HERE WE ARE!

School Exchange - IES Padre Manjón - Methacthon High School

2012-02-06T18:27:00.014+01:00

As everybody in our class knows, a group of students from Methacthon High School (Pennsylvania, USA) are coming to IES Padre Manjón (Granada, Spain) on an exchange visit on February 17 to spend two weeks here.
That is why I had thought it would be a good idea to prepare some projects with information about Granada and its surrounding area (the coast, the mountains) for them to know us better.
I know that you will be working hard on the projects that you have to present to the class because you are all very good students, you all want to get very good marks and, most of all, because you all want to show our American friends how beautiful our city is and how much they will enjoy their stay with your families and at our school.

In order to get ready for the projects, here you have some pictures and you will have to find out where these places are, what they are: a house, a restaurant, a hotel, a museum, a park, etc. and how to get there.

Unit 3

2012-01-23T18:37:00.004+01:00

Now, it is your turn to find a song and a film connected with all the things we have been talking about in UNIT3

- Ambition / Motivation - Do you remember the story I told you about the man who was sitting in Plaza San Nicolas enjoying the view of the Alhambra and another man offered him a lottery ticket?

- Your plans for the future
- What will you be when you grow up? - Where will you live? What job will you have??

- What would you do if you met your teacher at the disco?

- What would you have done if you had won the lottery last December?

A cruise?

A holiday? A sports car?

More questions to come ......
Please, leave your ideas here. Use what you have learnt in this unit and your IMAGINATION!!!!

What will I be when I grow up?

2012-01-15T17:07:00.011+01:00

Tinker, Tailor,
Soldier, Sailor,
Rich Man, Poor Man,
Beggar Man, Thief.

Children use this short poem or nursery rhyme when they have to choose who will be 'it' (the seeker) when playing hide and seek, but it is also a game to know what job they will have in the future.

This is what the Wikipedia says about it: "Tinker Tailor" is a counting game, nursery rhyme and fortune telling song traditionally played in England, that can be used to count cherry stones, buttons, daisy petals and other items. Its American version is commonly used by children for "counting out," e.g. for choosing who shall be "It" in a game of tag.

The tinker, tailor is one part of a longer counting or divination game, often played by young girls to foretell their futures; it runs as follows:

When shall I marry?

This year, next year, sometime, never.

What will my husband be?

Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich-man, poor-man, beggar-man, thief.

What will I be?

Lady, baby, gypsy, queen.

What shall I wear?

Silk, satin, cotton, rags (or silk, satin, velvet, lace)

How shall I get it?

Given, borrowed, bought, stolen.

How shall I get to church?

Coach, carriage, wheelbarrow, cart.

Where shall I live?

Big house, little house, pig-sty, barn.

- Have you decided what you will be when you grow up???

A scientist? A florist? A potter? A teacher??

A tinker? A doctor?

A flamenco singer? A juggler?

Please, leave a comment with your plans for the future and find one recent film that has the same title as the little poem or nursery rhyme that appears in this post and tell me the name of this film in Spanish, please!
The winner is the student who finds out this title first!!

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-02T18:19:00.005+01:00

Be ecological, caring, generous.
Enjoy your present, prepare yourselves for your future.
Let the wind take your bad times and your problems with it.
You are all young, intelligent and strong.
Be optimistic, then!!

I wish you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR,
full of friendship, love and fulfilled dreams.

Thanks

2011-12-10T20:19:00.002+01:00

Do you remember the text that you had to translate into Spanish as part of the exam last Friday? Here it is, just in case you have forgotten it

DON’T THROW IT AWAY, GIVE IT AWAY!!

The Freecycle website calculates that they’re saving 300 tons of waste a day. In one year, that’s the equivalent to four times the height of Mount Everest. It’s clearly an environmentally friendly scheme, but it has an additional important advantage: members obtain objects that they need, but can’t afford to buy. Their slogan is ‘Changing the world, one gift at a time.’

And now, some of your suggestions:

- La página web de 'El circulo gratis' ...

- En un año es como una equivalencia de escalar el Monte Everest cuatro veces...

- En un año es un peso equivalente al de cuatro veces el peso del Monte Everest ...

- En un año este montón equivaldrá a ...

- En un año es equivalente a cuatro toneladas de hielo en el Monte Everest...

- Es una inmensa equivalente a cuatro veces la altura del Monte Everest...

Thanks for making me smile and even laugh sometimes!!

I expect you do not mind my using these examples to show the rest of the class how funny your translations were. In general, the exams were quite good and I know that all these mistakes are due to all the stress you have been suffering from so many exams in the last two weeks of the term.

Thanks again!

Christmas

2011-11-27T19:33:00.010+01:00

I WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!What is your favourite Christmas song?? And film?? I'll start with one of my favourite songs for Christmas time:

Fairytale of New York by the Pogues

Here is the lyrics

But I like many other songs about Christmas. Here you can see a photo of the Christmas concert that our school choir (Coral Padre Manjón) gave in San Jeronimo Church in Granada to commemorate their 25 years as a choir. And here you can listen to one their songs in that concert. Holy Night I like how they sing and I enjoy their concerts a lot. The song you can hear in this link is a favourite of mine!!

What about you?
Please, leave a comment here and say something about your favourite song and film about Christmas.

I'll tell you about my special Christmas film soon!!

Our planet, our dirty planet

2011-11-15T18:45:00.009+01:00

Don't you think our planet is too full of waste and rubbish?? What can we do with the huge amount of rubbish that we produce every day??

Have you got any ideas?? Here are some suggestions about how to reuse waste. What do you think of them??

Please, leave your ideas here.

Some people in the class have suggested films about Environment. This is the list of films that may be interesting for us,

Marina suggests WALL - E
Mar V thinks that the film THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW is also about Environment.
Belen said a good film could be WATER WORLD with Kevin Costner
Jose Manuel S. suggested HOME
Most of the people in the class suggested AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Now, what do you think?

Perfect for a Halloween Party

2011-10-23T20:38:00.006+02:00

I have found the perfect house for a Halloween Party. There is no need to redecorate it. It is already old and creepy. As you can see in the pic, it is painted in black and full of decorations on the façade.
It has been empty for a couple of years, so I guess it will be full of spiders, bats, worms and probably there is an old skeleton of a cat or a dog hidden in the cellar.
As it is in very bad conditions, I am sure there will be a lot of strange noises produced by walls falling apart, creaking floors and empty water pipes.
There is no electricity, of course, so we will need candles and torches, which will make fantastic dancing shadows during the party.

Would you like to come to this scary, terrifying party??

If so, you will have to answer these questions:

1.- Where do vampires keep their money?
2.- What do you call a witch in a desert?
3.- What musical instrument does the skeleton play?
4.- What do ghosts serve for dessert?
5.- When is it bad luck to meet a black cat?

A good harvest

2011-09-07T19:48:00.002+02:00

Have a happy September!!!

Greetings from the seaside

2011-07-04T20:52:00.004+02:00

Have a great summer holiday!
Enjoy yourselves as much as possible and, please, don't forget to send a postcard with a few lines to your blog!!

Jessie J, Price Tag.

2011-06-22T16:39:00.006+02:00

A wonderful song;
Turn on your speakers, put up the volume, and start to dance and sing...

Jessie J, Price Tag.

Seems like everybody's got a price
I wonder how they sleep at night
When the sale comes first
And the truth comes second
Just stop, for a minute and... smile
Why is everybody so serious?
Acting so damn mysterious
You got your shades on your eyes
And your heels so high
That you can't even have a good time

Everybody look to their left
Everybody look to their right
Can you feel that? (yeah!)
We'll pay them with love tonight

It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance
Forget about the price tag
Ain't about the (ha!) cha-ching cha-ching
Ain't about the (yeah!) b-bling b-bling
Wanna make the world dance
Forget about the price tag (ok!)

And here, the song

Virtual barber shop

2011-06-21T19:39:00.003+02:00

Hi everyone! How are the holidays?
I know the course is over, but I found the following video and I found very interesting. ;)
Before you see it, it is necessary that you should follow the following instructions, but no good to hear :)
1. Connect headphones to your computer (required)
2. Giving "play"
3. Close your eyes.

Enjoy! :D

My interview

2011-06-20T12:47:00.009+02:00

Last Saturday , when the Granada C. F. won the match which played with Elche, I started to talk with my grandfather who was one of the persons that in 6th April 1931 founded the team of the city.
The first thing that I asked him was how he feel about the match, he said to me that he was very proud of his team, but she also said to me that he was embarrassed because of the hooligans of the team that are called "Seccion kolokón" because when the team of Elche was in Granada they started to threw stones and cans.
Then I asked him about the best goal that the Granada CF has achieved in its history and he answered me that in 1959 the Granada CF was second in the ¨Copa del Generalisimo¨ now called ¨copa de s. m. el rey¨, I wanted to know which was the team that won this tournament and he told me that was the Barça, this made me disappointed. At last he made me choose between the Granada and the Real Madrid, I haven't answered yet, and I think that I'll never do it.

This interview isn't real because I've never met my grandfather but I think that he would have answered on this way

My greatest interview:

2011-06-19T19:32:00.003+02:00

There is nobody like my grandmother.

It's obvious that grandparents have a very important role in most of the cultures. In the occidental world this role is usually even more important. Once, somebody told me that his family was the only people from all over the world, who never would leave him; wherever he was...

I asked my grandmother how she had been able to overcome every trouble in her life and while she was thinking about it a few seconds, but finally she replied to me that she could overcome all the problems with my grandfather's help. He had always encouraged her to give her best and to get her goals. I felt astonished because I thought that her answer would be completely different, maybe that all her achievements had been got by herself with so much effort. Of course that this is so, but she put the merit on my grandfather as if she would never had got anything if he had not been there with her.

I said that I looked up to her because I thought she had got everything on her own and she told me that I was right, she had been alone until she was 23 and during those previous years she had made headway because it was the only way to go places but she added that I couldn't forget that no one can be successful and happy without the others.

I remembered an incredible sentence she whispered to me like telling me an important secret or as if she was thinking aloud; ''This life is a continuous long journey where you go away and come back every single time, and probably you will feel alone for many times, but you have to remember everyone who has contributed to make you feel happy and who has left their footprints on you. Once you will have to leave, in the right moment, and all that you will need is to be surrounded by people crying while you are smiling the same as you were surrounded by people smiling were you were born, and you were crying. ''

I came back home and when I arrived I realised that my grandmother was the most courageous and aware person I have ever met. I am proud of my grandmother, and I hope to make her feel proud of me one day.

My grandfather

2011-06-19T18:32:00.004+02:00

Last year in my old school, we had to do an interview with a writer we liked and I chose to interview my grandfather (Rafael Guillén)
The first thing I asked him is what kind of books he wrote and he said that he wrote books of poetry. I asked him if he had won any prizes for his poetry and he told me he dad. In fact he had won the National Prize for Literature in 1994, he told me that in the same year, he had previously been awarded among others important prizes: the Prize Leopoldo Panero in 1966 , the Guipúzcoa Prize in 1968, the Prize Boscan in 1968 and the City of Barcelona Prize in 1969 too.

I also asked him if he has devoted all his life to writing poetry and he said to me that he hadn't, at first he worked in a bank of Granada and much later he began to write poetry.

Finally I asked him if my interview was good and he said i was. And it appears that was true because I got a very good mark!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

2011-06-18T23:01:00.004+02:00

Congratulations to all players in Granada FC and CONGRATULATIONS to all the people who organized and played the school football league!!!

Thanks, Jorge, Julia, Pablo and Mercedes. It would have been impossible without your hard work!!!

Mario Casas by Mª del Mar

2011-06-17T13:37:00.005+02:00

Some days ago, I was lucky to meet a handsome boy all of us have ever seen on TV... His name is Mario Casas. Does it sound familiar?
I didn't lose the opportunity and I did him an interview.

First, I asked him when his birthday was and where he had been born, and he told me that his birthday was on the 12th of June and he had been born in Coruña.
Then, I said that I thought it was obvious but I asked him what he did, and he told me he was an actor and he said that he thought he was one of the most famous actors in Spain, especially among young people.
I asked him what his first important performance had been and he told me that the first time that he had appeared on TV had been to advertise a cologne but his first important performance had been in the movie 'El camino de los ingleses'.
Later, I asked him if he had been a good student when he was at his school, and he said to me that he had been a good student but the subject that had been more difficult for him had been physics and chemistry.
I wanted to know what he would like to do, if he hadn't been actor and he told me that he would like to work as an English teacher because he had been good at languages.
Afterwards, I asked him what was most important for him, family or friends, and he said that he couldn't choose because he thought the two were very important.
Finally, I wanted to know what the TV series that he had worked better had been, and he told me that the TV series in which he had performed was ' Los hombre de Paco'.
As a last question, I asked if he was working on some movie or TV series and he told me that he was working on a TV series called 'El Barco'.
Unfortunately, Mario was in a hurry and I could not ask many more questions, thanked him for his patience with me and gave him two kisses.

I hope to see him another day longer!

Javi

2011-06-16T19:10:00.004+02:00

The interviewer wanted to know about Javi's life.
She asked him about his friends.
He answered that his friends were very different.
"All my friends love music, but each other of them prefers a different kind of music. But the most important thing is that all of them are incredible"
Irene, the interviewer, also wanted to know about Javi's family.
Javi said that he had a younger sister who was very sweet and a bit bad, and then he spoke about his parents. He told her that his mother was very serious but his father was very funny.
Irene asked Javi about his studies.
Javi laughed and then answered. "I love to be in the University, I think that it is the best place in the world, there are all things that you can imagine. I study at the Computer Science Faculty and the people here are very friendly. I really like this place. The different classes are very enjoyable although there are subjects that I hate too, for example, statistics. I don't like this subject at all!"
Irene saw the hear time and said to Javi that it was late. She said goodbye and thanked him.

C.F GRANADA

2011-06-16T00:23:00.005+02:00

Today the Granada football team played versus Elche to get a position in 1ª division. It was an amazing match where the C.F Granada had the control of the match most of the time. They attacked and Elche didn't do anything to win the match! Granada hit the pole twice but they didn't manage to score a goal... The minutes went by and 3 minutes before the end of the match there was a penalty for Granada. All the people were crazy in the city, all the people thought that Granada would win the match! Abel Gomez was chosen for shoot the penalty. He shot and he failed! Granada and the city were very disappointed, but the referee said that the penalty had to be repeated! All the people were crazy again!
Abel was chosen to shoot again. He shot and..... he failed again!
It's impossible!! Granada is disappointed and they must win in Elche if they want to play in 1ª division with the best teams of the world.

INTERVIEW TO LAURA UPS

2011-06-15T19:32:00.007+02:00

Last night, I had the honour of interviewing Laura Ups, the best language teacher.

She is my sister, and I asked her some questions as she had some free time in that moment.

Firstly, I asked her what was her favourite language was, and she replied "French" but she likes English too.

Then, I asked her if she knew other languages and she answered that she knew a little Italian and German. I told her that she had an ability for languages. She told me that she could learn a language with words bases of the language, and she had proved it when some friends wanted to teach her German and it wasn't difficult.

Later, I asked her how she could study LADE while she was teaching English and French to children who are in high schools and she confessed me that it was difficult but she needed the money because she wanted to go to New York. I told her I could go like a photograph but she said to me that firstly she ought to receive the scholarship.

Finally, I told her if I got a good mark in English, we'd go to the beach. She said laughing "of course" and she would invite me to a picnic.

I hope she can go to New York and I hope to have a good mark :)

This is dedicated to Felipe

2011-06-15T18:23:00.007+02:00

I am dedicating this post to Felipe because he is a very good student and because when he finished writing his essay for the exam, he told me -'Teacher, I am sure you will like my essay very much.'
And he was right, I do like it a lot.
And I would like to share it with you.

When you learn a language, you learn more than just a way to communicate

In these years learning a language has become a common thing. You learn it because you need it in your job, or to travel somewhere in the world ...

On the one hand, once you have learned a language you know many more things apart from just the language. While you are studying a language you are learning the culture, the typical food, the important places and monuments from the place where the language comes from. You learn it in reading exercises, in listening exercises, in vocabulary exercises....

On the other hand, nowadays we live in a world full of ‘stress’ and where everybody wants to do a lot of things in a little time. We are losing the tradition of learning a language correctly – that is to say, learning the culture, monuments, typical food, etc. - There are a lot of methods of learning a language that make you sure that you can speak a language with 1000 words or things like that, to make you believe that you will not have to spend much time learning the language.

To sum up, when we learn a language, we learn more than just a way to communicate, but just if we learn it correctly not in a fast way. To learn more than just the language you need TIME (years!)

Interviewing my mom

2011-06-15T17:36:00.005+02:00

When my teacher told me that I had to interview a person who I admired, I didn’t know who the person I admire the most was. Later I realized that that person was my mother because she never surrenders and she works hard to look after her two daughters: my sister and I.

I asked her what she did in her job and what she did to get her family out, and she answered me that her job consisted of being subdirector of nursering in Jaén and she told me that she worked 100 km from our home, so she travelled everyday to Jaén and she returned home in the same day.

Afterwards I asked her how many people worked in her hospitals and what kind of jobs there were in her hospitals. She answered me that she managed four hospitals where three thousand and five hundred people worked. She also answered me that there were more than sixty different professions, including doctors and nurses.

INTERVIEW TO ANTONIO RAMIREZ

2011-06-15T13:58:00.003+02:00

Last weekend, I had the honour of interviewing Antonio Ramirez, the best judoka in Spain.

I invited him to have lunch, while I was asking him some question in order to know what a champion's life is like

Firstly, I asked him when he had started to practise judo and why, and he told me that he had started to practise this sport when he was 4, and he had started because his parents love judo.

Then I asked him if this sport was very hard and he answered it was a really hard sport because you can injure yourself very easily. Also he said that he sometimes had to go to the physiotherapist after a fight, specially if he had lost it.

I also asked him what judo had provided him, he said that judo was a life style, because he should be healthy and strong, and judo helped him to concentrate

Finally I asked him how often he usually trained, and he said that he went to the gym every day, because he wanted to go to the Olympic Games.

We hope that Antonio will come back from London with the gold medal.

COME ON ANTONIO, WE LOVE YOU!! (I´ve posted a photo where you can see him practising judo)

Transplants

2011-06-14T11:46:00.004+02:00

The transplant is a complex medical treatment. With transplants organs, tissues or cells of a healthy person can replace organs, tissues or cells of a sick person.

In some cases, this action serves to save a person's life, in others they help to improve the quality of life, or both.

Blood transplantation is the first example of transplant of which we have information throughout history.

As scientific knowledge has progressed, it has become possible to transplant almost anywhere on the body, such as the first heart transplant performed in 1966 in Minneapolis by Dr. Richard C. Lilehey.

This treatment in now widely used in medicine and greater risk the rejection, because if the transplant is from another person, the body cannot recognize the organ as its own, producing rejection, expulsion and infection of the organ.

One Republic - Secrets

2011-06-14T10:46:00.004+02:00

One Republic , born in 2004, due to the combination of Ryan Tedder, the lead singer, with his friend Zach Filking on guitar, who are joining Eddie Fisher on drums, Brent Kutzler on bass and Drew Brown on guitar.The success of One Republic began during the summer of2006. One year later they released their début album ''Dreaming Out Loud'' produced by Greg Wells. From this album came off their best item called ''Apologize''

I need another story

Something to get off my chest

My life gets kinda boring

Need something that I can confess

Til' all my sleeves are stained red

From all the truth that I've said

Come by it honestly I swear

Thought you saw wink, no

I've been on the brink, so
Tell me what you want to hear

Something that were like those years

Sick of all the insincere

So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

This time, don't need another perfect line

Don't care if critics never jump in line

I'm gonna give all my secrets away
My god, amazing how we got this far

It's like we're chasing all those stars

Who's driving shiny big black cars

And everyday I see the news

All the problems that we could solve

And when a situation rises

Just write it into an album

Singing straight, too cold

I don't really like my flow, no, so
Tell me what you want to hear

Something that were like those years

Sick of all the insincere

So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

This time, don't need another perfect line

Don't care if critics never jump in line

I'm gonna give all my secrets away
Oh, got no reason, got no shame

Got no family I can blame

Just don't let me disappear

I'm going to tell you everything

So tell me what you want to hear

Something that were like those years

Sick of all the insincere

So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

This time, don' need nother perfect line

Don't care if critics never jump in line

I'n gonna give all my secrets away
So tell me what you want to hear

Something that were like those years

Sick of all the insincere

So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

This time, don't need another perfect line

Don't care if critics never jump in line

I'm gonna give all my secrets away

All my secrets away, All my secrets away

Here is the video

The school year is almost over!!!

2011-06-13T19:27:00.003+02:00

Last Friday, after the oral exam, some of us had time for a photo in the school yard with Padre Manjón himself. It's a pity that only half the class is here. The others were having sandwiches or playing football!!

THE PRESTIGE - one of my favourite movies

2011-06-13T18:49:00.013+02:00

THE PRESTIGE

Christopher Nolan is one of my favourite filmmakers. I like him because not only does he direct films, but he is also a writer. He has written many brilliant films like : The Prestige and Inception.( my other favorite movie)

I could talk about the two, but I think that The Prestige is less known than Inception and I think that it is worth that people see it.

So I want to talk about this class of film that after seeing them, you will realize that everything fits and everything makes sense. I want to talk about The prestige.

There are many famous actors in this film. The main ones are: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Scarlett Johansson.

The movie is about two young magicians who begin working in London in the late nineteenth century. One of them is Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), determined and sophisticated. And the other is Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), who is a real magician with skills but he is not able to prove it in front of the public. The two friends work together but after a catastrophic accident, which killed Angier´s wife, their relationship turns into enmity and hatred.

I love this film because you have to be attentive to all details, and you have to concentrate because the film jumps in time and you could lose the thread of history.

So I hope that when you see this film you will enjoy as much or more than I did

My interview

2011-06-12T15:36:00.005+02:00

It was a sunny day. I had just arrived to Los Angeles and I took a taxi to DMC village, whose owner was a famous and wealthy man because of his very strange life. I was on time, so I didn't expect him to be waiting for me at the door. Daniel was wearing a beautiful kilt, he was singing yodeling but he greeted me.

I was sitting on his luxury armchair when we started the interview. The first thing I asked him was how his life was having three nipples. He answered me straight away that it was a special position because everybody was surprised when they discovered it and when they touched them, they felt revulsion but he felt sexy.

Afterwards, I tried to discover where he learnt to yodel. He told me that his grandmother had lived near Heidi's grandfather and the day before he moved to USA he'd met her on a cloud, while they were travelling to the top of the mountain, she had taught him to sing in that way.

I wanted to know how he remembered one of his parties with Freddy Mercury and he told me that they had been best friends, they had shared lots of things, guitars... and that when Freddy'd discovered the third nipple he had been more loving.

I think I met a really interesting person that day, I hope to see him again.

My favourite film is...

2011-06-10T17:09:00.010+02:00

CHICAGO

Chicago was made in USA in 2002 by Rob Marshall. It is a musical film that tells a story taking place in Chicago, where Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a cabaret artist and one night she begins her show and Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) who wants to be famous, is in the public. Roxie wants to became as Velma Kelly but this will cause them to fall from the top and to go to prison due to different charges for murders. There she meets with the legendary lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) who will take the Roxie's case. Roxie's career shines but Kelly will do something to change it.

My favourite scenes from the movie are the tango in the prison and the show "all that jazz".

This is one of my favourite film because Chicago has many dances, shows and it shows us that sometimes our dreams can't be so perfect as we think.

Martha Schiuma

2011-06-10T16:08:00.004+02:00

I visited the famous pianist Martha Schiuma and I interviewed her. It was a great time when she told me all about her and her piano. First I wanted to know why she decided to play the piano when she was a child and she said to me that it was because her mother wanted. Martha didn't really decided to play the piano, it was her mum.

Then I asked her what she felt when she played the piano, and she told me that it was very difficult to answer, she felt something different with each type of music that she played. So I asked her how she felt when she plays the piano and she said to me that she felt more free when she played and when she sang.

Finally, she had to leave to a world tour, so I wanted to know how this world tour was, and she told me, to my surprise, that she cancelled it because she played the piano only for her, she didn't like that people heard her, so her fans would be very angry!

That was all!

My friend Ascen's interview

2011-06-09T20:04:00.003+02:00

So, I've interviewed my friend Ascen about her life. Here it is! Enjoy it!

-Hi Ascen, can I ask you about some things about your life?

-Yes, of course.

-First of all, where are you from?

-I'm from Cordoba but when I was a child I was living here, in Granada, about four years. Then, we came back to Cordoba.

-Have you got any brothers or sisters?

-Yes, I have one brother and one sister. Both of them are younger than me, I'm the oldest.

-And what are their names?

-María and Elías.

-Ok, and what do you do?

-Well, now I'm studying architecture at the university like my brother. I really love it!

-Oh! So your brother studies at the university, too!

-Yes, but he wants to leave it because he wants to became a chef. My parents are angry with him because of this.

-And what about your sister?

-She's at secondary school but the next year she will do Bachillerato. She loves languages, specially Asian languages, because she loves Asian culture. But she also wants to learn English and French. Her dream is to live in Japan or Korea.

-That's amazing! What do you think about it?

-Well, my parents and my brother think that she's crazy but I think that she can do it because she's really keen on it and she won't stop until she gets it.

-You really love her. You have told me you're at university student, where do you live?

-I live in a flat near the university with my friend Paula. We have lived there for three years.

- How are you doing?

-Sometimes it's hard because I miss my family and Cordoba, but I love Granada and I'm having a lot of fun here. Also, I have met a lot of people and they're so nice to me and some of them are from Cordoba too, which is fantastic!

-That's good! Thank you so much!

(Teacher, excuse me for being late!!)

BLINK 182

2011-06-06T23:05:00.005+02:00

Blink-182 is an American pop punk band consisting of vocalist and bass guitarist Mark Hoppus, vocalist and guitarist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker.

Their musical style has been described by various sources as "pop punk" and "punk rock".

One of my favourites song of this group is "First Date" :

FIRST DATE- BLINK 182

And the lyrics:

In the car i just can't wait,
to pick you up on our very first date
is it cool if i hold your hand?
is it wrong if i think it's lame to dance?
do you like my stupid hair?
would you guess that i didn't know what to wear?
i'm too scared of what you think
you make me nervous so i really can't eat
Let's go, don't wait, this night's almost over
honest, let's make this night last forever
forever and ever, let's make this last forever
forever and ever, let's make this last forever
When you smile, i melt inside
i'm not worthy for a minute of your time
i really wish it was only me and you
i'm jealous of everybody in the room
please don't look at me with those eyes
please don't hint that you're capable of lies
i dread the thought of our very first kiss
a target that i'm probably gonna miss
Let's go,don't wait, this night's almost over
honest, let's make this night last forever
forever and ever, let's make this last forever
forever and ever, let's make this last forever
Let's go, don't wait, this night's almost over
honest, let's make, this night last forever
forever and ever, let's make this last forever
forever and ever, let's make this last forever
forever and ever, let's make this last forever
forever and ever, let's make this last forever

And if you want the Spanish translation you can see it here

GUM

2011-06-06T22:38:00.009+02:00

Chewing gum is a type of confection traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For reasons of economy and quality, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle. Chicle is nonetheless still the base of choice for some regional markets, such as in Japan.

HISTORY OF THE GUM

Chewing gum in various forms has existed since at least the Neolithic period. 5,000-year-old chewing gum with tooth imprints, made of birch bark tar, has been found in Kierikki, Yli-Ii, Finland.

The ancient Aztecs used chicle as a base for making a gum-like substance. Women in particular used this gum as a mouth freshener. Many other cultures have chewed gum-like substances made from plants, grasses, and resins.

In 1848, John B. Curtis developed and sold the first commercial chewing gum called The State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum.

Chicle gum, and gum made from similar latexes, had a smoother and softer texture and held flavour better

NEED TO CHEW

The need for chewing has been studied by psychologists and anthropologists. With this research, it was discovered that gum chewing reduces muscular tension and helps you relax.

HOW IS GUM MADE?

1. In a container 500 kilos of pasta are mixed and additives are added to give colour and flavour.

2.The pasta goes to a mill, where it is flattened and shaped into leaves.

3. The sheets pass a cutter, which cuts it into the size you want.

4. The gum is packaged in coloured paper by an automatic machine.

Pieces - Sum 41

2011-06-06T20:01:00.006+02:00

I would like to share with you a song called Pieces, from the Canadian band, Sum 41. The band's members are: Deryck Whibley, Jason McCaslin, Steve Jocz and Tom Thacker. The band is called Sum 41 because it was created 41 days after the beginning ot the summer.
If you want to enjoy this song just click here: Pieces (Sum 41)

My favourite part of the song is:

This place is so empty
My thoughts are so tempting
I don’t know how it got so bad
Sometimes it’s so crazy that nothing could save me
But it’s the only thing that I have

If you believe it’s in my soul
I’d say all the words that I know
Just to see if it would show
That I'm trying to let you know
That I’m better off on my own

I tried to be perfect
It just wasn’t worth it
Nothing could ever be so wrong
It’s hard to believe me
It never gets easy
I guess I knew that all along

If you believe it’s in my soul
I’d say all the words that I know
Just to see if it would show
That I'm trying to let you know
That I’m better off on my own

I discovered this band not a long ago, one friend of mine sent a video of them to me and I really liked their music. I' ve been listening to Sum 41 since that moment. Another song that I love is With me.
I hope you like it! :)

Contraceptives

2011-06-05T21:32:00.006+02:00

The pill appears in the 60s and it was the first contraceptive.

The contraceptive pill was only supered by the abstinence or a surgical operation.
The American biologist Gregory Goodwin Pincus (1903-1967) is considered the father of the contraceptive pill.

In 1953 he and Chang Min Chueh used rabbits as guinea pigs to prove a contraceptive made with hormones.

But today there isn't any a contraceptive that always works, here are the percentages of mistake:

-contraceptives pills: 1%-3%
-male condom: 12%
-female condom: 15%-21%
-vasectomy: less than the 1%
-Feminine sterilization: 0.04%

Interview.

2011-06-05T14:41:00.003+02:00

Hi! I'm Jorge, I'm 16 years old and this interview is about my friend Migue , who is 26 years old and who lives in Granada.

-I said hello to Miguel and I asked him how he was . He said to me hello and that he was very tired, because he had just finished his work.

-I said to him that then, we could talk about his work, for example. He said to me that he worked at a swimming pool and he was a personal trainer.

-I asked him if he was very happy with his work. He said to me that he was very happy and that he thought that it was his life's work.

-I asked him what he did on weekends. He said to me that every weekends he went to the cinema and that he usually ran with his girlfriend Patri.

-I asked Miguel if he had friends at work. He said to me " yes" ,that he had a lot of workmates and that he was very happy.

-I asked Miguel if he knew any famous personal trainer. He said to me that he had been in Madrid and that he had been Julio Tous a famous personal trainer.

In conclusion, I promised myself that I could do the same. Thank you Miguel!

Ireland

2011-06-05T14:33:00.005+02:00

Ireland is a country located in Europe, in front the west coast of Britain. It has an area of 70182 square kilometres and has a population of 4,000,000 inhabitants.

The capital of this country is Dublin, a city which has a population density of 56.91 inhabitants per square kilometre. Dublin is well known by the River Liffey.

Irish is the official language. This language is spoken as first language by people, mostly in the western part of the island. Most of the Irish speak English. The flag has three vertical stripes and his colours from left to right are green, white and orange.

The Republic of Ireland is situated in the North Atlantic and is separated from Britain by the Irish Sea. The north-eastern part of the island is part of the UK. The country has a central plain surrounded by a lot of mountains and hills, where some of the most stunning scenery in Europe. Moreover, the island has some beaches and towering cliffs. The total length of the Irish coastline is 5,600 km. Ireland has a wet and cold climate because it is near the North Pole.

The Irish are very sociable people, and everywhere animated conversations can be heard anywhere in the country, visitors will be welcomed. The dinner, afternoon or evening, is the most important meal. People wear casual clothes. However, women tend to dress up to go to a restaurant or social event. The handshake is the most common way of greeting.

Most of the population is Christian and his political system is the Republic. They got its independence from Britain in 1920.

I wanted to go to Ireland because that sport is much practiced among the Irish and I could teach people to practice a new sport for them: judo.

If you want to know much about Ireland click here , please : Ireland

Imagine : John Lennon

2011-06-05T14:00:00.006+02:00

Hi I have thought, that it can be interesting to listen to this famous song again.
For me , this song is really moving because this song reminds me of my travels.
If you want to know a lot of John Lennon click here, please: John Lennon.

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Imagínate

Imagina que no existe el Cielo
es fácil si lo intentas
sin el Infierno debajo nuestro
arriba nuestro, solo el cielo
Imagina a toda la gente
viviendo el hoy...
Imagina que no hay países
no es difícil de hacer
nadie por quien matar o morir
ni tampoco religión
imagina a toda la gente
viviendo la vida en paz...

Puedes decir que soy un soñador
pero no soy el único
espero que algún día te unas a nosotros
y el mundo vivirá como uno

Imagina que no hay posesiones
quisiera saber si puedes
sin necesidad de gula o hambre
una hermandad de hombres
imagínate a toda la gente
compartiendo el mundo

Puedes decir que soy un soñador
pero no soy el único
espero que algún día te unas a nosotros
y el mundo vivirá como uno

Hallelujah

2011-06-02T16:37:00.004+02:00

Today in class, we've heard the song Hallelujah, from Leonard Cohen. As Dani has said, there are a lot of versions of this song apart from the original one. I specially like this one, from Bon Jovi. About this version, Leonard Cohen has said it is the best version of his song he has ever heard, so I wanted to share it with you

HALLELLUJAH

2011-06-02T16:29:00.008+02:00

Today in class, we heard one of Leonard Cohen's song: Hallellujah. This song has a lot of versions by a lot of singers, but there is a version that I think it is the best. It's from Jeff Burckley. I hope you like it!

The Typewriter

2011-06-01T18:28:00.007+02:00

The typewriter is a mechanism with a set of keys that prints documents on paper. The person who works with the typewriter is the typist. The inventors of the typewriter were Christopher Latham Sholes and his partner Carlos Glidden in Milwaukee,Wisconsin.

In 1873 they sold the patent to the company Remington for 12.000 dollars.

The Remington Typewriter company, created to produce Sholes' machines, manufactured 25.000 copies of his first model, called Model I , but they only sold 1.200 copies.

The famous writer Mark Twain was one of the first people who bought a Remington machine.Soon he acquired skill with it. He was the first author to send a text written with a typewriter to his editor.

The current provision of the signs on the keyboard was designed by Sholes and is known as the QWERTY keyboard, for the six keys on the top row to the left.

In just fifteen years, the typewriter is gone, replaced by the computer. There is one last vestige of the invention of Sholes that has made it through to the electronic age: the QWERTY keyboard.

The aspirin

2011-05-30T22:32:00.005+02:00

The aspirin is the most known drug and the most used in the world. It is a cheap, safe and effective pill.

The aspirin was discovered by Felix Hoffmann, who was a scientist, in 1897 when he discovered acetylsalicylic acid because he wanted to find some medication for his father.

Properties:

Analgesic: this pill can do disappear headache, toothache, muscle ache...

Antipyretic: It can do reduce temperature.

Anti-inflammatory.

Anti-rheumatic: It is use for fight with some acute and chronic diseases.

New possibilities:

Anti-cancerous: The aspirin can reduce the risk of cancer.

Cerebral protector: This pill can protect neurons.

Anti-cataract: The prevention of cataract in old people.

The telephone

2011-05-30T21:23:00.011+02:00

The need for remote communication is as old as man. The invention of the telephone created a world without distances.

The reason of this revolution is Alexander Graham Bell, who in 1876 invented the telephone.

He was born in Scotland, he received his doctorate in medicine and he taught himself to speak well to people with problems with hearing. In one of his experiences noted that, when speaking in front of a thin layer of metal, it vibrated in a way very similar to the voice. By placing the membrane around an electromagnet, the electric flux could repeat what you had said, and could be transmitted by an electric cable.

And he managed to transmit the first sentence of the story told by telephone, which said:

"Mr. Watson, come here, I need you help".

The first plants could accommodate a few subscribers. The terminal operator entered the cable from the caller to contact with someone, the one hand, and the contact that is called in another.

The phone has evolved until the current mobile phones. At first there were phones only in places specialized, then they came to the houses and now they can be transported where you want.
Scientists are still investigating and no one knows what the future holds.

Assisted reproduction

2011-05-30T18:24:00.009+02:00

-Artificial insemination:

Artificial insemination technique is a painless, outpatient and simple technique which consists in the introduction of male sperm into the uterus of women with a cannula.

More information here

-In vitro fertilization (IVF):

Fertilization of egg and sperm is produced in the laboratory. Then, this fertilized egg is transferred to the maternal uterus.

More information here

-Intracytoplasmic sperm injection:

Only sperm is injected into the egg cytoplasm with the help of a microscope and a micropipette.

More information here

Multiple fertilization:

It's the main complication of IVF.

In the UK, almost 50% of babies born by IVF didn't come alone, in the US, 32% were twins and 7% were triplets.

Spanish first test tube baby: Victoria Ana was born in Spain, in Barcelona Clinic Dexeus, in 1984.

By Olga Caballer :)

Quartz Clocks

2011-05-30T18:04:00.018+02:00

Clocks are instrument that measure the time. A watch a mechanism that oscillates at a constant rate, either a pendulum, a spring or a crystal. The search for accuracy and less weight was a constant in the job of Watchmakers. If we discard the atomic clocks and timers, the quartz watches were an accurate revolution on a ancient technology.

Warren Alvison Marrison, a Canadian watchmaker, was its inventor, in 1929 in the USA.

The quartz clock was preceded by many other watches, such as the hourglass of the Middle Ages, the water clock or clepsydra used until the Middle Ages, a sundial used by the Egyptians before 1500 BC and the mechanical clock that appears in Europe in 1300. And, of course, pocket watches and wristwatches that appeared in 1504, but they are seen as luxury until in 1868 he invented the first winding watch.

Quartz watches include the famous Swatch (watches which are very simple and cheap with no possibility of repair and much used by individuals and companies as promotion at the time), Japanese watches (such as Citizen, Seiko, Casio) that feature high precision and low prices and finally the Swiss watchmakers , who are always devoted to luxury watches.

As a curiosity, quartz electric clocks, run by a temporary display by exploiting the piezoelectric property of quartz, by applying an electric field equal to the self oscillation of the crystal, 60 kHz, it oscillates with the same frequency so regular that in turn, stabilizes the alternating current, which moves the hands of a clock analog or electrodes segments that show the numbers on digital clocks

Quartz Watches

And finally I think that my favourite brand watches is Tissot

Television

2011-05-29T19:51:00.010+02:00

Life had never been as it is now, and it never will be the same as it was....

Many inventions have taken several centuries to develop into their modern forms. Each invention may be just one small step on the road to the ultimate goal.

The television was a really big revolution in the communications of that time. This world has become smaller because of the ability to be everywhere that something happens, and its power in society is so strong that it says what is in fashion and what you have to say or think to millions of television viewers. What is more: our free time can’t be thought of without television.

No one can grant, in the topic of the television, who was the inventor of this gadget but we can talk about the people who intervened in this invention:

One of them was Paul Nipkow, who patented in 1884 a system to break down the light in different little points. After ten year the cathode rays were invented by Ferdinand Braum.

The first American star of the television was Félix cat. His adventures were looked in 1928 in all TV shows.

The fist play that was shown on television was “The man with the flower in the mouth” by Pirandello, in 1930.

The first program broadcast on the international television was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

1949 was the year in which the shadow mask tube was developed. It is the beginning of the television with colours. The television broke borders when it started to use satellites of communication to send and receive pictures transoceanic. Finally in 1969 the pictures with the arriving of the man to the moon were seen live on televisions of all over the world.

All the rest we already know. Television has become so much better, with better screens and better quality and colours, and it has become so small that we can look at this in a common mobile phone but it has become so big too that we can look at this as if we were in the cinema watching a film.

At the moment almost everybody has a minimum of one or two high definition television at home. But I sometimes think about what it would happen if we were our parents when they were 5 or 6 years old, most of them didn’t have this gadget… Maybe they were happier than us now…maybe not.

Personally I'm not sure about if it has been the most appropriated invention or the worst substitute to the innocence of the children.

For curious people here you have a link: TELEVISION

By Teresa R. B.

THE RADIO

2011-05-29T19:27:00.003+02:00

The radio is a communication method that sends sound signals by radio waves.

It’s really hard to claim this invention to only one person, but officially it is claimed to Guglielmo Marconi, a Bologna (Italy) physicist who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries.
All radios have an electric circuit than can separate a few current from the antenna and send it to the loudspeaker. I’ve found a diagram about how the radio works.
Radio signals travel by four types of waves:- In 1901 Marconi made the first radio emission, he sent “S” letter in Morse code.
- High frequency waves travel short distances. (They are used in villages).

- Long waves travel to 2.000 km around. (They are used by national radio stations)

- Medium waves can travel around a hundred km. (they are used by national and local radio stations).

- Short waves can travel thousands of km. (they are used by international radio stations).

HISTORY

- In 1924, Radio Barcelona is created, the first Spanish transmitter.

- In 1932, Edwin Armstrong invents frequency modulation that minimizes interferences.

- 1961, the first stereo sounds are emitted in the USA.

- 1988, first car with radio.

Today. radios are used for listening to the news, music or other programs. Everybody has one, on our mobile phone, Mp3 or in our cars. But in the past it was really hard to have a radio.

The toothbrush

2011-05-29T19:06:00.006+02:00

The toothbrush was first introduced in Europe in the seventeenth century.
The first brushes had a wood handle and natural bristles, then they were replaced by plastic.
When the colour of the cell means there is going to change it. ?????
The toothpaste is essential for hygiene. the bleach Centrif help against discolouration of the teeth.
???to maintain strong healthy teeth and oral hygiene is essential to achieve proper teeth should be washed 2 to 3 minutes and do it gently, in circular motions around the mouth. you can also use the electric toothbrush that is recharged with a battery and more or less weight is 120 to 150 grams. white teeth do not exist, there are people who have more clear than others, for that reason the function of the brush is not whiten but cleaned.

Photography

2011-05-29T19:00:00.014+02:00

A combination between chemistry and optics, trying to get more clear images gave place to photography.

Nicèphore Niepce took the first photograph known. We can see it here -->

In the 60s and 70s there was a new configuration in cameras, at that time, they were adapted to all types of light, they added new functions.
In the beginning cameras used to weigh 50 kilos, so they weren't portable.The first portable camera was named Kodak.

Fuji invented disposable(you use them and when you finish using them, you throw them away) cameras, In 1986

In 1981 the first digital camera appeared, it was goodbye to old films. Now all the images were saved in pendrives, Dvd's or hard disk.

Nowadays, everybody has a camera and it is very common to see people taking lots of pictures everyday, mainly Japanese people when they come to Spain, as they love our culture.

Fountain pens and ballpoint pen.

2011-05-29T18:16:00.010+02:00

THE FOUNTAIN PENS

The fountain pens appeared as an evolution from the ancient feathers that people used to write with. Before Waterman invented the fountain pen, a nib was incorporated to feathers but it could only retain a few drops of ink, so it was necessary to refill the feather in the inkpot. As well as the spots were frequent, the nibs broke easily.

It isn't clear who the inventor of the fountain pens is, but Waterman presented his fountain pen model in 1884 and it has been considered the first modern fountain pen because it included the capillarity principle. This principle says the water can advance through tiny grooves if it is in contact with all their walls.

(The Waterman's pen design)

In the modern models we insert the ink in a small tank. The air enters in the tank through a small hole in the nib, it prevents the vacuum when the ink leaves the fountain pen and then we can write.

(A nib with the hole through the air enters)

Nowadays we can find three kind of nibs with different forms according to the broadness we want to write, so we can find nibs type F (fine), M (medium) or B (broad). There is a special nib for calligraphy too, it has an angular tip to do special strokes.

Today there are many fountain pen models in honour of great historical personalities or facts.

Waterman, Parker or Montblanc are some of the most important fountain pens brands.

THE BALLPOINT PENS

The ballpoint pens were designed by the Biro brothers, they were called Laszlo and Geor.

They changed the fountain pens, they introduced a point with a small ball in 1919. This ball was situated at the end of the tank of ink and it permitted the ink to leave while the air enters when it turns. It is the most important difference with the fountain pens.

The pointball pens imposed over the fountain pens for their regularity to apply ink, the manufacturing cost and security.

(Biro's patent)

(Biro's ballpoint pen)

THE PLANE

2011-05-29T13:32:00.005+02:00

The plane is the means of transport with fewer accidents and much faster than any other medium. The first flight led and driven over a device heavier than air was conducted in North Carolina in 1903 by the Wright brothers.

How to pilot it? The pilot controls the aircraft through the fins. Using foot pedals, the pilot moves the rudder, which turns the plane left or right. When pulled if the steering wheel moves up and when he pushes down. For most of the flight, modern aircraft are directed to the autopilot.

Take off and landing:These two manoeuvres are the most dangerous, because the slow, also decreases the lift. When the wheels touch the ground, there eliminate buoyancy to rise as the air brakes that increase air resistance. The plane experienced a sudden halt when the engines first expel the exhaust gases forward, contrary to what they do in flight, which slows down. When this has been made smaller, the pilot activates the wheel brakes.

How do you hold? The plane is sustained by the great speed of travel and the profile of wings that are curved above and flat below. A plane can not stand still for what the off needs to speed up the lifting force created by the pressure difference is greater than its weight.

Finally, we are making plans to develop new aircraft capable of travelling routes as Paris-Tokyo in Pocoma as three hours. They are hypersonic aircraft that travel at speeds above Mach 5 and up to 25 Mach speed at which one could go around the world in less than an hour.

The electric bulb

2011-05-29T12:33:00.011+02:00

In the middle of the 19th century, the candles, oil or gas lamps and the fire from fireplaces were the only light sources in homes. The smoke, soot, and the gas expulsion put the health of people in danger. But this situation would change when the bulbs appeared. The inventor of the electric bulb was Thomas Alva edison, who made it possible that the filament of the bulb didn't melt with the help of a carbonized cotton string. But the bulbs didn't work without electricity, although Thomas solved this problem by creating an electricity-central with steam engines in New York, the first central that got the street lighting in 1882.
There are a lot of types of bulbs:

Incandescent bulbs: They are the common bulbs. The light is produced when the electricity passes through the filament.

Halogen bulbs: The incandescent conventional bulbs lose the light because the tungsten filament evaporates, but this type of bulbs are more durable than the others and with them is possible to consume less with clearer and brighter light.

Bulbs with low consumption: They are an adaptation of the fluorescent tubes. They produce white light and cold, so the consumption is less than incandescent bulbs.

Fluorescent tubes: these lamps have a tube form with mercury vapor inside. As they aren´t heat, they don´t lost energy, and consume less than incandescent bulbs.These were used for the first time in NY World's Fair in 1939.

Neon lights: they were introduced in 1910 by the french chemist Geogers Claude. Consist in a tube, with neon gas inside and they emit a light tinted. They are used in advertising.

And finally one important question: Why do bulbs burn? Because the metal of the filament evaporates with the use, and then the filament breaks.

Artificial Satellites

2011-05-28T21:58:00.008+02:00

In the context of space flight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon.

Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Common types include military and civilian Earth observation satellites, communications satellites, navigation satellites, weather satellites, and research satellites. Space stations and human spacecraft in orbit are also satellites. Satellite orbits vary greatly, depending on the purpose of the satellite, and are classified in a number of ways. Well-known (overlapping) classes include low Earth orbit, polar orbit and geostationary orbit.

History's first artificial satellite, the Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Since then, thousands of satellites have been launched into orbit around the Earth.
Sputnik 1 helped to identify the density of high atmospheric layers through measurement of its orbital change and provided data on radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1's success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the so-called Space Race within the Cold War.Sputnik 2 was launched on November 3, 1957 and carried the first living passenger into orbit, a dog named Laika.

Satellites are not only used to tell us about space, the Earth or weather, they are very important in the field of communication. Thanks to them we have access to Internet, radio and even television. Also mobile phones need to use satellites.

Modern communications satellites use a variety of orbits including geostationary orbits, Molniya orbits, other elliptical orbits and low (polar and non-polar) Earth orbits.

Finally, if you want to know more things about communication satellites, follow this link:

Nuclear energy

2011-05-28T21:33:00.013+02:00

Nuclear energy is the potential energy of the particles inside an atomic nucleus. The nuclear particles are bound together by the strong nuclear force.

Weak nuclear forces provide the potential energy for certain kinds of radioactive decay, such as beta decay.
Nuclear particles like protons and neutrons are not destroyed in fission and fusion processes, but collections of them have less mass than if they were individually free, and this mass difference is liberated as heat and radiation in nuclear reactions.
A very important scientist was MARIE SKLODOWSKA CURIE, who opened up the science of radioactivity.

NUCLEAR FISSION

Nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which a heavy nucleus (such as uranium) splits into two lighter nuclei (and possible some other radioactive particles as well).lei (and possible some other radioactive particles as well).

In such radioactive heavy nuclei, the balance between the strong nuclear force attractive force and the electrostatic repulsive force can be knocked out of equilibrium, by the introduction of energy in the form of an absorbed neutron or photon, the nucleus oscillates in an attempt to regain equilibrium until the electrostatic force gains more power than the shorter-distanced nuclear force, at which point the nucleus splits apart, releasing energy as it does so.

NUCLEAR FUSION

Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two light nuclei (such as hydrogen) combine to form a heavier nuclei (such as helium). The process releases excess binding energy from the reaction, based upon the binding energies of the atoms involved in the process.

NUCLEAR PLANT

A nuclear power plant is a place where people make electricity using heat from nuclear reactions. A nuclear power plant has a place where the nuclear reaction happens called a reactor. The plant also has machines which remove heat from the reactor and make electricity. Electricity made by nuclear power plants is called nuclear power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi

RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Radioactive waste is a waste product containing radioactive material. It is usually the product of a nuclear process such as nuclear fission, though industries not directly connected to the nuclear power industry may also produce radioactive waste.

Radioactivity diminishes over time, so in principle the waste needs to be isolated for a period of time until it no longer poses a hazard. This can mean hours to years for some common medical or industrial radioactive wastes, or thousands of years for high-level wastes from nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons reprocessing. The majority of radioactive waste is "low-level waste", meaning it has low levels of radioactivity per mass or volume. The main approaches to managing radioactive waste to date have been segregation and storage for short-lived wastes, near-surface disposal for low and some intermediate level wastes, and deep burial or transmutation for the long-lived, high-level wastes.

ATOMIC BOMB

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission ("atomic") bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 20,000 tons of TNT. The first thermonuclear ("hydrogen") bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 10,000,000 tons of TNT.

A modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than 1,100 kg can produce an explosive force comparable to the detonation of more than 1.2 million tons of TNT. Thus, even a small nuclear device no larger than traditional bombs can devastate an entire city by blast, fire and radiation. Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of mass destruction, and their use and control has been a major focus of international relations policy since their début.

Traffic lights.

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The first traffic lights:
The first traffic light to regulate the auto traffic was installed in the centre of London in 1868. It was made with gas lamps.
In 1914, in the American city of Cleveland, electricity was used instead of gas lamps, because they were really dangerous.

Control of traffic:The traffic light can use two different systems to control the traffic:
- OPEN SYSTEM: this is the most simple, there is a red light in a street and a green light in another street during the same period of time.
- CLOSE SYSTEM: this is used to decrease the traffic in the busiest roads.

Traffic lights for blind people:

It is a beep which begins to sound when the green light is on.Robot and ecologist traffic lights:

They can detect some break down and call the technical service. And the future traffic light will waste less energy as it will be made with luminescent diode.

Why are the colour red and green used?

Birmingham's railway technical chose this colour in a meeting in 1841: red means "stop", yellow means "attention" and green means " free path".

A curiosity:
The Romans soldiers used a particular traffic light which made the communication between the legions in a battle easie.

Trains

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The steam locomotive was invented by Richard Trevithick in the United Kingdom in 1804. Richard built a model that worked with steam that transported seventy people in a distance of sixteen
kilometres.

Steam locomotives had soon the competition of the electric engines. The first electric engine was built in 1879. This reached a speed of 200 kilometres per hour.

The first diesel locomotive of high power was built for the railways of Russia in 1912. These engines didn’t exceed the speed of electric engines.

Modern railways use electric power and have rails and control systems that, the trains can reach a speed of 300 kilometres per hour. They call: “high speed trains”, these trains are fantastic.

Rails:

The first rails were made of cast iron, but these were a bit dangerous and broke very easily. Therefore, from 1870, rails began to be manufactured in steel.

Magnetic trains:

Future of high speed trains can be in magnetic trains. A Japanese prototype reaches a speed of 517 kilometres per hour. This train was built like a shuttle from Birmingham and a railway station in 1984.

High speed trains:

The first model was “bullet train”, this train was Japanese, that began to operate from Osaka to Tokyo in 1964. This train reached a speed of 200 kilometres per hour.

The design of these trains is very sophisticated, for security reasons they have a double suspension and a braking system of high power.

Signs are controlled by computerized control systems and these trains need specials rails. These rails must be looked after very well.

Spanish trains:

The first journey was from Barcelona to Mataro, this train was TALGO (Light Articulated Train Goicoechea-Oriol. Now Spain has more than 12000 kilometres of rails.

The most famous Spain’s train is AVE. This train arrived in 1992. It is a model like TGV ( French train). These trains have two engines, located in the head and the tail of the train. This train in some sections is capable of reaching speeds of 350 kilometres per hour. At present, the AVE carries 5 million people a year.

* If you want to buy an underground ticket , click here please:

Penicillin

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Penicillin was the first antibiotic developed to prevent many diseases caused by micro organisms, and it managed to avoid many infections, some lethal.

Penicillin has saved millions of lives, because it gets into contact with the bacteria that cause infectious disease, and it breaks the wall of the bacteria.

Its inventor was Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), and he is probably one of the most famous scientists.

Fleming, in September 1928 uncovered a container with a culture of bacteria for several days, and just when he was going to throw it, he realized that a few drops of mold that had fallen into the container had killed the bacteria. Fleming realized that this mold, which he called Penicillium Notatum ( the effect was called penicillin), could kill some bacteria, but not all, so after several years of development appeared the first effective antibiotic.

Thanks to penicillin, 100 other antibiotics have been identified, so that one third of patients in the world, treated with antibiotics, can receive the most appropriate antibiotic to their needs.

If you want more information about penicillin, here I leave you a link:

And here is another where you can learn more about the life of the scientist who developed it, Alexander Fleming:

The Spacesuit

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Only a hundred people have used it but if the future of humanity passes trough the conquest of space and the colonization of other planets, maybe someday the spacesuit become part of our wardrobe.

The first spacesuits

Russians designed and used two different spacesuits in the 60's: one of the Vostok spacecraft and another of the Vosjod spacecraft. The first was orange to easily locate astronauts and the second was for space walks.
Americans used other two spacesuits, one for Mercury missions and the other for the spacecraft.
The first man who wore a spacesuit was Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961.
The first woman who travelled to space was Valentina Tereshkova on 16 June 1963.
On 21 July 1969 Neil Armstrong stepped the moon. He wore the NASA's spacesuit for moon space walks.

The dangers of outer space

The outer space is a place inhospitable for life. Temperatures are lower of -120ºC in the shade but in the sun are of 150ºC. There is no oxygen to breathe, radiation is very intense and micrometeorites cause sandstorms. But the greatest danger is the lack of pressure.
Spacesuits protect all these problems but are very uncomfortable.

Life in the space

Inside the spacecraft the environment is good, the temperature is between 17ºC and 25ºC so the astronaut wear casual clothes. They only use the spacesuit for the "extravehicular activities" not to cause any accident.

Parts of a spacesuit

Bike, the best form of transport

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The bike is the most ecological and healthy form of transport that man has invented. Nowadays,in the world there are eight hundred millions of bikes, twice as much as cars. In Asia, millions of people are carried by bikes everyday. Nevertheless, in western countries, the popular "bikes" are used, especially, to do sport.

"THE BICYCLE"

The incorporation of two pedals to the primitive bike, caused the definitive take off of this gadget, and it began to be called "bicycle", it means, a two-wheel vehicle.

Pierre Michaux put the two pedals on the front wheel, and it forced him to make this wheel bigger (up to two metres in diameter), to get a balance speed.

But the problem appeared when the rider wanted to stop. Without brakes, the only option left was to do an acrobatic jump, that, unfortunately, most times, ended with a showy fall.

KINDS OF BIKES

-Road racing bikes: To achieve more speed, lighter materials, like titanium, are used, though they are expensive,

Moreover, to offer less resistance to the air, the bikes have aerodynamics profiles, low handlebars and lenticular wheels.

-Mountain bikes: the frame is strengthened and the wheels are expanded,

with the goal of going by through rough lands.

-Cross bikes: this bikes are similar to mountain bikes, but they are typical from EEUU. The frame is light, but strong,

attached to a wide handlebar and thick wheels, to be able to perform acrobatic jumps, wherever.

-High competition bikes: they are used by professional cyclists, especially on timed races. The gearshift is electronic, to avoid dropping the handlebar when

they are in full effort. New materials have halved the weight of this bikes!

-Ride bikes: they are a hybrid between mountain bikes and competition bikes.

They are adapted to circulate cormfortably through the streets. They have light and a boot.

-Other types of bikes: bikes that can be folded with small wheels,

which can go into the baggage, for example.

-Tandem bikes: tandems are bicycles built for two. The front rider (captain) controls the steering, braking, and shifting. The back rider (stoker) sometimes has limited access to brakes.

The pedals on a tandem are connected so that they revolve around the hub in unison. Tandems come in four subcategories: mountain, road, hybrid, and recumbent. These bikes feature the same characteristics as their namesake, but they're built for two riders

-Solar bikes: This futuristic model may become a serious alternative for the people who always go by car through the streets. This type of bike works with photovoltaic cells on the top of the bike.

If it’s cloudy, it doesn’t matter, because its batteries have a range of 4 km. Greenpeace has promised to test this new kind of bike!

Here is a link, if you want to look and search new information of the world of bikes...

Optical fiber

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An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of very pure glass (silica) not much bigger than a human hair that acts as a wave guide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber.

History

Fiber optics, though used extensively in the modern world, is a fairly simple and old technology. Guiding of light by refraction, the principle that makes fiber optics possible, was first demonstrated by Daniel Colladon and Jaqcues Babinet in Paris in the early 1840s

Practical applications, such as close internal illumination during dentistry, appeared early in the twentieth century. Image transmission through tubes was demonstrated independently by the radio experimenter and the Clarence Hansell television pioneer John Logie Baird in the 1920s.

Modern optical fibers, where the glass fiber is coated with a transparent cladding to offer a more suitable refractive index, appeared later in the decade

The emerging field of photonic crystal led to the development in 1991 of photonic-crystal fiber, which guides light by diffraction from a periodic structure, rather than by total internal reflection. The first photonic crystal fibers became commercially available in 2000. Photonic crystal fibers can carry higher power than conventional fibers and their wavelength-dependent properties can be manipulated to improve performance.

Daniel Colladon first described this"light fountain" or "light pipe" in an 1842 article titled On the reflections of a ray of light inside a parabolic liquid stream. This particular illustration comes from a later article by Colladon, in 1884.

Applications

comunication

Optical fiber can be used as a medium for telecommunication and networking because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. It is especially advantageous for long-distance communications, because light propagates through the fiber with little attenuation compared to electrical cables. This allows long distances to be spanned with few repeaters.

As sensor

Common uses for fiber optic sensors includes advanced intrusion detection security systems. The light is transmitted along a fiber optic sensor cable placed on a fence, pipeline, or communication cabling, and the returned signal is monitored and analysed for disturbances. This return signal is digitally processed to detect disturbances and trip an alarm if an intrusion has occurred.

Other uses

Fibers are widely used in illumination applications. They are used as ligth guides in medical and other applications where bright light needs to be shone on a target without a clear line-of-sight path

Optical fiber illumination is also used for decorative applications, including signs, art, toys and artificial Christmas trees …

A frisbee illuminated by fiber optics