Pinoy solar bottle bulb wins international light award

A Filipino social enterprise distributing do-it-yourself house lamps, lanterns, and streetlights to impoverished communities has won the prestigious 7th Zayed Future Energy Prize 2015.

MyShelter Foundation’s A Liter of Light project won the world’s biggest award for renewable energy and sustainability in the Non-Profit Organization category for its ingenious solar bottle bulb which reuses empty plastic soda one-liter bottles, turning them into solar-powered light bulbs.

Founder and Executive Director Illac Diaz of the A Liter of Light project leads his team in teaching communities how to manufacture and install the solar light bulbs, in the process collaborating with local governments to install 12,000 solar bottle bulbs, providing light for 10,000 homes in Manila and surrounding Philippine provinces.

The technology is simple enough, developed by Diaz after coming across the original bottle light technology while studying alternative architecture and urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The repurposed plastic bottle is filled with bleached water, installed on the roof, and as sunlight is refracted through the water and coursed into the room, a solar-powered 55-watt bulb is lighted up.

The night lights version uses a small solar panel, four LED lights, a simple circuit, a battery, some plastic tubing, and the plastic soda bottle. The resulting three-watt bulbs provide enough light to a 15 square meter area. The circuits are designed to automatically switch on and off when detecting the presence or absence of daylight. A 10-ft PVC pipe can transform the bulbs to street lights.

The project was launched in 2011, and a YouTube video showing the simple DIY installation of solar bottle bulb has gone viral. The project has since gone global with 53 country chapters reaching Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Italy, Paris, and the United States making possible the installation of 350,000 day lights and about 15,000 night lights worldwide.

“Ours is a story about the power of harnessing open source technologies and sharing them with young people around the world who are keen to solve energy poverty in their own communities,” said Diaz of the project’s success. “Sometimes the solutions that work best come from developing countries, from the bottom up, since they have to manage the greatest impact with the least resources.”

- See more at: http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/pinoy-solar-bottle-bulb-wins-international-light-award/#sthash.c7XBxdPK.dpuf

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DreamWorks opens 1st global indoor theme park in Manila

Dreamworks Animation is set to open its first indoor theme park outside Hollywood this March.

The theme park is designed exclusively for the City of Dreams entertainment centre in Roxas Boulevard, Manila and introduces “DreamPlay by DreamWorks” a new approach to learning and family entertainment with its interactive activities inspired by an educational play centre.

The interactive entertainment concept “DreamPlay by DreamWorks” employs hands on activities featuring characters from their movies.

The theme park promises to be the perfect place for fans of DreamWorks movies and families looking to unwind and have fun with their favourite characters from Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar and many more.

Fans who wish to learn How to Train Your Dragon can become a dragon rider, learn Kung Fu from Master Shifu himself, bake cookies with Gingy the gingerbread man and hang out with the Penguins of Madagascar as their favourite characters come to life with the theme park’s various DreamPlay attractions.

Activities include 4D theatres, cooking, toy building, games and wall climbing. Parents, kids and adults who wish to relax after hours of play can eat at the DreamWorks Café. Dim sum, pizza, ice cream and other family favourites are on the menu

- See more at: http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/dreamworks-opens-1st-global-indoor-theme-park-in-manila/#sthash.NdmU64NE.dpuf

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Amin Hataman invents biodegradable plastic from nata de coco

A Filipino teen from Mindanao has invented biodegradable plastic from nata de coco, an edible derivative of the coconut.

Amin Hataman’s invention won the grand prize at the 8th International Young Inventors Project Olympiad (IYIPO) in Georgia, USA.

IYIPO promotes scientific research and scholarly experience to young scientist-students in the field of Biology, Chemistry, Computer, Physics and Mathematics.

Haman’s entry bested over 40 official entries from dozens of elementary and high school students from around the globe who joined the international inventors’ competition.

Nata de coco is a translucent, jelly-like, chewy edible product resulting from the fermentation of coconut water, which forms into a gel through the production of Acetobacter Xylinum, a microbial cellulose.

Nata de coco is a Filipino native delicacy, most commonly sweetened as a candy or dessert.

Hataman is a student of the Fountain International School, a Cambridge School which serves multicultural and multinational communities in Metro Manila.

Hataman is the oldest son of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman and Anak Mindanao party-list Representative Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman.

Governor Hataman has reportedly directed the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-ARMM to conduct a study on the invention for its potentially good impact to the environment.

The younger Hataman’s biodegradable multi-purpose plastic invention developed out of edible coconut dissolves three weeks after being exposed to the elements.

- See more at: http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/amin-hataman-invents-biodegradable-plastic-nata-de-coco/#sthash.w4sBGU3I.dpuf

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Iconic designer Diane Von Furstenburg calls PHL paradise

Top fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg of the iconic wrap dress came to the Philippines in February and appeared smitten by the country as she posted instagram shots and even wrote a memoir of her experience in the place she calls, “paradise.”

“Today is my husband’s birthday, our anniversary and we are in paradise! Love from the Philippines. Diane,” went Von Furstenberg’s caption on her post of a sea, mountain and sky view from her island holiday in Palawan, south of Manila.

The posts sent a flurry of excitement in the country’s fashion circles as outpourings of welcomes, thank yous and invitations to visit other Philippine spots flooded the comments.

Von Furstenberg left America with her husband Barry Diller, just before Fashion Week, to celebrate in the southern islands of Palawan, El Nido and Coron which she referred to in her DVF site’s Love Diane section as “spectacular.”

She wrote about what she appreciated most about her holiday, “The rich vegetation of palms and bamboos, the sculpted rock formations and the most elegant simple villages, all a powerful reminder that nothing beats the beauty of nature. Then there is the underwater world and its splendor, the coral reefs and the multi color fishes… sure to inspire yet another collection in the future.”

Von Furstenberg posted her last instagram shot of the Philippines on February 6th, a snapshot of a bougainvillea plant against an azure sky over the country.

Von Furstenberg was recently touted by the Philippine fashion community after picking Filipina-American Brittany Hampton to be the first global brand ambassador for her DVF brand.

- See more at: http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/iconic-designer-diane-von-furstenburg-calls-phl-paradise/#sthash.cPvKJJZ1.dpuf

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UP Diliman physicist discovers how to slow light

A Filipina physicist from the University of the Philippines and her colleagues at the University of Glasgow have discovered how to slow down light travel to less than the speed of light without actually touching it.

Dr. Jacqueline Romero, who finish

ed both her undergraduate and graduate studies in Physics at the UP and is currently on a post doctoral fellowship in Scotland, is part of a team of scientists who have finally proven by experiment that light particles can be slowed down in a near- vacuum.

The speed of light at 186,282 miles per second in free space has been regarded as an absolute.

In common refraction, this speed has been observed to slow down and change direction when passing through glass or water and going back to its higher velocity as soon as it returns to free space.

But Romero’s team has shown that the speed of light can remain slowed down even after returning to free space, and that it can do so without interacting with glass or water.

The results been published in the Science Express journal in the paper “Spatially structured photons that travel in free space slower than the speed of light” by collaborators from the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance which include fellow physicists Daniel Giovannini, Václav Potocek, Gergely Ferenczi, Fiona Speirits, Stephen M. Barnett, Daniele Faccio, and Miles J. Padgett.

Their experiment had the team placing individual particles of light called photons on a racetrack with one photon left in its normal state, and the other sent through a special mask. The mask changed the photon’s shape, slowing them to less than the speed of light. The photon continued to travel at the lower speed at 0.001% slower than the (normal) speed of light even after being released to free space.

The experiment is considered ground-breaking and will likely change how science views light henceforth.

The implications may range from a review of the accurate measure if very short distances using large aperture lenses, to the use of light to make extremely precise measurements in determining how far the Moon is from Earth.

While there are no immediate practical applications for this scientific feat, the results of the experiment has reignited talk of the possibility of teleportation and suspending sunlight in thin air.

- See more at: http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/up-diliman-physicist-discovers-slow-light/#sthash.u6YZPYIh.dpuf

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Philippines one of the world’s inexpensive countries

The Philippines has been cited in a world map infographic as a country with one of the world’s most inexpensive cost of living.

The South East Asian archipelagic country ranked 15th in the Lowest Cost of Living index.

Movehub, a website that provides information on the most popular destinations for expats, presented the infographic showing the difference in living costs around the globe.

The map is based on data provided by Numbeo, the world’s largest database of user-contributed data on costs and prices around the world.

Numbeo collects data on the prices of goods and services submitted by government institutions, supermarkets, and even press reports. For this current map, data from July 1, 2013 to January 2, 2015 were used.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) was used to determine the variations in costs of living between countries, accounting for the prices of groceries, restaurants, transportation, and utilities.

The Movehub infographic uses a country’s CPI in relation to New York’s cost of living.

The supermarket grocery cost consists of the charge for bread, eggs, fruits, meat, rice, vegetables and even alcohol.

Restaurant costs refer to prices for dining in expensive, mid-range and inexpensive eating places, the alcohol and water charges, and the price of coffee products.

Transportation costs include fuel prices, taxi fares, train ticket fees, and car prices.

The costs of utilities are based on the charges such as for electricity, water, heating, and the internet.

- See more at: http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/philippines-one-worlds-inexpensive-countries/#sthash.wwep92Sk.dpuf

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Kahoy eyewear a big hit among Hollywood celebrities

The Kahoy Kollection eyewear of Filipino-American designer-entrepreneur Ralph Santos is now trending in Hollywood.

Members of the popular show Dancing with the Stars were seen wearing the bamboo-temple frames, along with celebrities Christina Milian, Mike Epps, and Wayne Brady. Fashion gurus and bloggers have also expressed praises for the unique framed glasses of the Kahoy Kollection.

“Kahoy,” which in the Philippine language means wood, is the material used for the high-end eyewear with a line of vintage-inspired sunglass and optical frames.

The styles are named for beaches, streets or districts that Guam-born Santos has lived in or visited.

The eyewear collection is envisioned by the Fil-Am entrepreneur as an eco-friendly business that pushes Filipino culture to the forefront of fashion.

The bamboo material is currently sourced from Japan, but Santos is already looking into using Philippine bamboo.

Santos chose bamboo, believing it is “the most sustainable wood. It doesn’t use a lot of water to grow and it’s the most lightweight and comfortable wood.”

The designer is also teaming up with community organizations in the Philippines to help the business.

The Kahoy Kollection website lists Santos’ Filipino lineage from his parents, a grandfather who managed the first department store in Old Manila’s Escolta District, and a godmother who owns optical chain stores also in Manila.

The Kahoy Kollection brand was established in 2012. Santos drafted strategic plans while completing an MBA degree.

- See more at: http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/kahoy-eyewear-big-hit-among-hollywood-celebrities/#sthash.p5u0oZXH.dpuf

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