Most published and posted commentaries on the RH bill show poor public understanding of science. I am sharing here a summary of my comments posted at the online forum on Philippine science. It is focused on the nature and role of science. The objectives of science are not to find the truth. They are aimed…
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Family Planning: Dangers without contraceptives
After a decade of campaigning by global health scientists and civic organisations, the survival of mothers, newborns, and children had finally been embraced as an emergency that demands unprecedented action by all governments. That has been articulated in a Family Planning Series of the medical journal Lancet (14 July 2012). The articles include ”The rebirth of family planning,”…
Is PNoy succeeding where his predecessors failed?
This can be seen in his third SONA — whether his programs and claimed achievements are sustainable, whether the programs are guided by the accepted basic prerequisites of growth, and whether the progress is measured by indicators of equitable well-being. The three internationally proven prerequisites of sustainable prosperity are higher education, science, and right people…
Beam shape corrections to the Law of Reflection
The law of reflection states that with respect to an imaginary line that is perpendicular to the surface of the reflecting object, light will be reflected at the same angle and at the same plane as it was incident. Euclid, writing in Catoptrics, already had a mathematical description of this law in 300 BC [1]. In the…
Climate change: What more can science organizations do?
From global terrorism and the spread of disease to the dangers of global warming, we are increasingly facing the sorts of threats for which governments everywhere will need to turn to their scientists. (“The scientific impact of nations,” Nature, 15 July 2004.) Perhaps no other problems in this century threaten us more, in magnitude of destruction…
Intense terahertz emission from undoped GaAs/n-type GaAs and InAs/AlSb structures grown on Si substrates
Post contributed by Dr. Elmer Estacio, currently affiliated with the Far Infrared Center, University of Fukui. His area of research is on MBE-grown terahertz semiconductor emitters and development of high-speed terahertz time-domain spectroscopy techniques. The terahertz (THz, 1012 Hz) frequency region bridges the gap between electronics (microwave band) and photonics (IR and visible light bands).…
Learning from Success Stories
by Prof. Raul Suarez Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology University of California, Santa Barbara When we examine success stories in Philippine science, we see common features. For example, at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, the National Institute of Physics and the Marine Sciences Institute have both embraced the culture of proper…
ISI-journal myths and phobias
by Raul Suarez Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology University of California, Santa Barbara Some recent messages may appear to sanctify ISI-indexed journals as well as to demonize local journals and everything published in them. A consequence of “rule of thumb” generalizations might be a lack of awareness and understanding of issues and realities…
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