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Discovering role of Transportation Engineering in managing public transport crisis

From being the pioneer country that introduced the first ever metropolitan light rail system in Southeast Asia, the Philippines’ public transportation system has seen better days. Spending long hours in traffic and erratic breakdowns of existing train systems are only some of the  common problems that commuters face. As lockdown restrictions eased over the past…

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Patterns of distress: Psychological welfare during the COVID-19 pandemic

As July began, 107 days had passed since the Luzon mainland was placed under community quarantine. In what has become the world’s longest COVID-19 lockdown, the country’s quarantine period has even surpassed the 76-day lockdown of the Chinese city of Wuhan—the ground zero of the pandemic.    Altered eating and sleeping patterns, increased difficulties with concentrating,…

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Knowledge without barriers: Dissecting science illiteracy among Filipinos

Despite their immense capacity to generate knowledge, the Sciences tend to be devalued or misunderstood; the vast array of complex concepts and unfamiliar terminologies have made these subject matters appear inaccessible to those outside the scientific community. With the overwhelming amount of information available, it is easy to be misled by hearsays, exaggerations, and even…

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A sullied field of stars: Trepidation as Starlink ventures into a new frontier

Soon, the night sky could be blanketed by an immense array of satellites streaking through the dark. These satellites would comprise Starlink, a satellite mega-constellation envisioned to provide global high-speed internet access. There are 480 Starlink satellites currently in orbit around the Earth—60 of which are from the latest launch in early June. SpaceX, the…

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Needing ‘full and immediate’ support: Medical workers against COVID-19

When COVID-19 cases nearly doubled on March 14—skyrocketing from 64 a day before to 111—President Rodrigo Duterte responded by placing Luzon on Enhanced Community Quarantine, restricting land, air, and sea travel; suspending mass transport facilities; and prohibiting mass gatherings, among other enforced guidelines. Responding to the severity of the pandemic, the Department of Health (DOH)…

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Women in STEM: Davey Alba holds truth to power in Technology journalism

“If you want to know what happens to a country that has opened itself entirely to Facebook, look to the Philippines. It’s a society where, increasingly, the truth no longer matters, propaganda is ubiquitous, and lives are wrecked and people die as a result—half a world away from the Silicon Valley engineers who’d promised to…

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Surging forward: Trends, developments in Analytical Chemistry

Last March 9, a seminar titled Trends and Approaches in Analytical Science, a joint event hosted by the Chemistry Department and the Central Instrumentation Facility of the University, was held at rooms Y407 to Y409, fourth floor of Yuchengco Hall.   The event was composed of a series of lectures that were presented by Dr. Leonel…

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An ever elusive mystery: The science behind attraction

“It’s also true that like the Moon—a trigger of its own legendary form of madness—love has its phases,” said Dr. Richard Schwartz, an associate professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and a consultant to McLean and Massachusetts General hospitals. Schwartz—whose research interests revolve around social isolation, loneliness, social connection, and lasting marriage—claimed in…

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Truths and tensions: On DOH confirmation of first nCoV case in PH

In December 2019, a newly identified disease from Wuhan, China caused an outbreak.  The epidemic has since spread across other locations, including, Macau, Taiwan, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, The Republic of Korea, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India, and the Philippines.  Now, 7,824 are…

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Deconstructing sustainability, food wastage concerns of unli-KBBQ establishments

Every year, approximately a third of the world’s food is lost or thrown away, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.  In the Philippines, efforts to reduce food waste have been initiated but not all have been successful. Although Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000,…