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The hottest chilli is the “Infinity chili” which has been rated at 1,067,286 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), according to tests conducted by the Warwick University, UK, in March 2010.

The former record-holder, the Indian Bhut Jolokia, is measured at 1,041,427 SHU.

(Source: www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2916014/Worlds-hottest-chilli-and-comes-from-Grantham.html)

Scoville Heat Unit, or SHU, was named after a chemist, Wilbur Lincoln Scoville. In 1912, he had volunteers eat various chillis to test their heat. After seeing how much sugar-water the testers needed to put out the “fire,” Scoville created a scale for a chilli’s hotness.

All chillis get their fiery heat from a compound called capsaicin. The white fleshy insides of the chilli contain molecules of this chemical. Thus, when eaten, capsaicin molecules stick to nerve endings in your mouth and create a burning sensation.

Sources:
www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Search/Details/Hottest-chili/123319.htm
Accessed November 28, 2010.

THAT’S HOT. Scholastic SuperScience [serial online]. April 2008;19(7):3. Available from: Primary Search, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 28, 2010.

How hot is it? Boys’ Life, August 2005 v95 i8 p13(1). Available from: Kids InfoBits. Accessed November 28, 2010.

Originally answered by Rosjihanah Mon
Associate Librarian, Children’s Services

Advances in reproductive medicine and techniques have made it possible, at least in theory, for a man to carry and give birth to a child. In fact, researcher Dr Cecil Jacobson, claims to have impregnated a male baboon using this method in the 1960s, although the pregnancy was not allowed to go to term. However, such a procedure is highly risky and would endanger both the man and the unborn child. Furthermore, it raises uncomfortable social and ethical questions that society may not be ready to grapple with. For these reasons, the world is still waiting to witness the first true male pregnancy.

To ‘impregnate’ a man, eggs taken from a female are first artificially inseminated in a test-tube. The fertilized egg, or embryo, would then be implanted into the man’s omemtum, a part of the abdomen made up of fatty tissue and blood vessels, located in front of the intestines. This situation is somewhat similar to an ectopic pregnancy: a situation where the embryo is fertilized and develops outside of the womb. Although ectopic pregnancies often fail, they can sometimes result in perfectly healthy babies.

Upon implantation, the embryo would form its own placenta – the organ responsible for creating the necessary hormonal conditions to enable pregnancy. It does not have to be inside a woman, although that is where it is usually found. The pregnancy would then proceed until the baby is ready to be delivered – by Caesarean section.

However, there are numerous problems associated with this procedure. According to obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr. Rebecca Shaw, an abdominal pregnancy is unlikely to succeed, as, unlike the uterus, the area is not designed to stretch to accommodate the growth of a foetus. The abdominal cavity is also not equipped to release a placenta easily, leading possibly to uncontrolled bleeding during delivery. The male would also need to be exposed to high levels of hormones which might be carcinogenic or have other yet-undiscovered long term effects.

You may be interested in the following articles, which were obtained using the database Factiva, one of the library’s e-resources. Visit the library’s e-resource portal, browse our resources by A-Z, and look under “F” for Factive

 Do note that you will need to use the version that with unlimited archival access, which is available in all our public libraries. You will also need to register as a digital library member before you can use our e-resource.

 Sources:

L.A.Life
Mr Mom: Male Pregnancy isn’t around the corner, but it’s possible
Daily News Staff Writer
12 February 1990
Los Angeles Daily News

 Hard to Stomach Science: Medically, it’s do-able. Morally, it’s debatable. But on a purely emotional level, the very idea of a male pregnancy is difficult to accept. Why would a man want to be pregnant? And is the world’s first pregnant man all that he seems?
By William Leith
13 April 2008
The Sunday Telegraph

Posted by Lynnette Kang,  Adult and Young People’s Services

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It’s the peak travelling season from now till the end of the school holidays. We bring you some practical travel tips and some book recommendations for further reading. The public libraries also carry a large range of travel guides to help you plan your holiday. You can look for the travel guides on our designated Travel shelves at these call nos: 914 (Europe), 915 (Asia), 916 (Africa), 917 (North America), 918 (South America). We have another blog post here that shows you some good places to travel to.

Here are some practical tips:
Jetlag Free Travel
If your next trip involves a large time jump, try following these tips:
(i) Drink plenty of water
Flying at high altitude, where the air pressure and humidity in the cabin is lower than that on the ground, can leave you dehydrated at the end of the journey. This would make you feel more fatigue and lower your body’s resistance to illness. Avoid alcoholic drinks.

(ii) Meal and sleep adjustments
It may be helpful to take a high protein breakfast and lunch, and high carbohydrate supper to ensure a wakeful day and restful night. Where it is night-time at your destination, wear a sleep mask, earplugs and try to sleep. Correspondingly, when it is daytime, turn on the light above your seat and try to keep awake. Most airlines will show the latest movies on long haul flights to help you while away the travelling hours.

High Altitude Sickness
What are the symptoms of altitude sickness?
Initial symptoms of high altitude sickness are headaches, nausea, poor appetite, difficulty sleeping, cough, shortness of breath, muscles ache and generalised lethargy. These symptoms can occur anytime during ascent to high altitude but characteristically occur six to 48 hours later.

How can altitude sickness be prevented?
Physical conditioning at sea level will not prevent high altitude sickness. However, there are several ways to reduce the chances of becoming ill.
First, plan for a gradual ascent. During the initial two days, limit your climb to below the altitude of 8,000 feet. Sleeping at an altitude below 8,000 feet is especially important. On the subsequent days, limit your ascent to no more than 2,000 feet per day. If you are flying to a high altitude city such as La Paz, Bolivia, plan to rest during the next couple of days. Do not engage in physical activities such as long walks, jogging or sporting activities.
Finally, if you have a cardiac or respiratory condition, it is advisable not to travel to high altitude destinations.
(Editor: some other high altitude places include Nepal, Bhutan and Mount Fuji in Japan)

What to eat and drink?
A high carbonate diet may help to reduce the symptoms of high altitude sickness. Avoid alcohol, sedatives and sleeping medications since they all depress respiration, lower oxygen intake and consequently increase the incidence of altitude sickness.

More travel tips:
- Keep vaccinations up-to-date and written on the International Vaccination Certificate
- Disinfect all drinking water when travelling in developing countries. Avoid ice cubes. Avoid fresh vegetables or fruit washed in ‘unsafe’ water
- Don’t walk barefoot or swim in tropical regions endemic for soil and water-borne diseases
- Don’t forget your first aid bag

Source:
Title: Culture Shock! Travel Safe: A survival guide to medical safety.
Publisher: Tarrytown, NY : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2009-
Call No.: 613.68 CSTS – [HEA]

Here are some other book recommendations that you can refer to:
1) Safe overseas travel: maximizing enjoyment by minimizing risk
Call no.: 910.202 SOT- [TRA]

2) The essential guide to travel health : don’t let bugs, bites and bowels spoil your trip
Call no.: 613.68 WIL- [HEA]

3) Trouble-free travel with children: over 700 helpful hints for parents on the go
Author: Vicki Lansky
Call no.: 910.202 LAN- [TRA]

4) The rough guide to travel with babies and children
Call no.: 910.202 RGT- [TRA]

Please use our online catalogue to search for the availabilities and locations of the above titles.

Originally posted by Yen Yen Toh, Associate Librarian, Adult and Young People’s Services

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If you have a different question, please email to ask@nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment

These authors have travelled to places great and small, renowned and obscure. There is no better arm-chair travelling. Read these books and you may be inspired to check out the countries for yourselves! Before you jet-set off to the next exotic location, check out some practical travelling tips here.

1) The old Patagonian Express: by train through the Americas
Author: Paul Theroux
Call No.: 917.045 THE- [TRA]

2) A walk in the woods
Author: Bill Bryson
Call No.: 917.404 BRY- [TRA]

3) The lady and the monk: four seasons in Kyoto
Author: Pico Iyer
Call No.: 952.186 IYE

4) Among the Russians
Author: Colin Thubron
Call No.: 914.708 THU- [TRA]

5) Country driving: a journey through China from farm to factory
Author: Peter Hessler
Call No.: 303.483 HES

6) Around the world in 80 days
Author: Michael Palin
Call No.: 910.41 PAL-[TRA]

*The images of the book covers are the copyright of the respective publishers

Please use our online catalogue to search for the availabilities and locations of the above titles.

Originally posted by Yen Yen Toh, Associate Librarian, Adult and Young People’s Services

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If you have a different question, please email to ask@nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment

Below are some reading recommendations:

Fiction titles:
1. An innocent soldier / by Josef Holub ; translated by Michael Hofmann.
Summary: A sixteen-year-old farmhand is tricked into fighting in the Napoleonic Wars by the farmer for whom he works, who secretly substitutes him for the farmer’s own son.
Call No.:  Y English HOL

2. Kipling’s choice / written by Geert Spillebeen ; translated by Terese Edelstein.
Summary: In 1915, mortally wounded in Loos, France, eighteen-year-old John Kipling, son of writer Rudyard Kipling, remembers his boyhood and the events leading to what is to be his first and last World War I battle.
Call No.: Y English SPI

3. Sunrise over Fallujah / Walter Dean Myers.
Summary: Robin Perry, from Harlem, is sent to Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Civilian Affairs Battalion, and his time there profoundly changes him.

Call No.: Y English MYE

4. The burning bridge / John Flanagan.
Summary: Will is forced to overcome his fear of Wargals, the foot soldiers of rebel warlord Morgarath, as Araluen’s army prepares to battle Morgarath’s forces.
Call No.: Y English FLA

5. Search and destroy / Dean Hughes.

Summary: Recent high school graduate Rick Ward, undecided about his future and eager to escape his unhappy home life, joins the army and experiences the horrors of the war in Vietnam.
Call No.: Y English HUG

Non-fiction titles:
1. The war in Iraq / Tom Lansford, book editor.
Call No.: Y English 956.70443 WAR

2. The hundred days offensive : the Allies’ push to win World War I / by Andrew Langley.
Call No.: Y English 940.434 LAN

3. The Vietnam War / Hal Marcovitz.
Call No.: Y English 959.7043 MAR

4. Living through the Korean War / Charles W. Carey Jr., book editor.
Call No.: Y English 951.9042 LIV

5. World War II / Nathaniel Harris.
Call No.: Y English 940.54 HAR

If you intend to check the availability of any title before visiting our public libraries, you may do so via the online catalogue at: http://searchplus.pl.sg/

Posted by Yen Yen Toh, Associate Librarian, Adult and Young People’s Services

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Deepavali, otherwise known as the “festival of lights”, marks the triumph of good over evil for Hindus as it commemorates the victory of Lord Krishna, the ruler of Madura over the demon Narakasura, whose evil rule in the kingdom of  Pradyoshapuram was much feared by the villagers. 

Upon Lord Krishna’s return, the city of Madura was in complete darkness as it was the night of a new moon. Therefore, to celebrate the victory and welcome Lord Krishna, the people lit lamps to pave the way for Lord Krishna, hence Deepavali is also known as the “”festival of lights”.

Another legend associated with Deepavali would be the return of Lord Rama from unjust exile by his stepmother after fourteen years and his defeat of  the demon king, Ravana. Therefore, Deepavali is also celebrated to honour Lord Rama and to mark his triumph of  good over evil.

During Deepavali, Hindu homes are decorated with fresh mango leaves and kolams (Indian floor art). It is also celebrated with the feasting on traditional sweets and snacks, visiting relatives and friends and lighting of oil lamps around the home. The  oil lamps placed in the homes are believed to usher in good fortune.

Sources:
1) Deepavali:http://www.hinduism.co.za
2) Hindu Festivals: Hindu Endowment Board:http://www.heb.gov.sg

To learn more about Deepavali, do check out these books!

All Rights Reserved, London : Franklin Watts, 2008
A year of Hindu festivals by Flora York
Call Number: J English 294.5 YOR
Publisher: London : Franklin Watts
View item availability here

All Rights Reserved, Mumbai : Vakils, Feffer & Simins, c2005
Festival of light : Deepavali legends from around India as told by Radhika Sekar
Call Number: J English 398.2360954 RAD -[FOL]
Publisher:Mumbai : Vakils, Feffer & Simins
View item availability here

All Rights Reserved, Singapore : Asiapac Books, 2005
Come To The Party!Celebrate Indian Hindu festivals by Suzanne Lauridsen
Call Number: J SING English 294.5 LAU
Publisher: Singapore : Asiapac Books
View item availability here

Posted By:

Ms Chen Wanying
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services