Einstein's God

"I belive in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings."

Communicating Uncertain Climate Risks

ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2011) - Despite much research that demonstrates potential dangers from climate change, public concern has not been increasing. One theory is that this is because the public is not intimately familiar with the nature of the climate uncertainties being discussed.

 

"All of our climate-related options have uncertainties, regarding health, economics, ecosystems, and international stability, among other things," says Fischhoff. "It's important to know what gambles we're taking if, for example, we ignore climate issues altogether or create strong incentives for making our lives less energy intensive."

 

Read more on http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110329163128.htm

Against the Tide

Currents Keep Dolphins Apart; Study Finds Invisible Oceanographic Factors That Keep Populations Separate

 

ScienceDaily (Mar. 24, 2011) — Conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and other conservation and research groups have discovered that groups of dolphins in the western Indian Ocean do not mix freely with one another. In fact, dolphin populations are kept separate by currents and other unseen factors.

Assessment Training in Davao City

Date: March 14 - 18, 2011 at Davao City Waterfront Hotel

Lessons of 1990 Earthquake lost on vulnerable Baguio

Volcanologists point to the possibility of another big earthquake hitting Baguio, where communities are built atop sinkholes and on steep slopes. Its population nearly doubling during the summer, Baguio has only one fire station and four functioning fire trucks. Typhoon Pepeng and a recent horrific bus crash exposed the city's woeful lack of disaster preparedness.

 

Full Story:
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/215909/special-reports/lessons-of-1990-earthquake-lost-on-vulnerable-baguio

How many times do I need to screw up just to learn?

Even wars have limits. - ICRC

MOA Fireworks Show 13 Mar

Science Notes Today March4

Mapping Human Vulnerability to Climate Change
Researchers already study how various species of plants and animals migrate in response to climate change. Now, Jason Samson, a PhD candidate in McGill University's Department of Natural Resource Sciences, has taken the innovative step of using the same analytic tools to measure the impact of climate change on human populations. Samson and fellow researchers combined climate change data with censuses covering close to 97 per-cent of the world's population in order to forecast potential changes in local populations for 2050. Samson's team found that if populations continue to increase at the expected rates, those who are likely to be the most vulnerable to climate change are the people living in low-latitude, hot regions of the world, places like central South America, the Arabian Peninsula and much of Africa. In these areas, a relatively small increase in temperature will have serious consequences on a region's ability to sustain a growing population."

The More Secure You Feel, the Less You Value Your Stuff
People who feel more secure in receiving love and acceptance from others place less monetary value on their possessions, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire.The research was conducted by Edward Lemay, assistant professor of psychology at UNH, and colleagues at Yale University. The research is published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Lemay and his colleagues found that people who had heightened feelings of interpersonal security -- a sense of being loved and accepted by others -- placed a lower monetary value on their possession than people who did not.

Light-to-Moderate Alcohol Consumption May Help Stave Off Dementia, Research Suggests
Experts agree that long-term alcohol abuse is detrimental to memory function and can cause neuro-degenerative disease. However, according to a study published in Age and Ageing by Oxford University Press, there is evidence that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption may decrease the risk of cognitive decline or dementia.

Satellite Eye on Earth

Beautiful images captured by European Space Agency and NASA satellites last month:

Image 1: Ebon Atoll, a coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean that is part of the Marshall Islands - located about 1000 km to the north-east of the Solomon Islands.

Image 2: Brasilia (Brazil) is located on a plateau (Planalto Central) in the west-central part of d country & is widely considered to be 1 of the best examples of 20th Century urban planning.

Image 3: Ostrov Shikotan (or Shikotan-to) is a volcanic island at the southern end of the Kuril chain. Shikotan lies along the extreme southern edge of winter sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere.

Jeepneys and Ferry Boats

I miss the ferry boat. I miss the river. It’s been more than a month since the ferry service was suspended, the reason for which I didn’t bother to ask the management. And it’s been more than a month that I go to office and back home via jeepney, passing Quiapo. And there’s been a lot that I have seen and known.

I have smelled the polluted air of the metro minimum two hours a day during weekdays. I have noticed the difference of going out in the street early in the morning, than waking up late and rushing to work. I have passed almost every day the man @ the market, selling fruits @ P10 – which occasionally have become my breakfast, I have loved sitting beside the driver instead of @ the back of the jeepney – so I can see the road the vehicle is heading, I have observed the different errands people are up to – making their lives worthwhile for them. I have listened to the songs of the radio on the jeepney, on the street, or of the blind man playing his guitar beside the sidewalk. They all come to pass, as I pass each of them.

I have seen the lined up devotees of the Quiapo church, sidewalk vendors selling rosaries, candles, handkerchiefs with printed pictures of saints and prayers, herbal medicines saying ‘pamparegla’, stones and amulets, pirated cds and dvds. The stench of early morning drunkards gives me headaches, and in the evening, young boys sniffing rugby or acetone, while begging money on the streets. The first time I experienced it, everything seemed to freeze, and I believe I felt the truth. There was a mother carrying a small child, both of them almost asleep, and we were at the most rear side of the jeepney, while the vehicle swifts off the road. I feared they might fall, but was relieved later when they finally got off.

I just want the ferry back. The sadness of these sights just tell me how bad some things are, how helpless, how poor. But the light shines within each individual; I have seen that as well. A young boy helping out his father-driver collect money from passengers or calling out for possible commuter, I wonder if he even attends school. And a mother/father sending her/his child to school in the morning brings me back the times when my mother/ grandfather send me to my class in kindergarten. They were full of love for these kids who are too curious.

Maybe I really want the ferry back, but I guess, if ever the ferries are back, I’ll always try the jeepneys once in a while.