October 2008 Archives

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. Optical sensors are used in fermentation process of condiments, such as vinegar and fish sauce; in monitoring of newborn in incubators; in analyzing environmental pollutants and in biomedical diagnostics. Tolosa said optical sensors are used in biomedical diagnostics, for instance, to measure metabolites in diabetes cases and the dimensions of a tumor. Tolosa said the success of chemotherapy can be determined by looking at the size of the tumor. Optical sensors are used mainly for monitoring, she said. Staying in the Philippines for almost a month, Tolosa said there should be collaboration among scientists and other experts in the field. Since 1975, the DOST through the BSP has been encouraging Filipino scientists and technicians based abroad to come home and share their expertise to further improve science and technology in the country.

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. It's not data management and definitely it's not artificial intelligence but this concept means data is becoming smart. Jonas used the terms "seeing data as a question," "data stitching," "self-correcting data," sequence neutrality," and "perpetual analytics," with each term becoming more confusing. For the 60 minutes that Jonas spoke to nearly a dozen journalists, only a few ever dared to ask what he meant by these, hoping to use some stock knowledge to at least better understand what he meant. Jonas spoke slowly, as if he was talking to a group of grade school kids. But that's only because 1) he talks fast and 2) he knew half the group of journalists didn't use English as a secondary language. But then again, Jonas did make sense of what he said. And like a good grade school teacher, he used analogies to make himself more understandable. His favorite: jigsaw puzzles. Jonas said that the level of understanding about stored information is as basic as trying to find a piece of puzzle then forcing it to fit into another piece when it's not supposed to. He said data is ever changing and it means that every location where that data is stored has to be changed but not without looking at the relevance of that change. A jigsaw puzzle means nothing without the other pieces and those who are required to know the relevance of one piece of data has to look at the bigger picture that the jigsaw has to offer. He said that as each piece is put in place, slowly, the idea of the bigger picture becomes clearer and those who read the data will be better informed. Jonas said that data has to be treated like a question. "Be persistent," he said. The relevance of data is not when it is processed in scheduled batches but in real time. The value of data is only as good as the time that it is being received. He said it's also better to have data disambiguated than having a host of analysts trying to resolve those "maybes." Where has his level of expertise been used? It is used by IBM for its fraud, risk and compliance applications. These are used by financial institutions as preventive measures against fraudulent transactions. Jonas' work is also used in law enforcement and intelligence networks. His work has been applied on privacy security and homeland security. He is helping the United States, for one, protect itself from terrorist acts. While the concepts he described to media seemed futuristic, the US government is already using them to identify who can be doing things they are not supposed to do on US soil. This is how technology is being used for intelligence and Jonas is an expert in this field. It got me thinking that the terms Jonas used might be confusing, but still his work has saved lives. Jonas maintains a blog where he talks about his work and his passion as a triathlete.

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. Eventually, educational opportunities will also be included, along with an online book club and serialized chapters of Women Writing Science publications. The site is also intended to be developed into a social networking site where science materials will be created, published and distributed among members. In a press statement, Feminist Press Executive Director Gloria Jacobs said they intend to make the site a service for women's learning on STEM. She said the Women Writing Science Project will publish books of biography, fiction, history, career profiles, and how-to-survive guides presenting women as both scientists and as writers about science. IBM International Foundation President Stanley Litow said their co-development of the website is also a way for IBM to support its own growing female workforce. Out of 400,000 IBM employees worldwide, 20 percent are women. He said they need to increase the number of female workers in IBM as well. "One way to realize that goal is to provide young women with role models, mentors and examples so more young women will be inspired and helped to enter exciting technical careers, and projects like the Woman Writing Science will help," he added.

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. More than 20 years ago, the National Cancer Institute of America initiated a "five-a-day" programme to encourage Americans to consume at least five portions of fruit and vegetables daily. But the numbers of Americans achieving this goal has declined over the last 10 years. Less than one in four reach the "five-a-day" target. The failure of awareness campaigns has shifted the balance in favour of food with higher levels of healthy compounds, especially in ingredients that people eat in large amounts, argued Martin. "Most people do not eat five portions of fruits and vegetables a day, but they can get more benefit from those they do eat if common fruit and veg can be developed that are higher in bioactive compounds," she said. After creating the purple tomatoes in a lab, the team tested the products on mice that they had engineered to make them susceptible to cancer. Mice fed with the high-anthocyanin tomatoes "showed a significant extension" of lifespan, they found. "This is one of the first examples of metabolic engineering that offers the potential to promote health through diet by reducing the impact of chronic disease, and certainly the first example of a GMO [genetically-modified organism] that really offers a potential benefit for all consumers," Martin said. "The next step will be to take the preclinical data forward to human studies with volunteers to see if we can promote health through dietary preventive medicine strategies." Genetically-modified food has focused mainly on gene changes that offer advantages to farmers. Examples include corn that exudes a natural toxin to kill insect pests, and rapeseed, also called canola, that resists a pesticide, thus enabling the farmer to spray his entire field in one go, killing weeds but not the crops. There have also been other schemes to boost the healthiness of food, such as "golden rice" and genetically-modified bananas that included inserted genes to increase levels of vitamin A. But none is commercially available for human consumption. Opponents say food deficiencies are linked to poverty and other social issues that cannot be resolved by gene technology. They also contend that genetic modification may have impacts for human health and the environment. Most experts say the evidence for this so far is zero or negligible.

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. Bernal believes that the Philippines can be competitive because of the quality of its labor force. “Taking care of people is not an automatic, robotic thing, where it is not the machine that can replace the human touch, and that is the competitive advantage of the Philippines,” added Bernal. Bernal also said that scientists and physicians should collaborate in order to improve medical technology and healthcare. “We just have to direct them into providing the type of scientific support that will allow medical professionals to deliver the best technology and the best care to patients,” Bernal said. Not only should scientists and physicians collaborate, but also hospitals, added Dr. James McCormick, president of Premier Medical Travel Company. “Competition should not be local but global. Hospitals within a country should work together because the reward for the country is greater than the reward for any single hospital,” added McCormick.

By Marjorie Gorospe INQUIRER.net PASAY CITY, Philippines – Multi-sectoral group Bravehearts and clothing company Maldita have recently announced an initiative, dubbed “Bitching Against Cervical Cancer,” an effort to promote awareness on preventing cervical cancer. Maldita also unveiled an exclusive line of “statement shirts” that challenges women to “Out Cervical Cancer.” Part of the proceeds from the sale of this line of shirts will be given to cervical cancer victims through the Cervical Cancer Prevention Network program (CECAP), according to Eric Teng, Maldita’s marketing director. Teng said his mother-in-law has been a carrier of the disease. It was this reason that prompted him to lead this initiative to help cancer survivors and help raise awareness about the condition. Teng also believed that every woman should be aware about cervical cancer. Dr. Cecilia Llave, chair of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital Cancer Institute, stressed that early detection of cervical cancer is one way of preventing cervical cancer. Cervical cancer develops in the cervix, which is the entrance between the vagina and the uterus. The Human Papilloma Virus is known to cause cervical cancer in 99.7 percent of those infected, studies show. There are no symptoms during the early stages of the condition but it could be detected through regular pap smear, visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), HPV DNA and colposcopy, doctors said. In the Philippines, three of four women diagnosed die within five years. Llave said women can opt to have HPV vaccination to prevent cervical cancer. Recent statistics show that of the current 26.98 million Filipino women, 6,000 women will most likely be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,349 will die from the disease. “When you lose a woman, you lose a wife, a partner, and a mother”, says Llave who is also program director of CECAP, She believes initiatives to prevent cervical cancer is one way of helping Filipino women.

By Kenneth Hartigan-Go MUCH of the clamor now in the pharmaceutical sector, both globally and locally, calls for transparency in pricing to lower the cost of medicine. International and local organizations and alliances have been formed to clamor for it. Prices are monitored and compared within and between regions throughout the world. Various mechanisms have been placed to demand transparency in pricing worldwide. However, prices remain high and thus the clamor remains. An important factor to consider why prices remain high is the inability of the government to systematize a transparent pricing mechanism. It is as if the imperfection of the market, its profit-maximizing nature, is irreversible and thus has to be accepted as innate. This should not be the case. There can be a better equitable way out of this. The government must put up a transparent mechanism in medicine pricing to influence the market to respond to the public’s call and moderate their profit-orientation. Though this first action will address the imperfection of the system, it is not enough. The second half of action involves addressing the market failure by developing a proper and responsive competitive pharmaceutical sector capable of undertaking science and technology activities. The Philippine Government has tried to respond to the call for transparency. The Department of Health and PhilHealth have come up with Drug Price Reference Index (DPRI). It works basically under the principle of informing the public of the prices of medicines, as being sold in the market, thus giving them the choice. However, though the intention is good, it does not really address the problem of high medicine prices. The DPRI is not enough. It accepts that the market may impose high prices as long as there is a cheaper counterpart. And that regulation will be left with the market forces. Further, the assumption of the PhilHealth that the public is objective enough to choose a cheaper counterpart may not be completely true, as they may be shaped by the misleading advertisements. DPRI is only a short-term solution. Drug pricing in the Philippines remain non-transparent and drug prices remain high and access by the public is adversely denied. From the account of the WHO survey for 2005, high drug cost in the Philippines is not really induced by high manufacturing or importation costs. Rather, it is caused by the price mark-up for every step of the way the drug has to go through before reaching the consumers. These prices are raised by business groups who do not contribute to research and development of the product but who merely sell the medicines through dispensing activities supposed their value added advantage. In the said survey, WHO examined both the minimum and maximum figures of the mark-up. Considering the minimum figures, the cumulative mark-up adds up to 89.51 percent of the original price, with retail as having the greatest share in mark-up (69.20 percent). On the other hand, considering the maximum figure, the cumulative mark-up adds to a maximum of 273.24 percent of the original price using the maximum figures with retail also as having the greatest share. Wholesale and retail mark-ups in this case can reach 65 percent and 50 percent, respectively. Such high mark-up hinders the accessibility of patients and is further aggravated by the consumers’ lack of capability to pay. Studies have shown that a typical Filipino family (can) only allocate less than 5 percent of monthly incomes for health care (NSO, 2006). With this financial capacity, a typical Juan dela Cruz is doomed to suffer of supposedly curable diseases such as tuberculosis, without even having the medication. Such imperfect market system can be reversed into a more competitive system by putting up a transparent mechanism. A mechanism that can be considered is the Medicine Price Ratio Survey, which is not really new and thus, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. This survey is being used by the World Health Organization in different countries including the Philippines as conducted in the year 2002 and 2005. In fact, WHO advocates the use of the abovementioned survey to determine the cost and availability of essential medicines throughout the country. The Medicine Price Ratio can be used as a research-based evidence to analyze the existing market mechanisms and formulate policies. The survey findings specifically the Median Price Ratio can be used as reference for price negotiations and auditing of medicine procurements. This referencing process can introduce a more transparent pricing process and link the study to the discourse on fair pricing of medicines. The discourse on fair pricing, equity issues in access to medicines and the rights based approach to development programs will establish the issue of medicine prices as a human rights issue and therefore an integral part of one’s basic right to have access to basic health services. The government may argue that it does not have the resources to implement such national survey and that it will divert already meager resources from public service delivery like hospital support. But in fact the survey may be conducted as part of another existing national survey. Moreover, various government agencies may pull their resources to allocate for it. A part of the limited resources that will be used for the survey can not be considered as wasted as the survey will pave way for making drug access efficient through installing a competitive market. Upon correcting the system, competition may now come in and industries will be encouraged to invest in innovation. The pharmaceutical sector may go beyond the traditional activity of trading but will move towards innovation through our abundant natural resources. Kenneth Hartigan-Go is a former BFAD Deputy Director and is currently Executive Director of a foundation. He is an appointed expert member of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (COMSTE) Health Panel.

Here's an interesting story about plans to probe the edge of our solar system by Agence France-Presse. Excerpt:

WASHINGTON -- NASA on Sunday launched a probe into orbit high above earth to study the distant edge of the solar system where hot solar winds crash into the cold outer space. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) was launched at 1745 GMT, according to images broadcast live by the US space agency. The small probe was deployed on a Pegasus rocket which dropped from the bay doors of a Lockheed L-1011 jet flying at 12,000 meters (40,000 feet) over the southern Pacific Ocean near the Marshall Islands. "The count went really smooth... and everything appears to be going well," NASA assistant launch manager Omar Baez said shortly after the launch.

By Marjorie Gorospe INQUIRER.net IN an effort to promote awareness on Hemophilia, Laureen Kelly, founder of Save One Life and Project Share, went all the way to the Philippines to discuss hemophilia. Hemophilia is an inherent and a lifelong blood disorder that prevents blood from clotting properly. A person with this kind of disorder suffers severe pain depending on the amount of clotting factor that is missing. A person with hemophilia experiences bleeding faster than normal people and they also suffer severe joint damage that may lead to disabilility and sometimes death. In the Philippines, there are over 6,000 people with this disease but only 1,010 are registered with the National Hemophilia Center. With this, Kelley sees the need of medicine in the country, which would be very expensive. She is now working on helping out the carriers of the disease in coordination with the Hemophilia Association of the Philippines for Love and Service (HAPLOS). Kelly is now finding a better way that can help the country become more equipped with adequate facilities for hemophiliacs. "If some of the poorest countries made it, so will the Philippines, but it is a matter of setting priorities to the sufferers of hemophilia," she says. Since her son is also a carrier of hemophilia, Kelly tells parents like her to stay strong and to continue sending their children to school despite of their situation. Because of fear of injury, people with hemophilia are discouraged from performing strenuous physical activities. Meanwhile, another kind of blood disorder, known as Von Willebrand disease, is an epidemic in the country but cannot be easily identified due to lack of equipment to diagnose if one carries this kind of disease. Save One Life and Project Share is a US-based non-government organization that helps people with hemophilia.

By Anna Valmero INQUIRER.net MANKIND has long been fascinated with time travel, fantasizing about machines that will transport us to the past. However, one need not wait for these futuristic inventions because within our reach are tools that can serve as windows to the past: fossils. Yes, the fossil is a time machine. In my video below, fossil collector Larry Gotauco further elaborates on what fossils are.
According to Gotauco, fossils are preserved matter or impressions from prehistoric animal or plant life -- parts of the organism or its excrements such as plant sap or dinosaur dung. “Unlike rocks which are non-living records of time, fossils were life preserved in stone,” he said. In general, an organism is fossilized when it is rapidly buried to prevent organic decay. Minerals gradually seep into the cell structure of the buried plant or animal matter and over millions of years, turn them into stone. Often, hard structures -- animal’s bone, teeth, shell or tree stump -- are fossilized. In rare occasions, soft body parts get preserved as in the case of insects inside amber and mammoths in ice. It was a piece of petrified wood that sparked Gotauco’s interest to learn more about fossils and eventually collect them. Upon learning the wood is over 200 million years old and has existed during the Triassic Period when early dinosaurs roamed the earth, he said it was as if holding a “piece of eternity” in his hands. He said it was then that he developed his infatuation with petrified wood and fossilized dinosaur parts. According to the 75-year-old collector, the greatest concentrations of petrified wood are in the United States, Madagascar, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Burma, Australia, Brazil and China. In the Philippines, petrified wood can be found in Metro Manila and Central Luzon because of the volcanic history of Mount Pinatubo as well as in Bicol where Mount Mayon is located. Gotauco wrote in his book “Jurrasic Fossils: Wood and Dinosaur” that the universality of petrified wood supports Pangaea, a supercontinent from 250 million years ago, which broke and drift apart to form the continents we knew today. In the Philippines, Palawan and Mindoro are the oldest land masses, being once part of mainland China and existing before the Philippine archipelago rose from the sea. This makes the Philippines relatively young in terms of geologic age as compared to other land masses,” he said. Aside from age, Gotauco said color adds beauty to fossils. He said these colors show the different minerals that fill up the pores or spaces in the fossil. Teeth and claws are rare fossils but not colorful, unlike dinosaur bones and poop (coprolites) which form much of Gotauco’s collection. Scientists use the colors of the coprolites to tell if it came from a dinosaur that ate meat or plant. “For me, I let my imagination run wild and actually, see images such as pizza with cheese from the dinosaur’s personal belonging,” he said. “When I hold a piece of my collection, I know that things did not just begin with a shazam. And I am sharing this collection because I believe they can open one’s eyes and stir one’s soul, as they did mine,” Gotauco said. Over 10 years as fossil collector, Gotauco makes available his accumulated photos from fossil collections of fellow enthusiasts on his website. Some of his collection is on exhibit at the Ayala Museum until end of November. A free lecture will be held on October 18, the first was on October 11.

By Anna Valmero INQUIRER.net COLLABORATION between the government, private sector and the academe is the key theme tying all the panel recommendations at the fourth en banc meeting of the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE) held October 6. The six COMSTE panels presented in the meeting include agriculture and food, electronics and semiconductors, energy and environment, health services, IT and IT-enabled industries and science, math and engineering education. Of the six, COMSTE chairman and Senator Edgardo Angara said food and energy will be the body’s top priority. “First, we have to start immediately to resolve agriculture issues. For energy, the recommendation to activate an institute of energy studies is good” given senate passage of Bill 2046, the Philippine Renewable Energy Act, he said. During the meeting, Angara tasked each panel to itemize the cost of their recommendations so a budget plan can be allocated for urgent projects. According to him, aside from providing innovative ideas to advance COMSTE’s key panels, Angara said it is crucial to know the funding required for the projects. “We can only implement the projects and insert it in the 2009 budget once we know the cost,” he said. The Philippines as a “tropical greenhouse” gives the country leverage to be a major supplier of tropical fruits. Bringing to the panel’s attention is Bart Lapus, member of the agriculture and food panel. Lapus presented to the board citrus fruits produced in the Philippines to show that they are better than those from Asian neighbors currently exported in the market. He urged the body to provide a quality control (QC) system for the local agricultural produce and develop a cultivar for local growers. In response for the need for QC systems, food and agriculture Dr. William Padolina, said the panel will set up more analytical product testing laboratories that will test the physical and chemical composition -- vitamins, nutrients and healthful components -- of locally-grown agricultural crops to make them qualify for export. Lapus said the need to develop a cultivar -- to be distributed to local growers -- that will produce standard citrus, such as pomelo, which the Philippines can export globally. Growing spice crops will propel growth of the country’s agriculture, which he said will be the ‘condiment of the future’. The energy and environment panel led by Dr. Francisco Viray said that the Senate passage of Bill 2046 highlighted plans to tap renewable energy sources, specifically solar energy. The panel has high hopes the bill will become law as the congress and senate meet this week to settle details of the bill -- ushering the use of geothermal, biomass, hydropower and oceanic currents to supply the country’s need for power. Green energy is also a growth area for the semiconductor industry. According to Dr. Gregory Tangonan, head panel for the electronics and semiconductor industry, deployment of solar cell systems can be made possible by partnering with solar energy semiconductor companies with local centers. This is aimed to offset the cost of deploying photovoltaic systems with ten cells, which cost $10,000.

By Izah Morales WITH the rising prices of commodities, you can cope with it not just by tightening your belt but by being a wise consumer. During 8th Consumer Trade Fair, Rene delos Reyes, technical engineer of Petron Gasul Trade, offered tips on how you can economically use your liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). "Kapag magluluto ka, ‘wag ‘yung nakasalang ‘yung kawali mo, tapos dun ka palang maghihiwa ng ingredients mo. I-ready mo na ‘yung ingredients mo para ‘pag magluluto ka, hindi ka na magtatagal [When you’re cooking, don’t put the pan on the fire and only start preparing the ingredients. Prepare the ingredients even before you start cooking so you won’t have to wait]," says Delos Reyes. Delos Reyes says consumers should make sure gas stoves produce a blue flame, which gives more heat. In this way, gas consumption can also be reduced. Delos Reyes also gave the following safety tips in using the LPG:

1. Check whether your tank is branded. He explained that the Philippine National Standards require every supplier to put a label on their tanks.
2. Filled cylinders supplied by authorized dealers are provided with valve safety plastic caps. Always put these caps on valves to prevent dirt from entering valve pins.
3. Always test for leaks. If ever you install a hose, regulator on a tank, you should just use soap and water. Spread the soap on the hose. When bubbles are produced, it means that there’s a leak.
4. If LPG is present, don’t strike a match or use an open flame to test for leaks. LPG is odorized with ethyl mercaptan to attract the attention of the consumer for possible leaks.
5. When lighting a non-automatic gas stove or oven, first strike a match and hold burning match about one-half inch from burner then turn on gas.
6. Tanks should be requalified. Requalification should be done through hydrostatic testing after 10 years from the date of manufacture and every 5 years thereafter.
7. When turning off the gas, make sure to close the knob completely.

By Agence France-Presse PARIS -- A Japanese researcher has put paleo-biologists in a flap by suggesting pterosaurs -- the winged lizards beloved of toymakers and dino movies -- were unable to fly, New Scientist says. Katsufumi Sato of the University of Tokyo carried out an unusual study on the Crozet Islands, in the southern Indian Ocean, to test flying ability among large sea birds. He attached accelerometers the size of AA batteries to the wings of 28 birds from five large species, including the wandering albatross, the world's biggest flying bird. Albatrosses fly by riding shifting winds, thanks to wings spanning 3.5 metres (11.4 feet) whose shape can be varied to exploit each draft. When there is no wind, or if the wind blows at a constant speed, the bird can only stay aloft by flapping its wings, otherwise it is forced down by gravity and air resistance. In a months-long experiment, Sato's instruments showed that the seabirds had two flapping speeds -- fast for taking off, and slow, for keeping aloft when the wind dies, New Scientist says. The bird's flapping speed is limited by its muscle strength, and the speed decreases for heavier birds that have longer wings, Sato found. According to Sato's calculations, animals heavier than 40 kilos (88 pounds) would be unable to flap fast enough to fly in zero winds. A wandering albatross is fine, as it weighs 22 kilos (44 pounds) -- but the news is pterrible for pterosaurs. Large ones would be unable to stay aloft, by this benchmark. The largest pterosaur specimen found, Quetzalcoatlus northropi, had a wingspan of 11-12 metres (35.75-39 feet) and its weight is estimated to be in the order of 100 kilos (220 pounds). Sato presented his results at a Biologging Science Symposium in Stanford University, California last month. He has run into flak from pterosaur fans who are convinced that their creatures were "dynamic soarers" like the albatross and could sustain active flight and not just glide. Differences in anatomy, physiology and environment must be taken into account when comparing the two sets of flyers, they say, according to the New Scientist report.

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.net QUEZON CITY, Philippines – House Representative Edcel Lagman of Albay and Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel launched a petition to cancel the P503.65 million loan for 26 medical waste incinerators used by government-run hospitals. The petition aims to cancel the payment of the remaining P100 million for the medical waste incinerator project, which started in 1996. The loan from the Austrian government, through Bank Austria, is expected to be paid by September 2014. Eco Waste Coalition, Freedom from Debt Coalition and Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia initiated this parliamentarian petition. Lagman and Baraquel said the petition will gather support from lawmakers from both the House and the Senate and will be presented to the Austrian government. However, a timetable has not been set. Baraquel noted that members of the Congress have been supporting a provision suspending interest payments of fraudulent or wasteful loans that would have been included in the 2008 national budget. Baraquel stressed that the Austrian medical waste incinerator project is among the loans that are fradulent and wasteful. Menawhile, Lagman said he and Baraquel will campaign very hard to have members of the House sign the parliamentarian's petition. Health Care Without Harm-Southeas Asia Coordinator Mercy Ferrer claimed that many of the incinerators delivered to the Philippines under the project are not working properly or were sold as scrap. Ferrer stressed that the Austrian medical incinerator models used by Philippine hospitals are banned as they have failed tests for carbon monoxide emissions. Ferrer stressed that the Philippines is still paying for equipment that are obsolete, which might pose health hazards.

By Izah Morales INQUIRER.net EVERY year, computer and mobile phone manufacturers release new model units. Sometimes, you’re tempted to buy a new one. So what will you do with your existing unit? Throw it away? Doing so will add to the million of tons of electronic waste accumulated every year. Citing a study done in 2002, Ted Smith, founder, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC), said 300 million computers became obsolete in 2004. Making up those computers were 4 billion pounds of plastic, 1 billion pounds of lead, 1.9 million pounds of cadmium, 1.2 million pounds of chromium and 400,000 pounds of mercury. According to C.G. Elinder and L. Jarup, rechargeable computer batteries with cadmium can accumulate in the environment and can affect kidney and bones with its toxicity. On the other hand, lighting devices for flatscreen displays with mercury can damage the brain and the central nervous system especially during early stages of development as reported on the United Nations Environment Programme 2002 Global Mercury Assessment, Chemicals, Geneva, Switzerland. “The workers who are making the products are suffering the most,” said Smith. As stated on the SVTC website, chip manufacturing workers reported cases of cancer, birth defects, and miscarriages. Posing these threats to workers, Smith suggested that computer manufacturers should use less hazardous materials on their products and take back obsolete computers through the computer take back program. “Beyond that, we can at least insist much better protection for the people who were involved in making the products and in disposing the products, if they are not harmless as they are today,” elaborated Smith. Not only does protection for workers are needed but also action from the consumers. Richard Gutierrez, director of Ban Toxics, recommended that consumers should keep their old computers and be conservative on what they buy. They should look for computers with RoHS (Restriction on Hazardous Substances) compliance because these products are less toxic, Gutierrez added. In the Philippines, RA 6969 – also known as An Act to Control Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes” aims “to monitor and regulate the importation, manufacture, processing, handling, storage, transportation, sale, distribution, use and disposal of chemical substances and mixtures that present unreasonable risk or injury to health or to the environment in accordance with national policies and international commitments.” Despite this law, “the Philippine government remained unenthusiastic in ratifying Basel Convention and implementing the ban,” according to Toxics Campaign, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, September 2005. "Let’s not approach the problem from a legislative point of view. We need to address it in a comprehensive level. We need to build infrastructure for domestic collection. We need to build infrastructure for facility. We need infrastructure for information and coordination. It has to be a holistic approach," said Gutierrez.