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By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.NET MANILA, Philippines – “Keep your interests alive.” This was the message of Balik-Scientist awardee Dr. Baldomero Olivera at the start of the 2009 National Science and Technology Week at the Manila Hotel. Olivera, a distinguished professor of biology at the University of Utah, first gained fame for his discovery of painkilling properties in the highly toxic, ocean-going cone snails that are abundant in Philippine waters. Olivera’s discovery led to the development of a commercial painkiller called Ziconotide (Prialt), which is administered to patients suffering from extreme pain. Unlike traditional painkiller morphine, Ziconotide is not known to cause painkiller addiction and lasts much longer in the system. Olivera graduated from the University of the Philippines and moved to the US to take up his graduate degree in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. His interests in cone shells started long before he started college; in fact, he started out at a tennis court collecting shells. “Seashells were used to compact the surface of tennis courts. They were dredged from Manila Bay and were dumped near the tennis courts. While waiting for my dad, I used to sift through the heap of shells and identified what were interesting.” It was this interest that made him go back to cone snails for possible research. It also won him “Scientist of the Year” in 2007 by the Harvard Foundation. At his keynote speech during the NSTW opening ceremonies, Olivera said he hopes more Filipino scientists to continue their research endeavors and to give back to the country. He said many researches can provide economic gains to both the scientific community as well as to the country. Department of Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro said this year’s NSTW aims to spur Filipino scientists and researchers to find ways in resolving global issues. One goal is to alleviate global climate change, which is causing destruction in many industries in the Philippines, particularly agriculture. Numerous programs will be conducted in different locations nationwide for the entire week of the NSTW. There are seminars of nanotechnology, robotics, awareness programs on waste management, business ventures based on scientific output, research presentations on health, genetics, food development, among others. The NSTW was first created under Presidential Proclamation 2214 in 1982 and was later amended in 1993 through Republic Act 169. This declared celebrations for the NSTW on the third week of July every year.

By Dennis Posadas Contributor THE scenario is all too familiar. A young Filipino, after having completed his masters or PhD in engineering or the sciences, decides to leave for abroad to seek greener pastures. Or even, a returnee Filipino with an advanced degree from abroad, returning with hope in his eyes, only to leave again, disillusioned by what he can work on and what he will earn. Or even the fact that many of our small- and medium-sized Philippine companies cannot afford to do R&D to improve their products to make them world class. But if they had a world-class R&D Institute that can help them, but for a fraction of the cost, wouldn't that be great? One of the Congressional Commission on Science & Technology and Engineering (COMSTE)’s main recommendations is to setup a local version of Taiwan’s R&D jewel, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). In the 70’s, when the GDP of Taiwan was still based on agriculture and low cost manufacturing, their leaders decided that they wanted to copy Silicon Valley. To do this, they setup the ITRI, in the city of Hsinchu. The ITRI ever since has become Taiwan’s top source of innovation and technology spin offs. Every day, many patents are made at ITRI, and a lot of Taiwanese companies do business with it. In fact ITRI has spun off many tech companies like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) as well as others. In fact, even musical instrument and bicycle companies in Taiwan work with ITRI to improve their products through R&D. ITRI is in the business of innovation. The main difference between ITRI and the R&D institutes we have now, that are either government owned (like DoST’s ASTI) and those in the private sector (like what some companies have), is that ITRI is a semi-government, semi-private entity. In other words, it is a public-private partnership. Have you ever noticed any of our technologies developed locally that have been commercialized, particularly from government laboratories? Very few. This is because government is not really setup to commercialize things, although hopefully with the passage of the Technology Transfer Act (patterned after the US Bayh-Dole Act) that will change. But still, one of the things we do not really see much of locally is what we call academe-industry interaction at the highest level. By that I mean that although we do see activities like cadet engineering internships, we do not see the type of research where a company outsources its research to an outside R&D entity. There are, but not a lot. So how does this involve the poor scientist and how does this hopefully convince him to stay here? By offering the young scientists a venue to work on real problems with industry. The ITRI Philippines will be a shared venue for Philippine companies that do not have money to do R&D. But if they share the expenses of running ITRI, we will have a place where young brilliant Filipino scientists can work on problems that will be used by our local companies, and potentially create opportunities for technology startups to sprout. ITRI Philippines should ideally be run like a private venture, but with a government stake. It should try to go after R&D contracts with Philippine companies. By being competitive, by operating in this manner, the researchers can share in the fruits of the success of this institute. The details of ITRI Philippines are still being worked out. But if you are interested in giving inputs, feel free to checkout the COMSTE website at http://www.comste.gov.ph. Dennis Posadas is the Deputy Executive Director of the Philippine Congressional Commission on Science & Technology and Engineering. His new book Jump Start: A Technopreneurship Fable, will be published by Pearson Education Asia this Summer 2009.

By Izah Morales INQUIRER.net MANILA, Philippines--Colored tags attached to tuna species like the “tangi” or “tambakul” can earn fishermen or consumers money rewards, an official of the Department of Agriculture said Monday. “This tuna tagging project carries a $10 reward for yellow tag, $50 for green tag and $250 for orange tag. The latter two have accompanying devices inserted in the body cavity of the fish (near the abdomen). The tag on the former is attached on the back of the fish near the second dorsal fin,” said Malcolm Sarmiento, director Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in DA’s press statement. “We are calling on our fishermen and the consuming public to surrender to BFAR or the LGUs, any tag found in fishes particularly big-eye, skipjack, or yellowfin tuna and other marine fishes, as these are part of scientific studies,” Sarmiento said. Sarmiento told INQUIRER.net that people can return the tags at the nearest BFAR office to get their reward. The official said the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute under BFAR would give the corresponding reward. The Philippines is part of a Tuna tagging project spearheaded by the Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) based in New Caledonia, according to Sarmiento. “The tagging is done to aid the management measures and to validate the changes in migratory patterns of large pelagic species like tuna, which might be brought about by climate change,” added Sarmiento in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net. In a statement issued by OFP, the tagging project would provide information on fishery exploitation rates and population sizes in the Western and Central Pacific.

Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO--TED on Monday began hunting for heroes in hard-pressed lands. The Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) group famous for attracting outstanding entrepreneurs, scientists, and celebrities is opening its arms to embrace promising visionaries with life-changing dreams but meager budgets. The door to apply, or nominate people, to be TEDGlobal fellows was opened on Monday and will close on April 3. Those chosen for fellowships will take part in this year's TED conference in Britain at the expense of organizers. Fellowship application information is available online. "You can be from a small village in China or two hours outside of Dakar; if you are doing something amazing we want you to apply," TED community director Tom Rielly said while announcing the fellowships in February. "The alchemy of TED is the inter-connectness of all disciplines. It's that mix of bringing unbelievably cool people, regardless of ability to pay, from different parts of the world that will be remarkably fertile." The fellowship program is focused especially on attracting "remarkable thinkers and doers" from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. TED Fellows attend annual conferences in either California or Britain. Some will go on to senior fellowships that last three years. TED will also provide 100 one-time fellowship opportunities in India at a conference in November in Bangalore.

By Dennis Posadas* Contributor THE Philippines held a National R&D Conference at the University of the Philippines last December 2008 to try to synergize its research and development (R&D) efforts in science and technology, particularly in the government. The conference involved most of the government departments and state colleges and universities that have R&D programs. At present, like in most countries, R&D budgets are scattered across many government R&D units and agencies. Getting these agencies and their staff to work together can sometimes be a gargantuan undertaking. In a December 2008 article in the Washington D.C. based journal Science, the Philippines was reported to have spent $81million in R&D in 2007, and this spending has remained basically the same throughout the last decade. This amount represents roughly 0.14% of GDP, a far cry from that of developed countries which often reaches 2%, and is also less than its regional neighbors like Thailand (0.26%) and Malaysia (0.69%). Worse, this amount is not a homogenous figure but is actually the sum total of government R&D spending scattered across many departments and agencies. In a country colonized by Spain and the United States, where the saying goes that it went through “three hundred years of the Church and fifty years of Hollywood,” the normal mode of operation is to take the allocation from the national budget, and in a laizzez faire manner, do whatever one institution or department pleases in R&D. Now this approach may work in countries that have a lot of money to bet on whatever one fancies. Silicon Valley for example in the United States has never adopted any national roadmap for R&D. Instead, its legions of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists pursue their own ideas and let the market decide which ones will be the winners and which ones will eat the dust. But that should not be the case for developing countries like the Philippines. While $81 million is a lot of money for S&T in this country, nevertheless it is chump change compared to other countries. Notwithstanding the fact that labor is cheaper here, even to hire MS and PhD science and engineering graduates, the fact is that scattering this money in a random manner will not yield useful economic results. Take for example the fact that many state colleges and universities are duplicating R&D efforts, instead of trying to find a way to divide up the work and specialize in particular fields. This tends to weaken further the already small amount devoted by this archipelagic country to R&D. A Keynesian (named after economist John Maynard Keynes) national R&D approach should be adopted by the Philippines, where the national S&T roadmap is set by scientists and technologists from the ground up. The Department of Science and Technology (DoST) has picked some fields that the Philippines should specialize in. Since it wields the funding carrot, it has some ability to direct the areas of research. But it has not totally been successful in this effort, judging from the outcome of the National R&D Conference. In order to drive a nail into a piece of wood, you need a strong strike in a concentrated place, and not a lot of small taps in many places. Obviously if you only have $81 million to bet (although this will probably see some increase), you need to pick certain winners and drop certain fields. A small amount of random research, picked from the grassroots by universities themselves can be allowed, but the bulk of the money should be put in certain areas where it can produce results ranging from published papers, to patents, to commercialized technologies, particularly since the need of the times calls for the creation of new jobs and industries from R&D. Take for example the recently passed Renewable Energy Act of the Philippines. This new law creates a mandate for electric utilities to purchase renewable energy in increasing amounts over the next few years, and gives a lot of fiscal incentives and tax breaks to entrepreneurs and investors who go into this area. Obviously this mandate creates a market for clean energy technologies, many of which can be supplied by clean technology companies spun off from R&D. In fact, a renewable energy R&D center, funded by fossil fuel levies, will hopefully create the technologies that can form the basis for new companies and jobs in this sector. But that will only happen, just like in the hammer and nail analogy, if the R&D is in synch with the investor community, with the needs of the market, with the legal and financial framework, and with the culture of the researchers and entrepreneurs. A laizzez faire mentality works in the U.S. but here, it looks like a Keynesian big hammer approach where everyone coordinates their efforts is the only way to achieve this, especially since the amount of money is, by world standards, quite small. The problem is complex, and involves financial, legal and cultural constraints. But there are certain issues that can be resolved that will lead to a realignment of R&D money in the Philippines. First, the percentage of R&D spending to GDP ratio is too simplistic. If one compares the percentage GDP of R&D in the Philippines to Thailand and Malaysia, obviously it is too small. But this ratio does not say anything about how you use this money effectively. One country can have a slightly smaller percentage GDP ratio, but if it spends that money more efficiently than another country that has a greater percentage GDP ratio, then that difference may not be of much consequence. A proper metric, aside from percentage GDP, should include a measure of how well the country is able to publish papers, is able to issue patents, and is able to commercialize technology, from a unit of currency spent on R&D. Otherwise, the focus is on the total amount spent on R&D, which may not be enough to solve the problem. Second, while the capability of scientists to innovate is important, it is also important that they be willing to work in synch with other scientists and with other scientific institutions, in order to complement each other and not have redundant efforts. One issue that complicates things is a difficulty in getting agreement on what technology directions to pursue. The anthropologic and cultural cause of this issue is beyond the scope of this article, but that is what we see in the Congressional Commission on Science & Technology and Engineering (COMSTE). National directions in S&T might be set and arrived at from the top, but this does not always trickle down to the bottom. Perhaps the answer lies in using technology to get everyone’s inputs, and then show where the scientific and technical community consensus lies. Third, the politician should marry the scientist. To some extent, the politicians who run COMSTE have been trying to do this, but the impact on the public imagination still needs some work. The ideal is of course, a JFK exhorting Americans to go to the moon, or a Barack Obama pledging to cut dependence on Middle East oil in ten years. Those national statements, coming from American politicians, have been based on the advice of noted scientific groups in the U.S. But in the Philippines, a general distrust of politicians coupled with a lack of real mainstream media interest in science, and a lack of clear communication between politicians and scientists, seems to have made what can be bang into a whimper. Lastly, the traditionally rigid government bureaucracy (of which I am a part) needs to allow for some flexibility. Take for instance auditing and purchasing. Best practices in procuring scientific and technical materials and equipment need to be benchmarked with fast moving countries, without sacrificing proper purchasing and procurement regulations. There is of course a reason why these rules were installed in the first place, but they also need to take into account the speed of technology change, in order for the Philippines to remain competitive in S&T. Surely countries like the Philippines need to increase their R&D spending beyond the current levels. But to simply equate progress in R&D with an increase in spending will not be enough. How the money is spent to yield published papers, patents and marketable technologies is the more important problem that needs to be faced. More importantly, it is not just about the money, but it is about getting a national consensus of the politicians and the public to back those R&D programs solidly, from private sector support, to investor support, to legal and non-government organization support, to even the public support. Until this synergy happens, the promise of R&D in science and technology will never be fulfilled. Like in roulette, sometimes the answer is to put your chips in as many places as you want to ensure some small wins. But in these gloomy economic times, it looks like as Keynes would argue, it is time for everyone to agree that government needs to make the best big bets in certain areas and skip other areas, in order to create new industries and jobs. Dennis Posadas is the Deputy Executive Director of the Philippine Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (COMSTE). He is also the author of Jump Start: A Technopreneurship Fable to be published by Pearson Prentice Hall this April 2009.

MANILA, Philippines—A US scientist admonished Pangasinan Representative Mark Cojuangco for “dangerously misrepresenting” a scientific study in a bid to make the lawmaker’s proposal to reopen the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) “look good.” Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo, professor emeritus of the University of Illinois Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said he was dismayed Cojuangco misused the 2005 study the American and two fellow scientists made. "I am dismayed that our paper was cited by Cojuangco in his exploratory note. He is being ignorant of scientific data," said Rodolfo. Cojuangco authored a House bill seeking to revive the $2.3-billion BNPP mothballed over two decades ago. A visibly angry Rodolfo, during a Friday conference on nuclear power at the University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences (UP-NIGS), accused Cojuangco of "dangerously misrepresenting" the scientific study, which covered the geology of Subic Bay. Rodolfo, also an adjunct professor at UP-NIGS and a staunch critic of nuclear energy, argued that the paper did not certify the safety of the area where the BNPP is located. A heated exchange ensued during the open forum when Cojuangco tried to rebut Rodolfo's accusations, saying that the rest of his proposed measure was based on solid scientific data. Cojuangco also said that the bill was meant to ensure long-term availability of power in the country and reduce the effects of global warming. But Rodolfo rebuked Cojuangco saying that the lawmaker should have understood the purpose of their paper, which studied geologic faults in Subic Bay and not Natib where the BNPP stands. Rodolfo said his team even found by accident some geologic faults previously undetected. These could in fact cause some danger to surrounding areas of Subic, which includes Natib, some 10 kilometers away, he said. "What you're doing is cherry-picking arguments that would make your proposal look good," Rodolfo said. Trying to calm down, Cojuangco finally apologized to Rodolfo and said he would amend his bill. "I'm going to try to put amendments in my explanatory note that you are anti-nuclear." Rodolfo also posted online a statement about the alleged misuse of the study.

By Tessa R. Salazar Philippine Daily Inquirer First in a series MANNY “Pacman” Pacquiao has been making all the right moves in the boxing ring. When the time comes he has to move out of it, what should be his next best move? Become a sports scientist, what else. Does this sound like a jab at the moon? Not to two sports scientists who have been keenly following Pacquiao’s ascendancy in his sport. Filipino molecular biologist and sports scientist Custer Deocaris, based in Tsukuba University in Japan but currently in the Philippines under the Balik Scientist program of the Department of Science and Technology and professor Angelita B. Cruz of the College of Human Kinetics at the University of the Philippines in Diliman urged the boxing hero to become a symbol that would herald the “golden era of sports science in the country.” Deocaris, who presented his publications on exercise during his Dec. 8 lecture “Neurogenesis and the rewards of running: Can exercise make you smarter?” at the UP Institute of Chemistry, had returned to the Philippines to present results of his scientific team’s study on how exercise improves memory and learning. Deocaris told the Inquirer that athletes had undergone optimum levels of neurogenesis (birth of new neurons) in their brains, which would make them ideal candidates for becoming scientists in their chosen sport. His fellow scientists at the Institute of Health and Sports Science in Tsukuba University include former Olympians. Deocaris named one of the world’s top figure skater Akiyuki Kido, who retired in 2007 and decided to take up a PhD in Sports Science. According to him, Kido is now working on the neuroscience of stress response. Sports scientists Deocaris mentioned as current athletes-turned-sports scientists at Tsukuba University include a world aerobics champion, a silver medalist in rowing in 1994 Olympics in Greece, judo medalists, marathoners, sprinters, hurdlers and even cheerleaders. Athletes who have spent a majority of their lifetimes honing their physical skills, sharpening their decision-making processes and undergoing extreme competitive pressures, possess the fastest reaction times and the most efficient decision-making competencies, Deocaris explained. Such athletes have brains that have become efficient transmitters of signals. They have also developed a positive mental state that motivates and exudes confidence—a factor that is needed in the field of science, particularly sports science. Deocaris and Cruz stressed that an athlete is encouraged to become a “sports scientist” because he or she is most qualified to impart knowledge to the next generation of athletes by virtue of his or her extensive experience in that particular sport. If one would follow the academic curriculum, Pacquiao could only qualify as scientist if he finishes a BSc degree and later enter to graduate school to get an MSc, MD or a PhD. Pacquiao’s business manager Eric Pineda told the Inquirer Science that Manny is currently a college freshman at the University of Notre Dame, General Santos City taking up Business Management. It seems, right now, that being a sports scientist, or just a “sports scientist” in the figurative sense of the word, is farthest from Pacquiao’s mind.

Agence France-Presse CHICAGO--Tickle a locust's hind legs and two hours later it will be transformed into an insect ready to form a crop-devastating swarm. While researchers know why -- the tickling simulates the jostling that usually solitary locusts experience when limited food suppliers force them to crowd -- they have puzzled for decades over how the radical biological transformation occurs. A study released Thursday by the journal Science found that the brain chemical serotonin triggers the switch from aversion to attraction. "Serotonin profoundly influences how we humans behave and interact, so to find that the same chemical in the brain is what causes a normally shy antisocial insect to gang up in huge groups is amazing," said study co-author Swidbert Ott of Cambridge University. The researchers discovered that locusts in swarm mode -- called gregarious locusts -- had serotonin levels three times higher than those in a solitary behavior phase. Once in this phase, the green locusts turn bright yellow, gain large muscles that equip them for prolonged flight and actively seek the company of other locusts. They can develop into swarms of billions and fly 60 miles (96 km) in five to eight hours in search of food. But when they were injected with serotonin-blocking chemicals, locusts still in their antisocial phase remained calm and did not transform into the swarm phase in response to the leg tickling or presence of a crowd. And when the locusts were injected with chemicals that stimulated serotonin they were transformed into the swarm phase without the stimulus. "Up until now, whilst we knew the stimuli that cause locusts' amazing 'Jekyll and Hyde'-style transformation, nobody had been able to identify the changes in the nervous system that turn antisocial locusts into monstrous swarms," said study co-author Michael Anstey of University of Oxford. "The question of how locusts transform their behavior in this way has puzzled scientists for almost 90 years, now we finally have the evidence to provide an answer." While the discovery "harbors considerable potential" for dealing with the harmful insects, it will not likely to a short-term pest control solution, said Paul Anthony Stevenson of Germany's Leipzig University. "To be effective, antiserotonin-like chemicals would need to be applied when the animals are solitary locusts and scarce targets in vast expanses of desert -- about three locusts per 100 square meters (1,076 sq ft)," Stevenson wrote in an accompanying article. "Current serotonergic drugs are not designed for passing through the insect cuticle and sheath encasing the nervous system, nor are they insect-selective, hence their use is ecologically unjustifiable."

By Anna Valmero INQUIRER.net GOVERNMENT agencies and state universities and colleges (SUCs) must align their research and development (R&D) funding efforts, a lawmaker said. Senator Edgardo Angara said this year is a tough time and requires the country's R&D policymakers to limit research priorities to extend the value of limited resources. "We are in the midst of a recession this 2009 and we have a limited R&D budget. Given this, we must spend it wisely and ensure R&D efforts benefit the industry and create jobs," Angara said. This year, the focus of researches include solar and wind energy and vaccine research. In 2007, the country spent $81 million for R&D, or  0.14 percent of GDP, U.S. magazine Science has reported. For this year, Angara said the Congress plans to increase the current budget for R&D. But he did not give details on how much money will be allocated. COMSTE reported at the National R&D Conference in December that Filipino scientists pick their areas of research without coordination with other scientists and institutions. Thus redundant researches were seen during the conference, where many researches focused on biofuel crops, such as sweet sorghum and jathropa. To streamline the allocation of the R&D budget and reduce the occurrence of redundant researches, Angara said a group would soon monitor and integrate all budget spending across departments, agencies and SUCs. Currently, the Department of Science and Technology monitors the national R&D budget. “The challenge is how Filipino scientists and researchers can break cultural roadblocks and be able to coordinate with others on their researches. We know this is not easy but it can be done,” said Angara. “This undertaking requires commitment of all R&D stakeholders to report data accurately and a good IT system in place to analyze data.” Angara also announced during a conference the formation of two R&D institutes. One will focus on the renewable energy with budget coming from fossil fuel levies and another patterned after Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Angara said they are still studying if the ITRI model can succeed in the country. ITRI is a contract R&D institute, which acts like a private company and gets contracts from both the government and private sector.

Agence France-Presse SYDNEY -- A sharp slowdown in coral growth on Australia's Great Barrier Reef since 1990 is a warning sign that precipitous changes in the world’s oceans may be imminent, scientists said Friday. Strong evidence points to the cause being a combination of warmer seas and higher acidity from increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, Australian Institute of Marine Science researchers reported. "The data suggest that this severe and sudden decline in calcification is unprecedented in at least 400 years," said Glenn De’ath, principal author of a paper published Friday in the international journal Science. The research shows that corals on the reef have slowed their growth by more than 14 percent since the "tipping point" year of 1990 and on current trends the corals would stop growing altogether by 2050. "It is cause for extreme concern that such changes are already evident, with the relatively modest climate changes observed to date, in the world’s best protected and managed coral reef ecosystem," said co-author Janice Lough. Coral skeletons form the backbone of reef ecosystems and provide the habitat for tens of thousands of plant and animal species and more acidic oceans will affect many sea creatures, not just coral, a statement on the report said. "All calcifying organisms that are central to the function of marine ecosystems and food webs will be affected, and precipitous changes in the biodiversity and productivity of the world’s oceans may be imminent," it added. The findings are based on analyses of annual growth bands -- like rings on trees -- extending back in time up to 400 years. Rising sea temperatures are blamed on global warming caused by the build-up in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide -- which is also blamed for higher acidity in sea water. A UN report warned in 2007 that the Great Barrier Reef, described as the world's largest living organism, could be killed by climate change within decades. The World Heritage site and major tourist attraction, stretching over more than 345,000 square kilometres (133,000 sq miles) off Australia's east coast, could become "functionally extinct", the report said. The journal Science is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.