THE DEPARTMENT of Science and Technology, together with the Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), is developing the country’s first electric vehicle (EV) for mass transportation.
Leading the development of the EV is engineer Romeo Marave, who owns the rights to a prototype EV. He is being assisted by the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research Development (PCIERD), the MIT School of Mechanical Engineering and several PEZA-accredited private firms, including an organization of motor car battery companies and a group that makes motoring parts.
In an interview, DOST-PCIERD Deputy Director Raul Sabularse said the EV project entered by the three agencies will focus more on improving the engine earlier developed by Marave.
The first EV prototype was already tested by the MIT group. It has a payload of 1, 000 kilograms for a 70-kilometer run. Marave’s EV traveled the distance with an eight-hour charge at a cost of just P2.07 pesos per kilometer, or P144.90 for the entire 70-km trip.
The project is also aimed at lowering the use of gasoline-powered vehicles in cities, villages and subdivisions.
"We’re still working on the lower weight-to-power ratio of Marave’s vehicle. It also needs technical improvements before it can be commercially viable. We’re also looking into minimizing recharging time and building the car with much lighter materials," according to Sabularse, who also heads the DOST-PCIERD's alternative fuels project.
Sabularse noted that while other car manufacturers such as Honda and Toyota have already tested their own electric-hybrid vehicles, the Philippine EV will not compete with these and will instead have a niche market of users in the Philippines.
"We won’t be seeing any electric-powered jeepneys soon but some city-driving cars will be powered by electricity. Eventually, we’ll be working with power-charging stations for these types of vehicles," Sabularse said.
April 2007 Archives
DO you love science? If so, who instilled a love for science in you?
Which scientist is your hero, who inspired you to learn more about science or even become a scientist yourself.
I didn't become a scientist, but I do have two heroes: Albert Einstein, for his brilliance and compassion for humanity, and Carl Sagan, for sharing his vision for science and making more people aware of its importance.
Who's your hero?
HAVE you always wanted to build your own robots? Well, now you can take a crack at it.
A professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University wants to start a do-it-yourself revolution by offering open source hardware that would allow people to create their own robots using standard parts that you buy from hardware stores.
Here's an excerpt from the Scientific American story:
"[Robots] are really interesting to a diverse group of people," says Nourbakhsh, whose research has revealed that when kids are given programming tasks that involve robots, girls are no less interested than boys, and everyone is more likely to stick with the curriculum. "If there's a [software] bug," he adds, "the robot may veer off the desk and then I'll have to dive for it. That inspires people more than a bug on a computer screen that causes a red line to be off by two pixels. In collaboration with Rich Legrand, president of Austin-based robotics parts manufacturer Charmed Labs, Nourbakhsh wants to take DIY robotics to the next level, by offering the public an entire suite of tools to build their own droids from parts readily available at a hardware store—no soldering or programming required. The heart of Nourbakhsh's project, dubbed the Telepresence Robot Kit (TeRK), is the Qwerk, a box just over five inches square and an inch thick. Into this tiny, Linux-powered frame Legrand and his team of engineers have packed a 200 megahertz ARM processor—the same chip that runs Nokia N-Series Smartphones and the Nintendo DS—32 megabytes of SDRAM and eight megabytes of flash memory. It can connect to the outside world via WiFi, USB 2.0, 16 servo controllers and a host of other inputs and outputs.
I ENJOYED reading "A Brief History of Time" back in college, and I think it's only fitting for the brilliant theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking to one day venture into space. That's what he hopes to do by 2009.
So he's taking the first step with a zero-gravity flight that allowed him to temporarily escape his wheelchair.
Here's an excerpt from the Agence France-Presse story. Photo also courtesy of Agence France-Presse.
"It was amazing ... I could have gone on and on," Hawking, 65, said after riding for two hours on a modified jet that flew a rollercoaster trajectory to create the impression of microgravity. "Space, here I come" he said at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The British professor, who has spent most of his career studying black holes and gravity, hopes the flight will be a prelude to a 2009 voyage into space. "I have long wanted to go into space," said Hawking, who is almost entirely paralyzed. "A zero gravity flight is the first step to space travel," he said at a news conference near the runway. "I hope many people will follow in my path." Four doctors and two nurses were with Hawking on the flight aboard G-Force One, also known as the vomit comet.
IT orbits a red dwarf that's much smaller and colder than our own sun, but this new planet is the most Earth-like one that astronomers have discovered so far.
Here's an excerpt from the San Francisco Chronicle story:
The announcement was greeted with enthusiasm by many U.S. astronomers.
"This appears to be the very first detection of a whole new habitable world, with liquid water and the possibility of life. It's a huge milestone in astronomy," Alan P. Boss, an astronomer withthe Carnegie Institution in Washington, said in a phone call to The Chronicle from Sweden, where he is attending a meeting. The lead author of the discovery report, Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, said the planet's sun is named Gliese 581, one of the galaxy's extremely common "red dwarfs." It lies in the constellation Libra, the Scales, about 20.5 light-years away from Earth -- a relatively close neighbor compared with other exoplanets that have been detected thousands of light-years away.
THANKFULLY, though, none of the scientists is named Lex Luthor :)
Showing that life is indeed sometimes stranger than (comic book) fiction, scientists have discovered a new mineral that contains elements similar to the fictional kryptonite, which is Superman's Achilles heel, so to speak. At least, these are the elements identified in the 2006 movie "Superman Returns."
Here's an excerpt from the Agence France-Story:
The white and powdery mineral at London's Natural History Museum has been named instead jadarite after the Serb region where it was found, museum mineralogist Chris Stanley said. In the 2006 movie "Superman Returns", the superhero's arch enemy Lex Luthor steals a kryptonite rock fragment from the Metropolis Museum. On the case are written the words "sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with fluorine." Stanley said he searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula -- sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide -- and was "amazed" to discover the same scientific name used in the film. "The new mineral does not contain fluorine and is white rather than green, but in all other respects the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite," Stanley said.
NOPE, we're not talking about Spider- Man foe The Rhino, who has yet to make it to the big screen, but about the rare Sumatran rhino.
Here's an excerpt from the Agence France-Presse story:
KUALA LUMPUR--One of the world's most endangered animals, the Sumatran rhinoceros, has been filmed in the wild for the first time in a coup that could help save it from extinction, wildlife campaigners said Tuesday.
BOY, when black holes exhale, they sure don't kid around.
Scientists are studying a gigantic plasma cloud that is six million light years wide (the Space.com article notes that an earlier press release erroneously said the cloud was 600 million light years wide), which could be the product of the "collective sigh of several supermassive black holes."
Here's an excerpt from the Space.com article:
“One of the most exciting aspects of the discovery is the new questions it poses,” said study leader Philipp Kronberg of Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico. “For example, what kind of mechanism could create a cloud of such enormous dimensions that does not coincide with any single galaxy or galaxy cluster? Is that same mechanism connected to the mysterious source of ultra high energy cosmic rays that come from beyond our galaxy?”The plasma cloud is located about 300 million light years away near the Coma Cluster and is spread across a vast region of space thought to contain several galaxies with supermassive black holes, or active galactic nuclei (AGN), embedded at their centers.
NOW this is a truly inspirational story.
Here's an excerpt from the Philippine Daily Inquirer article on University of the Philippines-Diliman student Mikaela Irene Fudolig:
Mikaela said that at three, she already had a keen interest in science. She recalled enjoying the times her mother would take her to the UP Botanical Garden and point out to her the different plant families. “We also grew mongo seedlings and conducted small experiments. I was fascinated with how nature and science worked even back then,” she said.
HERE'S an excerpt from Queena Lee-Chua's latest column piece:
Randles often credits the Greek geometer Pythagoras for insisting on harmony in music. What role does Pythagoras play here? Recall the study of waves in basic physics. Those with the shortest wavelengths are for invisible light (such as X-rays, microwaves and ultraviolet rays), followed by relatively short color waves (such as the rainbow). Longer wavelengths are for sound waves. According to Randles, the note "do" (from do re mi) has a particular frequency, measured in hertz. To ensure that music sounds good, the notes should follow a certain ratio, discovered by Pythagoras millennia ago. This ratio should be familiar to musicians: 1/1, 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, 5/4, 6/5, and so forth.
SO, did the T-rex taste like chicken, heh :)
If you've read or watched "Jurassic Park," then you've heard the hypothesis that birds evolved from dinosaurs. But researchers now have unearthed new evidence of the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds.
Here's an excerpt from one of the stories that came out about the Tyrannosaurus rex fossil:
When the researchers compared those amino acid sequences to those of similar proteins in several contemporary animals, they found that the T-rex sequence had similarities to those of chickens, and to a lesser extent frogs and newts. That finding bolsters a recent and controversial proposal that birds and dinosaurs are evolutionarily related, and change that hypothesis to a theory, the researchers said. "Most people believe that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but that's all based on the architecture of the bones," said John Asara, who is director of mass spectrometry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical School. "This allows you to get the chance to say ‘Wait, they really are related because their sequences are related.' We didn't get enough sequences to definitively say that, but what sequences we got support that idea."Meanwhile, if, like me, you've wondered how the heck T-rex could have gotten up again if it fell down, considering how itty-bitty its arms were, an expert shares the answer in Scientific American. Here's an excerpt:
It is now clear that T. rex's hands could not reach its mouth. The elbow could not be extended much beyond a 90-degree angle. The arms were very strong (perhaps capable of curling nearly 400 pounds) but had a very limited range of motion, both side-to-side and up-and-down. The wrists were considerably weaker and do not seem suited for supporting large mechanical loads. Like those of their albertosaur "cousins," the small T. rex arms were often broken during life. This fact suggests that they were poorly suited for whatever the dinosaurs were trying to use them for and, more importantly, that these animals could go without using their arms for periods of up to a month.
A MARINE biologist and an environmental manager tied for the prestigious National Academy Of Science and Technology (NAST)-Hugh Greenwood Environmental Science Award, an annual event that recognizes outstanding scientific and technological research works on environmental protection and conservation.
This would also be the first time that there will be two recipients of the NAST-Hugh Greenwood Award, which normally has recognized one scientist every year for the last seven years.
Vertebrate ecologist and pest management scientist Dr. Pacencia Milan and marine biologist Dr. Marie Antonette Menez were awarded by the Department of Science and Technology-NAST on April 11 at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City.
Both received $500 and a trophy.
Milan's work involved several programs she started, which include the Rainforestation Farming Approach, the Small Islands Environmental Rehabilitation and Livelihood Program, and the Marine Turtles on Philippine Island Project.
Under all these programs, Milan was able to organize farmers and cooperatives in areas where she implemented these, as well as sustain the involvement of people in the protection and rehabilitation of destroyed forests.
Milan conducted several seminars and training events for farming and fishery beneficiaries to help them manage their own resources.
Meanwhile, Menez's work was on coastal ecosystem management and governance. She also headed conservation programs for commercially sold invertebrates, such as sea urchins and lobster species, as well as the protection of sea turtles.
Like Milan, Menez also worked with members of fishing communities along coastal towns to help them in conservation efforts. She also gave fishermen some training on restocking of commercial invertebrates, which increased their yields while maintaining the population of the animals.
Both Menez and Milan have won several awards and citations for their work. Among these are the Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service, Outstanding Young Scientist, and the University of the Philippines Scientific Productivity Award for Menez.
Milan has won the PANTAS Award for Outstanding Research Administrator-Region 8, Environmental Science Award, Regional Research Administrator Award, Outstanding Educator, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources Meritorious Award-Region 8.
WHEN I was a kid, I always thought I would become a scientist when I grew up. That was actually my original dream, though my paternal grandfather Lolo Nardo and my Ninang Lulu (the elder sister of my dad) thought I’d become a lawyer. Mainly because Lolo Nardo was a lawyer (he went to the UP College of Law and joined Sigma Rho), and Ninang Lulu also became a lawyer. Heck, I almost enrolled after passing the UP Law Aptitude Examination, heh 
But science was my first love. I actually find it somewhat ironic that I became a journalist, because while I was always an avid reader, I didn’t start writing outside school work till third year high school — and that was mainly because I had a crush on our English teacher Miss Natalie Nebit haha.
I loved the young scientist’s encyclopedia collection my parents bought me and the “scientific experiments” I conducted. And in 1980, I learned to love science even more when Carl Sagan’s Cosmos started airing on TV. If you can find a DVD, get it, and get a copy of the book that accompanied the TV series while you’re at it if you don’t have one. In 2005, The Science Channel aired “Cosmos” with updated computer graphics and footage for the 25th anniversary of the series.
This was truly a groundbreaking documentary in 1980, and the special effects were simply amazing. Sagan was able to make people feel the same passion for science he had.
I looked forward to every episode and watched all 13 of them when they were first shown. To me, the most memorable parts would be the Library of Alexandria and the tragic fate of Hypatia; Johannes Kepler and what to me as a kid was the jarring appearance of Tycho Brahe and his artificial nose made from an alloy of silver and gold; the Ionians and the speculation on whether they would have achieved space flight sooner; Tunguska; the Voyager flight and the golden record that contains the message of the human race to extraterrestrials; and Albert Einstein and that biker in an Italian town who travelled at near-light speed and returned minutes later (in his frame of reference), only to find his friends and most people in the town dead and his younger brother now an old man.
And of course, who can forget Episode XIII, "Who Speaks for Earth?" from which the video clip above was taken. You could get a transcript of that whole message from Sagan here.
Over two decades later, his message is more apt than ever. You have to remember that when "Cosmos" first came out, the Cold War was in full swing, and we were basically living with the specter of World War III and nuclear annihilation. We are now supposed to be living in more enlightened times, yet it seems we’re repeating the cycle, with a looming energy crisis and, maybe, another Vietnam in the form of Iraq.
It’s strange how the more things change, the more they stay the same.
This blog is a reflection of this love for science I share with the other members of the Inside Science team. We hope, in our own small way, to make more Filipinos learn to love science too.
But science was my first love. I actually find it somewhat ironic that I became a journalist, because while I was always an avid reader, I didn’t start writing outside school work till third year high school — and that was mainly because I had a crush on our English teacher Miss Natalie Nebit haha.
I loved the young scientist’s encyclopedia collection my parents bought me and the “scientific experiments” I conducted. And in 1980, I learned to love science even more when Carl Sagan’s Cosmos started airing on TV. If you can find a DVD, get it, and get a copy of the book that accompanied the TV series while you’re at it if you don’t have one. In 2005, The Science Channel aired “Cosmos” with updated computer graphics and footage for the 25th anniversary of the series.
This was truly a groundbreaking documentary in 1980, and the special effects were simply amazing. Sagan was able to make people feel the same passion for science he had.
I looked forward to every episode and watched all 13 of them when they were first shown. To me, the most memorable parts would be the Library of Alexandria and the tragic fate of Hypatia; Johannes Kepler and what to me as a kid was the jarring appearance of Tycho Brahe and his artificial nose made from an alloy of silver and gold; the Ionians and the speculation on whether they would have achieved space flight sooner; Tunguska; the Voyager flight and the golden record that contains the message of the human race to extraterrestrials; and Albert Einstein and that biker in an Italian town who travelled at near-light speed and returned minutes later (in his frame of reference), only to find his friends and most people in the town dead and his younger brother now an old man.
And of course, who can forget Episode XIII, "Who Speaks for Earth?" from which the video clip above was taken. You could get a transcript of that whole message from Sagan here.
Over two decades later, his message is more apt than ever. You have to remember that when "Cosmos" first came out, the Cold War was in full swing, and we were basically living with the specter of World War III and nuclear annihilation. We are now supposed to be living in more enlightened times, yet it seems we’re repeating the cycle, with a looming energy crisis and, maybe, another Vietnam in the form of Iraq.
It’s strange how the more things change, the more they stay the same.
This blog is a reflection of this love for science I share with the other members of the Inside Science team. We hope, in our own small way, to make more Filipinos learn to love science too.
TODAY’S world revolves around information and communications technology (ICT), with many people becoming dependent on their computers, the Internet, mobile phones and portable devices. Students are taking up computer-related courses in college after seeing the promise of fat paychecks and traveling abroad. Not since the early 70s have we seen this kind of surge in enrollment in computer-related courses, largely due to the increase in ICT requirements across industries and nations.
But what few young people know or even understand is that all underlying principles behind ICT hardware and software are rooted in the most basic of all developments -- and that is science and technology and mathematics. It is the laboratory scientists and researchers who toiled long and hard to find the best type of materials and best processes to make any equipment work. Metallurgists and chemists find the right raw materials for any hardware. Electrical and electronics engineers come up with the integrated chips. Mathematicians develop the software embedded in these chips. Even environmental scientists are part of the growing ICT industry as they come up with strategic routes where huge fiber optic cables will be laid across land and sea. These are the men and women who work behind the scenes to make ICT come to life.
But ICT is just one industry that benefits from researches in science. Agriculture, education, energy, medicine, earth sciences, and meteorology are just a few of the many areas where scientific research can have full effect. The list could just go on and on but the basic argument is that science and technology is a huge, integral part of society.
The Philippines only has a few science and technology reporters, some of whom work for daily newspapers, trade magazines and radio. But because of the nature of science and technology as being too technical, the few articles that do come out have to be toned down to ensure they are understood not only by scientists but also by ordinary people. However, a few stories that do come out have a significant impact on many people who value the application of science in their respective industries.
The Department of Science and Technology is among the most important organizations in government. Despite its relatively small budget, the DOST has been able to maintain the various projects of its almost two dozen sub-agencies.
But apart from the DOST, colleges and universities are also involved in the field of research, either on their own or in partnership with the DOST. Their involvement has a particular importance in that students get to apply what they learn in school to actual practice, even as the scientific community is assured of the availability of future scientists who will continue working. There are dozens of colleges and universities, both public and private, that have a teeming population of students who want to get involved in scientific endeavors. These schools also deserve the space to showcase their work.
Inside Science is here to promote developments in science and technology. It is here to encourage young scientists to be part of the community and contribute their work for the benefit of many. It is also here to ensure scientists that their work is not unappreciated.
It is here to ensure that Filipinos will know that many things in their lives were made thanks to science and technology.
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