Cataract Surgery

I am in the midst of preparing a powerpower point presentation for "The Right To Sight" community project. One of the issues that I would be talking about is the prevalence of cataracts being one of the major contributor towards blindness among poor communities. It only takes a simple 10 minute surgical procedure in order to restore their sight.

Many people have asked me about cataract surgery so I have included a clip in my presentation.

I am also including it here as I am sure many people are curious what cataract surgery looks like and truly how simple the whole procedure is.

Warning: If you squirm looking at a bit of blood and faint at the sight of surgical procedures, do not proceed any further. You have been warned.

The 11th Hour

The 11th Hour is a feature film documentary on the state of our current environment. Narrated and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, the documentary depicts the grave problems faced by mother nature in current times. This documentary pulls in prominent speakers such as physicist Stephen Hawking, former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev among others and talks about threats to the environment such as global warming, deforestation, extinction of species and ultimately the extinction of mankind.

Watching the movie, I can't help thinking that humans are not destroying the environment but destroying themselves. Even if humans are destroyed by global warming and its aftermath and 99.99% of life die, nature will eventually heal itself and return to its former glory. Nature has all the time in the world but humankind don't.

Another scary fact from the film - Humans contribute to 55,000 extinctions every year

But besides the grim picture portrayed, the film also touched on potential solutions to the current problem.

To those that have watched "An Unconventional Truth" narrated by Al Gore, 11th Hour although not as good as the former is a good watch and serves as a clear reminder that we are the generation that could change the perception of this world that is facing extinction. If the people of our generation do not tackle the problem of global warming now, the next generation may not have a chance to do so.

Panda And Porn

What does panda conservation and porn have in common?

Apparently, in order to encourage mating among this highly sex shy species, Chinese researches have been putting them pandas on some sort of "sexercise" program which includes panda pornography.

Amazing isn't it!

Full story from today's Star paper


Pandas in rigorous "sexercise" programme

Beijing : China's notoriously shy pandas are being put through a rigorous "sexercise" programme in a new effort to encourage them to mate, state media reported yesterday.

"I'm not fit enough, lets do it sitting ya babe?"

The Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Centre in the south-western province of Sichuan is making male pandas walk on their two legs to strengthen their pelvic and hip muscles, to better prepare them for sex, the China Daily said.

"Oh baby, your so strong! what have they done to you?"

The move which is achieved by luring male panda up with an apple, looks remarkably like a dance routine and is aimed to boost the animal's sexual stamina, the report said.

Giant pandas are known to be sexually inactive, but the new measure follows several other initiatives taken to try and encourage breeding, including panda pornography - AFP

Aren't they adorable? Lets hope panda conservation do come into fruition and we will see them off the endangered list.