My travelling pictures

I've visited Cordoba in 2010. Such a beautiful Andalusia City where the Roman and Islam used to rule. Driving around Cordoba with left hand drive car was challenging. I remember knocked a few side mirrors. I drove through a very thick fog and the GPS was not really helping. The hotel was opposite the great mosque of Cordoba, I have to go through gates in order to go inside the great mosque area. I didn't know that so I was driving in circle for about an hour before figured out how to get inside and it was late night. Anyway, Cordoba is really beautiful andy the architectures are amazing! Highly recommended to go.

Blogging

It's not difficult to write a few words but thus far blogging has just got out of the habit. Sometimes other things get in the way, sometimes I was wondering whether it's worth to pen out what I was thinking at the time. To be honest, I am not really sure whether I want this blog to be a plant pathology blog, a personal blog or a travel blog?? Such a mind boggling. Anyway, I think it's better just to write what I think worth it but to write only two entries in the space of one year potentially fatal for this blog. This blog must goes on!!!

Msc. of Science Graduation at UPM

After almost 5 years, Zetty and I finally has the opportunity to attend our Msc. od Science convocation. We couldn't attend it in 2008 because we were in the UK doing our PhD as soon as we sat for our Msc. viva. Luckily, the UPM school of graduate studies officer was kind enough to give us permission to attend our convocation. So we're both graduates with Msc. of Science in Mycology and Plant Pathology. Our late supervisor would have been proud of us if she's still around. This is for you Prof. Faridah Abdullah of Biology Department, Faculty of Science, UPM. You'll always be in our thought. Amin.

Q & A: Rare Earth Elements

What is rare earth elements?

First found by Lieutenant Carl Axel Arrhenius in 1787, at a quarry in the village of Ytterby, Sweden and it's developed from there where overtime a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanoids plus scandium and yttrium also considered as rare earth elements since they tend exhibit similar chemical properties as lanthanoids. In other words, rare earth having is 68 parts per million about as common as copper.

Rare earth distribution:

Although well over 90 percent of the minerals are produced in China, they are found in many places around the world, and, in spite of their name, are actually abundant in the earth's crust! Elsewhere, rare earth can be found from Mountain Pass mine in California, Nolans Project in Central Australia, the remote Hoidas Lake project in northern Canada, the Mount Weld project in Australia and northwestern Lai Châu Province, Vietnam.

There are several sites under consideration for mining such as Thor Lake in the Northwest Territories, various locations in Vietnam and a site in southeast Nebraska in the US, where Quantum Rare Earth Development, a Canadian company, is currently conducting test drilling and economic feasibility studies toward opening a niobium mine. Additionally, a large deposit of rare earth minerals was recently discovered in Kvanefjeld in southern Greenland and not to forget in Kuantan, Pahang, MALAYSIA!

So what is the function of rare earth?

Some of the elements such (neodymium and dysprosium) are used to make magnets that help generate torque in the motors of electric and hybrid cars and convert torque into electricity in large wind turbines (We thought hybrid car produces clean energy! Apparently...!!). Some are used to make green phosphors for flat-panel TVs, lasers, and high-efficiency fluorescent lamps. "You wouldn't have a laptop without these powerful magnets," source said. "It would have to weigh four to five times heavier."

The biggest exporter?

As I said before, China is the biggest exporter with 95% monopoly. On September last year, China has temporarily blocked exports of these materials to Japan alarming the risk of supply disruption in the short term. Worldwide demand for rare earth elements was 125,000 tons in 2010 and is expected to rise to 225,000 tons by 2015. With worldwide demand for the materials exploding, Mountain Pass has restarted it's mining last December after was shut down in 2002 due to severe environmental problems.

Buyers?

Obviously, most of the buyers are car producers because rare earth elements are lighter and smaller for their high end technologies.

Cost and profit?

Rare earth elements are not traded as gold or silver but they are mostly sold in private market, which makes their prices difficult to monitor and track. Nevertheless, prices are published periodically on websites such as mineralprices.com. With the lack of supply and high in demands, the prices for some rare earths have gone up more than 700% in the last 45 days! They are reality.

The danger? Impact?

How can we forgot the impact and danger that happened in Bukit Merah Mine. Eight leukemia cases within 5 years in a community of 11,000 have been reported. What else, birth defects, clean up cost up to total of US$100 million! Severe environmental effects! Radioactive contaminated every where! Another case in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, where much of the world's rare earth supply is refined, has suffered major environmental damage! I was wondering can we trust that they will properly handling all these radioactive materials. Only a small leakage to water source can cost you even a human life.

Current technology and alternative to rare earth?

Stronger, lighter magnets could enter the market in the next few years, making more efficient car engines and wind turbines possible. Researchers are now working on new types of nanostructured magnets that would use smaller amounts of rare-earth metals than standard magnets. Nevertheless, it's not clear if the new magnets will get to market before the demand for rare-earth metals exceeds the supply. One example, Tesla Motor uses electromagnets rather than permanent rare-earth magnets. But such motors are larger and heavier than ones that use rare-earth magnets (My imagination is now running back through all those heavy cellphone in the 90's)!"The cost volatility going into the rare-earth permanent magnets was a concern," says JB Straubel, Tesla's chief technology officer. BMW's Mini E electric vehicle uses induction motors, and Tesla is supplying its drive trains to Toyota's upcoming electric RAV 4. Given the volatility of rare-earth supplies, and the advantages induction motors offer in high performance applications, "It makes sense for car companies to give serious thought to using induction motors," says Wally Rippel, senior scientist at AC Propulsion.


Should we have it in Pahang?

NO!

Companies? Board of director?

LYNAS. Who is going to be in the BOD? That is for you to think!

Chioww.....

From Hawaii with love!

Alohaaa!!

Yes, I have a bit of spare time while waiting for Andika to wake up so we can go to Yen Sushi and celebrate Zetty's post confinement! Enjoy the video taken in Honolulu and Big Island, Hawaii. We had a great time there!

Flamenco Dance at Corral de la Moreria.

Haallaaa Madrid.

I was very lucky to see the best flamenco in Madrid at the famous Corral de la Moreria "tablao" flamenco restaurant. We had the best table in the house and the atmosphere was great! We had such a great time and looking forward to having another great session with Flamenco. For me, the dance was so seductive and passionate. I love hearing the singers coz each of them has a very unique voice and style. Attached is a bit of Flamenco that we've seen that night.

The meaning of name.

Every parents want to name their baby as wonderful as they can. In certain ways, it has to be a name closed to their heart or unique or means something great. It took us a long time to think a name for our son. As far as I recalled we bought a book of Islamic's names but I think we never once open the book . For some reasons, we knew that the name will come in some ways without us looking for it.

It just did! During one of Zetty's regular baby scan, Andika's legs were really muscly and straight away I said he is a warrior (just like his great great grandfather; Panglima Ali of Kedah). Then, the name Andika spilled out. Zetty gave the name Raees to compliment Andika as Chief Warrior.

I remembered the first time his Tok heard his name, he said to Andika to live up to his name and I bet he will.