This is normally more of a problem in colder and dryer weather although there are still many Malaysians who suffer from asthma and many other problems that are generally caused by airborne allergens. Allergens are substances in the air, which could be pollen or mould or from dust mites, that might trigger an allergic reaction in those who are sensitive to these things. They might cause a severe running or congested nose, but at the very worst, they can also trigger an asthmatic attack in those who are prone to this condition.

The problem is even more apparent if you’re commonly a city dweller visiting the countryside for the first time. Unless your immune system has been regularly exposed to low amounts of allergens (even in small enough amounts that it won’t trigger an allergic response), your system is likely to react quite strongly to the allergens out in nature. Therefore, if you’re prone to getting asthmatic attacks and you’re going to be out exercising or walking in nature for a while, it’s probably a good idea to keep to the following handy tips: Read the rest of this entry »

This is something that we normally don’t think too much about since we get so much sunlight here in Malaysia. In fact, we even try to go out of our way to avoid as much sunlight as possible since it just makes us hot and sweaty, which is something we don’t particularly want during the day. Nevertheless, sunlight has some useful benefits for all of us in moderate doses and can play an integral part in maintaining our physical and mental health.

Perhaps the most important function that sunlight allows the skin to naturally produce vitamin D, which is actually the most convenient source for this important vitamin. Of course, vitamin D has been added to many foods now – as humans have moved on to a more sedentary lifestyle indoors, humans no longer get enough sunlight to naturally produce as much vitamin D as is needed to maintain health. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve only recently heard about this universal city in India called Auroville, which isn’t really timely news because it was founded in the 1960s, but we think it deserves a mention because it is probably something that we haven’t really heard about and it does sound like a worthy project. The whole idea of the universal city as embodied by Auroville is to create a place where the only values uniting every resident of the city are those human unity and celebrating the diversity of all humans. And Auroville really does live up to its ideals, with people from more than 30 nations around the world living on its premises and being a part of the community.

Apart from being a place attuned to spiritual and human development, Auroville has also been designed with sustainable principles in mind. Water for the city is drawn up from underground aquifers using a combination of diesel and sustainable energy for the use of its residents, and Read the rest of this entry »

Back in the middle of 2008, when petrol prices suddenly spiked to above RM 2 per litre, we started hearing lots of people talking about converting their cars to running on natural gas to take advantage of the cheaper prices. While that might have been a good idea, it is unfortunate to note that there was recently a fatal explosion where a car powered by natural gas exploded in a car park while the driver was asleep in the car and leaving the engine running, destroying it and the cars around it and causing much damage to the surrounding area.

While natural gas is probably a better fuel to use for your wallet and the environment as it is cheaper and burns more cleanly, it should be noted that cars have been designed with petrol in mind. Therefore, there needs to be a set of pretty extensive modifications to the car including to the engine and the fuel transport mechanism that means that natural gas tanks need to be fitted to your car as well as a series of rubber tubes feeding the natural gas from the tanks to your engine. Rubber has a tendency to degrade over time and therefore need to be checked regularly for leaks to ensure that you’re not leaking gas which can be catastrophic especially in enclosed spaces. Read the rest of this entry »

Fireworks definitely add a festive spirit to any celebration in Malaysia, especially during holidays such as the New Year and National Day. We’re also sure that many remember the smell of fireworks hanging in the air after a particularly large display which tends to linger for a while after the pyrotechnics have disappeared. Many of us think it is just smoke which, while damaging to the environment, shouldn’t be too harmful. But did you know that there’s a lot more going on with fireworks than simply smoke?

In fact, the reason why fireworks are as colourful as they are should suggest there are more chemicals at work than simply burning paper or any other simple substances. The only things in nature that could burn so brightly and with so many colours are metal compounds and some of the compounds used in fireworks are truly poisonous. Strontium, barium, copper and magnesium compounds are but some of the substances used in fireworks to give them different colours (red, green, blue and white respectively). These compounds then Read the rest of this entry »

Living as we do in the tropics, we end up perspiring a lot during the days if we are exposed to the heat and sun for even short periods. So it should be no surprise that an active industry for deodorants and antiperspirants has sprung up, particularly catering to women who are afraid of having unsightly sweat marks around their underarms. In an effort to make sure that we don’t have those sweat marks, we are happy to apply liberal amounts of antiperspirants to stop the sweating, followed by some deodorants to ensure that we don’t smell unpleasant. We don’t always take the effort to think about what exactly we are putting on our bodies.

Most commercial antiperspirants contain aluminium compounds that chemically combine with the salts in your sweat to form a gel like substance that plugs up the pores in your skin and creates a physical barrier that prevents the pores from secreting any more sweat. The gel also makes the pores contract, further reducing the amount of sweat produced. Even though aluminium is used in so many places in industry and is one of the most common elements present in the Earth, there has been some research that suggests that Read the rest of this entry »

When you’re outside mowing the lawn if you do indeed have a lawn or a garden in front of your house, the thought must have crossed your mind that this is a really annoying chore and isn’t there really a better way to do it than to have to cut the grass all the time? If it does, you’re really not in the minority and lawnmowing is sometimes one of the tasks that most people dislike doing because it seems like such a terrible chore. In fact, we were just thinking more about lawnmowing – does it make sense to have a lawnmowing schedule and are the benefits of having a lawn really going to compensate for the time, energy and petrol that you will use operating the lawnmower?

Actually, having a schedule is important to care for your garden appropriately and the amount of time that you need to wait before mowing the lawn again depends very much on the type of grass that you’ve got growing. A very quick and easy guide can be found Read the rest of this entry »

Running is one of the oldest forms of exercise around and there really are many benefits to running as an exercise regime as it keeps your muscles active while burning off calories. In fact, running is one of the most rigorous exercise regimes that you can keep and it is probably the single exercise that burns off the most calories of all exercise regimes. However, there are problems associated with running; if you do it too often, especially with ill fitting or heavy shoes, you will tend to have problems with your legs and feet as each step you take while running exerts almost three times the amount of force on your muscles and joints as you do while you’re standing normally.

One of the options you can try to reduce the impact on your feet is barefoot running. We know, this sounds like a really dangerous option because of all the hazards you could step on the way – parasitic worms, glass or any other broken objects that could injure your feet and cause infections and disease. We don’t think we need to elaborate that this is probably done better in a smaller space where you’ve cleared out the area to make sure it’s free from dust, insects or any other hazards, or on top of a treadmill. You also need to Read the rest of this entry »