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Southeast Asia's largest solar plant is expected to offset 800,000 tons of carbon over 25 years and contribute to Thailand's renewable energy goals. AsianScientist (Sep. 28, 2012) - Solar panel manufacturer Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. announced this week that Southeast Asia's largest silicon photovoltaic power plant achieved grid connection on September 4, 2012.

Hopefully the payoffs of this solar power plant will manifest themselves in the next 10 years or so. That way, news of the power plant can hopefully spread to other parts of Southeast Asia. As the largest solar powered plant, I wonder if they'll face any challenges in the upcoming years with possible upkeep? I don't know a lot about solar energy but these are just some things I am curious about--but I'm also excited about the progress this power plant can make!

This is a huge milestone. Maybe our country can take some notes. I also found it interesting that the plant is owned by a petroleum company, great steps towards going green.

I remember discussing in class the immense amount of nuclear power we have especially when compared to other nations. Also, I remember us considering the fact that our government believes it is acceptable for us to possess nuclear power and not acceptable for other nations to possess nuclear power because we feel that as a whole, our morals are more honorable. If China is leading the cyber war, then can our nuclear power keep us safe when they can potentially access our launch codes in the future?

It is a bit disconcerting how the government tries to cover up and not discuss the fact this severe of a breach happened, and when it was brought to light, they seem to very shyly admit to the fact it happened. Even though they say the success rate of the cyber attacks is rare, the fact that China, or potentially any other nation with enough willpower, may hack and access the codes is daunting. Hopefully, the U.S. will do more to develop stronger forms of security and technology to protect this information.

This is pretty interesting. I follow politics fairly close and even I was unaware of this most recent attack. I agree with Sana, they very shyly admitted the downfall. These attacks should not be taken lightly, and it seems like more precautions need to be taken as well. Perhaps, they should install Norton Anti-Virus.

Last year's nuclear disaster in Japan has caused a lot of controversy within the country about whether to continue using nuclear energy or not. There seems to be some miscommunication between government officials and the common citizens too. I personally think nuclear energy should be studied and used more than it is already, but with last years events I can understand why some people would be wary of this technology.

Hopefully, for the sake of the future of nuclear power, they do not abandon their nuclear plants but I agree with the idea that it's a political move made by the current office to avoid the loss of votes. I wonder what their ultimate alternative to nuclear energy would be if they did abandon the plants? Maybe they would resort to more solar power use as is becoming popular in Southeast Asia according to an above article.

I agree that Japanese officials are being conservative when it comes to the issue of nuclear energy or any type of energy. I think going away from nuclear energy is not a great idea. I remember we talked about France in class about how they have nuclear energy and there wasn't much nuclear waste or pollution. I know France was ranked 15 but I assume Japan would be ranked higher since they said "Japan has to import most - around 96 percent - of its energy, primarily in the form of fossil fuels. That is expensive as well as harmful to the environment." in the article. In addition going away from nuclear energy will leave Japan behind in energy programs. Like we talked about in class the planets natural resources are becoming scarce. So if Japan thinks about the future I believe they would try to improve their nuclear energy programs.

China's economical growth is slowing down. Many economists predict that China'a 10% growth will reduce to 7% or worse. In order for China to fight back they have lowered interest rate in hope of getting people to spend more money. When China lowers their interest rate it is cheaper for people to borrow money from the banks; but the money that isn't used and is stored in the bank will suffer from inflation. This slump might cause a chain reaction that hurt China's economic standing.

It's interesting that though China's economy is slowing down, it still has more growth than many other countries. Since China has more of a manufacturing-centered economy, I wonder if this slump may mark the transition to a possible service-oriented economy. In addition to that, maybe the leadership transition in the upcoming months will spur a more dynamic economy in China; thereby preventing a prolonged declining economy.

I remember discussing in class the fact that the world economy did not used to be so dependent on individual regions and countries doing well economically so that other countries could also do well economically on a global scale. It makes you wonder if an international economy is a good thing or not. To me, this is proof that we are not prepared for a multi-polar world. The United States is used to being THE world power rather than A world power. If at all possible, maybe it would be smart to learn how to coexist as more of an independent nation econonomically once again. Or on the other hand, perhaps that could create a situation where America could potentially be left behind by the other up and coming world powers.

The two main up and coming power houses continue their conflict over oil and gas. I am intrigued to see how much the United States will intervene as the conflict continues.

A new study shows that the malaria species widespread in the Asia-Pacific region has been a key driver of human genome evolution. AsianScientist (Sep. 6, 2012) - Malaria is a parasitic disease with devastating effects, causing up to one million deaths annually worldwide. Approximately half the world's population is at risk of malaria infection.

Interesting article, it seems as if the doctors may truly believe that it may not merely be natural selection at play here but that there may also be the possibility that the disease itself directly promotes human genome evolution. I am curious to see whether a powerful vaccine can be made in relevance to the abnormal erythrocytes caused by Southeast Asian ovalocytosis. If so, I wonder which nation would develop it first.