The History of Vaping - Tracing Back to 1963

(photo taken from abc News website)

A few months ago, if I smell a whiff of sweet fruity scent, I would have thought that someone sitting nearby must be eating candy. But today, things are a whole lot different. There is no way to run no way to hide because they are EVERYWHERE including indoor dining area. Well, relax, I was just exaggerating to get the mood started. This sweet smelling vapor is not toxic gas, but something people call 'vape', or electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), which has recently swept through Malaysia especially among young people. I have heard of the term 'e-cigarette' long time ago but had not actually seen one, until this year when I saw some guys puffing away at the shopping centre.

Working with a vape company, Herbert A. Gilbert has launched 1963®.

(photo taken from Ashtray Blog) 

1963: Smokeless Non-tobacco Cigarette

In school, we were taught that e-cigarette is used to 'cure' nicotine addiction, so that smokers can stop smoking and harming their health. And I thought that was the original intention of this invention too until I read an interview with the inventor of the e-cigarette, Herbert A Gilbert. Herbert thought that the smoke produced as a result of combustion was not something pleasant to be taken into our lungs, so he invented the other version of cigarette that did not require burning, just flavoured water vapour powered by battery as heat source. The first smokeless non-tobacco cigarette patent was filed as early as in 1963 but no manufacturer was willing to produce this product because at that time tobacco cigarette was selling like hot cakes and those companies want to protect their market, there was no need for an alternative that might give consumers an implication that tobacco cigarette is not healthy.

The Bakun Dam - Why It Is Wrong

It has been more than 600 days since the Baram Dam Blockade is set up. I have written a post about the negative impact due to the construction of dam last year (What Is Wrong With Mega Dam - The Baram Dam Project) after attending a charity lunch aimed to raise fund for the protest towards the construction of Baram Dam in Sarawak. For this semester I need to do an oral presentation on any topic related to my current field which is Environmental Studies during my English class (which is compulsory for each and everyone in UPM ugh, well I didn't say I dislike it). So I think this is a good time for me to bring up this issue again through direct transfer of message in the class. And I don't like giving speech, I just don't.

The beautiful view on Bakun Dam which hides the ugliness under the water.
(photo taken from Mohd Hisyamudin's blog)

We are required to prepare a audience analysis questionaire to see how much the audience knows about the topic you are going to talk about. Well, everyone knows what a dam is but mostly not sure whether a dam is beneficial overall or not. I am glad that they chose 'not sure' instead of a yes or no because I believe it sparkled some thoughts inside them, although it might last just for awhile. The main purpose of my speech is, again, to inform my audience the negative impact of dam construction in Malaysia in terms of environment and also demography of indigenous people. This time I am going to focus on just one single dam in Malaysia as the case study so that people can see it more clearly and feel it more deeply because it happens in our country, on fellow Malaysians even though the dam is located across the sea in Sarawak!

Solar Energy in Malaysia, Why Not?

Most of the university students in Malaysia are having a two-month semester breaks now where we could have gone for a short trip at the beach or a vacation to some heritage places. However, I am still sitting at home watching the laptop screen playing computer games instead of hanging out with friends somewhere close to nature. I did go out, to shopping centres, or anywhere with air-condition. We have to admit that the scorching sun is a major turnoff for those who do want to go out (of course there are people who are willing to brave through the sunlight), but the photon particles emitted by the sun is something worth harvested especially in tropical country like Malaysia in order to reduce electricity generation using fossil fuels.

The estimated amount of electricity that can be generated in Malaysia. This result was calculated using the solar calculator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of  U.S. Department of Energy.

Climate Change and Health - A Malaysian Perspective

When we are talking about environmental issues (rising sea level in Bangladesh, river pollution in India, destruction of coral reef in Australia etc., just to name a few), we tend to just shrug it off because they have nothing to do with us there is nothing we can do about it. However, when it comes to health issues, people will be sharing information and tips how to prevent getting cancers, heart diseases and the list goes on never-endingly. We are so enthusiastic in protecting our body from harms by seeking medical or nutritional consultancy, but somehow we left out the whole chunk of ice berg that directly determines our health - the environment. Although there is no statistical evidence in our country that proves that climate change is bad for our health (at least not yet), I have highlighted some health issues which might be worsen by climate change.

Health issues impacted by climate change 

The flood in Kelantan last year. Flood makes you more susceptible to be infected by bacteria carried by the water.
(photo taken from The Malay Mail Online) 

1) Water-borne diseases

Prolonged rainy season due to climate change can cause flooding at low-lying ground. Malaysia experienced the worse flood in Kelantan last year which hit the level of 34.17 metres. Besides its direct threat towards human's safety, flooding causes the spread of water-borne diseases such as leptospirosis and typhoid as flood victims spend a lot of time being close to or in contact with the contaminated flood water (flood water can't be clean as it brings out water from the drains as well as the sewage system).

How to Get the Heavy Metal Out of the Soil for Analysis - BCR Sequential Extraction

Some time ago I have shared information about heavy metal analysis (simple introduction & more detailed one). Basically the samples we use for those machines are in liquid form so that they can be vaporised followed by being atomised or ionised, then the machines will do the rest. How about solid sample such as soil? Sometimes spillage happens or maybe the natural content of heavy metal in the soil is much higher that it can be harmful to human health. There are a few digestion methods (yes it is called digestion, like how we digest the food to obtain the nutrients) can be used, and this one, this 3-stage BCR sequential extraction method is one of the most basic ones.

(photo taken from Bonnie Plant website)

To make it simple, the same soil will go through 3 times of digestions using different solvent respectively to target heavy metals in different forms for several hours on a shaker to mix well(or overnight, depending on the stage), then it will be centrifuged (spun with high speed to separate the soil from the solvent) so that we can obtain the solvent which will be analysed later on. After we are done with each stage, the soil will be 'washed' with distilled water before the following stage can be carried out to remove the solvent in previous stage to avoid contamination (but remember not to loss any of the soil during the process!). Even though we have carried out the 3 stages of digestion, there still will be some residual heavy metal that is bound to the soil and is not removable with the above methods. Since they are tightly bound, we can ignore them as they can't really move around in the soil and will not bring much impact to us. For this whole process, only 1 gram of oven-dried soil is needed!