Laguna
Infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite revealed that Typhoon Mirinae's cold thunderstorm clouds were already over sections of the central and northern Philippines on October 30 at 4:53 p.m.
More than a decade of research paid off! Pest resistant varieties of eggplant were developed; ways to lessen the use or avoidance of insecticidal spraying were found; there was reduced pest population in the field; and eventually, high production yield was reached.
A team of Spanish and Portuguese researchers has carried out molecular genetic analysis of the Y chromosome (transmitted only by males) of the aboriginal population of the Canary Islands to determine their origin and the extent to which they have survived in the current population.
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.
Losing weight may preserve kidney function in obese people with kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that taking off the pounds could be an important step kidney disease patients can take to protect their health.
Two tiny worms much smaller than a rice grain and a strange crustacean that has no eyes and poisonous fangs are among several new species of marine life discovered in an underwater cave by a Texas A&M University at Galveston researcher, who has had one of the new species named after him.
They gracefully swim through the complete darkness of submarine caves, constantly on the lookout for prey. Instead of eyes, predatory crustaceans of the class Remipedia rely on long antennae which search the lightless void in all directions. Like some type of science fiction monster, their head is equipped with powerful prehensile limbs and poisonous fangs.
A lunar eclipse helped a group of international scientists take a snapshot of earth's chemical fingerprint, which could help to identify planets most similar to earth where life may be thriving.
University of Central Florida Associate Professor Eduardo Martin was a member of the team that made the observation, which is published in the June 11 edition of Nature magazine.
Part of the 6,500 hectare land grant property of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) straddling the provinces of Laguna and Quezon is currently being developed into tree farms for biofuel, timber and agroforestry enterprises.
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.
In the Old Testament, Noah built an ark, unknowing if the rains would ever come, he entrusted his fate with God.
Limnology experts at the University of the Philippines Los Baños have turned themselves into little Noahs, building “arks” to provide a haven to our native and endemic freshwater fishes. The collected fishes, according to Dr. Vachel Gay Paller of the UPLB Limnological Research Station (UPLB LRS), will be part of the “Fish Ark Philippines”—a project aimed to study and conserve these erstwhile untapped resources.
The human brain's remarkable flexibility to understand a variety of signals as language extends to an unusual whistle language used by shepherds on one of the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa. And the way the brain processes these whistles is similar to the way it goes about deciphering English, Spanish or other spoken languages, according to research being published in tomorrow's issue of the journal Nature.
