GATACA, Frank Thilliez

This is the best novel that I've ever read. I have to say that I am not fond of reading but this book, because it is related with themes of Biology, I found it very interesting and pleasant to read. GATACA, together with "La Síndrome E", are two novels that complement each other very well, and it worth to read both of them (although I only read GATACA). 

The novels narrate different topics but it is important to know first both main chacracters: Lucie Hennebelle and Franck Sharko, both already on " La Síndrome E". Before reading the book, I looked for some information about Lucie and Franck and what they had in common. Both novels are about different topycs but if you only read GATACA, the characters are related and they know each other, and without this information, you can't understand the plot at all. Anyway, it is very advisable to read GATACA, I like it a lot and prove to me that the science I like the most is Biology.

GATACA narrates some murders, that apparently the have no connection between them, but during the research, all the loose ends fall into place. The first murder is just at the beginning of the book. An infanticide is murdered in his car. Then, during the investigation of this man, there is found the body of a biology student in the cage of a chimpanzee, that it seemed to be killed by one of the animals, in the center where she was preparing her thesis about laterality (the preference to use one side more than the other in humans and animals). Afterwards, while Lucie was in a crack on the top of a mountain, she found a Neanderthal family that was killed by a Cro-Magnon. Grégory Carnot, a child murderer, was found dead in his cell (he committed suicide). And finally, a doctor who studies genetics is brutally murdered in his home, in presence of an autistic boy.

Both characters are completely shattered by the terrifying events that they've experienced in the past ("La Síndrome E"), but they follow the tracks of the murders and solve the case. 

Anybody can imagine why the murderer did these horrible things and how is related with all the tracks of the case until you read the book. Laterality, inverted pictures, the unknown gene of the violence, the victims.... What did the have in common?

**For those who have any knowledge about Biology, the title of the book is related with the four nucleotides the compose a DNA sequence: G (guanina), A (adenina), T (timina), C (citosina).

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News3

World's Oldest People Are Genetically Superior

http://news.discovery.com/human/genetics/worlds-oldest-people-are-genetically-superior-141112.htm

Researchers have studied the genomes (a full set of chromosomes; all the inheritable traits of an organism) of 17 “supercentarians” (people over 110 years of age) and conclude that they have special genes that promote longevity. Lifestyle choices (smoking, alcohol consumption,...) don’t seem to matter much for those who want to reach that ages, according to a study, because they don't differ between centenarians and “Controls” (younger people who served as comparisons). Some people aged 100+ still enjoy a glass of wine, a cigar or other indulgence, although most indicate that they do it in moderation.

The researchers suspect that super old people may have "a rare protein-altering variants that attribute them longevity. These rarities should produce different proteins from ordinary people with protective effects against diseases.A possibility for the fountain-of-youth source is a gene called TSHZ3, found in genomes from subjects aged 98–105 years old. An interesting finding is that one of the supercentarians had a terrible heart disease. Some people with this disease keel over from sudden cardiac death. That didn’t happen to this woman, who reached an old age. The researchers report that there is a 19% lifetime incidence of cancer in the world’s oldest people compared to 49% in normal population. The scientists concluded that supercentarians are very rare and their genomes could hold secrets for the genetic basis of extreme longevity.”

VOCABULARY:

Elusive

Keel over

Ripe

Which Is More Important: Talent or Hard Work?

Most people think that hard work is better than talent because it is the key to success. But I think that talent is better used appropriately. I mean, if you have natural talent in any subject, you must take advantage of it and you must exert yourself as well. I'm sure that this combination of talent and work hard will improve their skills and will lead them to success. 

I don't considere that I have any talent but I've worked hard to achieve everything what I've got, that it's a lot. I have dedicated lot of time and effort at school and at music to reach the level and experience that I have, but people who knows me says that I have talent to do what I do. So I think that maybe I have a little talent combined with my effort.

Unfortunately some people who have natural talent don't work harder than people who hven't got it and they always have worked hard. Talented people miss a lot because they make no effort in anything what they do. I think that the success of these people is thank to their natural talent and not thanks to their improvement.

I think that practice doesn't make the perfection, it hepls a lot but it's no enough to reach the perfection. However if you practise and have talent you can almost achieve  the perfection.

So as I said, neither talent nor hard work is more important than the other, but the combination of both can guarantee the true success.

Places I’d like to visit

I would like to visit some countries/cities when I finish my career. I don't really think that I am an adventurer but there are lots of places interestings for me that I would like to go. But it's a shame that I wouldn't go to all these places because I won't have the necessary time to visit all of them. Although there are two countries I would like to visit before I start a job: Australia and Island.

Since I was a child I always wanted to go to Australia and visit the Great Barrier reef because it is a beautiful place and there are many sea species that it is intresting to know about them. I also wanted to visit Uluru and Sydnay because they are opposite places. Uluru has a very interesting story about the Aborigenees and Sydney is the modern society. It's quite good to compare these two worlds.

Then I want to see, at least once, the northen lights in Island. I've seen lots of images and videos of them but I think that it is not the same.

There are some more places I really want to visit but I'll tell them another day...

News2

Scientists Find Water In The Atmosphere Of A Distant Exoplanet

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/09/24/scientists-find-water-in-the-atmosphere-of-a-distant-exoplanet/

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/water-discovered-in-a-small-warm-exoplanets-atmosphere-for-first-time/

The author of the text informs us that an international team of scientists has detected water vapor in the atmosphere of an exoplanet four times bigger than Earth, with a mass 26 times that of our planet and is in the constellation Cygnus, a about 124 light years. It is the smallest planet on which scientists have described the chemical components of its atmosphere.

This discovery was led by a university professor (University of Maryland) and a group of astronomers, experts on exoplanets, and was published in the journal "Nature".

The planet is called HAT-P11b (comes from the acronym of Automatic Telescope Network Hungarians HAT) and astronomers have been able to detect water vapor thanks to observations from three different telescopes of NASA, and the method of transmission spectroscopy, which studies a peculiarity of the light when a planet passes in front of its star. They saw that the material of the atmosphere of the exoplanet absorbs some of the light from its star and it makes that the world seems bigger. The chemical elements in the atmosphere may leave a 'footprint' on light that detect telescopes . With these prints can infer the composition of the atmosphere.

It also informs us that the exoplanet temperature is quite high, but this planet, which probably has a rocky core, has the atmosphere composed mostly of hydrogen and, even without clouds, there are marks of water vapor, a prior factor to life  but not sufficient.

Finally the author concludes that this find of water vapor and hydrogen in the atmosphere of exoplanet HAT-P 11b is not only a great job, but it also suggests that astronomers' ideas about how planets are formed and the theory of the core accretion, seem to be true for other planetary systems as well as for ours.

A person that I admire

I've always admired Stephen Hawking because for me he is the smartest person in the world. He was born the 8th of january of 1942 in Oxford. When he was 21, while he was studying at the Oxford University, doctors diagnosed him ALS. Most of people in his situation give up and wait for their death. ALS has worsened his status with the step of the years, until he is almost completely paralyzed, and now he is forced to communicate through a voice generator apparatus. It is true that Hawking had lived more than doctors an experts expected, but he decided to fight against his illness and the doctors diagnosis. He continued studying and now he is 72 years old and he is a great theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, cosmologist and science communicator. He is still doing conferences about astronomy and physics but essentially he has helped a lot in studies of the Univers. He has done lots of new discoveries of the Univers and of Physics, but I think that he would be better without his horrible illness. 

Most of people have to learn about him and move forwards to achieve their goals.

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Learning to play a musical instrument- why I like it and why it is good for me.

For me music is a method to get away from the school and from the day-to-day. It's interesting and funny for me learning to play a musical instrument because I love music and I want to improve my knowledge. I have played the guitar since I was 10 and I have improved a lot. And I am still improving. I take advantage of my experience to play some songs I like and then to play the electric bass, too. I first played it in the last year HNMPL Musical and I enjoyed so much that I wanted to start learning how to play it.

Also I have played the fiscorn for five years and I am still playing it. It is a very difficult instrument to play because I have to blow a lot to play it. When I started playing it I had a lot of difficulties (and I still having them). But I improved a lot and because of that I’ve played many times with the cobla, and now with a Band (Banda Municipal de Figueres). 

I can play the trombone too. Blowing is the same skill that in fiscorn but then I had to learn how the stick works. It’s very difficult to choose the correct position. I’ve play the trombone for less than a year but I will improve on it.

In the future I will put in practise all these skills that I’ve learnt (and that I will learn), and I hope to have success in music world.
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News

New Material May Help Us To Breathe Underwater and Improve Fuel Cells

http://www.33rdsquare.com/2014/10/new-material-may-help-us-to-breathe.html

Danish scientists have created an element with the property to capture and accumulate high quantities of oxygen. This ingenious material may liberate oxygen anytime and anywhere when needed.

But this fact does not surprise professionals, given that many substances react to oxygen, either wine, food .... What is special about this new substance is that it is not like previous and thanks to that, it has that great quality of storing and releasing oxygen where it pleases.

The researchers compare this material with sponges and affirm it doesn't lose the capacity with its prolonged use. In order to achieve off oxygen they have to apply heat or subject it to a low pressure. Now experts are investigating whether the light will also release oxygen to the material, which would favor the field of artificial photosynthesis.

The essential element that attributes to its great new material properties is cobalt. Researchers know that all living things need a certain quantity of metal in their body to absorb oxygen, which explains that they weren't surprised with this material.

The new substance absorbs faster or slower speed depending on environmental conditions. Therefore there are different versions of the new material that are specific to a given condition.

Finally, Christine McKenzie, responsible for the study, concludes by numbering some utilities such as helping patients with a lung problems, replacing the heavy equipment for a few grams of this new material. Or even also to prevent divers carrying air containers and change them by this substance.

 I found this article very interesting and quite easy to understand. Therefore I think it is a good article and this is a great discovery for science and diving in general.

VOCABULARY:
Chemisorption
Vacuum
Prospect

Testing on animals-Good or bad?

I'm going to write about the topic of testing on animals because I love them and I'm not sure if all that experiments that test with animals are necessary at all.

Something positive on testing on animals is that scientists can look for a cure for both animals and human illnesses. I think that in this exceptional ambit, testing on animals is good to advance at important topics like cancer or genetic engineering. Experts can advance a lot using on animals their possible cure, that is to say move forward in medical investigation. At least scientists don’t test on humans as much as they do with animals. I’m sure that they have a reason to do that but I don’t think that these cures react equally in animals that in humans.

The cons are that these tests are cruel to animals. I think that everything that is harmful to animals is immoral. And then I’m sure that testing on animals for cosmetics it’s really unnecessary, there must be other methods to make them.

My conclusion is that the only positive thing, as I said, is that scientists use animals to achieve an effective cure to some severe diseases.

Summer 2014

Last summer was an unusual summer because the weather wasn't very good. Most of the days in the morning were sunny but then in the afternoon it was cloudy, windy or rainy. I went quite often to the beach but less than other years.

During all the holidays I studied a lot my instruments, especially the fiscorn. Normally in summer I tried to improve with the fiscorn because I want to achieve to go to a professional cobla. I know it's difficult and I am very young but I'm anxious to achieve that.

I've taken some chemistry lessons because I thought that in batxillerat would be hard and I'm very satisfied because these classes helped me to understand better my teacher's explanations.

I taught guitar classes to a boy and fiscorn classes to a girl, too. I've never done any class to anybody but it was a great experience because I learnt how to explain to somebody how to play those instruments.

Then at the end of the summer I went to a camping. I went with my family the first week of September. The camping was in Platja d'Aro and it was very nice. It was very large and the best thing was that it had three pools. Then it has a minigolf, three tennis court and karts. 

I enjoyed it a lot but I think that these holidays were very short! But I'd like to repeat them again.

Podcast: What's the best age?

Vocaroo Voice Message

E-mail to my teacher

Hi Anna,

I’m Gabriel Almeida. I’m a student of 1^stBatxillerat. I consider that I am a good student because since today, I’ve worked very hard and I’ve done my best in every subject,trying to achieve a good mark.

In my free time I love playing music. I play the guitar; it was the first instrument that I started to play because of my uncle, that he play very well it. I play the fiscorn, I don’t know its name in English yet. It is a cobla’s instrument. It is the instrument that I spend most time practising and improving because is a great instrument and in the future I will combine playing with a professional cobla and my job. I also play the trombone. I’ve just started recently.

I haven’t got any of the Official Exams but I am preparing with a particular teacher to do the First Certificate exam.

I am cursing the scientific Batxillerat because I like subjects like Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Biology. I don’t know which degree I will study but I suppose that it will be related with Science.

I hope that my information helps you to make a little idea how I am.

My world: Neighbors

Neighbors is a great comedy film. It is very funny because you laugh a lot during all the film. The comedy is about a couple that have already had a baby. But they want to continue with their old lifestyle, like going to parties, getting drunk, etc. But the couple realized that they couldn't do it, because they have to take care of their daughter. One day, the couple finds out that Delta Psi Beta, a fraternity known for their outrageous parties, has moved next door. One night, the couple visit their neighbors to ask them to stop the party. the fraternity agrees on the condition that the couple always call him instead of calling the police. But at the end the couple had to call the police because it was impossible to sleep. From this moment, the brotherhood did his best to annoy the couple. Finally, the couple achieved rid of the fraternity because alerted the police on time. At the end of the film, every member of the brotherhood accepted that their life had changed and they finished their degree.
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My world: Describing a picture

In this photo you can see two young animals: a cat and a dog. In the background there are some trees. In the foreground there are the two animals. They seem to be in a large park. They are playing with each other. The kitten is on the left and has short grey hair, and on its chest has short white hair. The kitten seems smaller and braver than the puppy. The puppy is on the right and has clear brown hair. It seems more scared than the kitten. It is and unusual scene because normally cats and dogs are not friends. Maybe they are playing because they are still young. But I don't know if when they are older they are going to still be friends. Maybe the photographer uses this moving image to express that we always have to be friends and be kind to other people. As I can see, the weather was perfect because it looks like a shinny day. I would like to be there playing with these young, funny and cute animals. I've chosen this photo because I love animals.

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My world: La Banda Municipal De Figueres

This past summer, I was at home and the music school's director called me and asked if I wanted to play with a group of musics. At first I was a little bit indecisive because I didn't know anyone there. But then i decided to try and go there. The first prictise i was nervous and excited. My partners were very good and they played instruments that I had never seen. We practised twice a month to play with the catalan group Brams. We played in the festival of ACUSTICA, the 31st of September. then, during the year we acted in some events to make known this Band. This past 23rd of May, we made the Band official and now we are founding members of the Banda Municipal de Figueres. The 4th of July we are going to play again with Brams in Lloret de Mar. I think that we impressed them with our music!!

My world: BIOKO de Marc Pastor

BIOKO is an island with many names. is is populated by the natives and the colonizers. There is destinated Moisès Corvo. Every member of the Navy that lives there is because they have committed a crime. It is the perfect island to ensure death. Moisès has a knack to getting into trouble. During he was in the island, he caused many troubles to other people who lived there, to the point that he began to fear for his life. Even Corvo's mates begin to hate him. The jungle adventure with natives crisscross with mysterious murders. There are some flashes of a British expedition that seem completely unrelated to the main story. Furthermore, there is a Cuban exiled on the island, that  his wife was kidnapped, and Corvo with the help of the brother of the missing girl, they are going to search her. After a civil war on the island, which claimed many lives, Corvo and his partners can solve the strange murders and finally flashes make sense. The murders were commited by a company that in principal made vanilla and they were who kidnapped the girl. Thanks to a lake that the soldiers had discovered, they could travel through the time and resolve the murders.

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My world: Politics

I think that democracy is better than communism. But in fact communism has some advantages. For example, in a communist country there is equality among people. The population is employed and there is not an economic crisis. But on the other hand, the communism controls everything to achieve the equality and people must work for the benefit of the country. In a democratic country you are free, you can vote and "the people have the power". So I agree with democracy, but I think communism well run could be much better than democracy and other political regime.

'Biggest dinosaur ever' discovered

By James MorganScience reporter, BBC News
Fossilised bones of a dinosaur believed to be the largest creature ever to walk the Earth have been unearthed in Argentina, palaeontologists say. Based on its huge thigh bones, it was 40m long and 20m tall. Weighing in at 77 tonnes, seven tonnes heavier than the previous record holder, Argentinosaurus. Scientists believe it is a new species of titanosaur - an enormous herbivore. They unearthed the partial skeletons of seven individuals - about 150 bones in total - all in "remarkable condition". This new dinosaur is the largest animal known that walked on Earth. This giant herbivore lived in the forests of Patagonia between 95 and 100 million years ago, based on the age of the rocks in which its bones were found. One problem with assessing the weight is that no complete skeleton is known, which means the animal's proportions and overall shape are conjectural. So it's interesting to hear another really huge sauropod has been discovered, but ideally we'd need much more material of these supersized animals to determine just how big they really got.
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Description Podcast

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This picture shows a perfect and nice sunset. In the background there are some mountains and the sun is hidding behind them. The sky is awsome. It is yellow, and a lot of orange ranges. In the foreground there seems to be a large forest  with a lot of trees, of many sizes, divided by a very extensed river. There is a big and desert esplanade. This image makes me feel peace, relax and quiet. Probably this picture is made from a campsite, from where you can see this awesome scene. Maybe it was dinner time and the photographer chose this place to eat and enjoy the scenery. It seems that it was a hot day. The picture inspires the viewer to think about that we have to protect nature to enjoy it. What the photographer probably wants to express is that we have to take care of nature to preserve this spectacular scenery. I would like to be there because it would serve to stop worrying about my routine.

Voice Recorder >>

Berlin Trip

Diary explanation 

TUESDAY 22nd

On Tuesday morning we came to the Hight School to revise our DNIs or Passports. At 8:45 we take the bus to the airport and  there we take the plane to Berlin. At 17:30 we arrived. Then we take a VIP bus that take us to the St. Christopher's hostel. It was quite comfortable and quite big.I think our bedroom was worse than the others. When we set up then we went to the Brandenburger Tor that it was very big. we walked among all the avenue and saw lots of different shops and monuments. At night we went to the typical restaurant in Berlin: Maredo. We ate a poor menu: salad, a boiled potato with very small piece of steak and turkey. The desert was a lemon ice cream. Then we went for a walk and saw the Atlético de Madrid and Chelsea's match in a bar. Finally we returned to the hostel and went to sleep.
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WEDNESDAY 23rd
This day was the cultural one. We had breakfast early and then we went to the Reichtag (the parliament). We had an audiogude that explained everything, inside the Reichtag's Dome, about the monuments and important buildings of Berlin. then we visited the Holocaust Memorial. At midday we had free time to take a walk and have lunch in the Tiergarten park. In the afternoon we went to the former communist area, visited the Museum of Berlin's Story and visited Check-point Charlie and the shopping area. Then we had dinner in Maredo's and went to the hostel and saw the Real Madrid vs Bayern Munchen's match. Unexpectedly, in the hostel there were more Madrid's fans than Bayern's fans. That night we had a little mishap with the staff.
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THURSDAY 24th
On Thursday we woke up early and went to the Concentration Camp of Sachsenhausen and we had and audioguide that explained all about the camp's parts. At the end of the visit, we went to East Side Gallery, a big part of the Berlin's Wall. It was very nice. We had lunch in the turkish neighborhood of Kreuzberg. Then we went to the Jew's Museum. Then we had dinner in Maredo's.

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FRIDAY 25th
This day we saw all the Museum's of Berlin. First we visited the Kaiser Wilhem church and then we chose go to the zoo, because the guide Shadia told us that the zoo was very nice and there was a panda. Unfortunatelly the panda was dead, but in general the zoo was great. After we had lunch, we went to visit all the museums. After we had dinner, we went to the hostel. We wanted to stay awake, but finally we slept.
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SATURDAY 26th
This was the final day of the trip. We had free time to do the last shopping and visit other places in the area. We met at 12:30 p.m. at the hostel. And then we went to the airport, take the plane and came again here.

The personal valuation of the trip is: we walked a lot, used a lot of transport (metro and bus) and dinner each day got better.