Paano nagbabago ang init ng dagat sa paligid ng Pilipinas sa buong taon?

Gaano kalaki ang Mindanao?

Ang pulo ng Mindanao ang pangalawa sa pinakamalaking pulo sa Pilipinas. Mas malaki pa ito sa doble ng laki ng bansang Netherlands o ng Denmark, dalawa sa mga mayayamang bansa sa kanlurang Europa. Halos kasinlaki nito ang bansang South Korea, isang napakaindustriyalisadong bansa sa silangang Asya. Mas malaki ito ng kaunti sa bansang Portugal, isang bansa na minsan ay makapangyarihan sa buong mundo bilang bansa sa Europa na nanguna sa pagpapadala ng maraming ekspedisyon sa buong mundo upang manakop. Mahigit isang daang bansa o teritoryo ang mas maliit pa sa Mindanao batay sa lawak ng lupain. Tingnan ang graph sa baba.

Ang hindi-makalimutang kwento ng aking unang pagdating sa Netherlands

Galing dito ang larawan.

Mahigit tatlong taon na mula noong dumating ako dito sa Netherlands. Tuwing natatanong ako kung ano ang pakiramdam noong una akong dumating ay lagi kong nakukwento itong dalawang karanasan ko sa Schiphol. Napakalaki ng Schiphol, andaming pasikot-sikot at sobrang busy ang mga tao sa paghahanap ng kung anu-anong bagay lalo na kanilang mga destinasyon.

Ang unang kwento

Bago pa man ako lumipad mula sa Maynila ay inalam ko na kung magkano ang pamasahe sa tren mula sa Schiphol papuntang Groningen. May susundo naman sa akin sa Groningen at ihahatid ako sa aking temporary na bahay kaya yung pamasahe lang sa tren ang kailangan may pambayad ako. Saktong 30 euros ang perang dala ko kasi yun naman ang nakalagay sa website ng train company (ngayon ay 40 euros na! grabe ang inflation.) Hindi ko alam na ang presyo pala ay may dagdag na 50 cents kapag sa counter bumili ng ticket at hindi sa machine. Mabuti na lang ay mabait at hindi strikto ang ale sa counter kaya tinanggap nya ang aking saktong 30 euros. Whew! Naisip ko noon na ang una kong gagawin kung sakali ay manglimos sa Schiphol.

Ang pangalawang kwento

Hindi ko inabutan ang tren na gusto kong kunin pagbaba ko sa train platform. Kinabahan ako kasi gabi na noon at hindi ko alam kung paano malalaman ang susunod o kung may susunod pa na tren. Syempre pa ay natatakot din akong lumapit sa mga tao kasi hindi ako pamilyar sa mga ugali dito. Lumingon-lingon ako at nakakita ako ng Intsik na babae na nakaupo at tila naghihintay din ng tren. Hindi ko alam kung bakit pero sa loob-loob ko ay mas magtitiwala ako sa parehong asyano kaysa mga puti. Nilapitan ko sya at tinanong kung anong oras dadating ang susunod na tren papuntang Groningen. Sinuswerte talaga ako sa gabing iyon kasi sa Groningen din pala ang punta nya so kailangan lang akong sumabay sa kanya para hindi ako maligaw. Nabasa ko na mahahati sa dalawa ang tren papuntang Groningen mula Schiphol (ang isa ay pupuntang Leeuwarden) kaya kabado ako na ang maling tren ang masakyan ko.

Hindi pa dyan natatapos ang kwento. So syempre nakipagkwentuhan na ako sa kanya habang nasa tren. Nabanggit nya na galing siyang Munich sa isang conference. Naalala ko na sa parehong petsa din may conference ang aking magiging supervisor sa parehong lugar so tinanong ko sya kung dun din sya pumunta sa meeting na iyon. Medyo nagulat sya na alam ko kung saang conference sya galing. Nalaman ko kinabukasan pagdating ko sa lab na kasama ko pala sya sa parehong lab. Magkatabi pa kami ng mesa sa kwarto ng mga PhD students.

RNA interference

RNA interference (RNAi) is an important pathway that is used in many different organisms to regulate gene expression. This animation introduces the principles of RNAi involving small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). We take you on an audio-visual journey through the steps of gene expression and show you an up-to-date view of how RNAi can silence specific mRNAs in the cytoplasm.

The accompanying slideshow provides further information about RNAi and small RNAs.

When the video is streamed, the resolution will adjust to match the speed of your internet connection. To view the animation in full-screen mode, please click the icon showing the square with arrows.

To expand the slideshow, please click the icon showing the square and an arrow.

Ang Batang Musmos (Turkish: Kız Çocuğu)

Ang Batang Musmos
ni Nâzım Hikmet
(Salin mula sa English version ng Turkong orihinal)

Ako itong kumakatok sa iyong pinto
Ilang pinto na ang napuntahan ko
Ngunit walang makakakita sa akin
Sapagkat mga patay ay hindi na mapapansin

Namatay ako sa Hiroshima
Nakalipas ay sampung taon na
Ako ay pitong taong gulang na bata
Ang mga patay ay hindi na tumatanda

Una nag-apoy ang aking buhok
Pagkatapos mga mata'y nasunog
Aking katawan ay naging abo
Sa ihip ng hangin ito'y naglaho

Wala akong pangarap para sa sarili
Dahil ang batang natupok ng apoy
Ay hindi na nga makakain ng kendi

Ako ay kumakatok sa inyong pinto
Para makuha ang inyong pirma, mga tita at tito
Upang kailanman ay wala ng magliyab na bata
At sila ay makakatikim pa ng matamis na umaga

---

Kiz Çocugu

Kapıları çalan benim
Kapıları birer birer
Gözünüze görünemem
Göze görünmez ölüler

Hiroşima’da öleli
Oluyor bir on yıl kadar
Yedi yaşında bir kızım
Büyümez ölü çocuklar

Saçlarım tutuştu önce
Gözlerim yandı kavruldu
Bir avuç kül oluverdim
külüm havaya savruldu

Benim sizden kendim için hiçbir şey istediğim yok
Şeker bile yiyemez ki, kâat gibi yanan çocuk

Çalıyorum kapınızı…
Teyze, Amca, bir imza ver…
Çocuklar öldürülmesin
Şeker de yiyebilsinler

---

The Little Girl

It is me knocking at your door
At how many doors I’ve been
But no one can see me
Since the dead are invisible

I died at Hiroshima
That was ten years ago
I am a girl of seven
Dead children do not grow

First my hair caught fire
Then my eyes burnt out
I became a handful of ashes
blown away by the wind

I don’t wish anything for myself
For a child who is burnt to cinders
Cannot even eat sweets

I’m knocking at your doors
Aunts and uncles, to get your signatures
So that never again children will burn
And so they can eat sweets

Funny thoughts of a foreign bursary

This column was my contribution to the March 2010 issue of the BCN newsletter. BCN is a research school in the University of Groningen focusing on behavioural and cognitive neuroscience.

Image taken from here

It is very flattering to be invited to write a column for the very prestigious BCN newsletter. My first reaction was to decline the invitation because it would be added work for me, and as typical PhD student here in Groningen, I have a busy schedule. This busy schedule, of course, includes hanging out sometimes with friends discussing wide-ranging topics, practicing my less-than-prodigious-cycling skills, occasionally visiting Filipino migrants in Amsterdam, and online chatting with my wife, among other non-work-related activities that I am fond of calling social life. But on second thought, why waste this rare opportunity to fill this precious space for commentary on pressing issues of PhD bursaries like me and hopefully contribute to further understanding or, at least, interest on these issues? So with the assumption that this country promotes free speech—a kind of freedom also much spoken about in the Philippines but seldom respected and often violated by those in power—I’d like to give my two cents’ worth on the bursary situation.

I don’t really mind that I don’t receive the same pay and benefits as employee-PhDs do. So what if I produce the same output that they do? I enjoy my work anyway. I strongly believe in the wisdom of the University policymakers when they decided to implement the bursary system. Why don’t we just believe them when they say that the amount that bursaries are receiving is enough for them to survive? I am surviving so far. Honestly, I consider this position a privilege in comparison to that of my compatriots here in the Netherlands who came here away from their family to work as housecleaners, waiters, and other “professions” of similar nature because our government back home do not provide enough jobs. So there is no reason for me to complain. (This paragraph is meant to influence my first-year evaluation.)

How about the Dutch bursaries? I think they should be the ones to think this issue over, and it is inspiring to hear that many of them actually do. They should know better because they were here when the bursary system was popularised among Dutch universities. I am curious how they reacted when this system began many years ago. According to one Dutch bursary, this is a result of declining budget given to education in general. This bursary student also mentioned, though, that when a Dutch citizen loses his job, he can apply for social welfare (I’m not sure though if that’s the accurate term) in order to receive for two years without a new job the
same amount as he did in his most recent job. I suddenly wished I were a Dutch citizen when I heard that.

I have to apologize to Léon, who asked me to write this column, for having started the column with the bursary issue in mind. He actually asked me to forget about serious matters for this column. Just write about funny experiences while studying here. He is right, the bursary case is not funny. What I find funny though is how the labour union ABVAKABO is handling the case. They mention in the English version of their “Advice for PhD candidates on a grant” that they “are trying to persuade the minister [of Education, Culture, and Science] to cut the funding to universities that appoint PhD candidates on the basis of a grant”. The university on one hand invoked budget constraints to justify the bursary system while the other party who wants the bursary system abolished is lobbying for more budget cuts. Don’t you think this is funny? Just imagine what will happen to the university if this is allowed to unfold further.

Enough of serious matters. I’m moving to really funny stories this time. I never knew before I came here in Groningen that loempia is a Vietnamese food. I think the Vietnamese took the recipe from us. They should have at least changed the name. Perhaps another foreign bursary Huynh Kim Hieu (if that is his real name and not just a Facebook alias) should be given the chance to write the next column in order to refute this claim of mine. Oops. This is not funny.

After five paragraphs of my attempt to write a funny column, I finally came to a conclusion that writing such column is difficult. I remember a quote from another BCN student’s Facebook profile: “Life is a comedy for those who think: a tragedy for those who feel.” Maybe that’s the reason for the difficulty. Someone should write a research proposal out of this topic and submit it to one of the many BCN experts on emotion, linguistics, and what have you.

In the meantime, one thing I learned from the BCN debating club is to take the stand of others as mine even if they are completely opposite to my position in order to keep the flame of debate burning. I hope you had this in mind when you read this column.

The biological clock (in Dutch)