Hello world!

I shall be writing topics as it comes to mind. It could be topics, past or present, but relative to the times. I shall also be reacting to articles published, whether domestic or foreign, and voicing my opinion. My views shall always be objective.

Some articles read here may have been published in local papers, most especially in Sunstar Cebu. What you read, however, are the raw, unedited version. It is what I personally want to tell the world.

I welcome you to my blog site and I look forward to inter-acting with you.

Your participation, your thoughts and commentaries, either for or against, will be very much appreciated.

We may have differences in opinion but that is the essence of being rational, to be able to agree to disagree. It is my aim that as we go along we enlighten not only ourselves but also those that finds the opportunity/chance to visit this site.

Let us enrich each other in knowledge and build each other up in friendship.

Thank you.

Quierosaber

Babies ‘cry in mother’s tongue’

 

German researcher’s study published online in Current Biology says babies start picking up elements of their parents’ accents while still in the womb.

The researchers studied the cries of 60 healthy babies born to families speaking French and German, when they were five days old and found out clear “accent” differences of the newborns’ cry melodies.

Kathleen Wermke from the University of Wurzburg, who led the research, said: “The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are human neonates capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their fetal life.

“Contrary to orthodox interpretations, these data support the importance of human infants’ crying for seeding language development.”

The findings suggest that unborn babies are influenced by the sound of the first language that penetrates the womb.

Specifically, French newborns cried with a rising “accent” whereas German newborns seem to prefer a falling “accent” in their crying. Their analysis revealed clear differences in the shape of the infants’ cry melodies that corresponded to their mother tongue.

Writing in the journal Current Biology, the researchers say the babies are probably trying to form a bond with their mothers by imitating them.

BEARS LOSING FUR IN GERMANY ZOO

 

Animal keepers in Leipzig zoo are puzzled by the spectacled bears’ baldness, which has been blamed on a mystery disease.

Named Dolores, Bianca and Lolita, the animals are in various states of baldness, with the worst having lost their thick coat all over.  In this condition, the bears are suffering from itchiness as well, so animal keepers apply ointments to soothe their skin.

With temperatures dropping, visitors to the zoo were left feeling sorry for the animals as they watched them walk around their enclosure without their normal furry protection.

“This problem with the spectacled bears is not just in Leipzig,” zoo curator Gerd Noetzhold said.  ”There are other zoos in Europe and overseas having the same problem. And so we’ve had an international working group of zoo vets looking at this for some time already.”

Gerard Baars, director of the International Bear Foundation, is baffled himself, saying, “I could hardly believe it is a bear although I have been dealing with bears all my life.”

Signs of this mystery disease are said to have started to show in the animals about two years ago.

 

Peñaflorida: CNN hero with a noble dream

 

If one really comes to think about it, a resolution coming from congress extolling the heroic achievement of 28 year-old Efren Peñaflorida is long overdue.

Peñaflorida’s exemplary deeds should have been recognized by the national government even when CNN first spotted and highlighted his accomplishment worldwide for bringing education to the street children in Cavity City.

‘Kuya Ef,” as he is known to unschooled children, was simply one among the many all over the world that the international community witnessed on TV, going an extra mile to help the poor and the needy.

Now, Peñaflorida was chosen from over 9,000 submissions from 100 countries as one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes.

Indeed, this is a great honor for a selfless young man whose idea and realization of bringing education to the street children in the most unique way and at the most unusual places could have been the brainchild of any of our national and local government officials as well as the country’s education agencies.

Pork-barrels of politicians could also have been channeled towards similar endeavor in their respective districts. But that is neither here nor there now.

Perhaps if “Kuya Ef” was like Manny Pacquiao, who could easily be manipulated for political expediency, the accolade coming from congress could have been facilitated faster than one can blink an eye.

But for Efren Peñaflorida and his Dynamic Teen Co. (DTC), it is better that the rave review comes later then never.

Mabuhay ka, “Kuya Ef!” You made the Filipinos proud!

X-ray machine voted most significant invention

 

The X-ray machine, which was discovered in 1895 by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen and which revolutionized how doctors spot disease and injury, was named the most important scientific invention, in a poll marking the centenary of the Science Museum in London.

Almost 50,000 people took part in voting, either at the museum or online, on a selected list of ten discoveries and inventions from past centuries in science, technology and engineering.

Perhaps for its valuable contribution in the past, present and future, the X-ray discovery struck a chord with most voters. X-rays are now being used for security control measures at airports.

Katie Maggs, associate curator of medicine at the Science Museum, said that she was “pleasantly surprised” with the results, saying she “wondered whether the therapeutic benefit of penicillin might just edge in front — or perhaps the Apollo 10 capsule as visitors find space travel so inspirational as the ultimate test of technology.”

Voted top ten modern discoveries are the following:

1. X-ray Machine
2. Penicillin
3. DNA Double Helix
4. Apollo 10 Capsule
5. V2 Rocket Engine
6. Stephenson’s Rocket
7. Pilot ACE Computer
8. Steam Engine
9. Model T Ford
10. Electric Telegraph

Obama’s half brother describes father as abusive in book

 

Mark Obama Ndesandjo, half brother of President Obama, has written a semi-autobiographical book, “Nairobi to Shenzhen,” where he claims that the father they both shared was often drunk and physically abusive.

“My father beat me,” Ndesandjo told reporters in China, where he lives. “He beat my mother. You just do not do that. I shut these thoughts in the back of my mind for many years.”

Ndesandjo, who opted to carry the last name of the man his mother remarried, has been evading the media ever since his half brother was elected U.S. president.

He said the name Obama haunted him for years, telling few about his family.

Not until he saw the presidential victory celebration in Chicago, Illinois’ Grant Park, he said, did he come to terms with it.

“I saw millions of people who loved or supported my brother Barack, and in the process, in some weird way, I came to terms with many things that I had shut out of my life, including the Obama name,” he said.

Ndesandjo, who is an engineer by profession, moved to Shenzhen, China seven years ago after losing his job in the U.S. He now owns a small chain of restaurants and teaches piano to the orphans on the side.

He says he wants to introduce his Chinese wife to President Obama when he makes his first official visit to China this month.

Objectivity needed when discussing LRT-MRT/BRT issue – Part II

 

The LRT-MRT/BRT controversy is confusing many.

While on one hand Mayor Tomas Osmeña is said to be not totally against the LRT, but would rather wait for the outcome of the study being conducted by the World Bank (WB) and DOTC on BRT system before entertaining discussion on another mode of transport system, now comes the Cebu City council unanimously scrapping the LRT idea.

What is confusing also is that there is a part of DOTC conducting a study on the BRT system together with the WB and there is also another part of DOTC pushing for the implementation of the LRT-MRT system for Cebu City.

Not the least of the confusion is that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo seemed to have approved of the LRT-MRT mode of transport for Cebu while at the same time giving a green light for Osmeña to proceed with his BRT idea.

But if  the proponents of the different type of transport to be implemented could only sit down and discuss the issue with an open mind, could it be that using both could be complementing with one another?

Perhaps when Mayor Osmeña broach the idea of the BRT, he was mainly concern of serving the greater Cebu City area to include the larger part of the SRP. It is only right and proper for him to focus his attention to the city because this is what belongs to the purview of his responsibility.

On the other hand, the LRT-MRT scheme was planned to service the length of the province of Cebu, including Cebu City.

That is why Cebu first district Rep. Eduardo Gullas acknowledges that the proposed LRT system cannot push through unless it gets the nod of the Cebu City officials.

The problem being posed now is: Where will the LRT-MRT pass so that it can still serve passengers, coming from either the north or the south, who are working in Cebu City without interfering the routes serviced by the BRT?

It is not whether the City council had already approved a resolution last December 8, 2008 choosing a BRT to serve as the urban mass transport system for the city, as opined by City planning and development officer Nigel Paul Villarete. Discussing the benefits the city can derive from the LRT-MRT is also an important consideration.

The decision of Vice Mayor Mike Rama and his city council to reject the LRT-MRT proposal is myopic at best and insensible at worst.

FDA says diabetes drug Byetta can cause kidney problems

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning this week that people with diabetes may be at increased risk for kidney problems, including kidney failure with the drug Byetta (exenatide).

Byetta is said to be a relatively new blood-sugar-lowering drug approved to be taken by people with type  2 diabetes.

The FDA said that from April 2005 through October 2008 it received 78 reports of kidney function problems, including 62 cases of kidney failure and four deaths, in people taking Byetta.

“In general, side effects of Byetta can include diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, which may contribute to changes in kidney function,” says Dr. Richard Hellman, the past president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, and a clinical professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine.

Both doctors and patients are said to be predisposed in using Byetta because it is easier to inject than insulin and can reduce weight in some people.

In search of Gibo Teodoro’s running mate

 

Time is running short and Malacañang is desperately, if not stealthily, prowling for Lakas-NUCD-Kampi standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro’s running mate.

Sen. Loren Legarda can be counted out because, as she said, she is not ready to jump to the administration bandwagon and defend the Arroyo administration over its involvement in corruption activities.

Gov. Gwen Garcia was hot for a while, but perhaps she valued more the wisdom of her father, Rep. Pablo Garcia in making her stay-put in Cebu rather than accepting to be Gibo’s ‘spare tire.’

It is not surprising, therefore, that in desperation the Palace is eyeing its sights on movie personalities to become Teodoro’s running mate.

First Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos was baited but she graciously shunned the offer.

Even Edu Manzano was being considered, for chrissake!

Here comes now Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr who admitted that he has been getting feelers from the administration making him Gibo’s running mate.

How despairing the party has to get that it has to turn to celebrities in searching for vice-presidential running mate?

Is this how insignificant we have become that we are made to embrace election winners not because of their intellectual and skillful capabilities but by their sheer popularity?

Is this how trivial the problems of this country has become that we could not care less anymore if the vice-president, who is just a ‘heartbeat’ away from the presidency, can adequately handle the enormous responsibility of leading a nation?

Is this how calloused the administration has become that the welfare of its people comes second only to their own personal and party interests?

If Gibo Teodoro is as principled a man, as he wants every body to acknowledge he is, then he should assert over his party on who to choose as his running mate, for what is at stake is the future of this country.

Choose an upright, intelligent, conscientious, and a true servant of the people for a running mate.

 

 

Study says giant rift in Africa could become a new ocean

 

An international team of scientists studying the 35-mile rift in the desert of Ethiopia reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters that it has similarity to what goes on at the bottom of oceans predicting that it could spawn a new ocean.

The rift, 20 feet wide in spots, is said to have started in 2005 and further studies have shown that it tore open along its entire 35-mile length in just days.

The researchers explained that the rift was caused after Dabbahu, a volcano at the northern end of the crack erupted sending the molten lava up through the middle of the rift and pushing the sides on opposite directions.

Cindy Ebinger, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester and co-author of the study said: “The whole point of this study is to learn whether what is happening in Ethiopia is like what is happening at the bottom of the ocean where it’s almost impossible for us to go. We knew that if we could establish that, then Ethiopia would essentially be a unique and superb ocean-ridge laboratory for us. Because of the unprecedented cross-border collaboration behind this research, we now know that the answer is yes, it is analogous.”

ASPIRIN IS NOT FOR HEALTHY PEOPLE

 

Aspirin has been hailed as a ‘wonder’ drug that millions of people, including a significant number that are healthy, are believed to take the drug daily to protect their heart.

Experts, however, are saying now that for those who are not diagnosed to have cardiovascular disease they should avoid taking the drug.

Large-scale study mentioned in the Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB) showed aspirin did not significantly reduce the risk of a heart attack in healthy people. But the drug did almost double their chances of being admitted to hospital with internal bleeding.

Doctors should review their aspirin use with all patients they think are taking the drug, including diabetics and otherwise healthy people buying it over the counter, DTB recommends.

Low-dose aspirin is widely used to prevent further episodes of cardiovascular disease in people who have already had problems such as a heart attack or stroke.

Dr. Ike Ikeanacho, editor of the DTB, said: “Current evidence for primary prevention suggests the benefits and harms of aspirin in this setting may be more finely balanced than previously thought, even in individuals estimated to be at high risk of experiencing cardiovascular events, including those with diabetes or elevated blood pressure.”

Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: “Given the evidence, the DTB’s statement on aspirin prescription is a sensible one.