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] 

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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.

Surface older than the centre?

Our planet's outer surface is more than two years older than the center.

In Einstein’s general theory, a clock placed at Earth’s center will tick ever-so-slightly slower than a clock at its surface. Such time shifts are determined by the gravitational potential, a measure of the amount of work it would take to move an object from one place to another would be slightly higher as you are against gravity.

Over the 4.5 billion years of Earth’s history, fractions of a second adds up to a core that’s 2.5 years younger than the planet’s crust, researchers estimate in the May European Journal of Physics. Theoretical physicist Richard Feynman had suggested in the 1960s that the core was younger, but only by a few days.

by Arturo B., Carlos E. & Anne T. 3ºB
and Martina F. 3º Y

Cannabis increases the noise in your brain

A new study, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, reports that cannabis increases random
neural activity, hear higher noises, in the brains of healthy human subjects. The findings suggest
that increased neural noise may play a role in the psychosis-like effects of cannabis.
"At doses roughly equivalent to half or a single joint, cannabis produced psychosis-like effects and
increased neural noise in humans," explained senior author Dr. Deepak Cyril D'Souza, a Professor
of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine.
"The dose-dependent and strong positive relationship between these two findings suggest that the
psychosis-like effects of cannabis may be related to neural noise which disrupts the brain's normal
information processing," added first author Dr. Jose Cortes-Briones, a Postdoctoral Associate in
Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine.
Cannabis increases the noise in your brain

Juan F. 3º Yellow

Glass or wood?

Wood is useless for lots of things, for glass too. Lignin is the brownish substance in wood that makes it opaque. It’s made of many small repeating building blocks, Lignin, in turn, bonds tightly to the cellulose and other substances in a plant’s cell walls.

Removing lignin from wood is part of the process of making paper. In general, the more lignin you remove, the whiter the paper becomes.

This opens up many possible new uses for wood. Engineers and architects could use the new material to make large window-like panels that would let lots of natural light into buildings, for example. This might cut down the need for indoor lighting during the day.

Álvaro S. 3º Yellow

Brace yourselves...SUMMER IS COMING!

After a rainy few weeks the sun has decided to reappear over Barcelona, which is great! But it can cause some problems....

Here are some things you should do to help prevent these problems:

1.       Stay hydrated!

In summer it’s hotter and your body needs to cool down. It does this by sweating- the sweat evaporates from your skin and cools you down. You need to drink lots of water to replace the water that you sweat.

If you don’t, your body will become dehydrated, which will give you a headache. If you get severely dehydrated it can damage some of your organs. You don’t want this!

2.       Wear sun cream!

Sunlight contains UV radiation; we need some of this to produce vitamin D to make our bones strong, but too much can cause sun burn. This is bad because sun burn can increase your risk of skin cancer.

Tanning is the melanin in your skin cells turning darker because of the UV radiation, this reduces how much the UV rays can penetrate your skin and potentially damage the DNA in your cells.  Paler people have less melanin, so are more likely to burn.

Sun burn is when your skin has received too much UV radiation and it starts to damage the DNA in the skin cells on the surface.

Sun cream can prevent this from happening. SPF (sun protection factor) is how many times longer you can stay in the sun before you burn. So if you use a low SPF (like factor 15) you need to apply it more often than if you use a high factor (like factor 50). It needs to be applied regularly to work and if you wash it off by going in the sea or in a pool then you should reapply it.

Last year #SunburnTattoo was trending. Don’t do this.... It’s really dangerous and will increase your risk of skin cancer!!

https://www.buzzfeed.com/augustafalletta/people-are-now-purposely-getting-sunburned-for-sunburntattoo?utm_term=.qjXjebd0D#.gijL20zN9

      

Wear sun glasses!

Buy a pair that protects against both UVA and UVB radiation to completely protect your eyes. The retina at the back of your eye can be damaged by exposure to UV radiation, which can cause blindness, so never look directly at the sun- even with sunglasses on!

4      

Wear a hat!

This can stop your head from getting too hot, which could cause heat exhaustion or- worse- sun stroke. The symptoms of heat exhaustion are weakness, nausea, vomiting, feeling light-headed and muscle cramps. This can be treated by going to a cool, shaded place and drinking water or a sports drink. If it is left too long and the body temperature is more than 41ºC it can progress to sun stroke, which is life threatening and needs emergency medical attention.

Follow these rules and you’ll be fully prepared for the summer sun! Happy tanning...