R. W. BLAH

Flash! Snap! Picture taken, photo downloaded. Taking pictures may seem very easy now, but the fact is, like many other technology developments, photography has gone through a lengthy development phase. The word photography literally means ‘drawing with light’. We can see why if we take a look at the first camera. The first camera was actually a room with a small hole on a side wall. Light would go through the hole, and since it is reflected in straight lines, the image would be projected on the opposite wall, upside down. When the very first photograph was taken, the actor had to pose for eight hours-. Although, it was soon shaved to 15 minutes. But still, can you hold your posture for even 15 seconds? So, perhaps the next time you pose for a picture, you’d appreciate how fast and easy the way it is now. The lens takes all the light bouncing around and uses glass to redirect them to one point, creating an image. When all of those light rays meet back together on a digital camera

Is this a sentence? Why are there so many buffaloes in one sentence?  Introduced by this Ted-Ed video , it is actually grammatically correct, but how?  There are three meanings of buffalo. The first is a proper noun, like bison. The second means to bully, and the third refers to the city, Buffalo, New York. To understand it, let’s add a couple of words. That would make it “Bison from Buffalo bully Bison from Buffalo who bully Bison from buffalo.”  Now let's say you want these bullying buffalo across the ocean. You could use a Ship-shipping ship shipping shipping-ships. Now what does this pile of words mean? Well, imagine a colossal ship-shipping ship that is shipping shipping-ships. However, a way to stop buffalo fighting on the ship would be welcome. A can-can dance contest seems like a good idea. Like always, some Can-can Can-can can can can can Can-can. Interesting, these piles of words are just getting bigger, aren’t they? Well, a can-can is a flamboyant dance. Can also means a

Imagine this. A trolley is hurtling down the tracks toward five workers who can’t escape. Fortunately, you can divert the trolley to a different track with one worker who also cannot escape. Would you sacrifice one to save five? This is known as the trolley problem, a moral dilemma, a situation where there is absolutely no good answer. One study shows that 90 percent of people are willing to divert the trolley to kill the lone worker, while 10 percent say that they will keep driving. Now, consider a twisted version. You are on a bridge, with a man with a heavy build next to you. A trolley is heading down the tracks towards the five workers, who are somehow tied up and can not move. You, however, can push the man off the bridge and his body will stop the trolley with the brutal sacrifice of his life. Under such a scenario, which option would you choose? Not surprisingly, only ten percent of the recorded people say it is okay to push the man off the bridge. These two scenarios

          I watched a documentary called Frozen Worlds , it was about the ecosystems near the arctic and antarctic. I learned many interesting things about animals who migrate there in the summer or live there year-round. Take the Antarctic as an example, which houses many species, including Penguins, Seals, Orcas, Whales, and Krill. The most amazing one in my opinion is the penguin, who is fascinating above water and intriguing under water. Below the ocean’s surface, penguins hunt for fish and krill. Above the water, they are brave, but also in constant danger, especially when they feed their young. Surviving itself is a challenge to many. As you might not be aware that the penguins are nowhere near the top of the antarctic food chain. Seals and Orcas hunt for penguins in the open sea. Not to mention that humpback whales have started migrating to Antarctica for a chance to eat the Antarctic krill, causing the population of krill to drop forty percent in a couple of years, which furt

Have you ever been in a traffic jam? The last time I was, I almost exploded with impatience. Our lane was crammed with vehicles while the adjacent lane seemed to be moving faster than usual, annoying me with the illusion of going backward. Traffic Jams can be tremendously time-consuming, with the longest being eight days long, at a virtually standstill at 0.6 kilometers a day in China. The average commuter wastes fifty four hours in traffic a year! In a survey, half of the interviewed people said that the reason they were late to work was due to heavy traffic. Traffic jams are also expensive. The longer that jam lasts, the more gas is wasted, which contributes to the ever present global warming we are facing. As we sit in our cars moving at a mile an hour, we are slowly releasing more fumes and polluting the environment more.  What can we do in a traffic jam? Rule #1, calm down. Irritation doesn’t help anything. In fact, it can trigger traffic accidents to some degree. Rule #2,