Let There be Light 2: Experimental DIY Solar bottle light

The solar bottle light was so interesting to me that I decided to make a model to see for myself the final result. The photos and videos on the internet are convincing but I just want to try the experiment for fun; after all, experiment is the hallmark of science in that a theory must work in practice every time under the same conditions and circumstances. So I finally decided to just make a model using a box along with the essential 1.5 liter soda bottle which should not have color to achieve the best result. However, as this not a real application- I just use common tap water (should use distilled water) and did not add the bleach into the water.

Just cut a hole that fit the "waist" of the bottle; then open the cap and slightly crush the bottle so as to squeeze it into the hole.

Note that when there is no water in the bottle; there is no prism effect to focus the light.

After water is added, we can see that the light is much brighter than before.

This is how it looked inside the box as I tried to achieve darkness by putting my hand with the camera inside the box and then tried to wrap the flaps around my hand but the result is not optimum.

So I figured out a way by opening a small hole for the lens of my camera to shoot inside from the outside of the box; this way, the box would be darker and the light should be more pronounced. By the way, I did closed the flaps/lid of the box when I shoot the photo.

Another problem come out in that by this time, the heavy bottle filled with water could not be held by the box as the hole had became larger and lost its grip. So I decided to use a thick slab of styrofoam as a neck which did the trick. There are often challenges and problems that crop up during experiments and one must try to overcome such problems to achieve our objectives.

Finally, this outstanding photo of a luminous solar bottle light inside the dark interior of the closed box which became very bright demonstrated the powerful effect of the solar power transmitted via the superb solar bottle light!

Let There be Light !

I chanced to see a news segment about the ingenious use of solar energy to light up the dim interiors of shacks in Philippines yesterday and was intrigued; luckily, the internet is just the place to find out more about this extraordinary idea. It seems that a social activist by the name of Illac Diaz use this invention (it was said to be a brainchild of a South American engineer who came up with this idea sometime ago when an electricity blackout triggered him to experiment with alternative illumination for his darken building) to give free lighting to masses of Filipinos. By doing so, he also helped to recycle discarded bottles into a most useful items that truly benefit poor people. This solar bottle light bulb can be easily made: you just need to fill it with distilled water and add two cap full of bleach to prevent growth of algae and its better to top the bottle with a plastic film container (such film containers might not be so easily obtainable now that the camera using film is almost extinct with the arrival of the digital camera) or other some other suitable containers as the bottle cap will not last under the hot sun and rain. The water filled bottle will then act simply as a prism to diffuse the light of the sun so this miracle solar bottle light bulb will not work at night! But its great to illuminate the small businesses as well as the dwellings and the bathrooms and toilets without incurring electricity bills; it is also great for places that do not have electricity connection.

Social activist-Illac Diaz in the center demonstrating the power of the solar bottle light.

This is how it looks on the roof. Each solar bottle light can last for about two years.

This amazingly ingenious invention is truly helping to make a huge difference to the lives of millions. I salute the inventor as well as the activists who help to bring this most affordable technology into thousands of humble dwellings.This is a form of social revolution that might help to generate more progress as people who are in awe over the creative possibilities of the minds will be inspired to come up with other powerful, useful and affordable inventions that can raise the quality of life especially for the poor.

Flowers in full bloom in the garden

The flowers in the garden are in full bloom.

Dad sitting out on the swing during the evening.

More photos of dad; this was taken over a month ago on Qing Ming day on 27th March 2011.

I bought him a packet of wantan noodle from a stall in Raub; the noodles were supposed to be made in the old way. The noodle are flour mixed only with many eggs and no water is added at all. Learned of this stall at Raub from a well known Malaysian Mandarin TV food show. The business of this noodle stall was good and we had to wait for a long time before being served and it was more expensive but its taste was just so-so; nothing special.

Father said he likes the swing which is very good for him to sit on to take in some fresh air.

Besides him is a pot of longan tree; grown from seed taken from his home village in Fujian, China.

Finally, today (4th May 2011) - there was a stretch of rainbow in the evening. Rain is supposed to follow the appearance of a rainbow but no rain fall this evening. Heavy rains did fall later in the night right this moment as I was finalizing this blog at 10:00PM; the photo was taken at around 6:30PM. Anyway, this photo is a good excuse for me to "burst into song"- featuring the classic song: Somewhere over the rainbow. This is something like a Hindi movie of a blog or perhaps a musical blog - The Sound of Nanyang Narratives!

Finally, I would like to say hi! to my dearest niece-Caitlyn who is learning a great deal of new things each and every day! I am sending a special greeting to you via a nice friendly puppy with a waggery tail! Caitlyn, you can take this doggie into your home (daddy's computer!) if you pat it with the mouse/cursor and then download (save) it. Wow! Wow! But please ask for daddy or mummy's permission first, okie-dokie?

What kind of bird was it? The answers...

Remember the little birdie with "coats of many colors" that was caught inside a jar recently? Sue Anne had posed the question to me: "Btw, did u find out what that colourful bird is?" I told her I had not bother to check. But today, I saw a news article in The Star (3th May 2011) with photo of some birds; one colorful bird in particular caught my attention. It was the same type of bird our maid had caught inside Jia Yin's room and it was indeed a kingfisher as I had guessed. After some research on the Internet, I realized that there are probably a few subspecies with different names: Black back kingfisher, Borneo dwarf kingfisher, Oriental dwarf kingfisher and the one caught by our maid was known as Rufous back of Peninsular Malaysia.

Its indeed wonderful to know that such exquisitely beautiful birds exist in this world. I wonder what Leonardo da Vinci will think or say if presented with this specie of bird? Its like a white color bird had flew across a rainbow and its body was impressed with vivid colors to different parts of its body. Another theory was that a little child had actually painted a bird and then released it to the sky!

Incurable Romantics

The royal wedding of Prince of Wales to a commoner on 29th April 2011 was not just a huge media event but was billed as being wedding of the century. Cinderella and Prince Charming are real and tangible! The level of attentions paid to this couple was indicative that a large part of humanity are incurable romantics. They like to see a fairy tale come to life; fortunately, it does seems that this couple are rather well adjusted charming individuals that could well pleased the expectations of the many.

Is it naive to wish for happy endings in a world that is full of disappointments and tragedies? It was said that President Franklin Roosevelt will not watch a film if it does not ends on a happy note; we should remember how he had to deal with many decisions that caused many people to suffered and even die during World War II. Perhaps its well that we should look towards the positive while putting up with unhappy events. The orphan Pollyanna shared her philosophy of life with an unhappy and frustrated preacher. She observed that her father who was a preacher had taught her to play the "Glad Game" which was essentially to look at the positive sides; and in his sermons, would concentrated on the "happy texts" in the Bible. Pollyana then quoted from Lincoln who observed that: "When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will."

Humans need to have lofty ideals as models. Alexander took as his model- the godlike Archiles, both Caesar and Napoleon held Alexander the great in turn as their model, and T.E. Lawrence thought of himself as a medieval knight... In the world of fantasy, many girls wanted to be beautiful princesses and many men are dashing princes on white steeds and they would live happily ever after in a fairy tale castle. In the midst of our fantasies, we might well remember the concept of under promise and over deliver. There is a supposed phenomenon known as The Paris Syndrome in which unattached young Japanese ladies would fell prey to the idea of the romantic Paris where they will find the ideal Frenchman of their fantasy; they would saved enough money and then proceed to the city of their dreams only to see their illusions dash to pieces on the rocks of reality.

Yet hopes spring eternal in the human breasts and so to bask in the good cheers generated by this fairy-tale coming to life royal wedding is good for the human spirit; never mind the great expectations and ultimate tragic fable of the Princess Diana, we should let optimism rise again. If something does not turned out as one wish in the past, it does not mean that we are doomed to fail the next time. We should try and try again and then we may yet succeed in the end.

Violin performance

Went to Triang for a charity dinner performance of music and dances; proceeds will go to the Japanese disaster fund. Jia Yin took part along with other students from their music school.

From Fauna to Flora

From the Galapagos (Sue Anne's observation), let us now go to Kew Garden and see some plants instead of animals.

There is a public park with a large pond several kilometers away where the it is stocked with fishes and turtles. There are also birds and I had even seen hornbills but I am not sure if they roost within this park.

I saw this seed right at the rear of the shop. There was a tree at a nearby primary school attended by Sis, Eking and Eswee that produced such seeds from pods that shape like a boat. The tree had been cut down many years since.

Many years ago, I went to a medicine shop to buy a Chinese medicine known evocatively as Thousand pieces of paper for curing Jia Yin's chicken pox, I think; I was surprised to see that this type of seed was in fact the medicine. So we live and learn. If this seed had floated with the wind to this spot 50 years ago when it was still unpaved clearing, it might have taken root and grew up into a tree; but progress dictates that it would be cut down all the same for development.

A patch of garden growing profusely with sweet potato vegetable plants; its so lush because I used A1 Tok Sai (an ethnic joke) fertilizer (guano)! All I need now is a hungry Peter Rabbit to complete the rustic scene. Since this is the year of the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac calendar; I will bear such sacking by the said Peter Rabbit with indulgence although rabbit pie does sound rather nice!

Same case for these three potted plants. The left hand one is chili plant.

These Prosperity flowers (Fukui Fa) are still blooming; they were planted years ago by mom.

The fencing was replaced as we decided to destroy the hedge plants since they were playing hosts to termites which had again reared their ugly heads. Another round of insecticide were administered to counter this problem beside the destruction of the hedge plants.

Three longan trees for a group photo. The one in pot is same age as its giant sibling in the center; whereas the one at the rear is a grafted plant given by Jeff which can supposedly grow quickly and bear fruits by one year of age even when its still not very tall. Lets hope that it will do so as promised. I had dug out the previous grafted plant I planted and gave it to Eking.

A closer look at the longan tree bought at a nursery located in Tanjung Sepat by Jeff when he had a holiday there. I planted it during the Chinese New Year (Spring festival) back in February.