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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017
Opinion
Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com
EDITORIAL
TRANSITIONS
IT’S NEVER ALIENS By Pecier Decierdo
U
personal life as well as their professional one. In the end, it is not that video of the First Lady rapping on the Internet or dancing on a TV show, or the image of the President shooting baskets or poking fun at his staff, that would linger. It is how they viewed and made people view the privilege of public service— and managed the transition from one administration to the next.
NITED States President Barack Obama made his farewell remarks last week as he steps down this week to make way for his successor, the Republican Donald Trump. own final speech at a gathering of educators. She underscored the importance of education and told her audience that anybody—regardless of color, gender, religion and disposition—could succeed if they worked had enough. She and her husband were proof of that. As a result, social media has been gushing about the Obama couple who will leave the White House after two terms marked by decency. Aside from not figuring in a scandal of whatever nature, the Obamas are perceived as modern, progressive, even fun in their
The Obamas campaigned hard for Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote even as the electoral college system worked in Trump’s favor. In his speech, Obama outlined his administration’s successes in the past eight years. He emphasized that it was the people’s ability to bring about change on their own that mattered. And even as it was the candidate of another party who was assuming his role, Obama pointed out that this was democracy at its best, at work. Americans should not criticize their leaders without evaluating their own role in the choice of those leaders, he reminded the people. Meanwhile, First Lady Michelle Obama delivered her
RECENTLY, mysterious signals from outer space called fast radio bursts (FRBs) made the news. FRBs probably have nothing to do with aliens. In fact, scientists have this rule of thumb when it comes to detecting strange signals from outer space: “It’s never aliens.” That is not a statement of conviction. Rather, it is a statement of caution and methodology. It is a reminder to exhaust all possible alternative explanation first before concluding that something unlikely is going on, something as unlikely as detecting signals from aliens. How unlikely is detecting signals from extraterrestrials anyway? Although we might not know the answer to that question, we now have the tool to approach the question in a scientific manner. It’s called the Drake equation, named after scientist Frank Drake, who formulated it in 1961. When scientists say, “It’s never aliens,” that does not mean they think there are no aliens out there. In fact, if you press any respectable scientist what they think, almost all of them will guess that there probably are aliens out there. The universe is simply so vast and full of possibility for life to arise elsewhere. In our Solar System alone, we are contemplating the possibility of life on Mars; Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede; and Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan. Now if there’s intelligent life out there, what are the chances that we will detect signals coming from them? That’s where the Drake equation comes in. According to the equation, the number of alien civilizations in our galaxy capable of communicating to us via radio signals is equal to a product of several terms. The first term is the average number of stars formed per year in our galaxy. That is, how many stars get born per year. We know the answer to this: It’s around 20. If we want to be a little conservative and only consider stars like the Sun—other stars might be too hot or too cold— there are two born per year. The second term is the fraction of those stars that have planets. When this equation was first formulated, we do not know of any planet outside our Solar System. Now we know thousands. We now think that almost all stars have at least one planet going around them. One estimate is that close to 20
The Obamas champion diversity in America, because as the President pointed out, democracy requires a basic sense of solidarity. “For all our outward differences, we’re all in this together, that we rise and fall as one.” It may just be the characteristic Obama eloquence, but it may also be the truth, not just in the US but in many other societies where diversity is— as it should be— celebrated.
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FOOD COMMA: US SUBURBAN RESTAURANTS POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA—Here’s another issue of Food Comma, my column within a column, where I write about one of my greatest concerns and largest pleasures— food. Back in Manila, not too long
ago, I enjoyed trying out the latest affordable restaurants with my family and friends, tasting the latest dishes and the new flavors that chefs and restaurateurs come up with. When Shi Lin opened at Circuit Makati and brought along their
delectable xiao long bao, I was one of their biggest customers over the first three or four months. I ate there every weekend and brought guests over when I needed to entertain. (I was unimpressed by Din Tai Fung’s much-hyped version of XLB.) Shi Lin’s
prawn in salted egg and mushroom and vegetable dumpling are also must-haves. K-Pub is one of the best venues for authentic Korean cuisine and they do birthday greetings up on their giant video screen (impressive Turn to B2
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