the Philippines
Typhoon Parma is a huge storm and NASA's TRMM satellite sees it is already bringing more unwanted rains and gusty winds to the typhoon-weary and devastated Philippines. Parma, also called "Pepeng" in the Philippines, will bring heavy rains there today and tomorrow before moving back to sea.
Warnings have been posted in the extreme northeastern Philippines as Parma has powered up into a Super Typhoon, and its new forecast track takes it over the northeastern tip of the Philippines, and three NASA satellites are keeping tabs on it.
NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Typhoon Ketsana during its lifetime and captured infrared imagery on a daily basis. The images showed high, cold, thunderstorm cloud tops (purple) as cold as -63F, as they dumped heavy rains over the northern Philippines and Vietnam.
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) -- -- The green mussel is known for being a notoriously invasive fouling species, but scientists have just discovered that it also has a very powerful form of adhesion in its foot, according to a recent article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The stickiness of the mussel's foot could possibly be copied to form new man-made adhesives.
Sometimes satellite imagery will leave a person in awe of nature's power and that's what the latest satellite image from NASA's Aqua satellite will do as it shows the giant Typhoon Morakot's center about to cross Taiwan. Morakot has already caused problems in Taiwan on its approach and has proven deadly in the Philippines.
Geoengineering techniques aim to slow global warming through the use of human-made changes to the Earth's land, seas or atmosphere. But new research shows that the use of geoengineering to do environmental good may cause other environmental harm.
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (31 July 2009) -Scientists are racing to arm Afghanistan against a new invader-a deadly, airborne wheat rust disease that threatens wheat production and food security in this war-torn nation and the region that stretches east across neighboring Pakistan and into India.
In a recent study by pesticide toxicologists at UP Los Baños, the injection of neonicotenoid pesticides such as thiametoxam, imidachloprid and clothianidin in coconut trunks was found safe and effective in controlling the coconut leaf beetle (Brontispa longgisima).
With focus on Jatropa, sweet sorghum and cassava, biofuel research and development is fast gaining momentum in the Philippines. Just recently, the drive to produce diesel fuel from renewable and non-food biodiesel feedstock such as microalgae has gotten a big boost.
The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) has recently organized a group of biotechnologists and chemical engineers to conduct scientific investigations in a bid to produce ethanol from so-called 3rd generation biofuel feedstocks.
Each barangay, town or city in the Philippines has its own story to tell about its waste disposal problems. While some of them lack or have none to guarantee good waste disposal management, the town of Los Baños in Laguna has one to vouch for a cleaner future with the promising results of a research project currently done by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).
Dr. Virginia Cuevas of the Institute of Biological Sciences of UPLB and her co-researchers have recently identified Xylaria mutants that can be potentially developed into a product capable of degrading plastic bags usually found in dumpsites. Xylaria is a fungus that grows on dead wood, utilizing the latter’s components such cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin as food. In 2001, Dr. Cuevas showed evidence of Xylaria colonizing polyethylene (PET) plastic strips. Most plastic bags, including garbage bags, are now made of PET.
Coral reefs could disappear entirely from the Coral Triangle region of the Pacific Ocean by the end of the century, threatening the food supply and livelihoods for about 100 million people, according to a new study from World Wildlife Fund.
Farmers and businessmen in the Philippines have scrambled planting the Physic Nut (Jatropha curcas), a biofuel crop seen having big potential returns once the mandatory use of biodiesel is fully implemented in the country.
However, some of those who have gone full steam ahead establishing farms are now beset with problems, one of which is seed storage.
The Philippines’ biosafety regulation procedures are not only costly, but take too long. These are the findings of a concluded study at the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
Coral reefs around the world are in serious trouble from pollution, over-fishing, climate change and more. The last thing they need is an infection.
