1. Complete all the LINKS to your classmates’ website in your LINKS page.
2. What is Green Technology?
The term “technology” refers to the application of knowledge for practical purposes.
The field of “green technology” encompasses a continuously evolving group of methods and materials, from techniques for generating energy to non-toxic cleaning products.
The present expectation is that this field will bring innovation and changes in daily life of similar magnitude to the “information technology” explosion over the last two decades. In these early stages, it is impossible to predict what “green technology” may eventually encompass.
3. What are the Goals of Green Technology?
The team focuses on reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions that contribute to ozone depletion and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions that are toxic in high concentration. Honeywell plans to reduce NOx emissions by 50 to 70 percent. Most NOx forms at take off power when fuel and air are mixed and burned at high temperatures and pressures. CO and unburned hydrocarbons result mainly from incomplete combustion at low power. To minimize NOx and CO emissions, the combustor system must control flame temperature over the full range of engine power.
An advanced technology combustion team is developing two promising NOx reducing technologies, lean-direct-injection (LDI) and rich-quick0mix (RQM). LDI and RQM combustor technologies seek to lower the temperature of the combustion (primary) zone by burning fuel-lean and fuel-rich, respectively. In turn, lowered primary zone temperatures will significantly reduce NOx emissions, with minimal impact to CO and smoke emissions.
4. Examples of Green Technology Subject Areas.
The Types of Green Tech
Working backwards from the result to the source, Green Technology experts tackle environmental problems by: Scrubbing contaminants, chemically and biologically. Recycling waste products, which for different products (plastics vs. paper versus metals vs. corrosives and acids) involves very different processes. Economizing on energy use, with smarter and less wasteful processes and tools. Switching to renewable energy sources. And finally, by teaching people about the effects their actions have and how to use their resources more wisely and profitably.
Scrubbers: Removing contaminants directly
Technology that removes contaminants comes in two different shades itself.
The first type are filters, ranging from sheets of fiberglass to entire wetlands that wash rivers clean. (considering that institutional efforts to create and fine-tune wetlands exist for that very purpose, it's safe to consider it a Green technology.)
The second type are counteragents, such as using sodium bicarbonate on sulfuric acid, or using petrochemical-eating bacteria on oil spills. Most counteragents are problematic at best, and are almost as dangerous as the problem they are intended to solve; but they have the appeal of being a fix for problems after catastrophe strikes. We'll cover promising counteragents and filter technologies in future articles often, because both types see frequent use and are seen as quite emblematic of Green Technology.
Recycling: Reusing products before they become contaminants
In this day and age, everyone is familiar with the triangle logo and blue recycle bins seen around the country; but awareness of what recycling actually entails is still limited at best. Different materials require VERY different techniques in order for them to be reused, and new technologies are coming out every day that apply the concept of recycling in novel ways. As a business owner or manager, the choices for recycling services are becoming difficult to sort through. In future articles, coverage of recycling services and technologies will be with an eye towards simplifying the decision process and maximizing benefit.
Energy Efficiency: Creating less contaminants in the first place
Another title for this category might be 'process efficiency.' We at Bits, Ltd. take this subject very seriously, and our entire product line is designed to reduce wasteful energy usage. From a technical perspective, the places where energy is wasted are legion. Examples are products drawing current when not in use, overly complicated and incorrectly calibrated heating and cooling systems, older technology such as incandescent bulbs when flourescent or LED solutions are available, using failing equipment that bottlenecks a process, or simply organizing production with wasteful motion or effort.
The less energy or product you use to achieve the same goal, the less contaminants you produce. This area is also one of the more profitable for your bottom line, because less waste equals less cost.
Continuing on, we've got a couple more kinds of green technology.
Renewable energy: Reducing or eliminating contamination completely
Closely related to recycling on a macroscopic scale, in practice renewable energy means using any energy source that's not a fossil fuel or atomic power (although atomic energy can be tremendously efficient, it's not renewable yet.) For quick fixes and more immediate cost savings, look back up towards the other categories. Renewable energy, unless you're lucky enough to have a provider in business nearby, has a heavy initial investment. However, if you can afford the time and outlay for setting yourself up with a renewable source, the returns can be tremendous indeed; reducing energy costs in some cases to nothing at all, or even a surplus that you can sell.
Renewable energy is becoming less expensive every day, and it's rapidly reaching the point where the cost/benefits of solar, wind, and other renewable sources are worth investing in.
These are the questions to ask: How much electricity do I use, and do I have control over the source? Is there a provider of renewable energy in my area, and how much do they cost? Do I have the option of installing solar panels, windmills, thermals or other renewable energy collectors?
This is simply an overview; in the future we'll take a closer look at the exact cost/benefit tradeoffs for various solutions.
As a side note, this website is powered by completely renewable energy sources.
5.Examples of Green Technologies
Social Engineering: Teaching people how to keep Green
Last but not least, the area of environmental law, public education and awareness is very important to environmental initiatives, and methods of educating, rasing awareness, and getting people involved have become inventive enough in this day and age to qualify as an area of technology. Examples include environmental wikis, environmental law and legal practices, detection methods and environmental watchdogs, and tools that eco activists and scientists use to collaborate and communicate.
Thinking 'green' is part of our culture
Green cars are worthy but dull - right? Not if you come to Lotus.
We are not alone in recognising that the automotive industry must do more to address its environmental impact, through reducing CO2 emissions and improving the recyclability of the materials it uses.
And we believe that the best way we can help our clients to achieve this is through developing vehicles that also excite and inspire consumers. It is a philosophy we have adhered to for years with our own cars that through a combination of light weight and efficient engines are a sheer pleasure to drive.
Our track record in developing and producing clean and efficient engines, biofuel vehicles, hybrids and electric vehicles is already impressive and extensive. In fact, as we head into a new automotive era, the technology of CO2 reduction will become central to our engineering business.
The technologies for efficient vehicles
We have a strong focus on all of the technologies that can play a part in cleaner vehicles and transport. These include the propulsion and powertrain technologies, weight reduction throughout the vehicle, approaches for greener manufacturing of greener vehicles and recyclability. Our own research and engineering is looking at many of these areas. Many technologies will have a role to play over the coming decades - there will be no one green powertrain technology that will dominate all market for many years.
Vehicles such as our Exige265E Bio-Fuel, our EVE (efficient, Viable, Environment) Hybrid and the lightweight aluminium Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) are just a few examples of the some of green engineering and technology area we are looking at. 
The green technology integrators
So while we research a variety of technologies, our green automotive expertise goes way beyond this. Lotus is leading the world in the integration of green technology into vehicles. We have the expertise and experience to help clients integrate their technologies into new vehicles.
Our work for Tesla Motors on their Tesla Roadster is just one example. We are assembling the Tesla Roadster under contract to Tesla Motors and were also hired for certain design and engineering tasks. The Tesla Roadster style was developed in Lotus Engineering's design studio - we won a design contest where several design firms submitted proposals and Lotus Engineering has supplied the initial chassis, which was significantly modified by Tesla Motors engineers.
Over the next few years there will be many further examples of how Lotus Engineering has helped clients introduce more green vehicles. The automotive world is ever adapting to achieve a greener future. It is clear Lotus that has a key part to play
6. Top Ten U.S. Cities with Most Green Technologies
For those fond of top ten lists and energy efficiency, the EPA has just released its list of the US cities with the most commercial buildings earning Energy Star ratings in 2008. EPA is quick to point out that the number of building qualifying for this rating have increased 130% from 2007, and these buildings both use 35% less energy than average buildings and emit 35% less CO2. So without anymore more hesitation, here they are:
1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco
3. Houston
4. Washington DC
5. Dallas-Fort Worth
6. Chicago
7. Denver
8. Minneapolis-St Paul
9. Atlanta
10. Seattle
7. The Top 10 Green-Tech Breakthroughs of 2008
10. THE ISLAND OF THE SOLAR
With money flowing like milk and honey in the land of solar technology, all sorts of schemers and dreamers came streaming into the area. One Swiss researcher, Thomas Hinderling, wants to build solar islands several miles across that he claims can produce hundreds of megawatts of relatively inexpensive power. Though most clean tech advocates question the workability of the scheme, earlier this year, Hinderling's company Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique received $5 million from the Ras al Khaimah emirate of the United Arab Emirates to start construction on a prototype facility, shown above, in that country. (Image: Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique)
9. NEW MATERIALS CAGE CARBON
Carbon capture and sequestration has a seductively simple appeal: We generate carbon dioxide emissions by burning geology — coal and oil — so to fix the problem, we should simply capture it and inject it back into the ground.
It turns out, however, that it's not quite so simple. Aside from finding the right kind of empty spaces in the earth's crust and the risks that the CO2 might leak, the biggest problem with the scheme is finding a material that could selectively snatch the molecule out of the hot mess of gases going up the flues of fossil fuel plants.
That's where two classes of special cage-like molecules come into play, ZIFs and amines. This year, Omar Yaghi, a chemist at UCLA, announced a slough of new CO2-capturing ZIFs and Chris Jones, a chemical engineer at Georgia Tech, reported that he'd made a new amine that seems particularly well-suited to working under real-world condition. Both materials could eventually make capturing CO2 easier -- and therefore, more cost effective.
Perhaps better still, Yaghi's lab's technique also defined a new process for quickly creating new ZIFs with the properties that scientists — and coal-plant operators — want. Some of their crystals are shown in the image above. (Image: Omar Yaghi and Rahul Banerjee/UCLA)
8. GREEN TECH LEGISLATION GETS REAL
On the federal and state levels, several historic actions put the teeth into green tech bills passed over the last few years. A review committee of the EPA effectively froze coal plant construction, a boon to alternative energy (though earlier this month the EPA ignored the committee's ruling and it is unclear how the issue will be settled). In California, the state unveiled and approved its plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, which could be a model for a nationwide system. Combined with the green-energy tax credits in the $700-billion bailout bill, the government did more for green tech in 2008 than in whole decades in the past.
7. THE CATALYST THAT COULD ENABLE SOLAR
In July, MIT chemist Daniel Nocera announced that he'd created a catalyst that could drop the cost of extracting the hydrogen and oxygen from water.
Combined with cheap photovoltaic solar panels (like Nanosolar's), the system could lead to inexpensive, simple systems that use water to store the energy from sunlight. In the process, the scientists may have cleared the major roadblock on the long road to fossil fuel independence: Reducing the on-again, off-again nature of many renewable power sources.
"You've made your house into a fuel station," Daniel Nocera, a chemistry professor at MIT told Wired.com. "I've gotten rid of all the goddamn grids."
The catalyst enables the electrolysis system to function efficiently at room temperature and at ordinary pressure. Like a reverse fuel cell, it splits water into oxygen and hydrogen. By recombining the molecules with a standard fuel cell, the O2 and H2 could then be used to generate energy on demand
7. THE CATALYST THAT COULD ENABLE SOLAR
In July, MIT chemist Daniel Nocera announced that he'd created a catalyst that could drop the cost of extracting the hydrogen and oxygen from water.
Combined with cheap photovoltaic solar panels (like Nanosolar's), the system could lead to inexpensive, simple systems that use water to store the energy from sunlight. In the process, the scientists may have cleared the major roadblock on the long road to fossil fuel independence: Reducing the on-again, off-again nature of many renewable power sources.
"You've made your house into a fuel station," Daniel Nocera, a chemistry professor at MIT told Wired.com. "I've gotten rid of all the goddamn grids."
The catalyst enables the electrolysis system to function efficiently at room temperature and at ordinary pressure. Like a reverse fuel cell, it splits water into oxygen and hydrogen. By recombining the molecules with a standard fuel cell, the O2 and H2 could then be used to generate energy on demand.
6. PICKENS PLAN PUSHES POWER PLAYS INTO AMERICAN MAINSTREAM
Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens might be a lot of things, but environmentalist he is not. That's why his support for a nationwide network of wind farms generated so much excitement. While his solution for transportation, natural gas vehicles, may not pan out, his Pickens Plan is the most visible alternative energy plan out there and it began to channel support from outside coastal cities for finding new sources of energy.
Of course, no one said Pickens is stupid. If his plan was adopted and major investments in transmission infrastructure were made, his wind energy investments would stand to benefit.
5. SOLAR THERMAL PLANTS RETURN TO THE DESERTS
When most people think of harnessing the sun's power, they imagine a solar photovoltatic panel, which directly converts light from the sun into electricity. But an older technology emerged as a leading city-scale power technology in 2008: solar thermal. Companies like Ausra, BrightSource, eSolar, Solel, and a host of others are using sunlight-reflecting mirrors to turn liquids into steam, which can drive a turbine in the same way that coal-fired power plants make electricity.
Two companies, BrightSource and Ausra, debuted their pilot plants. They mark the first serious solar thermal experimentation in the United States since the 1980s. BrightSource's Israeli demo plant is shown above. (Image: BrightSource)
4. OBAMA PICKS A GREEN TECH EXPERT TO HEAD DOE
President-elect Barack Obama ran on the promise of green jobs and an economic stimulus package that would provide support for scientific innovation. Then, Obama picked Steven Chu, a Nobel-prize winning physicist, to head the Department of Energy. Chu had been focused on turning Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory into an alternative-energy powerhouse. The green tech community rejoiced that one of their own would be in the White House.
That's because green tech is going to need some help. With the world economy falling into recession, the price of oil has dropped, even though there are serious concerns about the long-term oil supply. When energy prices drop, clean tech investments don't seem quite as attractive, and the renascent industry could be in trouble. It's happened before, after all.
Back in the '70s, geopolitical events sent the price of oil soaring, which, as it tends to, created a boom in green tech. But the early 1980s saw the worst recession since the Depression. Sound familiar? In the poor economic climate, focus and funds were shifted away from green tech. The last nail in the coffin was the election of Ronald Reagan, who immediately pulled off the solar panels Jimmy Carter had placed on the White House. The green tech industry collapsed.
History has given U.S. alternative energy research a second chance and environmental advocates hope that a different president will lead to a very different result. (Image: DOE)
3. SOLAR CELL PRODUCTION GETS BIG, GIGA(WATT)BIG
Every clean tech advocate's dream is a power-generating technology that could compete head-to-head with coal, the cheapest fossil fuel, on price alone. Nanosolar, one of a new generation of companies building solar panels out of cheap plastics, could be the first company to get there. Early this year, the company officially opened its one-gigawatt production facility, which is many times the size of most previous solar facilities.
Nanosolar, in other words, has found a process that can scale: it works as well in production as it does in the lab. That's the main reason that the company has picked up half-a-billion dollars in funding from investors like MDV's Erik Straser.
"[It's the] first time in industry a single tool with a 1GW throughput," Straser wrote in an e-mail. "It's a key part of how the company is achieving grid parity with coal."
2. PROJECT BETTER PLACE FINDS HOMES
Green technologies are dime a dozen, but a business model that could allow an entirely new, green infrastructure to be built is a rare thing.
Doing just that is the centerpiece of Sun Microsystems' SAP veteran Shai Agassi's vision for Project Better Place, a scheme that would distribute charging and swappable battery stations throughout smallish geographies like Israel, Hawaii and San Francisco. So far, there's very little steel in the ground, but in early December, the company's first charging location opened in Tel Aviv, Israel. Agassi's plan is one of several projects — like new biofuels rail terminals — that could create fundamentally new energy ecosystems.
Some of these systems, however, are actually throwbacks to earlier eras. As Peter Shulman, a historian of technology at Case Western Reserve University, likes to remind his students: in the early 20th century, before the Model T, one-third of all cars were electric. (Image: Joe Puglies/WIRED)
1. CALERA'S GREEN CEMENT DEMO PLANT OPENS
Cement? With all the whiz bang technologies in green technology, cement seems like an odd pick for our top clean technology of the year. But here's the reason: making cement — and many other materials — takes a lot of heat and that heat comes from fossil fuels.
Calera's technology, like that of many green chemistry companies, works more like Jell-O setting. By employing catalysis instead of heat, it reduces the energy cost per ton of cement. And in this process, CO2 is an input, not an output. So, instead of producing a ton of carbon dioxide per ton of cement made — as is the case with old-school Portland cement — half a ton of carbon dioxide can be sequestered.
With more than 2.3 billion tons of cement produced each year, reversing the carbon-balance of the world's cement would be a solution that's the scale of the world's climate change problems.
8. What is a Netbook?
Last time, while describing the Lenovo IdeaPad S10, I offered my opinion that Netbook computers will drastically change the computing scene. A quick look at the best selling computers at Amazon.com shows many Netbooks (as of October 15, 2008 the top three computers were all Netbooks). In writing a follow-up posting, I realized that an introduction to Netbooks might be needed. So, here I try to explain just what Netbooks are and how they differ from the millions of laptop computers that existed previously.
A Netbook is a new type of laptop computer, defined by size, price, horsepower, and operating system. They are small, cheap, under-powered, and run either an old or unfamiliar operating system.
Netbooks run either Windows XP Home edition or Linux (not only is Linux unfamiliar to many, but the versions of Linux on Netbooks are not the mainstream popular distributions). They do not run XP Professional, Vista, or OS X. Microsoft arbitrarily restricts Netbooks from running the Professional Edition of Windows XP. Likewise, Apple arbitrarily restricts OS X to Apple hardware and it has never played in the low-end realm that Netbooks occupy.* Vista requires too much horsepower to run well on a Netbook. HP has been the only company to offer Vista on a Netbook. The price, however, was so high that it's debatable whether such a machine qualifies as a Netbook.
Update: On October 24, 2008 CNET's Ina Fried reported that Microsoft has plans to make Windows 7, the upcoming version of Windows that will replace Vista, available on Netbooks.
9. What is IVF – In Vitro Fertilization?
What is in vitro fertilization?
IVF involves stimulating multiple follicles and eggs to develop in the ovaries, taking eggs from the woman, fertilizing them in the laboratory with her partner's sperm and transferring the resulting embryos back to her uterus 2-6 (usually 3 or 5) days later.
The first IVF baby in the world (Louise Brown) was born in July of 1978 in England. Louise Brown was 28 when she delivered her own baby in 2006. Her baby was conceived without IVF. Hundreds of thousands of children are now born annually as a result of the IVF technique.
Who should be treated with in vitro fertilization?
In vitro fertilization can be used as an effective treatment for infertility of all causes except for women with infertility caused by an anatomic problem with the uterus, such as severe intrauterine adhesions.
It is generally used in couples who have failed to conceive after at least one year of trying who also have one or more of the following:
- Blocked fallopian tubes or pelvic adhesions with distorted pelvic anatomy. Women that have had tubal ligation and are considering tubal reversal surgery as well as men that are considering vasectomy reversal surgery might also consider IVF.
- Male factor infertility (low sperm count or low motility). ICSI is an IVF procedure that can fertilize eggs even with poor sperm quality.
- Failed 2-4 cycles of ovarian stimulation with intrauterine insemination
- Advanced female age - over about 38 years of age. In vitro fertilization and advanced maternal age is discussed in some detail on the female age page.
- Reduced ovarian reserve, which means lower quantity (and sometimes quantity) of eggs. A day 3 FSH and estradiol test and antral follicle counts are often done as screening tests for egg quantity (and quality). Reduced egg quantity and quality is usually treated with either IVF, or with IVF using egg donation from another woman.
- Severe endometriosis
- Unexplained infertility when inseminations have failed - unexplained infertility means standard fertility tests have not found the cause of the fertility issue
How does IVF improve fertility?
In vitro fertilization increases the efficiency of human reproduction, which is often not very efficient naturally. Essentially, we are involved in a numbers game that worsens as the female partner ages. IVF takes multiple eggs and after careful culture for 3-5 days of those eggs that fertilize, we transfer one or more of the "prettiest" embryos back to the uterus. Any remaining (if there are any) can be frozen for future use by the couple. In a sense, we are cramming many months of "natural" attempts into one menstrual cycle. By transferring the fertilized embryo(s) directly to the uterine cavity, fertility is improved for many couples that have sperm issues (fertilization defects), or issues on the female side related to egg pickup from the ovary or tubal transport of the embryo to the uterus. Therefore, with IVF:
- We force the body to produce multiple follicles and eggs (only one follicle with one egg inside develops in a natural menstrual cycle)
- We take the eggs out of the ovaries when they're ready (release and tubal pickup of the egg can be inefficient naturally)
- We coerce fertilization in the lab (sperm or egg issues can cause fertilization problems in a natural situation)
- We culture the embryos for several days and then pick the best one (or more) for transfer to the female (selection of the best one(s) increases the chance of success)
- We transfer the embryo(s) to the best location in the middle of the uterine cavity (tubal transport of fertilized eggs can be compromised in a natural situation
10.List down Nadya Suleman’s octuplet babies, their names, gender, birth weight in birth order.
- For Late Baby Bloomers, Pregnancy Can Pose Health Problems
- In Hollywood these days you could cast an all-star Lamaze class with no trouble. Candice Bergen, 39, is due October 1. Jackie Smith, 38, is expected to deliver her second angel one month later. Jessica Lange, 36, reportedly lost a movie role when she found herself pregnant. The film Fool for Love was Sam Shepard's—so is the baby. One TV mother is re-creating the role offscreen. Tyne Daly, 39, who has two teenage daughters, is due any day now—and consequently her alter ego, Mary Beth Lacey, will be on the baby beat later this season. "We're calling this our million-dollar baby," says Cagney & Lacey producer Barney Rosenzwieg. "That's how much Tyne's pregnancy has added to our production costs this season."
Pregnancy at mid-life brings with it certain health hazards. At 40, a woman is 16 times more likely to have a child born with Down syndrome than is a mother in her early 20s. Although Down syndrome, a form of mental retardation, is the most common risk, other defects can be caused by health complications that occur as a woman ages. Says Dr. Keith White, of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, "Women are more likely to have preexisting conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes just because they are older." Such conditions can interfere with the healthy development of the placenta and the fetus, resulting in problems like abnormal birth weight, underdevelopment and congenital heart disease. Compared with their younger counterparts, women over 35 have a slightly higher proportion of stillborn babies and a higher incidence of miscarriage. They also face a somewhat increased risk of bleeding abnormalities and are often more vulnerable to the common complaints of pregnancy, such as backache and fatigue.
Although not every problem can be foreseen, at least 100 possible birth defects, including Down syndrome, can be detected by the now widespread procedure of amniocentesis, in which a sample of the mother's amniotic fluid is tested around the 15th week of pregnancy. Traditionally, women over the age of 35 who were pregnant for the first time have been called "elderly primigravidas" by doctors (from the Latin for first pregnancy). Nowadays they are more likely to be called in shape. Says Dr. White: "With the current interest in health and fitness, women at 35 may be in better shape than women at age 20. Some doctors have found that women over 30 are more relaxed and less nervous about changes in their bodies during pregnancy. They have a better sense of identity." For the Hollywood working woman, late motherhood offers an advantage. Says Cheers co-star Rhea Perlman, 36, who gave birth to her second daughter six months ago: "When you have devoted a lot of years to your career, you suddenly want to do something that is more real. We have to put up with so much crap in the business. But a baby is all yours."
The event is one of a series of fora marking the National Biotechnology Week that adopted the theme “Making Biotechnology Work for You”, which are slated November 24—28 at the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Small-Scale Industries in Diliman, Quezon City.
Biotechnology applications that can improve the lives of Filipinos such as enhancing farm and food productivity, and development of health products and diagnostic tools will be among the highlights in several scientific forum on health, food and agriculture, and industry and energy, respectively.
On November 25, a scientific forum on health will be held 9-12 noon at UP-ISSI featuring the DOST-funded PharmaSeas Drug Discovery Program. Dr. Gisela P. Concepcion, a professor at UP Marine Science Institute will discuss the search for anti-infective agents from marine microorganisms associated with sponges, and anti-pain agents from turrid snails.
Turrid snails are venomous marine snails closely related to Conus. Ziconotide, from which a commercial painkiller more effective than morphine was developed.
There will also be daily film shows and seminars on bio-enterprise opportunities, investors’ forum on agricultural biotechnologies, and educational forum on biotechnology, among others. Other highlights include the Bionet National Congress, and the 6th International Symposium on Biocontrol and Biotechnology.
DOST along with the Department of Agriculture co-chair this year’s National of Biotechnology Week celebration with the cooperation Department of Health, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Trade and Industry, and Department of Education.
Presidential Proclamation 1414 signed last November 9, 2007 institutionalizes the annual observance of the National Biotechnology Week every last week of November. It aims to raise public awareness, education, and understanding of biotechnology for its responsible application and regulation
12. What are the Agencies of DOST
13.Five Sectoral Planning Councils of DOST(Brief Function and Description)
Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD)
The PCAMRD is the sectoral council of the Department Of Science and Technology (DOST) tasked in the formulation of strategies, policies, plans, programs and projects for science and technology development; Programming and allocation of the government's internal and external funds for Research and Development; Monitoring and Evaluation of Research Development projects; and Generation of external funds.
Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD)
PCARRD is one of the five sectoral councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It serves as the main arm of DOST in planning, evaluating, monitoring, and coordinating the national research and development (R&D) programs in agriculture, forestry, environment, and natural resources sectors.
Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD)
PCHRD is one of the five sectoral councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The lead council that creates and sustains an enabling environment for health research in the country.
Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD)
The PCIERD is one of the sectoral planning councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It is mandated to serve as the central agency in the planning, monitoring and promotion of scientific and technological research for applications in the industry, energy, utilities and infrastructure sectors.
Philippine Council for Advanced and Science Technology Research and Development (PCASTRD)
PCASTRD is one of the five sectoral councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) tasked to develop, integrate and coordinate the national research systems for advanced science and technology (S&T) and related fields.
14. Seven Research and Development institutes of DOST (Brief Function and Description)
The University of the Philippines (or Unibersidad ng Pilipinas in Filipino and commonly abbreviated as U.P.) is the national university of the Philippines.[3][4] Founded in 1908 through Act No. 1870 of the first Philippine Legislature, known as the "University Act" by authority of the United States, the University provides tertiary-level education in almost every field: law, public administration/governance/political science, social sciences (history, archaeology, sociology, anthropology, psychology, linguistics, geography), philosophy, arts, fine arts, communication, humanities, literature, history, medicine, nursing, public health, business, economics, engineering, agriculture, aquaculture, architecture, education, natural sciences (mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, geology, environmental science), computer science, information technology, home economics, human kinetics, mass communication, urban and regional planning, community development, music, islamic studies, labor and industrial relations, statistics, and tourism to mention some.
The University is considered as the premier institution of higher learning in the Philippines.[5][6][7] Several (7) Philippine Presidents have attended courses in the University either as undergraduates or as postgraduate students, while 12 chief justices of the Supreme Court, 36 out of the 57 National Artists and 30 out of the 31 National Scientists are affiliated with the University.[3][5][8]
U.P. has the most National Centers of Excellence and Development among higher education institutions in the country[9] and one of only three schools in Asia that have received institutional recognition in the Ramon Magsaysay Awards.[10]
U.P. is partly subsidized by the Philippine government, [11] Students of the university and its graduates are referred to as "Iskolar ng Bayan" ("Scholars of the Nation"). [12][13][14] This makes admission into the University extremely competitive. In 2006, 70,000 applicants attended to test centers to take the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) for undergraduate admission. Around 11,000 of the applicants were admitted for the year 2006, an acceptance rate of about 18% for the whole of the UP system. [15]
The symbol of U.P. is the Oblation. This is a figure of a naked man, with arms outstretched and face pointed upwards. The Oblation is based on the second stanza of Jose Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios.[16][17]
The year 2008 was proclaimed as the "UP Centennial Year" and the years 1998-2008 as the "University of the Philippines Decade."[18][19]
The Philippine Meteorological Service began more than a century ago. Prior to 1865, Francisco Colina, a young Jesuit scholastic, professor of mathematics and physics at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila started a systematic observation of the weather. But it was only at the beginning of 1865 that a systematic recording of the observations made from a few primitive instruments two or three times a day was begun. From the hourly observations made by Colina of a strong typhoon later in the year, another Jesuit scholastic, Jaime Nonell, wrote a brief treatise which was subsequently printed by the Diario de Manila. This piece attracted the attention of businessmen, merchants and mariners in Manila and recognized the implications of such an effort. They requested the Jesuit superior, Fr. Juan Vidal, that the Jesuits undertake regular observations for the public so that the latter may be forewarned of the approach of typhoons. Meeting some reluctance from Colina and Nonell because of the primitive instrumentation available, the businessmen offered to finance the procurement of the proper instruments from Europe. The Jesuit superior had no other choice except to accede to these repeated requests and finally made arrangements for the acquisition of a recently invented instrument by another Jesuit, Fr. Angelo Seechi of the Vatican Observatory in Rome called the Universal Meteorograph.
16. Two Advisory Bodies of DOST (Brief Function and Description)
Two bodies pursue mandated functions of assistance, recognition, advisory and establishment of international linkages. These are:
National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST)
To recognize outstanding achievements in science and technology as well as provide meaningful incentives to those engaged in scientific and technological researches
National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP)
NRCP is mandated in promotion and support of fundamental or basic research for the continuing improvement of the research capability of individual or group scientists; foster linkages with local and international scientific organizations for enhanced cooperation in the development and sharing of scientific information; provide advice on problems and issues of national interest; and promotion of scientific and technological culture to all sectors of society.
17. Who is the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology?
| DOST Secretary Alabastro Warmly Received in Sanchez Mira |
| Tuesday, 10 March 2009 | |
 DOST Secretary Estrella F. Alabastro (center, in yellow) is flanked by Sanchez Mira Vice-Mayor Benjamin Oraceo (far left), Mayor Napoleon Sacramed (2nd to the left), DOST Assistant Secretary and Acting Undersecretary for Regional Operations Carol M. Yorobe, and Cagayan State University chief executive officer Aurelio Caldez (far right). DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro was warmly received in Cagayan State University (CSU) in Sanchez Mira by no less than the Honorable Napoleon Sacramed, mayor of the municipality, Vice-Mayor Benjamin Oroceo, and CSU chief executive officer Aurelio Caldez, PhD for her visit and ocular inspection of SET-UP project sites in Region 2. |
