Today is the International Day for Biological Diversity

Educate yourself:



What is biodiversity?
Facts about threatened species
Seven steps to save biodiversity

10 THINGS WE CAN ALL DO TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Pisay needs BIO teachers for SY 2008-2009

For inquiries about other openings, you can call the Human Resources Department (929 22 71) or the Curriculum and Instruction Services Division (924 0661).

Hey chip eaters, do you double dip?

Forwarded and posted by my co-teachers Mel and Ninna. Bad news for me, because I love chips and dips, as well as isaw and fishball and the sort :P

This has to be a first: A serious scientific research project was conducted based on an episode of "Seinfeld."

Clemson University food microbiologist Paul L. Dawson was watching a rerun of a 1993 episode of "Seinfeld" in which George Costanza is confronted at a funeral reception by Timmy, his girlfriend's brother, after dipping the same chip twice. "Did, did you just double-dip that chip?" Timmy asked George. "That's like putting your whole mouth right in the dip!" George retorts, "You dip the way you want to dip, I'll dip the way I want to dip."

So can double-dipping really hurt you? Dawson decided to find out, expecting there would be little or no microbial transfer from mouth to chip, reports The New York Times. Not so! He and nine students recruited volunteers and asked them to each take a bite of a wheat cracker and dip the cracker for three seconds into a tablespoon of test dip. Six dips were used: sterile water with three different degrees of acidity, a commercial salsa, a cheese dip and chocolate syrup. They repeated this using new crackers so that each dip sample had three or six double-dips in it. The Clemson team analyzed the dip to count the number of aerobic bacteria in it.

The results: On average, the students found that three to six double-dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater's mouth to the remaining dip, reports The Times. So if people sporadically double-dip into a cup of dip, at least 50 to 100 bacteria are transferred from one mouth to another with each bite.

One important note: The type of dip makes a difference. The more acidic the dip, the fewer the bacteria; however, the runnier the dip, the more bacteria are left behind. "The way I would put it is, before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, would I be willing to kiss everyone here?" Dawson told Times reporter Harold McGee. "Because you don't know who might be double-dipping, and those who do are sharing their saliva with you."

Link to the original article.

Al Gore and the IPCC awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007!

Al Gore named 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner!

Live Earth extends our most enthusiastic and sincere congratulations to Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who share this year's Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

We heartily share the view of the Nobel committee that Mr. Gore is "the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted" to solve the climate crisis.

We look forward to our ongoing work together to bring the movement to solve the climate crisis to even more of the world. We are thrilled that the Nobel Committee has chosen to recognize the leaders creating worldwide awareness and advocacy for the most pressing global issue of our time.

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I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change--the world's pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis--a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.

My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis.

Thank you,
Al Gore

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Thanks to my batchmate Mark G. for pointing this out! Ang galing ng Pinoy! :)

Something that you may probably don't know about the Nobel Peace Prize this year:

The other recipient is an organization called IPCC which stands for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The organization was "established by WMO and UNEP to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation."

Here's where it gets interesting: Three of the scientists directly involved in the IPCC are from the Philippines, one of whom is a certain Dr. Felino Lansigan (UPLB Institute of Statistics), member of the technical working group of the IPCC. Dr. Felino Lansigan is the father of a Pisay '98 scholar, my batchmate Ian Lansigan :) The other Filipino scientists are Dr. Rex Cruz (UPLB) and Dr. Rose Perez (PAGASA).

Congrats to the Filipino scientists involved with IPCC!

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A joke from Ren, one of my current students: "Al Gore and the IPCC were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 for inventing global warming!"

Ngiii.

It's a sad day for biology

"Iconic Aussie wildlife daredevil Steve Irwin has died as he loved living: seeking out the world's most dangerous and exotic creatures in their own domain." (More...)

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Steve Irwin may have passed away, but his cause of Wildlife Conservation will hopefully live on in the hearts and minds of the audience that was captivated or even just a bit amused by his exciting adventures in the wild.

We'll miss you Croc Hunter! Enjoy Wildlife Heaven!