News from Escoles Sostenibles, and Happy Xmas!

Notícies de Escoles Sostenibles

Secondary school students can decide how to transform their schools with Escoles Sostenibles..

Conèixer el projecte Tinguem Cura del Planeta, un procés que ofereix un marc de treball perquè l'alumnat de secundària decideixi les accions que transformen el centre i l'entorn. La proposta permet dotar d’eines per diagnosticar l’estat del centre, planificar les accions que volem dur a terme per transformar-lo i dur-les a terme, implicar tota la comunitat educativa i comunicar els resultats...

Aquest procés és simultani a escala mundial amb altres centres i, per tant, es realitzen trobades d'intercanvi entre joves a escala catalana, estatal, europea i internacional. Aquestes conferències són un punt rellevant de motivació per a l'alumnat i de millora de la qualitat de les propostes.

Per tal de facilitar el seguiment del procés, s'ha establert una proposta dels passos que cal seguir, en la qual es detallen un seguit d'objectius i fites que s'han d'aconseguir per a cadascun dels tres cursos. Podeu trobar més informació aquí. També disposeu del vídeo resum del procés.

Eco News...

This week we found some information about ghost nets - nets

that are used for fishing in an illegal way. Sometimes when you fish with a giant net it may break

and that net will end in the ocean under the sea and some animals get trapped in it and die,

normally these are animals close to extinction.

So if you want to help, try to not to buy cans of tuna that don't show how they catch the fish

because that means that they use a ghost net, illegally.

If you want to know more information and which animals get stuck with those nets, look at this

video and you will find out !!!!

This weeks news:

The big news this week is that Donald Trump has been elected next president of the United States. He said ´´Global warming is a hoax´´.
This is a sad day for the great majority of people who care about the future of our planet.

On the plus side another American is making news with a great film about Climate Change - Leonardo DiCaprio (Best Actor 2016 at the Oscars and huge film star) has made a documentary, he met Obama, the Pope and traveled the world to see how our environment is being affected... WATCH IT!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgsaYLH1ph4

Enviro news!

This week we have chosen a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. 

The bad news happened in Madrid. Madrid´s city council has been thinking about just letting 50% of the cars of the city into the city center, this is happening because the Spanish capital is struggling with the high levels of air pollution.

The council thought that they would let in cars that finish with even numbers on their number plates on even days and the cars that finish with odd number plates would be allowed in on odd days.

Far away in San Fransisco the U.S city has required that certain new buildings have to be built with a green roof, this means that there will be plants on the roofline. 

This new law will be started in January and new buildings will have to incorporate 15 - 30% of roof space with solar panels, green roofs or a blend of both.

Wildlife is falling!

World wildlife 'falls by 58% in 40 years'

Since the 1970s the world´s wildlife population is falling and animals in lakes, rivers and wetlands are suffering the biggest losses.

The fresh water habitats are decreasing because humans are taking water out of the rivers systems, and blocking the water systems with dams.

Environmental News this week

Sara, Aina and María created a presentation and shared news about Killer Whales who are changing their behaviour because of Climate Change - Killers Whales are moving from their usual habitat because their food is very hard to find and the temperatures are rising where they live because of climate change. Killer Whales are coming close to the Mediterranean but we are not sure if they are going to actually be in the sea because our sea is too hot for them. Read more in this link below;


  http://www.cetaceanalliance.org/cetaceans/Oo_home.htm

Joves i ciència

Joves i ciència és un programa de la Fundació Catalunya - la Pedrera que té per objectiu fomentar les vocacions científiques dels joves. S’adreça a cinquanta estudiants de 4t d’ESO que, fins a l’entrada a la universitat, tindran l’oportunitat de viure la recerca científica en primera persona durant tres anys.

PERFIL DELS CANDIDATS

• Alumnat de 4t d’ESO.
• Bon expedient acadèmic, que ha d’anar acompanyat de ganes i il·lusió per participar en el programa. Busquem joves que, a més de tenir bons resultats acadèmics, tinguin molt interès per la investigació científica, amb talent i curiositat per les ciències.
• Bon nivell d’anglès. • Intenció de cursar el Batxillerat Científic i/o Tecnològic.
• Compromís per aprofitar les oportunitats que ofereix el Programa Joves i Ciència durant els seus tres anys de durada. 
• Estudiar en un centre de secundària de Catalunya, ja sigui públic, privat o concertat. 

PROCÈS DE SELECCIÓ

Per a la selecció es valorarà:

• Respostes a les preguntes dels formularis d’inscripció del candidat/a. 
• Carta de motivació. 
• Recomanacions del centre. En són necessàries dues: una d’un membre de l’equip docent de l’àrea de ciència, matemàtiques o tecnologia, i l’altra del tutor/a, cap d’estudis o director/a. 
• El nivell d’anglès. 
• Expedient acadèmic. 
• Entrevista personal, en cas de superar la primera fase de la selecció

Bojos per la ciència

Bojos per la Ciència s’adreça als estudiants de batxillerat que tinguin interès i mostrin aptituds en el camp de les ciències. Les sessions es duen a terme els dissabtes, en els quals es tracten diferents temes científics actuals.

Amb aquesta iniciativa, els estudiants tenen l'oportunitat d'aprofundir en la teoria i les tècniques científiques en el diferents camps científics proposats: 

• bioquímica, 
• biomedicina, 
• economia, 
• física, 
• matemàtiques, 
• natura, 
• noves tecnologies, 
• química, etc. 

Treballen en el propi centre, juntament amb investigadors, per experimentar com es fa ciència en un centre de recerca internacional, fet que els permet guanyar experiència pràctica en les últimes metodologies d'avantguarda, així com posicionar-se per a una possible carrera professional dins la branca científica que hagin escollit.

Campaments d'astronomia ESO 2016

Campaments d'astronomia ESO 2016

L'Observatori Europeu del Sud (ESO) organitza cada any un campament astronòmic a la Vall d'Aosta (Itàlia). Aquestes estades tenen l'objectiu de fomentar les vocacions astronòmiques entre els alumnes de 16 a 18 anys (nascuts el 1998, 99 i 2000) i s'adeqüen al marc general de l'ensenyament: bilingüisme, foment d'una educació científica i educació en valors (esforç, companyerisme, creativitat, etc.)

Aquest any el campament explorarà el tema del "l'Univers observable i ocult" per mitjà de sessions d'astronomia que inclouen classes, activitats pràctiques, observacions nocturnes amb els telescopis de l'observatori, a més d'altres activitats com esports o excursions.

L'ESO i la SEA (Sociedad Española de Astronomía) ofereixen 2 beques de participació respectivament.

Dates

• del campament, del 26 de desembre de 2016 a l'1 de gener de 2017.
• d'inscripció: abans del 4 d'octubre de 2016.

Programa

El programa detallat el podeu trobar aquí.

Places:

Hi ha 56 places per a joves de països pertanyents a l'ESO, o a la xarxa de difusió de l'ESO i un nombre de places es reserven per a joves d'altres països. Els participants hauran d'estar cursant secundària en el moment de la realització del campament.

Inscripció

Consisteix en omplir un formulari que es troba a la plana dels campaments i enviar un vídeo de 3 minuts en anglès sobre el tema "I would like to invent/discover... because" que serà considerat com una presentació on es mostra l'interès del sol·licitant pel camp d'astronomia.

Preu

500 €, inclou pensió complerta a l'hostal Saint Barthelemy, supervisió de personal professional, activitats d'astronomia i lleure, material, excursions, transport intern i assegurances. Es facilitarà un autobús entre l'observatori i l'aeroport de Malpensa (Milà).

Beques

• Beca ESO: l'estudiant que presenti la millor proposta de participació obtindrà un viatge gratis patrocinat per l'ESO que inclou el cost del campus i transport fins allà.
• Beca SEA: la "Sociedad Española de Astronomía" per quart any consecutiu concedeix una beca a un estudiant espanyol, que cobreix el desplaçament, el cost del campus i l'estada.

Terminis

Les inscripcions estan obertes fins el 4 d'octubre. La selecció dels candidats a beques i altres participants es farà pública el 16 d'octubre. La confirmació de participació pels estudiants acaba el 30 d'octubre. La beca de la SEA s'atorgarà un cop surtin els noms dels seleccionats per l'ESO a finals d'octubre.

Més informació

• Plana dels campaments de l'ESO
• Plana de la SEA referent als campaments i a la beca

Oak House Family Day 2016

Welcome to family day 

(Saturday 11th of June)

If it isn't the 11th yet then keep reading.....

On family day the labs (Drosophila, Gaudí and Marie Curie) will be a hive of activity.

There will be demonstration experiments (all the messy, loud and explosive ones).

There will be hands on experiments that you can try (you know you want to touch the Van der Graaf and see if your hair stands up on end!)

There will be Lego robots for you to try and control.

A lots of examples of the work that our Science students do during the course of the academic year.

Come and see us from 10:00 until 13:30. Try out a few experiments. Come and have a chat! There will be something there for everyone!

See you there!

(Look for the tree.....!)

New technique produces real randomness

Ask a computer to pick a random number and you’ll probably get a response that isn’t completely unpredictable. Because they are deterministic automatons, computers struggle to generate numbers that are truly random. But a new advance on a method known as a randomness extractor makes it easier for machines to roll the dice, generating truly random numbers by harvesting randomness from the environment.

Supplied by Alex A. 3º B

Control a computer with your tongue?

This article talks about how Emma, a 12th grader at White Oaks Secondary School in Oakville,
Canada. She has made a tongue-controlled computer mouse that could fit in a paralyzed patient's
mouth. She used the mouth guards that football players use and modified it by making 5 holes, this
acts as a mouse four of the switches are for going up, down, left and right. The fifth switch acts as
a button as if you were cliking. This could help paralyzed people in the future to be able to use a
computer.

Supplied by Guillem D. 3ºY

After a long a long day of photosynthesizing, do trees fall asleep?

It depends on how you define "sleep," it has been proven that trees do relax their branches at night, which might be a sign of snoozing, scientists said. To discover this researchers set up lasers that measured the movements of two silver birch trees (Betula pendula) at night. One tree was in Finland and the other in Austria, and both were monitored from dusk until morning on dry, windless nights in September for movements created by the environments to be the minimum possible. This was close to the solar equinox, when daylight and night time are about equal.The laser scanners used infrared light to illuminate different parts of the tree, each for fractions of a second. This provided enough detail to map each tree within minutes, the researchers said.

The silver birches' branches and leaves sagged at night; they reached their lowest position a few hours before sunrise, and then perked up again during the wee hours of the morning, the researchers found.

So if this is considered a form of sleep, trees after all might sleep after dark, according to precise laser measurements that detected the plants' branches drooping at night.

Eetu Puttonen said: "Our results show that the whole tree droops during night, which can be seen as position change in leaves and branches,", "The changes are not too large, only up to 10 centimeters [4 inches] for trees with a height of about 5 meters [16 feet]."

It's unclear if the sun "woke up" the trees or if they relied on their own internal circadian rhythm, the researchers said. But "the fact that some branches started returning to their daytime position already before sunrise would suggest this.The finding isn't too surprising, but oddly enough it hadn't been studied until now, the researchers said. Most living organisms have day and night circadian rhythms, and any gardener will notice that some plants open their flowers in the morning and that some trees close their leaves at night.

Supplied by Carol Mar. 3º Y

SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT

The "Schrödinger's cat" experiment was created by Erwin Schrödinger in 1935 and demonstrates superposition in quantum theory. It proves that the conflict between what quantum theory tells us, where we know the nature and behaviour of matter, and what we observe to be true all depends on what we see with our eyes. This is due to the fact that we never know the actual truth of what the behaviour of the matter is until we see it with our own eyes.

The experiment consists in placing a living cat into a steel chamber that has a vial containing a very small amount of hydrocyanic acid inside. If the acid decays it causes a mechanism to release a hammer which will to break the vial and therefore kill the cat.

The observer, on the other hand, will never know if the acid has decayed and released the hammer and therefore won't be able to prove if the cat is dead or alive. Here the quantum law states that the cat is dead and alive at the same time, this is called superposition of states. Meaning that we only know for sure the behaviour and state of the cat once we open the chamber. Once we do so the superposition is lost as the cat then will either be alive or dead but not both. This can be called "observer's paradox" where there are no true results if observation isn't used.

It has even been proven that superposition happens at the subatomic level as a particle can be in more than one place at once. In conclusion, this experiment shows how even though we may predict the behaviour of matter, we will never be truly able to predict it's state until we use observation. Meaning that during the period of time while various results can be possible (cat being alive or dead) all of the results are happening at once (superposition) until we observe the matter (open the chamber) and superposition is lost.

by Clara N. 3ºY

HOW COULD THE SEASON OF YOUR BIRTH AFFECT YOU?

"The season a person is born in influences a wide range of things: from risk of allergic disease, to height and lifespan. Yet little is known about how a one-time exposure like the season of birth has such lasting effects."

This was said by researchers at the University of Southampton and although they don't have complete answers, they are one step closer to understanding how one's season of birth is linked to risks of allergy later in life.

Finnish scientists tested about 1000 children born between 2001 and 2006 in southeast Finland for sensitisation to food allergens up to the age of 4.

Results showed that the children that ended their first three months of development during April and May, were three times more likely to become allergic to milk and eggs than kids in the same stage of development in the winter. And those born in fall or winter have higher levels of antibodies to allergies than babies born in the summer. This could be because of the timing of the baby’s first chest infection as colds tend to be more common in winter and therefore more antibodies are produced, or because of the levels of allergens such as pollen and house dust mite which vary by season.

Other theories include seasonal variations in sunlight, which could affect vitamin D levels, and maternal diet as price and availability of fruit and vegetables vary by season.

The study is published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

By Inés L. 3º B

Octopi are climate change resistant

Scientists think that climate change might be helping octopi as they are able to adapt to it.
scientists call cephalopods weeds of the sea, as they have a unique set of biological
evolutionary traits, including rapid growth, short. And others such as long. Lifespans and
flexible development. In 1951 reasercher's started too look for big fish in all the oceans ,
they found big octopuses in the pacific ocean in australia, researches all so found big
bunches of predators but even though.


Andrea M. 3º Y

1,284 New Planets and counting

NASA Just Announced that there are 3,264 planets in total outside our solar system.

NASA's Kepler telescope has detected the largest sample of planets to this day. Researchers say thanks to the Kepler telescope, it is possible to know whether there are more planets than stars, and to vaguely identify exoplanets (planets outside the solar system). Other than the ones announced in May, Kepler has detected 1327 possible candidates, with a 99% chance of them being planets.

This NASA project was originally designed to track down planets that could be potentially habitable planets, and it has now confirmed the existance of 9 rocky planets in a habitable zone.

The planet named Kepler-186f orbits a star (classified as an M dwarf or red dwarf) similar to our sun, in what is known as the Kepler-186 system, about 500 light-years from Earth. Although it's in a habitable zone, it is still unknown if the planet is habitable for humans. It all depends on the planet's atmosphere, temperature and other factors. Although it's considered to be the Earth's older cousin, there is still a lot to be discovered.

Sara G. 3ºBlue

Effects of electromagnetic waves on the biological systems

The electromagnetic spectrum is a combination of different waves that range from more
hazardous, like X-rays or Gamma rays and others that people think don't really affect the
human body negatively: radiowaves or microwaves. Electromagnetic waves are produced
by the motion of electrically charged particles. These waves can travel through a
vacuum, where there are no particles and they can also travel through air or other
substances.
In 1935, two scientists, Burr and Northrop, did a study and published the effects of
stable voltage on biological systems. A lot of other scientists found that that stable
voltage gradients led to many drastic changes in the organism, including growth and
local injury. Other studies have shown that these effects were associated with changes
in distribution of ions.
On the one hand, it is very positive that technology has evolved and is innovative, as it
makes life easier, however, it may also involve components that have negative effects. A
discussion about the adverse effects of electromagnetic waves on the biological life has
been going on since the discovery of electricity in the 19th century. Electromagnetic
waves generated by many natural and human-made sources can travel for long distances
and play a very important role in daily life. In particular, the electromagnetic fields in
the radiofrequency zone are used in communications, radio and television, and many
other systems. As there have been so many technological innovations, the use of
electromagnetic fields gradually increases, and by this, people are exposed to
electromagnetic waves at levels much higher than those present in nature.
Particularly, the increasing number of mobile phone users is increasing dramatically, and
is concerning scientists, as it has radiowaves and has damage to people exposed to
these. Since mobile phones are used in positions that are very close to the human body
and require a large number of base station antennas, the public and the scientists have
questions in their mind about the impact of mobile phone networks on health. It is
predicted, that radiowaves in mobile phones have long term effects on human bodies, so
therefore they should be used in positions that are farther away from the body

By Laura C. 3º B

A 3D print that Squeezes out gummies

Dylan's candy bar has just unveiled a printer, which they call magic candy factory,that can print any
design you want in about 10 minutes. It is explained that the machine works by pushing molten
gummy goop out of a controllable nozzle that you can manipulate to make different designs.

By Marc R. 3º B

Acid rain in the Philippines

The past 23 of February, the Greenpeace International warned the government of the Philippines that in various yields there were specifically dangerous plants as they would cause acid rain thought the years. That information was obtained by the Asia-Pacific region as they said that apparently the dangerous plants emitted Mercury and it was transformed into a gaseous substance which ascends to the atmosphere. In theory this gaseous substance will descend in the form of acid rain. This will affect the ecosystems of the Philippines as if something harms one part of an ecosystem it can have an impact on everything else, wether it's the water, the soil, the plants or the animals. If we go into much more detail we can see that acid rain affects the ecosystems in different ways, a good example could be how acid rains affects aquatic environments, such as streams, lakes, and marshes where it can be harmful to fish and other wildlife. As it flows through the soil, acidic rain water can extract aluminum from particles which then flow into streams and lakes. An increase in acid would also mean an increase in the aluminum is released to the ecosystem. This then affects how animals and plants in the sea live, as either plants or animals can just live in a specific PH, if the PH range increases or decreases, biodiversity would decrease as these plants and animals would die. Another example would be how acid rain affects plants and trees, as dead or dying trees are a common sight in areas effected by acid rain. Acid rain not only raises the Ph of the soil which harms the nutrition of the trees but also removes minerals and nutrients from the soil that trees need to grow. These issues lead to eutrophication because of soil erosion, water pollution as they want crops to grow faster. The conclusion would be that we need to stop burning fossil fuels or using anything that contaminates the atmosphere and causes acid rain.

By Marina G. 3º Blue

Could cellphone radiation be a cause of cancer?

Scientists from the U.S national toxicology program have carried out a 25 million study on
rodents to test the link between cancer and excessive exposure to the radiation emitted
from wireless devices(mobile phones,iPads,laptops).They exposed the rodents to different
radiation levels for about nine hours a day while the rats still carried out their every day
activities during their life span of two-years.The results showed that some of this exposure
is associated with the formation of rare cancers in about two cell types in their brain and
heart.It also showed that it varies between sexes as there were more effects were found in
male rats than in female.Ron Melnick,a scientist who helped in the design of the study
states that "earlier studies had never found that this type of radiation was associated with
the formation of these cancers in animals at all. But none of those studies followed as
many animals, for as long or with the same larger intensity exposures".It is still to
determine if humans can suffer from the same effect although The International Agency for
Research on Cancer already classified it as a possible cause for cancer in 2011.While this
is still to be confirmed we can follow safety steps to reduce the risk such as using the
speakerphone,using your phone while it's on a desk,using a wired headset whenever you
can or switching your electrical devices off at night.

supplied be Estela P. 3º B

Where did that turbine blade get smacked?

Each years in the whole world lots of bird die because of turbines.

In the United States alone, more than 100,000 birds die because

of this. But those turbine blades can suffer damage, too. Now,

Jonathan has figured out a way to narrow down the search for

damaged spots on whirling blades.

What Jonathan did was to put some sensors on each whirling blade to

detect where the impact had occurred. If the sensor near the tip

felt the vibrations first, the impact would have happened on the

outer half of the blade.

A very good use of sensor technology to make detection of faults faster and easier.

By Álvaro M. 3º Blue

The Five Genes that Shape your Nose

Researchers have found that there are five genes that give your nose its shape. They categorised 14 facial features of more than 6000 men and women in Central and South America. The researchers then analyzed if any of those features (lip shape, nose shape and others) were associated to particular genes. They discovered that GLI3 and PAX1 were involved with the growth of cartilage and and were linked to the breadth of our nostrils. DCHS controlled the nose's pointiness, RUNX2 was associated with how wide the nose bridge is and EDAR (which was already known to be related to ear and tooth shape and hair texture) affects chin protrusion.

These discoveries could help to understand how the human face evolved and why different ethnities have different features. It could also help forensic scientists to reconstruct a face using genetic samples.

Pilar E.

3ESO BLUE

WATER POLLUTION

Scientists are now able to detect more pollutants in more of the Earth's freshwater bodies such as lakes, rivers, groundwater, etc. This freshwater bodies contains traces of contaminants from birth control pills and sunscreen to pesticides and petroleum.

Most of this pollution is synthetic pollution (the man made waste such as plastics, cans, the release of unwanted excess products, the products produced that are thrown to the water, etc.). F

reshwater is also the end point for biological waste, in the form of human sewage, animal excrement, and rainwater runoff flavored by nutrient-rich fertilizers from yards and farms. This nutrients finally end up into the seas, sometimes forming algaes that void oxygen and therefore aquatic life is affected.

Fast Facts

In developing countries, 70 % of industrial wastes are dumped untreated into waters, polluting the usable water supply.

On average, 99 million pounds (45 million kilograms) of fertilisers and chemicals are used each year.

Portland, Oregon, is actively pursing “green roofs” and “green streets” to prevent sewer overflows into the Willamette River. Chicago, Illinois, now has more than 517,000 acres (209,222 hectares) of vegetated roofs—more than any other U.S. city—which are helping to catch storm water, cool the urban environment, and provide opportunities for rooftop gardens.

Supplied by Jieni C. 3º Blue

BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER

A new study has divided some species of bird into groups of more and less
aggressive males. Researchers test the response of male collared flycatchers
to female birds, to a strange object, and to other males. They found that each
type of individual displayed consistent behavour in each of these situations.
However, they also found that the birds more likely to take risks also were the
ones most likely to be trapped and this prooves that raising important
questions about the skewed sample set presented when researchers based
their findings on animals caught in traps.

A NEW STATE OF WATER?

The article talks about a strange new behavior in water molecules inside crystals of beryls due to quantum-mechanical effects that let the water molecules face six different directions at the same time. The arrangement changes a lot when seen in this mineral, scientists have found that hydrogen atoms of some water molecules trapped in the crystal structure become "smeared out" into a six-sided ring. Water molecules pass through a tunnel” through seemingly-impossible physical barriers. Water molecules are delocalized in 6 directions or channels.

When the crystals are cooled down, different effects occur. Instead of getting bigger with temperature (expected) it gets smaller. They say that this might occur due to two reasons, by either quantum tunneling or magnetic transitions. It is proven that it occurred due to quantum tunneling.

In their lowest energy states, the water molecules do not have enough energy to rotate to one of the positions. But in the areas where the channels narrow so just a single water molecule can fit, the atoms in the water molecule can "tunnel" through the energy barrier that prevents rotation. After a few  experiments it has been discovered that the "molecules were forming a "double-top" shape, with the proton nucleus of each hydrogen atom delocalizing into a six-sided ring around the central oxygen atom."

Marc I. 3º Y

http://www.livescience.com/54710-strange-six-sided-water-molecule-found.html

Wiping out gut bacteria impairs brain

There has been a study that has been done in mice showing that antibiotics kill bacteria that are found in our digestive sistem. By killing this bacteria, what the article explains is that it makes your mood change in the way that maybe by killing that bacteria you could feel depressed, anxious, angry, etc...

It does not only change your mood but it slows down the birth of new brain cells. This had an effect on memory. Scientist showed this by putting objects that the mice had already seen infront of them and by observing their responses see if they recognised them or not. Results were that many of them weren't able or took longer to recognise them.

Scientists have also seen that injections of specific immune cells made the new brain nerves boost in its growth. Mice showed recovery after treating them with these injections of immune cells in memory and growth of Nerve cells.

Supplied by Cali L. 3º Y

Chunks of Earth's Mantle are "Peeling off"

Scientist have begun to suspect that chunks/parts of the lower North American tectonic plate (upper area of mantle) are starting to peel off and sink. The material taking the role of replacing this is said to be a gooey substance from the asthenosphere.

The relatively frequent earthquakes could be the result of the peeling off of the lower North American tectonic plates. It is said for it to be probable for the tectonic plates to continue peeling off,this will lead to more earthquakes in the future not only located on that area of the planet, but on other parts of the world.

Source: http:///54695-chunks-of-earth-mantle-are-peeling-off.html[1] 

---

http://www.livescience.com/54695-chunks-of-earth-mantle-are-peeling-off.html

supplied by Rahul N. 3º Y

Watching earth from space can change your outlook on life

Most of us have only seen the earth from the view from the ground. Since manned spaceflight started fewer than 600 people have seen earth from space. This study shows that the experience of astronauts of seeing the earth from space changed their perspective on life and made them more conscious about all the atmospheric pollution there is nowadays. Most of the astronauts explain things about something called the overview effect. One interviewed astronaut says that "It is actually incredible to see aurora from the surface of the earth, to directly be part of the interaction between the sun and the atmosphere, and the magnetic field looks like a prism or a rainbow or something". Another one says that "When the sun comes up, it comes up so fast and furious. The colours change. It's miraculous". " You notice how the atmosphere looks and how fragile it is", explains another astronaut. When you are at ground level you can't see it and don't realise how much we are polluting the planet, "It makes you more of an environmentalist after spending so much time looking down at our planet" says an astronaut from NASA. Going to space and seeing the earth from there is an incredible and a one in a life time experience

Supplied by Paloma B. 3º Y

Why Alzheimers can end up benefitting your health

Alzheimers disease has been found to be able to protect the body from pathogens. Amyloid- beta, a substance that gums up the brains of the affected, contains a protein capable of imprisoning pathogens that threaten the body. Before this experiment, A-beta was tested in dishes and was found able to defeat the pathogens. The mice in this new experiment were engineered to have the human form of Amyloid-beta and the ones with more of it were able to defend themselves from the disease better than the others.

A group of scientists lead by Rudolph Tanzi, from Harvard Medical School, is conducting an experiment to compare the amount of microbes in a healthy brain compared to one with Alzheimers disease. This would a relationship between the pathogens which could help with finding a cure for the disease

Supplied by Alexandra B. 3º Y and Carol Maj. 3º Y

Plasma

Plasma is the fourth stage of matter, it is the most common stage of matter that we know about, it comes from you super heating gas to 3,414 °C or by subjecting gas to electromagnetic waves by using a laser or a microwave generator. Plasma is like gas in many ways except you can create shape out of plasma by applying a magnetic field to it. Plasma has amazing potential for power due to it being found in between charged particles, and being very efficient with power meaning that if we could find away to control plasma then we could much more easily power our world.

Supplied by Harry O'C. 3º Y

One of the key genes responsible for the onset of type 2 diabetes has been identified......

One of the key genes responsible for the onset of type 2 diabetes has been identified, opening up possibilities to develop a drug to combat the condition.

Diabetes is the fastest-growing chronic condition in Australia with the preventable type 2 form accounting for 85 per cent of all cases. Obesity is one of the key risk factors in type 2 diabetes, said senior author Professor Damien Keating. "A proportion of obese people don't develop type 2 diabetes, and we don't understand why". This study, he said, showed for those at risk, the onset of type 2 diabetes was also linked to the failure of the beta cells in the pancreas — resulting in lower insulin secretion, mitochondrial dysfunction and increased oxidative stress. Previous studies have shown lower insulin secretion and mitochondrial dysfunction were also mirrored in the beta cells of many people with Down syndrome, who have an extra copy of chromosome 21.In previous work, the Scandinavian co-authors on the current study had uncovered about 5,000 genes with altered expression in beta cells of people with type 2 diabetes, but they had little idea which were causing reduced insulin secretion.

Using four mouse models — two with high blood sugar and two without — Professor Keating's team identified genes duplicated in Down syndrome that contributed to problems with insulin secretion."We then looked to see if any of these [genes] had increased expression in type 2 diabetes beta cells and this produced a single candidate gene called RCAN1," he said.Keating said their study then showed over-expression of RCAN1 caused defects to the beta cells that mimicked changes in type 2 diabetes and reduced insulin secretion. "We are now testing to see if we can reverse this process in mouse models by looking at whether we can increase insulin secretion. If you can do that in people, you don't get type 2 diabetes," he said. Professor Keating said the approach of comparing genetic analysis of the general population with those with Down syndrome could be used to investigate the genetics behind other diseases that are more common in people with the condition.

supplied by Amber G. 3º Y

Polar bears swim for days as sea ice retreats

Polar bears are excellent long-distance swimmers. Some can travel for days at a time, with only
very short rest stops on ice flows. But even polar bears have their limits. Now a study finds they
are swimming longer distances in years with the least amount of Arctic sea ice. And that worries
Arctic researchers.
Swimming a long time in cold water takes a lot of energy. Polar bears can tire and lose weight if
forced to swim too much. The amount of energy they now must put into traveling in search of food
could make it hard for these predators to survive.
Polar bears are swimming longer distances because of a global warming. This climate change is
causing temperatures in the Arctic to warm faster than in other parts of the world. The result is
more melting of sea ice and more open water.

The climate change is affection a lot in animals specially in polar bears as the ice is
melting and they don't have a fixed place to life. Some polar bears need to swim a whole
week for finding a pice of ice to stay there. This have a lot of consequences as they are
getting very thing and they dye as they don't have food or a place to sleep. This is very
sad but all of this is the fault of humans as me contaminate a lot and we create the
climate change

Berta P. 3º Yellow

Zapping clouds with lasers could change the planet's temperature.

Blasting lasers at cirrus clouds could help scientists tweak the earth's temperature by breaking up the ice crystals found in them.

Clouds with more numerous, smaller ice particles, these reflect more light. This technique could fight against global warming by making clouds reflect more light back into space.

Scientists from the University of Geneva injected water drops into a chilled chamber which mimics the cold temperature high in the atmosphere. The water froze into spherical ice particles, scientists blasted these with bursts of laser light. The laser hits the ice particle forming ultra hot plasma which produces a shock wave which breaks the ice particle forming smaller ice particles. Although applying this to clouds would be a long long way into the future, waiting for advances in laser technology. But this technique could also backfire as cirrus clouds also trap heat, (greenhouse effect) and and warm up the earth more. This method could possibly work by targeting certain types of cirrus clouds. Another negative aspect would be the fact that fossil fuels are burnt to power the lasers.

Divya D. 3º B

SCIENTISTS MEASURE INTUITION

This new study, published online in April in the journal Psycological Science, researchers have devised a technique to measure intuition and say that this "sixty sense" can play a real part when someone is making a decision. So, after using this new method they found evidence stating that people can use their intuition to make more accurate, faster and confident decisions.

The researchers suggest that intuition generally refers to a brain process that gives people the ability to make decisions without the use of analytical reasoning. Previous studies didn't actually measure intuition because researchers didn't really know how to quantify it. But Joel Pearson, an associate professor of psychology and his colleagues came up with a series of experiments to determine whether people were using their intuition to help guide their decision making or judgment. They define what we call intuition as a "nonconscious emotional information".

In the experiments, the researchers showed small groups of about 20 college students black and white images of dots moving around on one half of a computer screen. The researchers asked the students to decide whether the dots were generally moving to the left or to the right. As the participants made this decision, on the other side of the computer screen, they saw a bright, flashing square of color.

But sometimes, for example, each image was aimed at making people feel either a positive emotion (a puppy or a baby) or a negative emotion (a gun or a snake). However, the participants were not aware that they were being shown these emotional images because they flashed at speeds too fast to be consciously perceived.

The results showed that when the participants were shown the positive subliminal images, they did better on the task: They were more accurate in determining which way the dots were moving. But they also responded more quickly and reported feeling more confident in their choice. The researchers, with this experiment, proved that the participants became better at using their intuition over time, where they kept using it more frequently.

In the future, the researchers might be able to develop a method to train people to take advantage of their intuition and then test them to see if their intuition truly improved with more frequent use and practice, Pearson said.

Supplied by Inés Gibernau

MAGIC MUSHROOMS BEAT DEPRESSION

Link of article:

 http://www.livescience.com/54777-psilocybin-may-treat-depression.html

A 60 year old man thinks he could have found the solution to a depression, but with a very particular food, magic mushrooms!!

They are actually not magic mushrooms they are a hallucinogenic compound called psilocybin, but everybody knows them as magic mushrooms. These mushrooms can find the cure to depression, but a lot of investigation still has to go into this "medicine"

To make sure that this really works, the scientist worked with a group at 12 people with depression, they gave them a small proportion of these magic mushrooms. Three months later more than half of the people had reduced their symptoms drastically. Previously the people who they had tested this on had not seen improvements when they had taken antidepressants medications.

So overall there could be a small chance they have found the cure to depression you using these uniques magic mushrooms.

Emma M. 3º Y

World octopus and squid populations

Ocean with rising temperatures is reducing fish populations and acidifying waters by human
activity. New research shows that these changes to marine environments are leading to an
increase of cephalopods, the invertebrate group that includes octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish.
Scientists have noticed a growth in cephalopod. But conclusions from national fisheries can be
tricky. Because changes in catch amounts can also be influenced by factors the change in the
amount of time people spend fishing, like the price of fish and the cost of fuel, or by technological
advances that allow fishers to catch more. So an increase in cephalopod catch doesn’t necessarily
mean there are more cephalopods in the ocean. Climate change could have unpredictable effects,
squeezing generation times to less than a year and some other species are becoming extinct.
Scientists state that many cephalopods are cannibals. “There’s always competition stabilizing
things,” she says. “I don’t know whether we’ll eat them first or they’ll start eating each other".

Supplied by Gabriela Maurel

3-D TVs are a work in need of progress

The evolution of the new developments in the method of photography known

as holography is making a big progress that three-dimensional television

might be a reality before 1984, as Mr Orwell’s predicted in a novel. If you

don't what's a hologram, a hologram is a recording of an interference pattern

reflected from an object. From this recording, the object can be reconstructed

visually in a three-dimensional form.

Television viewers are still waiting for the 3-D revolution. Although 3-D TVs

went on sale in the United States and elsewhere in 2010, they have yet to

take off. Most of these sets, require to have a special glasses or have limited

viewing angles, and none of them use a holography to create an illusion.

Supplied by Alex M. 3º B

Enzymes

Enzymes are biological catalyst that can speed up and control chemical reactions in the body with
out being used up by the reactions.In our body there are over 3000 unique enzymes that are
involved in over 7000 enzymatic reactions.Most of our foods don't contain a high concentration of
enzymes, the average diet is almost completely void of enzymes.Also cooked and processed foods
makes the enzymes change shape denaturing them.
Papaya,Pineapple,and Bee pollen contain a high concentration of enzymes.Papaya has a rich
source of proteolytic enzymes such as papain which helps in the process of digestion.Pineapple
contains cysteine proteinases that are enzymes that are not limited to just digestive
benefits.Lastly pollen Bee is considered one of the most complete foods that nature provide us it
contains amylase, catalase, cozymase, cytochrome, dehydrogenase, diaphorase, diastase,
pectase, and phosphatase that are used for many metabolic reactions in our body.
To conclude people will have to eat this foods if they want to be healthy and full of
enzymes.Papaya,Pineapple and Bee pollen will have to be added to our diets to improve and be
healthier.People that have this diet have better quality life.

http://www.naturalnews.com/048004_enzymes_digestion_food_sources.html

By Javier de S.

ANTIBIOTICS- GOOD OR BAD

Antibiotics strong enough to kill off gut bacteria can also stop the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus, a section of the brain associated with memory, reports a study in mice published May 19 in Cell Reports. Researchers also uncovered a clue to why a type of white blood cell seems to act as a communicator between the brain, the immune system, and the gut.

Antibiotics were given to mice, enough to free them of intestinal microbes and the others weren’t. They were the tested for a memory test and the mice that ingested the antibiotics were worse at this test than the ones that didn’t. This has been proven countless times.

supplied by Drishti B. 3º B

"That's one small step for the man, one giant leap for mankind"

On the 20th July 1969, the american astronaut called Niel Armstrong was the first person to arrive and stand on the moon. In
that moment is when the famous quote appeared "That's one small step for the man, one giant leap for mankind", quoted by
him. Since then, there has been missions exploring further than the moon, but without anyone inside as we don't know the
dangers outside. This missions have arrived to Mars, Pluto and other planets.
There has also been presentations for children to explain them what happens in these missions and their risks. A writer called
Jeffrey Kluger that explained the history of space exploration and where was headed the next mission. He also explained the
expedition to Pluto and that the NASA was going to try to reach the outer layer of the solar system.

By Christina L. 3º B

How do microbes make ice?

If you’ve ever skied, or ever been in a mountain you've always noticed if the snow is artificial or
not, for some mountains it's unknown, but in other it's very common as there very little snow and
has to be created by canons . To make fresh powder (snow), humans have co-opted a specialized
protein from a bacterium called InaZ that jump-starts the freezing process when water is close to
0°C, but it also has a disadvantage, that added in excess this protein could damage the host
plants.

by Pablo B. 3º B.