<div style="text-align: left">Attended Patrons of the Art: Originals for the first time and met one of my fave Filipino artists, @haranikala.</div>



<div style="text-align: left">Celebrated Earth Hour 2024 together with astro and space people (Manila Street Astronomers, SEDSPH, The Mind Museum) at De Jesus Oval Park, BGC. Sold my merch and met some friends :))</div>



Art Fairs & Exhibits

Clutched the Manila International Book Fair this year!! Added some classics to my library. I haven't read Charlie Mackesy's "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse" (photo) but it's already one of my favorite books.


Mini book haul for my first MIBF experience :))


Book Fairs

Yeast in space?? 😲🧪

Imagine sending a yeast— that thing in trees and bread— into outer space! Pretty wild 😳

But it’s actually not as crazy as it seems. As it turns out, these microorganisms hold the key to understanding the effects of space radiation on our bodies. Now that we are planning to send humans back to the moon, it is important to realize the effects of long-term space travel on our astronaut friends.

> Why yeast?

With similar genes to ours, yeasts are an ideal organism for testing radiation effects on biological systems. Plus, they are quite simple to culture and they reproduce quickly. Imagine sending a cow in a rocket ship though 🤔

Now, one of the most significant threats in outer space is ionizing radiation. Space radiation can come from various sources including cosmic rays, solar particle events, and even from the albedo radiation that is produced by the interaction of space radiation and the lunar surface. Space radiation is bad for our bodies because it increases the risk of cancer, brain damage, and DNA mutations-- basically all the things that can accelerate your journey towards afterlife. Hence, NASA is conducting yeast space experiments to study in detail the biological responses to reduced gravity and space radiation on the moon. 

> This research could inform future space missions involving humans, helping us understand and protect against the hidden risks of cosmic radiation.

Last July-August, I worked on a similar research problem with the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA), under the guidance of Sir James Guaña from PhilSA's Interdisciplinary Space Missions Development Division (ISMDD). We wanted to know the effects of space radiation on these yeasts. However, instead of shooting the yeasts to the moon, we grow them in our computers. We simulated population dynamics of yeast in space using Agent-Based Modeling and Genetic Algorithm, and found that yes, yeasts aren't that fond of space radiation. We adjusted radiation-related parameters of our simple model and found some interesting results.

On October 2, 2024, I presented the results of my research project at the PhilSA headquarters. My presentation was entitled "Modeling Yeast Population Dynamics in Space Environments using Agent-Based Modeling and Genetic Algorithm". A major personal takeaway from this short project is on the computational methods I learned in order to operationalize the model. While the results were quite intuitive, it was the computational depth and maturity I gained that really made a difference. It was actually fun :>>

Also, it was my third time visiting the Philippine Space Agency. Sir James toured me around the place and I got to see some of the agency's ongoing projects. I also got to meet the amazing members of PhilSA's ISMDD!

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Present during my presentation are PhilSA Deputy Director General Dr. Gay Jane Perez, project adviser James Guaña, Sir Wynn Improso, OIC Chief of ISMDD, and my ever supportive research adviser at the National Institute of Physics, Dr. Reina Reyes.

Excited to work on the next steps of this project :>>

Read more on the yeast space mission: <https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/science-enabling-technology/growing-yeast-on-the-moon-to-study-radiation-risks-to-human-explorers/>


Space Yeast with PhilSA

Lecturer: Dr Dimitris Stamatellos (University of Central Lancashire, UK)

Programming Exercises:

*   Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion: Solar System & Exoplanets

*   Habitable Zones around a Star

*   Exoplanet Transit Modeling

*   Finding planets in transit data from the Kepler mission



Lecturer: Dr. Krittapas Chonchaiworawit (National Astronomy Research Institute of Thailand)

Programming Exercise:

*   AGN Spectral Analysis



Thai National Observatory

We had the chance to visit the National Thai Observatory on this rainy day and it was so amazing :)) Afterwards, we put on our raincoats and walked under the rain to reach Thailand’s highest point. We also made a stop at a waterfall in Doi Inthanon National Park—my first time seeing one!


Lecturer: Dr. Claire Cashmore (University of Hull, UK)

Programming Exercises:

*   Supernova Remnants

*   Rotation Curves

*   Ram Pressure Stripping



Lecturer: Dr. Teeraparb Chantavat (University of Naresuan, Thailand)

Programming Exercises:

*   Constraining the Hubble Parameters using MCMC

*   Cosmic Linear Anisotropy Solving System (CLASS) demonstration



Got sick after our rainy excursion but still enjoyed the rest of the program. Bonus, I was awarded as one of the most outstanding participants and received a NARIT merch :>>

Link to ThaiPASS'24 Page: <https://indico.narit.or.th/event/206/>


Last September 9-13, I participated in the Thailand-UK Python Astronomy Summer School 2024 (ThaiPASS'24) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The program covered various programming techniques relevant to different topics in astronomy.



Programming and Astronomy

During my first year at the University of the Philippines Diliman, I took a Filipino 40 class that focused on Wika, Kultura, at Lipunan (Language, Culture, and Society). For my final project, I created an interactive kid's magazine that explored the significance of using the Filipino language in the sciences, particularly in astronomy, a field with a rich history in the Philippines. The magazine is called "Sansinukob" (Filipino translation of the word universe) and has now become one of my favorite projects.


Wika at Astronomiya

The UP Astronomical Society (UP AstroSoc) frequently organizes public astronomy activities to inspire people with the wonders of the universe. Among these events, a member-favorite is the “Lakbay.” During Lakbays, schools—usually high schools—invite us to share our knowledge of astronomy with their students. All the busy days of planning activity stations and rehearsing lecture topics feel worthwhile once we get to interact with the students and talk with them about the stars and the universe.

I remember my first Lakbay at the Manila Waldorf School. The lecture session had been finished for a while when a student asked me about white holes—a concept I could only vaguely explain based on a book I had read once. They surely have the most curious questions. That Lakbay ran late into the night, and the students started to doze off and we ended up having the most random conversations under the stars. That night, along with many others spent with the organization, are the nights I’ll always remember fondly from my college days.

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Lakbay with UP AstroSoc

Sugar, space, and everything nice ✨

Wrote and illustrated my first children's picture book about astronomy. All my favorites in one place! The Giant Galaxy Ghost is a story about the (mysterious) identity of dark matter and its role in our universe.

Check out the preview below. TGGG is currently looking for reviewers, editors, and readers ^\_\_^ 


The Giant Galaxy Ghost

When I first read Carl Sagan's "Cosmos," I was struck by how similar our journeys into astronomy were—both filled with starlit nights and the magic of library books. This inspired me to create a comic based on "Backbone of Night" (Chapter 7), combining his storytelling with my own childhood fascinations.


Cosmic Comics

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Saturdays at Pook Marilag

<div style="text-align: left">I recently started playing Stardew Valley. Look at my character starlourds stargazing :))</div>

<div style="text-align: center">![](/images/sv-telescope.jpg)</div>



Stardew Valley

Plenary Talks

Catching up with other astro orgs for PUSO for Astro

Subplenary Sessions

Divider

Me presenting our research on dwarf galaxies!

D&C Research Group at SPVM!

Pretty clouds at UST ☁️

Conference Photo

UST Campus and Museum Tour

Best Oral Presenter Award

From October 17–19, I attended the Samahang Pisika ng Visayas at Mindanao (SPVM) National Physics Conference, held at the University of Santo Tomas’ Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building (BGPOP). I presented our ongoing research on dwarf galaxies and had the opportunity to connect with fellow students from universities across the country. This was my first national physics conference—a memorable and inspiring experience on my journey through astrophysics. Ad astra! ✨ 💫


SPVM National Physics Conference 2024

<div style="text-align: center">♡ click cards to read more ♡</div>



Activities