By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

THE DEPARTMENT of Science and Technology is set to receive a total of $83, 859 or P3.6 million, with an optional contingency fund of another $5,000 to organize the first Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Youth Science Summit.

The amount will come from the ASEAN Foundation (AF), a funding agency focusing on social development, science and technology, environment and culture and information technology.

The ASEAN Youth Science Summit will be part of the upcoming 8th ASEAN Science and Technology Week, which also coincides with the National Science and Technology Week from July 1 to 11.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

FOR some people, the prospect of visiting an active mine isn’t that thrilling, especially at the thought of getting stuck in a dark and damp underground shaft. However, it isn’t as boring as it seems. In fact, an active mine is as busy as any industry on the surface. Incidentally, it’s not as dangerous.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) brought a few reporters to Philex Mines in Tuba, Benguet, one of the country’s busiest active mines. This is one of the few times that outsiders were allowed to go to Philex Mines, situated about an hour and a half away from Baguio City. Only government officials and some geology-related engineering students and experts are allowed into the mine. It should be because the mine produces billions of pesos in copper, as well as silver and gold.

History

Philex Mines was incorporated in 1956 and mining operations started in 1958. It was the first cave operation in the Far East. From the start, the owners of Philex Mines hired locals for the mining operations. During the early years, the area of Tuba was sparsely populated, so the investors looked for laborers from the outer regions. As depicted in Hollywood films, miners used traditional pick axes and trolley trains to transport ore deposits from inside the mountain to the surface where the precious metals are extracted. The ores are actually blasted from solid rock deep within the mountain using dynamite.

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INQUIRER.NET executive editor Leo Magno visits The Field Museum for a close encounter with “Sue,” the world’s most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Sue was named after Sue Hendrickson, the American paleontologist who discovered the skeleton.

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

THE NATIONAL Water Resources Board (NWRB), under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) have started a photo contest that aims to build awareness on saving the country’s water resources, as well as highlight various water sanitation issues.

The agencies are also being assisted by the private sector-led Philippine Water Partnership in promoting the competition.

The “Water is Life” photo contest offers cash prizes of up to P25,000 for the top winner. In a statement, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said the competition aims to stress the importance of water to Filipinos and make them realize that it is also their duty to ensure its availability.

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By Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes
Inquirer Northern Luzon Bureau

DAGUPAN CITY–Scientists have found a rare species of mangrove in what they described as a unique environmental setting in Masinloc, Zambales.

“It’s a hybrid mangrove called Rhizophora x lamarckii produced by ‘bakauan lalaki’ (Rhizophora apiculata) and ‘bakauan bato’ (Rhyzophora stylosa),” Severino Salmo, a mangrove researcher, told the Inquirer.

Salmo, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in marine science at the University of Queensland in Australia, said the species was so rare that there was only one tree found on Panay Island in Eastern Visayas.

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