Nakita mo na ba ang mga malalaking tipak ng bato, ang ilan ay kasinglaki ng malaking trak, na nakakalat sa mabatong baybayin ng Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte? Ang mga dambuhalang bato ay makikitang nakapatong sa taas ng nakaangat na reef platform na malayo sa dagat. Pinapaniwalaan na ang mga ito ay bahagi or piraso ng isang sinaunang bahurang koral (ancient coral reef) na napunit at naihagis papaloob ng lupa, dala ng matitinding alon.

Large boulders, some weighing as much as a large truck, are scattered along the rocky coastline of Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte. These enormous boulders, which sit on an uplifted reef platform far from the sea, are not random. They are fragments of an ancient coral reef that were torn from the reef and hurled inland by extreme waves. This unusual sight piqued the curiosity of geologists from the University of the Philippines – Diliman College of Science’s National Institute of Geological Sciences (UPD-CS NIGS).

Scientists from the University of the Philippines–Diliman College of Science (UPD-CS) have advanced a greener approach to silver nanoparticle (AgNP) synthesis by using gamma irradiation in combination with the natural seaweed-derived biopolymer ι-carrageenan. While gamma-radiolytic routes for AgNP formation have been reported previously, the specific role of ι-carrageenan in stabilizing and influencing nanoparticle formation during radiolysis has remained largely underexplored.