By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is expecting to bring home seven more scientists before the end of the year in line with its Balik Scientist Program (BSP), said Ma. Lourdes Orijola, director of BSP of the DOST.

Orijola said that there are currently 36 scientists who are completing their term as BSPs.

One of them is Dr. Leah Tolosa, associate professor of the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at the University of the Maryland Baltimore County, who began her term as BSP awardee on October 6, 2008.

As a BSP awardee, Tolosa has been conducting seminars, lecture series and workshops at the University of San Carlos and the University of Santo Tomas on various topics, including fluorescence spectroscopy and ethanol in “kamote” (sweet potato).

Tolosa revealed that the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology has developed low-cost optical sensors, devices used to measure levels of compounds such as carbon dioxide and oxygen.

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By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — IBM has its own army of scientists. Some of them are housed in IBM’s New York City office. However, many are spread across Big Blue’s subsidiaries in the US and abroad.

They can be very technical but most of the time the topics are within the bounds of being understandable. A few are able to make the most difficult technical jargon understandable. These scientists are present at the IBM Information on Demand Conference 2008, as they spoke to the company’s corporate clients.

On the other hand, some are IBMers have the ability to snatch a bit of intelligence even from the most technical persons and make them wonder: “Where have I been?” Take Jeffrey Jonas, for example, Distinguished Engineer and Chief Scientist of Entity Analytic Solutions of the IBM Software Group. He sat down with a few reporters from Asia and Eastern Europe to talk about where information is being taken now and how it can be utilized for various purposes.

Ok, so you’re wondering first what’s Entity Analytics? It sounds highfalutin but it simply means it’s the next step towards relationships between information across multiple sources.

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Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net

LAS Vegas, Nevada — Technology giant IBM and women’s literary publisher Feminist Press recently switched on a website aimed at encouraging women to write for and about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The website, Under the Microscope is the online version of Women Writing Science Project of Feminist Press and the National Science Foundation.

It was announced at the Feminist Press headquarters in New York, coinciding with the IBM Information On Demand Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Women are encouraged to share their experiences in scientific endeavors and other interests pertaining to matters of technology, engineering and math — collectively called STEM.

Other science-related stories written by women will also be linked to the site, as well as parental and career tips, and mentoring programs.

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By Agence France-Presse

PARIS — Scientists have grown genetically engineered purple tomatoes in an unusual endeavor to promote healthy food.

The tomatoes include two genes taken from the snapdragon flower (Antirrhinum majus) to enable them to express a compound called anthocyanin, the purple pigment found in high levels in fruit such as blackberries and cranberries.

Previous research has found that anthocyanins offer protection against certain cancers, cardiovascular disease and degenerative diseases, and may also hinder inflammation, obesity and diabetes.

The study is published online on Sunday by Nature Biotechnology, a journal of the London-based Nature Publishing Group.

Researcher Cathie Martin from the John Innes Centre, a biotechnology institute in Norwich, eastern England, said the point behind the purple toms was to boost the healthiness of diets.

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By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

DESPITE the migration of many Filipino medical professionals abroad, the Department of Tourism (DOT) still believes the Philippines can become a medical tourism destination.

“In fact, a lot of them are coming back because of that [medical tourism],” said Cynthia Carrion, DOT undersecretary for Sports and Wellness, during the Philippine Health and Wellness Summit here in Manila.

Carrion related that Filipino doctor Samuel Bernal has been bringing his patients to the Philippines for the past 15 years.

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