By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

DESALINATION, or the process of converting seawater into potable water, may not be the best solution in areas with little drinkable water and may perhaps contribute to climate change, according to a review of desalination plants by the World Wildlife Fund.

The WWF report “Making Water: Desalination — Option or Distraction for a Thirsty World?” revealed that desalination of seawater is an expensive, energy-intensive activity that also contributes to the production of greenhouse gases that trap solar heat in the atmosphere.

Impacts of desalination include brine build-up, increased greenhouse gas emissions, destruction of prized coastal areas and reduced emphasis on conservation of rivers and wetlands. Many of the areas of most intensive desalination activity also have a history of damaging natural water
resources, particularly groundwater.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

DESPITE failed attempts in the past to utilize nuclear power in the Philippines, it may still have a future and could prove useful, safe and cost-effective, according to proponents.

During a presentation on June 8, executives from the Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) touted the potential of nuclear power, as stated in the Philippine Energy Plan created in the late 1990s.

PNRI Director Alumanda De la Rosa said in her report that nuclear technology is one of the energy sources that can be considered for implementation for 2022 to 2025, a three-year window wherein an alternative fuel source can be used for the country’s power requirements.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

THE DEPARTMENT of Science and Technology (DOST) recently announced the 33 beneficiaries of the Grants for Educational Assistance on Technology and Science Teaching Courses in Mindanao (GREAT-M) Project, which provides college scholarships to poor but deserving high school students in Muslim communities.

The annual GREAT-M Project was created to address the problem of poverty among Filipino Muslim and indigenous communities.

The new batch of GREAT-M beneficiaries were selected from the pool of high school graduates belonging to the upper five percent of the graduating class who took the Science and Technology Scholarship Examination administered by the DOST’s Science and Education Institute (SEI) last December 2006.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

IN 1994, then US Vice President Al Gore and several high level government officials started the Global Learning and Observations to the Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, whose goal is to encourage scientists worldwide to share their research with students through an online community. It was part of the Earth Day Celebrations for that year.

The GLOBE Program’s main goal is to provide information in the protection and conservation of the earth’s natural resources by encouraging current and future scientists to work together. Its founding members include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

But what sets the GLOBE Program apart from other scientific communities is that it allows students to directly contact scientists on specific topics in a sort of mentorship system. Likewise, students and their teachers can follow up on projects with their own researches, then upload the information they gather so as to contribute to the pool of knowledge on specific topics.

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By Jean-Louis Santini
Agence France-Presse

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida–The US space shuttle Atlantis successfully blasted off Friday from the Kennedy Space Center for a mission to the orbiting International Space Station, the first shuttle mission of 2007.

The shuttle lifted off into a clear blue sky at 7:38 p.m. (2338 GMT) as scheduled. The rocket boosters separated from the orbiter about two minutes later, and the space craft reached orbit over Earth less than nine minutes after liftoff, NASA television reported.

“Everything continuing to go very smoothly,” said NASA launch commentator George Diller three minutes into the flight.

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