Heavy downpour did not stop students and environmental advocates from rallying in the vicinity of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Building in University of the Philippines Diliman last September 20. As they marched toward the front of the building, participants sounded off their alarms at 2 pm in order to “pressure” the government to…
Category: Vanguard
For many, the mere mention of the word “math” induces a state of distress. From complex equations and unknown variables to intricate graphs and large chunks of data, working with numbers and other mystifying symbols can be quite an ordeal. But for Dr. Angelyn Lao, math is powerful and fascinating, and it is a field…
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For the love for science: Joel Chavez
It all started with an assignment in second grade. “Which would dry faster, black clothes or white clothes?” recalls Joel Chavez, an associate professor and lecturer from the Biology Department of DLSU. Submitting the wrong answer, his teacher would later on explain the proper process of how heat transfers from one medium to another, consequently…
The Amazon—a major rainforest that covers nine countries, namely Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, and Ecuador—is still burning. This puts thousands of species in danger, reducing a diverse and substantial number of plants into ash, and forcing animals to either flee from their natural habitat or suffocate due to the smoke.…
The 1986 Chernobyl reactor explosion left its tragic mark by killing more than 30 individuals in the initial explosion and contaminating the surrounding areas with high radiation. Other notable events—such as the Manhattan Project, the bombing of Hiroshima city, as well as another accident in Fukushima—have further aggravated resistance toward the use of nuclear energy.…
Many have theorized how the end of the world will come. With threats ranging from biological warfare to brain-eating zombies or a destructive alien invasion, theories have ranged from the mundane to those out of this world. But while these ideas may seem far-fetched from the real state of the world, something looming in the…
For many makers, hobbyists, and engineers, the Arduino has been a household name since its early beginnings in 2005. From how intuitively easy it is to use in addition to all the versatile features that come along with the device, the Arduino—a software tool that aids programmers in building applications—is readily programmable via an integrated…
Self-driving cars, three-dimensional printing, fiber optics, bluetooth technology, and social media—these are just some of the innovative solutions and technologies that have shaped the 21st century. Greatly influencing how the world works, these advancements disrupted the monotony of established systems and workings; they paved the way for societal change. However, innovations are not limited to…
Time travel has been viewed as a work of fiction usually brought to life in popular media where audiences see what-could-be or what-could-have-been through glimpses of the future or flashbacks from the past. Highlighted in films such as Interstellar and Back to the Future, the very concept of traversing through time remains an unsolved mystery…
Ecosystems like forests and coral reefs have immune capacity to support life and provide significant economic and ecological services, but only if they are healthy. The increasing area of barren lands and rising sea temperatures are symptomatic of nature’s heightening destruction, prompting many community-based projects—from tree planting to coastal clean-up activities—intended to improve the state…