Cross section of a Papaya

Here is a cross-section of a papaya which I find very interesting. The star shaped interior is quite symmetrical. Nature is simply amazing!

Rainbow

A faint but big rainbow was sighted at the western skies on the early morning of 18 Apr 2008.

The Lotus Effect

As reported in the April's issue of the National Geographic Magazine, the growth and development of Biomimetics (The application of designs from nature to solve problems in engineering and other fields) is gaining great momentum globally.

One example featured is the Lotus Effect. In 1982, Professor Wilhelm Barthlott of the Nees-Institute for Biodiversity in Bonn, Germany, discovered that lotus leaf has a natural self-cleaning mechanism. The microscopic structure of the leaves not only prevent them from being wetted by water, it even causes the water to roll off the leaves' surface like beads, taking dirt, mud and other impurities with them. Professor Barthlott patented his discovery, calling it the Lotus Effect. Since then, nanotechnologists have developed treatments, coatings, paints, roof tiles, fabrics etc that can repel water and self-clean like the lotus leaf.

Science aside, I think that Lotus Effect can also be applied in another way. At times, we may be wronged by the words or deeds of others. Like the lotus leaf which is not wetted by water, we too can be untainted by bad experiences so that we stay calm in such situations and not filled with negative emotions such as anger, depression, frustation etc. Furthermore, these bad experiences are great opportunites for us to do self reflection and correct our mistakes, leading us to improve our conduct and personal effectiveness in life. This is akin to the lotus leaf using the water to clean itself without being 'tainted' by the water.

References :

Lotus Effect in Wikipedia

National Geographic Magazine, Apr issue on Biomimetics (on line edition)

General Yang's Honesty

Here is my summarized and translated version of the story contained in the Chinese Text Book of Virtues, Book one, Chapter on Trust and Credibility ( 信 ). Please pardon my translation errors and let me know if you spot any errors.

During the Jin dynasty ( 晋朝 ), there was a general with the surname of Yang, name Hu and given name Shuzi (see note*). He brought his troops to defend the area of Xiangyang. This area borderd the country of Wu ( 吴国 ) and General Yang's troops often clashed with Wu's army which was led by General Lu Kang. Whenever the army from both sides of the border fought, they must first fixed a date for the battle. Moreover, both sides did not make any sneak attack. Whenever the advisors in General Yang's army wanted to propose any scheming attack plans, General Yang would give them a lot of strong wine to drink so that they could not elaborate on their devious plans. Occasionally General Lu Kang would send General Yang some wine to drink. General Yang would drink those wine without any suspicion. When General Lu Kang fell ill, General Yang sent him some medicines and he took the medicines immediately. Others tried to dissuade General Lu Kang from taking the medicines and he said, "How can there be a Yang Shuzi that poison people?"

When the enemy soldiers heard of General Yang's death, they cried for him. Throughout history, there was only General Yang whose trust and credibility had moved the enemies.

* note : In Ancient China, a person's name was made up of three parts, surname ( 姓 ), name ( 名 ) and given name ( 字 ). Before a person reached adulthood, everyone could call him by his name ( 名 ). A man went through a ceremony ( 冠礼 ) at the age of twenty to signify that he had reached adulthood. After that ceremony, it was disrespectful to call him by his name ( 名 ) . His peers, brothers, classmates and friends would then give him a given name ( 字 ). From that time onwards, everyone would call him by his given name ( 字 ) instead of name ( 名 ). Only his parents and teachers could call him by his name ( 名 ).

Original Chinese story available HERE 《德育课本》,初集卷四,《二十四信》, 编号 : dykb1-04, story number 12).

Special Law in Ancient China

Here is a translation of what I read about recently from a Chinese book :

In modern society, there are many cases whereby young parents have spoilt their children. These children grew up to be unfilial sons / daughters and committed many bad deeds or crimes in society. It was only then that the parents realized their mistakes. It is important to educate the children and being strict with them when they are small as the children’s characters are developed when young. Otherwise it will be too late when they grow up. When such spoilt children grow up, they often go against the wishes of their parents. They will also easily become frustrated when their parents sometimes do not treat them nicely.

In ancient China, there was a special penalty know as [ 亲权处分 ]. It is a law that granted parents the right to request for punishments of their sons / daughters.

Parents could come to the Judge and informed that their son was unfilial and requested the Judge to give their son the death penalty. The Judge would immediately sentence their son to death without trial. This right of parents was a first degree order / priority. In the past, sons and daughters were afraid of their parents. If the parents complained, the Judge would mete out punishments for their sons or daughters accordingly without trial. If the parents requested a jail term of three years for their son, it would be approved immediately. There was no room for argument and trial was not required. Everyone in society would deem that punishment was absolutely right and appropriate. Every parents love their child. A person without the love of their parents would not be accepted by society. During the time when such a law existed, people did not dare to be unfilial as that was punishable by law. Those who were punished were not allowed to engage lawyers and there was no room for defending against their penalty. This is food for thought.