The discussion thread in the Philippine Association of Marine Science Yahoo group has become interesting and has got the attention of the larger Filipino science community, at home and in diaspora. It first started when Professor Flor Lacanilao started about a few years back on what ails Philippine Science. While we may think that it [...]
Going back to the Moon: Apollo after 40 years
July 17, 2009 By 21 Comments
Science and religion in Philippine education
July 7, 2009 By 35 Comments
Science and religion is a big issue in the United States, and increasingly in other developed countries such as Australia, Canada and the UK. In other countries of the European Union, it was until recently a non-issue. During the early years of John Paul II’s pontificate, the well known evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould who [...]
A few billions and the future of Philippine science
July 1, 2009 By 48 Comments
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will go down in history as the only Malacanang tenant to seriously consider the importance of investing in big scale science infrastructure. While previous presidents have paid lip service to the importance of science, their words did not match the budget appropriations, until Gloria came around. Gloria has issued an executive order [...]
On Mike Tan’s speech to the 2009 science class of UP
April 26, 2009 By 56 Comments
The University of the Philippines College of Science (UPCS) in Diliman yesterday held its recognition ceremonies honouring the class of 2009. The UPCS was founded in 1983 with the split of the College of Arts and Sciences into colleges of science, arts and letters and social sciences and philosophy. In the past two years, social scientists [...]
Ruminating about Earth Day, teaching and the new EnviSci building
April 22, 2009 By 20 Comments
This summer I am not teaching but I am preparing new ways of teaching Environmental Science 1 (Environment and Society) for the coming academic year. ES 1 is one of the more difficult introductory courses to teach. Unlike other general subjects, you cannot “box in” environmental science with a straight laced syllabus.
Faith and Science on a Good Friday
April 11, 2009 By 62 Comments
I haven’t seen this since I was a little boy: an Ocean of People flocking at the courtyard that sat around a Cathedral and statues of Saints, of the Virgin Mary and of Jesus are like islands atop crashing waves. To move you got to rub shoulder to shoulder. One can hardly breathe. Don’t get [...]
Goin’ Nuke
February 3, 2009 By 62 Comments
I was recently interviewed by Greenpeace’s University of the Philippines chapter about my opinions on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) and nuclear power in general. I told the students that nuclear power is safe and more people have died in accidents and incidents involving conventional power plants than nuclear ones. I told the students [...]
Science: The silver lining in the jobs crisis
January 30, 2009 By 20 Comments
Research and science jobs (in the government sector and some private R&D companies) aren’t likely to be cut despite the economic crisis. Pundits largely agree that one of the best investments during this hard times is in science research. While grants for new research will be less, existing research will still have money and jobs [...]
Harnessing the Secret of the Stars To Light Up the Darkness
January 25, 2009 By 103 Comments
The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is once more in the news. Some background is over at Odious Debts Dot Org which still has online a Commentary of mine published in 2002 by PDI examining the bitter fruit and its rotten root. But today Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuanco, author of a bill to rehabilitate and commission BNPP for [...]
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