INTERVIEW TO GONÇAL RIBAS

Natàlia and I have done an interview in to Gonçal Ribas  who works into the IGC CST Pirineus ( Institut Geològic de Catalunya, Centre de support territorial Pirineus).

What does the CST do?

In this centre we do activities of divulgation for students, enterprise technician, geologists and engineers too. For example in the build of a bridge we can proportionate them information about the sediment. This is more related with the social part.

As activities of research and development, geologic cartography, geothematic cartography, the sun science, geologic engineer, geophysics, hydrogeology, geologic patrimony, land slaves prevention, geologic risks, seismology and control and measure of nets, those are all of the activities that we work.

Which are your objectives?

It is necessary to mark the support with the lands slaves prevention, whereas others geological risks of the own zones of the mountain. It’s foresees to do research projects and development and to establish pilot areas, in collaboration with universities, research centres and another private and public institutions.

The Pyrenees CST wants to be a reference centre and a support for professionals, for university centres or for educative which need to dispose about resources and installations suitable for their formation tasks and the study of the zone.

Why the CST was build here?

As a consequence of the process of collision between Iberian plate and the European’s one the Pyrenean area has made folds and mantles which deformed materials from the area.

The central part of the mountain range is build with former Palaeozoic rocks. The topography of the Prepyrenean is more vigorous, made up basically for Mesozoic and Palaeogene rocks which are younger than the ones before.

The rocks which form the superior south-Pyrenean mantle are the old mud, sand and loose stone that were deposit on sediment basins, where almost all of them were under sea level. These rocks not only preserve animal and plant remains which lived in those past environments, besides they preserve the original sediment form.

As a result of everything Pyrenees have a dimension and suitable conditions for the study and the comprehension of lots of geologic structures which are similar to other ones in different parts of the world, especially the ones in Texas.

We could say Conca de Tremp is like a book, where there are all the rocks of million years ago in a relative low layer deep.

Was there any other option in Catalunya to build this centre?

We would say yes, in 2009 when it studied the possibility to build a centre like this. There were other places but the advantages that this zone has, done easily the edification of the centre in Tremp.

Currently, how many geologists work here?

We are 6 superior technicians.

What kind of instruments do you use? 

When we go to de field to do cartography we take
magnifying glass, a little stereoscope to see the threedimensional air photos, compass, hammer, tape measure, Jacobs rod ( to mesure the long parts of the rocks), GPS, etc. There are others disciplines which we also work and which require field utensils more sophisticated like the case of the geophysics or geotechnical works.

But, concerning about inside of the IGC CST Pirineus, now we have a machine which have been financed for Repsol, that we have collaboration agreement which is called Multi Sensor Core Logger (The MSCL are a kind of machines used to do laboratory trials where it can hitch different types of sensors as a result of get different physic properties of the materials. The fields of his application concern the Engineering, Geotechnical, Geology, geology risks, Hydrogeology, seismology, environment, etc...)

Concerning about the seismology, is the basin of Tremp a place where there are many earthquakes?

Here, it’s a zone which there is constants microseisms because the Pyrenees is the results of the continental drift of the Iberian plate least the Mesozoic era and his final collision with the European plate least the Cenozoic era, but they don’t exceed the degree 2, therefore we can’t perceive them. Sometimes, as the Sort’s seism with degree 3 in which there are a minor movement of tables, glass... We answered some calls.

What are the “Emmagatzematge geologic de CO2”? Has got any risks?

The geological stock up is a measure useful to reduce the CO2 of the atmosphere. However it’s in development, some countries like Norway has already developed this system. It consists about the injection of CO2 into some rocks which has specific properties that doesn’t let the CO2 escapes. In this studies the collaboration of chemists, physics, biologists, geologists, etc, is fundamental.

Risk? Yes, always that the nature is modify there is a risk but there are also a cautious studies about the results and this depends of the pressure, the amount, etc. The result of this injection is microseisms.

In the other hand, it exists the ethic part. These studies and measures has a huge economic and energetic cost. It could set out the investment of these costs into the reduction and consciousness-raising about the CO2 emissions.

Why did you choose the profession of geologist?

As a matter of fact geology was my second option, I don’t enter into the career that I would like but I think that If you put some other as a second option is because both are related and because both likes you too. I chose it because I love the nature and work for the preservation of her.

Do you like to work here?

I was born here, I love my land and yes, I love this work. 

Natàlia Boneta and Maribel Gasa

Hydrogen(Guillem Coll Soro and Mario Georgiev Valov)

Nowadays the enviorment is very contaminated and for that reason the world needs to start to use new souce of energy which is 100% natural and clean, and it doesn't have to derive from the petroleum which the world is extracting with very fast temps,(for more information about  the fast explotation of petroleum click:peak oil
The hydrogen is very common in the nature and it's very easy to found it because it's almost everywhere especially in the water.
Positive things:
-Easy to get
-It can totally substitute the petroleum
-Very big eficiency
-Clear natural energy
There are not very negative things about the petroleum but probably the biggest is that it's very difficult to get it and apply it any kind of material or kind of transport  and the second is the  transport which  is also vey big problem because it's gas and requires special attention.

The hydrogen is a source of energy which is still in it's first bases of development.The transport branch especially the car producers is the most important branch which is in stage of development of the hydrogen as a fuel  and very big companies are starting even to apply it in their products.But the petroleum is not only used in the cars it's used in almost every material like plastic.We decided to make this article about the hydrogen because it's obvious that the petroleum is not endless and very fast we have to substuite it with hydrogen.

INTRODUCTION TO IMMUNOLOGY

We are surrounded by millions of microorganisms. Nowadays we know that lots of those microorganisms aren’t dangerous for us, even some of them had been adapted to living being organisms and live in their skin, respiratory ducts ... those microorganisms are called normal flora, and they are very important for human live.

In the other hand, we find a kind of microorganisms called pathogens microorganisms or germs. Those microorganisms get into living being’s organism and develop some harmful effects, which are the cause of an infectious illness. That illness will result mortal if there wasn’t a continue fight of immune system’s elements.

DEFENSIVE UNSPECIFIC MECHANISMS

All the organisms have mechanism that difficult or don’t let the germs invade our organism. There are two defensive systems: the unspecific that are constituted by the skin or secretions, and the specifics represented by the immune system.

In the unspecific defensive system the microorganisms have to cross  two different kinds of   barriers : the primary and secondary  barriers.

The primary barriers are those which we can find in the entire organism, like the skin or the secretions.  When the microorganisms are able to cross the primary barrier it is said that the secondary barrier. This defensive mechanism acts inside the organism it is build by the blood cells called phagocytes and the immune system. The phagocytes are different kinds of white blood cells which are able to attack the germs; phagocytes eat the germs and then their liposome, cellular organelles that are able to eat every microorganism. Usually phagocytes destroy those microorganisms, however sometimes the phagocytes are destroyed by them.

IMMUNE SYSTEM

The immune system is a group of organic elements like cells, organs and protein molecules presents in  blood... that with different mechanisms constitute the organism’s defence of microorganisms potentially dangerous.

This system has the capacity to detect those microorganisms and develop different mechanism to neutralize and destroy them.  

Graphene

The material of the future

What is graphene?

Is a substance composed of pure carbon, with atoms arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern similar to graphite. His structure is a planar sheet of carbon atoms, that stay densely together in a crystal lattice.   

Graphene is found in many materials such as graphite, which is a build-up of graphene lattice.

How to get graphene?

It is very difficult to obtain graphene because we are talking to a molecular level and need a large equipment.

What characteristics does it have?

It is an amazing material because it has a lot of qualities, is flexible, strong, fine and impressive conductivity.

These qualities are what revolutionized the world as we know it. Just imagine having fully flexible TV screens and not be broken or have a small screen that could do big.

What applications do you have?

Graphene would improve the telephony, the world of computer creating very powerful xips, the world of technology and the biomedicine with elaboration of new vaccines.

Graphene with nanotechnology will revolutionize the next decade, approaching a science fiction world, a world that costs to imagine.

  

3D PRINTING

3D Printing, it's a process in which a machine, a printer, makes a 3D structure solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model that anyone have in his computer. A materials printer usually performs 3D printing processes using digital technology. Since the start of the twenty-first century there has been a large growth in the sales of these machines, and their price has dropped substantially.
The technology is used in jewelry, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), automotive, aerospace, dental and medical industries, education, geographic information systems, civil engineering, and many other fields.

We can divide the process in three parts: the first one is the modeling, in which we introduce in the computer the shape of the object. The second process is the printing onf the shape with the printer. And the  last one is the finishing, in which we review if whathas gone is good or worng.

THE POSSIBLE’S AIDS CURE

The last July the XIX International conference about the AIDS closed with a lot of optimism. There, the possibility of the recovery of AIDS was announced because of two men with the illness were cured after subject into a medulla bedding to treat the cancer.

Before the bedding, which saves them their lives, both patients receive a mild chemotherapy that didn’t affect the process. Then, the medics detected immediately the AIDS after the operation but with the time, the bedding cells replaced the patient’s own lymphocyte. 

One patient was subjected to a medical monitoring for almost two years and one for three and a half years and the medics checked that "there is no trace of the virus" in their blood.

The doctors responsible of the study request for caution and they are very cautious about this new preview. An attitude shared by activists in the fight against AIDS, but this doesn’t prevent them being very optimism: “"The important thing is that science is telling us that it is possible to cure HIV, beyond this method can’t be generalized because, obviously you can’t subject all the affected into a medulla bedding. Now, what its need to do is to investigate for a less treatment for the patients.” says one of the activists.

However, the most important thing that we mustn’t forget it’s that the AIDS cure is very close.  

Energetic resources

The energy is probably the most important material thing that we have. If the power fails, people will turn into the chaos but, which is the origin of this energy? Is the way that we get energy the most correct? Here we are going to see it.

The energy can be classified in two big groups, the conventional energies and the alternative energies. Both are the mix of the availability and the impact in the environment.

Conventional energies are those which are renewable and no renewable energies, which are traditionally used and which have a big impact on the environment.

Alternative energies are those which are renewable and which have a little impact in the environment.

Conventional energies
1.   Coal energy
Coal is the most important fossil combustible in the world. Mainly is formed by the decomposition of organic material.
The coal was fundamental in the industrialization.
The coal energy increases the pollution and the higher temperatures in the planet. It also causes acid rains.
 
2.   Petrol and natural gas energy
Both energies are relatively recent but currently are two of the most used in the world.
The petrol is formed, generally, in the sea by the plankton whose accumulate into the sea floor.
The natural gas is mainly formed when the temperature which the petrol is increase so, some of the petrol evaporates and becomes gas.
The petrol causes a lot of pollution in every process of refinement. However the natural gas not much as petrol.
 
3.   Nuclear energy
It’s the most polluting energy that exists.
It’s origin by the collision of the subatomic parts of a radioactive element. The energy that it releases is the big part of the energy that we use in our houses.
The impact that this energy can do in the environment is alarming. The radioactive elements which are used on these collisions are too dangerous for people and for the earth.
 
4.   Hydraulic energy
The humanity has always used this kind of energy. To get hydraulic energy it is necessary the current of the water and that’s all. The impact that these centrals do in the environment is only social and ecologic.
 
Alternatives energies
1.   Aeolian energy
The human race has been using this kind of energy for hundreds of years. It’s formed only by the strength of the wind.
When there are so many wind turbines, we call the place where they are “aeolian park”. The only impact that it causes is visual.
 
2.   Solar energy
It’s one of the best renewable energies. We get the energy using solar plates. There are subtypes of how we use this energy like the warm energy and the photovoltaic energy.
It’s too clean and inexhaustible too, so it’s perfect.
The only impact that it causes is visual.
 
 
3.   Waves energy
It is too similar to the hydraulic energy but instead of use the current of water, it uses the strength of the waves and the tide.
It’s too clean and economic too. Lots of countries with coast use this type of energy.
 
4.   Biomass energy
We obtain this energy by the burn of organic material from the earth. The energy that becomes is called bioenergy.
It can be a little bit polluting because of cremation of the organic material; it releases CO2 to the atmosphere. However, it’s one of the most used.
 

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE


What is First Lego League?

First Lego league (FLL) is a competition in where lots of teams try to win, doing the best robot and the most original project of the competition.  There can be a big number of teams, but it’s around twenty teams at the first call.
First Lego League is an international competition for elementary and middle school students; this competition is organized by FIRST and the most collaborated is LEGO.
The team work out solutions to the various problems they are given and then meet for regional tournaments to share their knowledge, compare ideas and display the robots
In 1999 “First Lego League” inaugurated the first international competition, but until 2004 there wasn’t celebrated in Spain because the government hasn’t promoted this competition.


Where is celebrated?

Each team participates in his provincial capital. The team who win participate in the Spanish final. The best Spanish team must choose go to the Europe final or American.
In Catalonia the classificatory it celebrated in Barcelona, Lleida, Girona and Tarragona. The Spanish final location change every year.


How is the competition?

Every year First Lego League launches a new topic that based on a real life problem.
The court evaluates 3 parts:
-The values First Lego League
-Development of the robot
-Scientific project

The values First Lego League:
In that part the observation judges watch at all times the behaviour of the team and evaluate her enthusiasm, respect and knowledge.

Development of the robot:
The robots are the most beautiful part of the competition; the teams made her robots, which robots are autonomous and complete missions on a board. The robot then has two and half minutes to complete the missions. Each mission has its own score.
The teams can change all the parts of the robots; these robots can be more efficient and competitive.
The robot programme is the most important part because the robot missions depend for this programme.

Scientific project:
The teams have to search information and develop one project related to the topic of the year. The court evaluates the originality, the search and the application in the real life.

I think that “First Lego League” is a way to motivate students as this may provide many improvements, but Spanish government don’t take advantage of these young talents. The government can help the young talents because they will be the future of Spain.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hp6fGC2i2w

Peak oil (Guillem Coll and Mario Georgiev Valov)

Peak oil

Why did we choose this topic and what are you going to see in it?

We choosed the topic of the peak oil because we think that is very interesting and it’s something that all the society has to think on.Lots of people are speaking that we  have to protect our enviorement that we don’t have to use so much our cars,motorcycles…..,and all this kind of things,but in the next moment you can see the same people driving a car to their home whichis near to their job for example.We also think that the society has to start to do something and not only speaking.In this project we are going to explain you what is the peak oil,why is it happening,how it affects us and can we prevent it.

What is it?

Peak oil is the point when the extraction of petroleum reaches the maximum point , after which the rate of production is expected, the extration is condemnated to enter in a terminal decline. Since 2005 global production of oil has started going down , but since 2009 the levels of straction rebounded, and in 2011 the level again has started to decrease. There is an active debate as to how to measure peak oil, and which types of liquid fuels to include.

How it affects us?

The princial affectation that the peak oil can cause in our lives is the rising price of petroleum and   consequently the price of the whole

We have to remember that the biggest part of energy comes from the fossil fuels like diesel,natural gas... and our society isn't prepared ,in this moment ,for living in a world without petroleum because the society can became very instable and the economy will be very heavy afected.

Why is it happening?

Since the disocvery of the the  petroleum the humanity started to explote it with very fast temps  without thinking of the consequences which can produce that rapid explotation.It's clear that in the years when the petroleum has been discovered,new technologies have been discovered and lots of factories started producingPeak oil is determined by the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field of related oil wells. In order to understand physical peak oil, the growing effort for production must be considered. Physical peak oil occurs earlier, because the overall efforts for production have increased, expanding production.

The aggregate production rate from an oil field over time usually grows until the rate peaks and then declines—sometimes rapidly—until the field is depleted. This concept is derived from the Hubbert curve, and has been shown to be applicable to the sum of a nation’s domestic production rate, and is similarly applied to the global rate of petroleum production. Peak oil is often confused with oil depletion; peak oil is the point of maximum production, while depletion refers to a period of falling reserves and supply.

M. King Hubbert created and first used the models behind peak oil in 1956 to accurately predict that United States oil production would peak between 1965 and 1971. His logistic model, now called Hubbert peak theory, and its variants have described with reasonable accuracy the peak and decline of production from oil wells, fields, regions, and countries, and has also proved useful in other limited-resource production-domains. According to the Hubbert model, the production rate of a limited resource will follow a roughly symmetrical logistic distribution curve (sometimes incorrectly compared to a bell-shaped curve) based on the limits of exploitability and market pressures.

Some observers, such as petroleum industry experts Kenneth S. Deffeyes and Matthew Simmons, predict negative global economy implications following a post-peak production decline—and oil price increase—due to the high dependence of most modern industrial transport, agricultural, and industrial systems on the low cost and high availability of oil. Predictions vary greatly as to what exactly these negative effects would be.

In 2008 oil prices reached a record high of $145/barrel. Governments sought alternatives to oil, particularly the use of ethanol and biodiesel, but that had the unintended consequence of creating higher food prices, particularly in the developing countries.

Optimistic estimations of peak production forecast the global decline will begin after 2020, and assume major investments in alternatives will occur before a crisis, without requiring major changes in the lifestyle of heavily oil-consuming nations. These models show the price of oil at first escalating and then retreating as other types of fuel and energy sources are used. Pessimistic predictions of future oil production are that either the peak has already occurred, that oil production is on the cusp of the peak, or that it will occur shortly. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says production of conventional crude oil peaked in 2006.Throughout the first two quarters of 2008, there were signs that a global recession was being made worse by a series of record oil prices.

Can we prevent the finishing of the petroleum?

 It's very clear that the petroleum is finishing, we know that,but we don't know when it will finish.It may finish tomorrow or 1000 years later it's not something  endless.It's probably happening because of the fast extraction which we think that it wasn't necessary.So as you can read in the previous paragraph the finishing of the petroleum is something that we can’t prevent and it’s 100% sure that it will happen some day and we don’t have to think how to prevent it, we have to think about alternative sources of energy, and we also have to think how to reduce our dependence of the petroleum.Reducing our dependence can be expressed in using more public transport,recycle all the plastic,glass….waste, using as little as possible a car or a motorcycle.

Com hem dit al principi hem triat aquest tema perque creiem que es bastant important i sobre tot interesant investigar-ho i tambe creiem que cadascu de nosaltres esta afectat per l’acabament del petroli, tambe creiem que hem de trobar unes font’s d’energia  altrernatives(ja existeixen bastants que son molt efectius ,ecologis i sobre tot no s’acaben).I com que avui en dia la situacio mundial en general es bastant dura creiem que trobar una solucio de l’acabament del petroli perque pot ser que no ens afectara a nosaltres pero pot afectar als nostres fills o nets.

MIQUEL POYATOS INTERVIEW

Now a days, Miquel Poyatos is a university teacher in Barcelona.

He studied the geology career in the Autonomic University of Barcelona. The career was for four years (2004-2008). After finish, he got a grant for to do a master during one year and oriented to the oil industry, managed by most important public universities in Barcelona, and which name was Geology and exploration of sedimentary residues. It’s a master oriented in a doctorate. To ending the master, he must do a finishing work related with which he had studied in the doctorate; so he chose a kind of sedimentary rocks which were formed in a fossil delta.  He had been searching interesting places and he finally started working in Ainsa (Osca).

Now, his work is related with the investigation of (talussos) which appear on the roads. But it’s not a stupid task. When he finishes his work, he notice different people from Arabia or Mexico about what has he found. It seems that in both countries to extract oil is very complicate because rocks which contain oil are behind the sea and that’s a trouble to study exactly where they should dig.

So Miquel’s work helps them to establish precisely the location where it’s better to extract the most quantity of oil and gas. As well you can see, it’s an essential task.

He has explained us, the methodology of extraction of the oil and gas few days ago, but now a day, there’s an important change, as more demand, more budget to waste in extraction. Technology advances seems to had found a very successful method called frakcing which help companies to extract non conventional oil and  gas.

SO, WHAT’S FRACKING? It’s a kind of way to extract hydrocarbons that consist into fracture the underground stones which are believed to contain oil. Then, they inject fluid  at the highest pressing to perforate the stone. The other part of the methodology is like the conventional way.  They make buit

Va estudiar la carrera de geologia  a la universitat autònoma de Barcelona. És una carrera de quatre anys (2004-2008). Després li van donar una beca per  fer un màster d’un any orientat a la indústria del petroli coordinat per les dues universitats de Barcelona i que té per nom Geologia i exploració de reservoris sedimentaris. És un màster orientat a un doctorat. Per a finalitzar el màster, tenia que fer un treball que estigues relacionat amb el doctorat i ell el va  estudiar unes roques sedimentaris que es van formar en un delta fòssil. La seva zona d’estudis va ser la conca d’Ainsa (Osca)

La seva feina consisteix en estudiar les roques que surten als talussos de les carreteres i

explica-s’hi als geòlegs que treuen petroli a Aràbia  o al Golf de Mèxic, ja que allí les roques no afloren a la superfície, estan al fons del mar, però estan formades de la mateixa manera, la diferència es que les  roques d’aquí no tenen petroli. Per tant,nosaltres tenim la avantatges de poder-les estudiar. Ells fan estudis sobre les propietats físiques i el  formació d’aquestes, on es possible que s’hagués contingut el petroli.  Per tant, ells elaboren un projecte i un estudi i els hi venen a les empreses petroleres. Aquest procés es poc conegut a España, ja que som un país on no hi ha molt petroli.

Al Pirineu i altres zones de España, empreses Holandeses y Alemanyes van finançar estudis de recerca per obtenir petroli, però això va ser als anys 70 on es treia petroli de forma convencional,  però ara les reserves del món es van acabant, i cada cop hi ha més demanda. Com a conseqüència, el  preu de petroli augmenta, i ara que es paga tant car el petroli a les empreses els hi surt a compte  finançar projectes per intentar treure el petroli de les roques, ja que el preu del petroli de allí, et surt a compte fe la inversió. Però quant s’acaba el petroli convencional, el petroli que està posat entre mig de les roques, s’utilitza una nova manera d’extreure el petroli anomenada fracking. El fracking s’utilitza per hidrocarburs no convencionals. Per a extreure la roca, es fractura per on es creu que hi ha la reserva de gas o petroli i s’hi injecta un líquid a molta pressió, i al fracturar-ho, creues un buit i el petroli es xucla. Aquets fluids tenen propietats cellants, lubricants.. per tant aquí tenim el problema del fracking, els fluids que són molt tòxics i contaminant. Això pot modificar el sistema freàtic, cabdals públics.. etc. Per tan hi ha països que esta totalment prohibit el fracking.

España esta prohibit? No ho han acabat de permetre, però tampoc està prohibit.

Penses que el fracking es bo? Des del punt de vista ecològic, modificar l’estat d’un ecosistema es  totalment  perjudicial. Per moltes regions el fracking es la última opció de intentar donar-li al terreny un rendiment que de una altra manera no se li podria donar. 

En negreta està tot el que ens va explicar an Català, i a la part superior traduït al Anglès amb les corresponents preguntes. Està bastant escursat perquè la entrevista és llarga. Encara queda bastant a fer! 

LAIA I XÈNIA

Ötzi, the iceman

In 1991, two alpinists found at south Tirol the body of a person. Firstly, they thought that it was the body of a recently accident, like 200 years after, but when the Scientifics studied the body of the man, they realized that it was a very important and successfully found.

Ötzi was a man who lived at the Neolithic times; it means that the body is 5000 years old, and was correctly extraordinarily good preserved because of its location, that was in a glacier. Another thing that is important is that around of the body, the police found a lot of tools, like arrows, a knife, some pieces of wood, and others. What’s more, they found some hair that help to know his DNA and of course if there is someone who nowadays is descendant of Ötzi. The bad side of its location is that during the rescue the body suffer some blows, and some of its bones had been broken. Another thing that happened was that some persons of the rescue team and the police robbed some things of the tools of Ötzi, because of this the place of the discovery was damaged but fortunately they had taken photos after touching anything.

Before the first Scientifics studied the body and realised that Ötzi was from the Neolithic, lots of other Scientifics have been interested in to study the body, because of this there are lots of hypothesis for the causes of the death of Ötzi. The most important are two

1.       The first one says that Ötzi was trying to escape from a group of people that were trying to kill him. Unfortunately one of the can hurt Ötzi with an arrow and some hours later he die into this glacier.

2.       The second one say that Ötzi was a farmer or a hunter that had been lost and a big storm did Ötzi hid into this place and after some hours he died by freezing at the glacier.