wines mean that the grapes stay on the vine beyond the normal harvest season. They lose much of their juice and become raisin-like as the grapes dry out. This loss of liquid concentrates the sugars and results in a sweet must. Leaving grapes to freeze on the vine, as for ice wine, also concentrates the juice, making it sweeter. Another way of getting the grapes to raisin is called passato. The grapes are harvested at the normal time but are kept on mats for several months after picking to dry and become raisins.

Fortified wine begins life as a normal table wine would, but before all the sugar in the must is turned into alcohol by the yeast action, grape brandy is added to the partially fermented must, raising the alcohol level and thereby stopping further yeast action on the sugar in the juice. The wine is then sweet from the natural sugars left in the must. Both of these methods produce wines with deep flavor profiles and sensuous textures that invite contemplation.”

.”

All Rights Reserved, Monsoon, 2009.

1. Pairing wine with Asian food by Edwin Soon
Publisher: Singapore : Monsoon, 2009.
Call No.: SING 641.22 SOO

All Rights Reserved, Plume, c2008.

2. The geography of wine : how landscapes, cultures, terroir, and the weather make a good drop by Brian J. Sommers
Publisher: New York : Plume, c2008.
Call No.: 641.22 SOM

All Rights Reserved, Harvard Common Press, c2008.

3. Wine Mondays : simple wine pairings with seasonal menus by Frank McClelland and Christie Matheson
Publisher: Boston, Mass. : Harvard Common Press, c2008.
Call No.: 641.5 MAC -[COO]