Going Out With A Smile

The logo of The Blogging Project 2.0

   New beginnings--are there anything as wonderful? A chance to apply lessons learned, to reach out in new directions. But prior to a beginning, there must be an end. And sometimes, ends can be painful. Whether it be moving on from tragedy, saying farewell to companions you've come to know and love, or just facing the reality of an ever-shifting life, they can be tough. So tough that you might get preoccupied with it, watching it looming on the horizon, ever closer. You might sigh and resolve yourself with whatever circumstance you're in, leaving it behind abruptly in your wait to begin anew. On that note, let us offer you a simple, glorious truth that we can personally attest to--even with the end in sight, it's never too late to do something special.  

  One day, our science teacher introduced us to our final science project--The Blogging Project. We were instructed to make our own blogs, putting to use our fluencies gathered from being children of the 21st century, as well as our creative skills and capacity for teamwork. Consciously or not, some of us were surprised at commencing such a great undertaking with graduation so close. But we were excited nonetheless--we were going to go out with a bang.

Our Inner Children

   

   In preparation, we spent a good deal of time wondering exactly what is it that we wanted to do with our blog. There was more to it than just slapping it together to get a grade; we wanted a deeper purpose. And then it hit us--what, in essence, Science really is all about. It's about nurturing our inner children, feeding that insatiable curiosity about all of the Lord's wonderful creation. That revelation is what made us stay up late at night, touching up our blog and typing away as the deadlines approached uncomfortably, yet loving every second of it all the same. We knew and understood that giddy child in all of us, and we fed it with passion--a passion that made our blogging exciting, and relatively problem-free, for true inspiration removes barriers almost magically.

  If given the chance to do this project all over again, we would absolutely love to. It was just truly a joy to take part in, and we regret none of it, blemishes and all. What are mistakes for, if not for learning from them? We learned some great lessons that we'd love to apply in order to make the very best blog we're capable of making.  

   As passionate as we are about this project, there's one thing we take issue with-- the people's choice system. You see, in order to acquire votes for people's choice, you have to have them either vote for you in the poll or "like" your group picture on Facebook. This is a flawed system, for two main reasons. Groups do not win because people actually think they should; rather, they win because they have many friends and family who are willing to vote for them, most of which will most likely not spare so much as a glance at their or any other group's work. And that's the second reason why it's flawed. We as well as all the other groups put a lot of effort into our posts, and it's disheartening to know that the majority of the voters aren't going to actually read our work. We suggest that instead people should be asked to comment on the posts, and rate them by a simple numerical scale. It's too much to ask that they do the same for all the other groups, but at least the group in question's posts won't go unappreciated.

Reflecting after an adventure

   And now, what adventure doesn't have a lesson? Over the course of this project, we learned three lessons of particular note. First, that the little things need just as much attention as the big things. We went all-out in our posts, going to pains recording our last months of Science class in a way that is both enlightening and entertaining. Our efforts did not go ignored, yet some small things held us back-- neglecting to include the references of some of the information we gathered, not properly indenting the paragraphs at first... Because of those little things, posts that may have gone awarded did not, and hair that might not have been pulled out in frustration unfortunately were.  

   Secondly, that as we mentioned at the start of this entry, even when the end's in sight it's not too late to do something special. Many of us were unfortunately caught up in an attitude that said "Hey, why care about the present when the future is oh so close?". This realization helped pull us out of that self-harming mentality, and we're grateful.  

   And finally, the revelation that has changed the way we will view Science forever. It's reflected in this blog's title, and echoed many times--and here we echo it again. Quoting from our introductory post: "There is still a child in all of us, the same child who once asked "Why is the sky blue?", and although that child’s questions may change and grow bigger, more complex, the simple awe and curiosity remains." And indeed it does. Our God is an awesome God, and his mighty creation reflects that. It is natural for us to have a hunger for more knowledge about it, and Science is a major key in feeding that hunger. Interesting how the most important lesson we learned was one realized before the project really kicked into gear, yet we cannot overstate how important it is to us...and we hope, for you as well.

Curiosity never dies.

   This has been a truly wonderful adventure, and we thank you for joining us. Valete! Yassas! Those are Latin and Greek for farewell, respectively-- and farewell indeed. Saying goodbye for now,

  

                                                                                                                The Curiosity Kids

The Nuclear Dilemma

 "It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped."  

   Such is the words of Tony Robbins, and I find them racing in my head as I ponder the choice I must make. Being the newly elected president of the Philippines, it is my duty to make the big, big decision that will make a difference for generations upon generations to come, either for good or bad. The question is--should I open the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant? 

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

   The oil crash of 2012 shocked everyone. It came from nowhere, and now the power situation around the world is a mess...including here. Experts ensued debating heatedly, and a possible solution to our troubles was proposed--opening the BNPP. Left to collect dust for near three decades, it had been intended to be converted to a tourist site before the oil market fell to pieces. And now the better part of the nation is holding their breaths awaiting my answer. 

   I ponder the pros and cons. Its effectiveness would be of no question, indeed. A massively powerful, long-term and even eco-friendly energy source to keep us afloat in this day and age of technology. The number of nuclear disasters is miniscule, the chances of one slim. With such a reliable power source well-capable of keeping our nation's nights bright, what's stopping me from giving it the go and patting myself on the back?

...The answer to that question is a lot of things, unfortunately. For starters, I consider the fact that it is placed right on an earthquake fault. I can't possibly ignore such a glaring problem. The plant has many safety measures to prevent itself from melting-down, but hardly anything to prevent a powerful earthquake from doing what the plant prevents itself from doing. Likewise, with Mt. Pinatubo so relatively close, how could the plant protect itself from a devastating volcanic eruption? Secondly, it's just a 7 minute ride from the Pawikan Conservation Center. A meltdown would effectively contaminate the entire community, rendering it uninhabitable to sea turtles, not to mention lethal to the sea turtles already there.

  

   And speaking of contamination, that brings me to the most dangerous con of opening the BNPP. A disaster striking the BNPP wouldn't just result with the loss of our electrical stability, but spread nuclear radiation miles around, effectively altering the surrounding environment for the worse, for a long, long time to come. The environment would be rendered inhospitable to life, and we humans would be affected by radiation in extremely harmful ways. Cancer, genetic mutations in subsequent generations...It's frightening to think about. And even if there's no meltdown, the nuclear power plant's waste will take centuries to go away, rendering its dump site highly radioactive.

  

   Ultimately, however, I have to think of our electrical situation. In this modern age technology is what sustains our nation's development in both the internal and external stage. The dangers are many, but in the end I have to put forward our power situation first. Nuclear power is generally safe, extremely powerful and reliable, so until we come to a point where a more effective, safer method of powering our nation comes, we'll have to stick with it. The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is opening.

To Be Nuclear, or Not to Be.

 Symbol of Nuclear Energy

    As our world grows ever more advanced and dependent on technology, the need to properly power said technology arises. There are many sources of energy, both renewable and non-renewable--fossil fuels, natural gases, solar energy, and wind energy, to name a few. But what is easily the most controversial form of energy is none other than nuclear energy. The topic of whether nuclear energy is sound our unsound is an oft-debated one, and we hope that you'll have decided on your side by the end of this entry.

    Nuclear energy originates from the sustained fission, or splitting apart, of uranium atoms. The fission process is used to generate heat for producing steam, which in turn is used by a turbine to produce electricity. And now that we've given you a quick summary of what nuclear energy is, let's move on to the pros and cons.

    Starting with the pros, nuclear power plants are generally very safe. "Huh?" you might be asking. "What about Chernobyl?". Well, that's easily forgiven--the Chernobyl disaster is so infamous that for most people it's the first thing that comes to their minds when hearing the word "nuclear". So infamous is it, that it distracts people from the fact that the disaster is one of its kind. Safety measures can and have been implemented to prevent meltdowns such as that, and there are over 440 operational nuclear power plants at this very moment, some of which have been working for decades.

Coal-fired Power Plants

    Second, nuclear power plants generate massive amounts of energy. One ton of natural uranium can produce more than 40 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is equivalent to burning 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil. On top of that, Uranium is very abundant and well-spread over the earth.

    Third, less pollution. Nuclear power plants emit far less pollution than coal plants. Burning coal releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the air that deplete the ozone layer, and this is exacerbated by the fact that most coal plants use a more polluting, sulfurous coal since the world's fossil fuel supply is rapidly depleting.

    And finally, it's reliability. Nuclear power plants require only a little amount of fuel, so they are less likely to be affected by shortages due to strikes or natural disasters. Also, because of the previously mentioned fact that Uranium is well-deposited around the earth, international relations will have hardly any effect on the supply of fuel for the plants.

Uranium Ore

    And now for the cons. Firstly, and perhaps foremost, the risk. As we said, nuclear power plants are generally very safe. However, that does not include the possibility of disaster due to external factors, such as natural disasters. For a recent example, the Fukushima plant in Japan was ravaged by a 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, causing three fuel reactors to meltdown, leaking massive amounts of radiation into the surroundings. Nuclear radiation can do terrible things to human beings--it kills the cells, resulting in cancer and possibly causing defects in the genes of irradiated people, resulting in subsequent generations to be born with deformities. You can imagine how much trouble this would cause families (assuming they aren't killed off by cancer before they can bear children).

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

    And secondly, waste management. Spent nuclear fuel is initially very highly radioactive and so must be handled with great care and forethought. After being used in the reactors there is no foolproof way of disposing nuclear waste fuel.The area around nuclear waste sites can be dangerous to humans for hundreds of years as complex nuclear elements have very lengthy half-lives. As an example, the United States had accumulated more than 50,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors.

    And now that we've gone through the pros and cons, you might be wondering what our own personal stance is. We support nuclear power, although not without a bit of dubiousness. Should one happen a meltdown would be utterly catastrophic, leaking radiation all around the surrounding environment. And meltdown or not, once you give a nuclear power plant the go it leaves its mark for hundreds of year to come due to the nuclear fuel waste. Yet, should nuclear power plants be placed in safe areas far from the sea or any huge earthquake fault, the benefits would be spectacular; an extremely powerful and long-term source to keep our nation alight in this age so dependent on technology.

We hope you, our dear reader, now have your own stance on the subject. And now, allow us to describe the second part of our field trip-- the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

    We were very excited to learn about what the employees at the BNPP had to say about the topic of whether or not we should go nuclear. We knew that they were obviously going to support it, but we were interested in how they'd defend and back-up their stance. Also, as citizens of this country it's our duty to be able to determine whether nuclear energy would benefit or hinder us, so we were looking forward to seeing if they could convince us. 
  

Control Room of BNPP

    We learned about the history of the BNPP from the lady in the BNPP who also toured us during the trip, whose construction began in 1962 but went to a subsequent halt upon the Aquino administration coming to power. We also learned a myriad of information related to the plant's safety measures, structure and method of producing power. Interestingly, the lecturer noted that the Fukushima plant was only 10 meters above sea level while the BNPP is 18 meters above sea leavel, as to avoid tsunamis. 


    Our favorite part of the plant was the reactor room, which we regretfully have no pictures of. It's a massive, wide open room whose walls are dotted with walkways and stairs, up to the domed roof. It was almost terrifying to witness with its sheer size, but insanely cool at the same time. That level of awe was something each of us hadn't felt in a long time, and it reminded us of just how amazing the wonders of Science can be. And on that note, we close this entry. 


Cheers to Science and the Lord's creation!

The Pawikan's Problem

     Marine ecosystems are very much like dominoes. Should one piece of it fall, the rest will soon follow. And we regret to inform you, dear readers, that the first piece in what could be a disaster is falling at this very moment--and that piece is the Pawikan.

Pawikan

     Pawikans aren't just beautiful, they're vital to the survival of numerous species. You see, Pawikans are one of the very few creatures who eat the very important sea grass, and sea grass needs to be cut short in order to grow healthily and spread. There has been a decline in sea beds over the decades, and this may be linked to the decline of Pawikans. Many species of fish, shellfish, and crustaceans depend on sea grass beds for breeding and developmental grounds--should Pawikans continue to die off and leave sea grass untended, those species will all in turn die off. Farmers will have less to catch, we'll have less to eat, and the roles of the dead species in the water ecosystem will go unfulfilled, further destroying the precious ecosystem. 

Global Warming :(

     "What's killing Pawikans off in the first place?" you're sure to be thinking. Mainly, global warming. The heating of the earth's waters bears MANY ill consequences for them. For starters, the warming of the water kills off many of the plants and animals that serve as their food. Should none of said plants and animals be found in a Pawikan's environment, it will leave in search of a new one, which poises many dangers because at the same time, global warming kills off the regular food supply of sharks and whales--causing them to prey on Pawikans. Also, Pawikans are very easily stressed, and you can imagine how devastated they'd be by having to leave their environment in search of food...not to mention the very unpleasant fact that sharks are now out to get them. While stressed they are far less likely to mate, and if they do they'll have less eggs which further exacerbates the problem that only about 10% of their offspring live past a year...which is in turn exacerbated by the fact that warmer temperatures drastically reduce the chance of hatchlings' survival.

Pollution

     "Wow." you must be saying. "Global warming sure has it hard on Pawikans." Well, I hope you don't forget the fact that we human beings are the cause. Our pollution rapidly speeds up the global warming process, which rapidly kills off entire species in both land and sea--including Pawikans. So, what can we do? Refrain from throwing garbage into the ocean, which Pawikans can mistake for jellyfish. Support conservation centers and movement that aim to combat global warming. Shout it out, make it known what global warming is doing to Pawikans--no matter in what way, you need to get involved. Saving the Pawikans is an important task, and one you should be a part of.
                                                                                                                          

Pawikans: Our Friends

    There are few things more exciting than field trips--you really can't go wrong with taking trips to diverse and interesting places together with your friends. And fortunately, just this month back on February 3rd, we were blessed to have a field trip to Morong, Bataan and visit two main venues--the Pawikan Conservation Center, where we learned more about Pawikans and released hatchlings into the sea, and the currently idle Bataan Nuclear Power Plant where we learned about its construction and why we should go nuclear. However, in this entry we'll be discussing only the former, so read on for more about Pawikans.

PCC in Morong, Bataan

   First of all, we had this field trip because life is beautiful. A journey of the heart, the mind, the soul, a beautiful gift from our Everlasting Father. And it's not just the precious lives He's given us humans that deserves to be admired; but also the lives of the wonderful creatures He has created. One of which is the Pawikan--a beautiful creature we couldn't wait to learn more about. Our inner children called to us to be in awe of their simple beauty, and we were all to eager to do just that.     

Pawikan Hatchlings

    We joined the field trip because there was no way we were going to miss out on such incredibly fascinating venues--we were thrilled to learn more about, see, and release Pawikans into the sea! 

   Before the actual field trip, if we could use one adjective to describe us as we waited to get on the bus, it would be sleepy. Bataan is a long ride, so we had to be there very early. Also, Andy's bowels were on fire, but the less said about that the better. But, even if we were really sleepy, the exciting thoughts of meeting those adorable Pawikans and visiting a nuclear power plant weren't erased. 

Adult Pawikan

   We expected to learn a lot from the Pawikan Conservation Center, and we did. As a Conservation Center whose employees were once Pawikan thieves it was an interesting experience.  Let us give you some facts about the Pawikan or Sea Turtle that we learned from the trip and the previous talks we had from speakers in school like Sir Rye and Mr. Nacu. There are 7 species of Pawikans with 5 of them in the Philippines, namely the Green Sea turtle, Leatherback, Loggerhead, Hawksbill, and Olive Ridley. The beautiful pawikans that we saw in the conservation center were the Olive Ridley Turtles also known as Lepidochelys olivacea. 

  The Olive Ridley turtle is named for the generally greenish color of its skin and shell, or carapace.This interesting creature has the smallest size among the sea turtles. It has a unique heart-shaped carapace that measures only from 60 to 70 cm. Olive ridleys are found only in warmer waters, including the southern Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. 

Olive Ridley Turtle

   These turtles are solitary, preferring the open ocean. They migrate hundreds or even thousands of miles every year, and come together as a group only once a year for the arribada, when females return to the beaches where they hatched and lumber onshore to nest.

    The Olive Ridley is mostly carnivorous, feeding on such creatures as jellyfish, snails, crabs, and shrimp. They will occasionally eat algae and seaweed as well. Hatchlings, most of which perish before reaching the ocean, are preyed on by crabs, snakes,and birds, among others. Adults are often taken by sharks and humans for decorations and things (frames of eye glasses, guitars, bracelets,etc. ). The Olive Ridley eggs are mostly preyed on by humans who eat and sell it. 

Here is the taxonomic classification of the Olive Ridley Turtle:

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Reptilia
Order	Testudines
Family	Cheloniidae
Genus	Lepidochelys
Species	L. olivacea

Baby Olive-Ridley Hatchlings

   We had the pleasure of releasing Olive-Ridley hatchlings into the sea, and it was amazing. Seeing these beautiful creatures wriggle between our fingertips was absolutely unforgettable--it was downright moving to see such simple, incredible beauty. As we set them down near the shore they raced eagerly to get to the water, and we cheered them on giddily. Their first step of their journey was over, and ours was almost finished too. Keep looking out for the next posts, where we'll continue our discussion about our field trip.

The Curiosity Kids 

The Child Within Us

Salve! Yassou!

     Those are Latin and Greek for hello, respectively—and hello indeed. Welcoming you warmly to our blog with the languages of Science is the energetic and occasionally frightening Ayie, the completely frightening and cheerful Nica, our English teacher’s loveable rabbit Moshe, and last but not least, the gleeful writer and ferocious debater Andy.

     And now that we’ve had a few words of introduction, we’d like to move on to answer the big questions—“What’s the point of this blog?”, “Why bother?”, “How on earth does this concern me?”



     Well, we mean to celebrate something with this blog. Something resonant with all of us— we mean to celebrate and nurture our childhoods. “Childhoods?!” you ask. “What do those have to do with this?” Childhood is, well-agreed to be, the best time of life. A time of wide-eyed innocence, curiosity and above all wonder at this magnificent and exciting world around us.

     And that is where Science comes in. There is still a child in all of us, the same child who once asked "Why is the sky blue?", and although that child’s questions may change and grow bigger, more complex, the simple awe and curiosity remains. The Lord’s creation is truly wonderful, and a hunger to learn more about it comes naturally. Science provides us the means to feed that hunger, and we hope that you join us as we nurture our inner children while documenting our final months in Science class.