Light from a water bottle could brighten millions of poor homes (w/ video)

From: http://www.physorg.com/

Screenshot of a solar bottle bulb from the video below.
Image credit: Isang Litrong Liwanag

As simple as it sounds, a one-liter plastic bottle filled with purified water and some bleach could serve as a light bulb for some of the millions of people who live without electricity. Originally developed by MIT students, the "solar bottle bulb" is now being distributed by the MyShelter Foundation to homes throughout the Philippines. The foundation’s goal is to use this alternative source of daylight to brighten one million homes in the country by 2012.

In order to make the water bottles "light up," holes are cut in the metal roofs of homes and a bottle is placed and sealed into each hole so that its lower half emerges from the ceiling. The clear water disperses the light in all directions through refraction, which can provide a luminosity that is equivalent to a 55-watt electric light bulb, according to the MyShelter Foundation. The bleach prevents mold growth so that the bulbs can last for up to five years.

Although the solar bottle bulb only works during the day, it can meet the needs of many of the people in Manila, Philippines, and other cities, where the homes are so close together that very little sunlight can enter through the windows. As a result, the homes are dark even during the day.

Residents describe the difference that the solar bottle bulb has made. Video credit: Isang Litrong Liwanag

The solar bottle bulbs’ advantages include sustainability and safety; compared with candles or faulty electrical connections, they aren’t a fire hazard. The bulbs are also inexpensive to make and install, and of course have no operating costs while in use.

The MyShelter Foundation is promoting the solar bottle bulbs as the Isang Litrong Liwanag ("A Liter of Light") project. In Manila, the city government paid for the bulbs while the foundation is training residents on how to make and install them.

via: Treehugger
© 2011 PhysOrg.com

NBA Stars Put On a Show in the Philippines

By: Kevin Burke
From:  http://thehoopdoctors.com/

Thus far, this summer has proven to be one of the most active off-seasons, in terms of established NBA players playing competitive ball, that I can remember in a long time. We told you last week that the Goodman and Drew Leagues will battle next month in DC with some key names involved, and over the weekend, NBA stars participated in “Ultimate All-Star Weekend” in the Philippines and put on a show for the home crowd.
This flew under the radar for the most part and was actually streamed on-line in the wee hours of the morning in the U.S. due to the time difference.  But, when I say NBA stars participated, I mean that. Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul were just four of the NBA players that took on the Philippine’s Basketball Association’s select team on Saturday and Smart Gilas Philipinas on Sunday. The games were held in the same arena where Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier in 1975 in the “Thrilla in Manila” and in attendance was native son, Manny Pacquiao. The NBA representatives swept the mini 2-game series and here are some highlights:

Durant off the glass to Harden

Kobe alley-oop to Rose

And in attempt to restore order in the world, I won’t include the video of JaVale McGee planking on the court during the game.

Extremely Rare Bird Photographed for First Time - Then Eaten

Written by Jake Richardson

A species of bird so rare it was thought perhaps to be extinct was captured on video and still images in the Phillipines province of Nueva Vizcaya… right before it was cooked and eaten.

The Worcester’s buttonquail (Turnix worcesteri) lives only in the Phillipines, but had not been seen in many years, and was previously only known through illustration based on dead specimens collected centuries ago. One wild live buttonquail was inadvertently filmed in a mountainous area during the making of a documentary on the traditional methods of bird-trapping in northern Luzon. But neither the local crew nor the bird-trappers at the time of the filming understood how rare the bird was, so it was sold at a poultry market, then cooked and eaten.

The bird had already been consumed by the time its image was noticed in a viewing of the bird-trapping documentary by a member of the World Bird Club of the Phillipines. The WBCP reported the posthumous discovery of the extremely scarce bird. Mike Lu, the club’s president said: “We are ecstatic that this rarely seen species was photographed by accident. It may be the only photo of this poorly known bird. But I also feel sad that the locals do not value the biodiversity around them and that this bird was sold for only P10 and headed for the cooking pot”. P10 is about twenty American cents.

Desmond Allen was the WBCP member who was watching the appropriately named documentary “Bye-Bye Birdie” when he spotted the buttonquail in a still image among the credits. Mr. Allen is a life-long birder, with 50 years of experience. He maintains an extensive collection of bird calls on his ipod. The trapping documentary is viewable on YouTube via the producer’s blog.

The extremely rare quail is listed on the IUCN Red List of threatened species as ‘data deficient’, which means there is not enough data available to determine an animal’s conservation status.

Image Credit: Arnel Telesforo