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Together with my mate-class Raquel Cordero, we have developed "The Classroom Escape" game. It is a game for five teams where each of them has to pass five different tasks in order to obtain a digit of the password that is needed to unlock the classroom door. Although we spent a lot of hours, It was a very interesting activity to prepare. I was really funny to play the game in class with all the mates. We hope that English teachers could use it more times!

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04/05/2017

I went to the EOI, before class, with some mates to have some debates

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I have applied for the next two on 16th and 30th of May

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STARS WARS: BATTLEFRONT REVIEW - THE FORCE IS STRONG, BUT NOT FOR LONG.

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STARS WARS: BATTLEFRONT REVIEW - THE FORCE IS STRONG, BUT NOT FOR LONG.

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This is the review of a new videogame based in Star Wars world. The author exposes that it is the best game of this saga until this moment, because it has captured the essence of the original films. The different environments in the game are impressive. After that, the author exposes all nine multiplayer modes.

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When George Lucas first discussed Star Wars with his sound designer Ben Burtt, the director stressed that all the noises in the film - from the lightsaber swings to the whoosh of the landspeeder - had to be organically produced, rather than electronic. He wanted this fantastical environment to feel downbeat and real. That is the magic of the original trilogy: it creates a universe that feels used.

EA Dice, the developer behind Star Wars: Battlefront, seems to understand that perfectly. This is a game that absolutely revels in the audio visual wonder of the movies. The unearthly moan of AT-AT fire; the scream of a swooping TIE Fighter; the spacecraft covered in dents and rust. This game looks, sounds and feels like being inside Star Wars. In aesthetic terms, it is the most accurate video game rendition of the series ever made.

And within its modest structure (this is resolutely a multiplayer game, with only a handful of single-player and co-op missions bolted on) it provides moments of genuinely breathtaking drama. Charging through the forests of Endor, emerging into the whiteout of the Hoth landscape, or blasting into a skirmish around the Millennium Falcon - these are the moments fans dreamed of when they first heard that this game was in production. And yes, they're amazing.

Although there are only a handful of environments, they're diverse and packed with detail. Endor is expansive and richly organic, with its treetop Ewok villages offering long sight lines over the dark, steamy jungles beneath. Tatooine provides a range of craggy, inhospitable set-pieces, complete with snaking canyons and sunken moisture farms. Hoth is a soulless but breathtaking expanse. Sure, there are missteps: the dull Ice Caves map is just that - a series of frozen tunnels that quickly turn into mass grenade ambushes; the Sulphur Fields of Sullust provide a colourless, spiny hellscape full of troughs and traps - like someone's tarmacked over a crazy golf course. But then you get a map like Jawa Refuge, with its multi-layered rock platforms, and all is forgiven.

It is a shame then, that the structure of the game is not strong enough to sustain these moments of escapist pleasure for long. Battlefront is, and perhaps was always going to be, Battlefield lite. There are nine multiplayer modes, from the epic 20 vs 20 Supremacy option, in which Rebel and Imperial armies scuffle over ownership of a whole planet, to the much more tight and focused Droid Run, where two teams of six compete to claim three power droids bumbling over the landscape. You get variants on Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Conquest, all as much fun as they've always been. Plus there are those single-player and co-op Mission levels: Battles are effectively multiplayer fights, just against the AI rather than other players; Survival is a Horde Mode, where you face wave after wave of enemy troops. Add in the basic flight combat mode Fighter Squadron (which is enjoyable but brief and tactically basic), and that's your lot.

Progression, too, is pared right down. As you collect XP, you unlock new weapons as well as special items like grenades, one-shot sniper rifles and jet packs - you can only carry three at any time, and they require regular recharging throughout each map. Swapping these items, depending on the map you're playing, is as close as you get to customising your load-out, so Call of Duty and Battlefield fanatics are going to get frustrated. It wouldn't be fair to say there's no tactical depth here (you'll need very different setups for interior and exterior maps at least); it's just that it feels a little old-fashioned compared to the hyper-personalised world of, say, Black Ops III.

Of course, as EA has gone to great lengths to explain, Dice is not going for the specialist first-person shooter market - it's going for Star Wars fans. That's fine, but the demands of play are still the same. If you can't shoot, can't move, can't react fast enough, you're going to be languishing at the base of every league table, every night, feeling like the Jar Jar Binks of your own Star Wars fantasy. For those players, there's not a lot else to do. The original 2004 version of Battlefront had a Campaign mode that strung a series of fights together into a historical adventure. It was far from perfect, but it did at least provide an intrinsic sense of purpose and progress.

By contrast, the modern Battlefront is all about extrinsic rewards. You earn more stars in the Mission mode if you find all the collectible objects (which aren't even actual Star Wars things, they're just shiny Object icons) or try the higher difficulty levels; there's a diorama that you can populate with Star Wars characters and spacecraft if you reach specific goals. Indeed, there is a lot of goal-getting throughout the experience, so even if you're doing the same things over and over again, you can at least tick stuff off a list. It's a pretty clever way of transferring the completist sensibilities of this fan base from real-life merchandise to virtual stickers and achievements.

Really, though, the whole effect will depend on how long you can sustain the thrill of being in Star Wars. Get a bunch of equally enthusiastic friends together and you'll have many hours of nostalgic revery, with that Williams score nudging you through match after match. But then you'll reach the outer edge of this game's progression system, or you'll get a little too familiar with the four landscapes on offer, and the magic will wane. And then, of course, there will be downloadable content, massing in a distant corner of the galaxy, waiting to invade.

Just like a certain big budget Activision sci-fi shooter, Battlefront is simply the opening skirmish in an ever-expanding galactic conflict. Star Wars fans: it is your Destiny.
Electronic Arts; PC/PS4 (version tested)/Xbox One; £45; Pegi rating: 16+

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Star Wars: Battlefront review - the force is strong, but not for long

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When George Lucas first discussed Star Wars with his sound designer Ben Burtt, the director stressed that all the noises in the film - from the lightsaber swings to the whoosh of the landspeeder - had to be organically produced, rather than electronic. He wanted this fantastical environment to feel downbeat and real.

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This article explains how now can be the moment to start a change in our energy consumption. It seems that now everybody understands the big problem that we have due to the use of fossil fuels. For the first time, the USA and China have announced a deal to reduce emissions. Furthermore, 2014 was the first year that the emissions did not increase, due to that China has started to use renewable energies. The next Climate Change Conference in Paris will be the first step for this change.

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National Geographic stories take you on a journey that's always enlightening, often surprising, and unfailingly fascinating.

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HOW BILLIONAIRES GATES, BEZOS AND ZUCKERBERG COULD BOOST CLEAN ENERGY

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HOW BILLIONAIRES GATES, BEZOS AND ZUCKERBERG COULD BOOST CLEAN ENERGY

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Some of the richest people In the world have decided to invest in clean energy. They consider that the governments are not investing enough money to change from fossil energies to clean energies that do not emit planet-warming greenhouse gases. These investors are not looking for a quick profit, they consider that it is more important to start new actions to save our world.

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They're more than a who's who of Silicon Valley. The new billionaires' clean energy club consists of the world's tech titans, including leaders in India and China.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced Monday, the first day of two-week UN climate talks in Paris, that a group of 28 private investors will help countries shift from fossil fuels to energy sources that do not emit planet-warming greenhouse gases.

"Current government funding levels for clean energy are simply insufficient to meet the challenges before us," the Breakthrough Energy Coalition says on its website. What the group promises is a "different kind of investor with a long term commitment" and "patient" capital.

Gates says the investors aim to get clean-energy ideas out of the lab and into the marketplace. In a blog post, he says that while solar and wind power could help meet the 50 percent increase in global energy demand expected by 2050, "we also need to invent new approaches."

What does he have in mind? His new white paper cites ideas such as solar paint to transform any surface into a solar panel, flow batteries to store grid-scale energy, and "solar chemical" to create fuel from the sun. He's pledged $2 billion of his own fortune over the next five years for clean energy, including an advanced nuclear power reactor that his startup TerraPower is trying to market in China.

Other luminaries are joining his efforts. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's company is increasingly using renewable energy to power its massive data centers, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos revealed new energy-saving drones on Sunday to deliver packages in less than 30 minutes.

The group also includes philanthropist George Soros, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman, climate activist Tom Steyer, Alibaba's executive chairman Jack Ma, and Tata Group's founder Ratan Tata.

They'll work with 20 countries that committed Monday, as part of " Mission Innovation," to double their spending on clean energy research and development-to about $20 billion-over the next five years. Approximately half of that total will come from the United States, which signed on along with the world's four other most populous nations: China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil.

"Right out of the gate, this announcement gives a major boost to the Paris talks," Andrew Steer, president and CEO of the World Resources Institute, says in a statement.

Yet experts have called for much larger investment, noting the urgent need to move away from carbon-emitting coal, oil, and natural gas. In fact, the International Energy Agency says that for the world to limit the rise in global temperatures to within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of pre-industrial levels-the goal of the climate talks-it will need to boost investment in renewable energy technologies from $270 billion in 2014 to $400 billion in 2030.

So far, funding is falling short. In prior UN talks, developed countries pledged to spend $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer nations adapt to climate change and adopt clean energy. Last year, they mobilized $62 billion in public and private financing, up from $52 billion in 2013, according to the Organization for European Co-Operation and Development.

The new billionaires' club is not the first such group trying to make up for this gap. There's also the Cleantech Syndicate, a Chicago-based group representing 11 prominent families, and the Cleantech, Renewable Energy and Environmental Opportunities or CREO, a network of wealthy investors.

Their efforts have drawn skepticism from conservative U.S. politicians, some of whom argue that the rich are profiting from the Obama administration's clean-tech funding. Last year, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by GOP climate-change denier Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, issued this 67-page report: "The Chain of Environmental Command: How a Club of Billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama's EPA." Inhofe has received campaign donations from Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries, whose fortunes come from fossil fuels.

The newest Breakthrough Energy Coalition, which includes the University of California's chief investment officer, says it doesn't know "where the best ideas will come from," so it will invest across several sectors, including agriculture and transportation.

"The key differentiating factor must be a credible pathway to rapid scaling-providing affordable energy to the greatest number of people without overburdening essential resources including land use," it says on its website.

The White House, in announcing the twin initiatives of the private and public sectors, says "incredible strides" have already been made in reducing the costs of cleaner energy. It cites declines since 2008 of 90 percent for LEDs, 60 percent for large-scale solar and 40 percent for wind power and batteries. As a result, during the last seven years, it says, U.S. wind energy production has tripled and solar has increased more than 20-fold.

This good news has prompted optimism. Mark Z. Jacobson, an engineer at Stanford University, has done research that suggests renewables such as solar and wind could power the entire world by 2050.

Others are less sanguine. Jeffrey D. Sachs, a Columbia University economist, launched the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project, enlisting 16 countries to figure out ways to shift away from fossil fuels. It finds currently available technologies won't likely be good enough to complete this transformation and that some, such as electric cars and offshore wind turbines, will need to become better and cheaper. It says some countries may need more nuclear power and others may need to keep burning coal or natural gas while capturing the carbon emissions and injecting them underground.
This story is part of a On Twitter: Follow Wendy Koch and get more environment and energy coverage at NatGeoEnergy. special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

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How Billionaires Gates, Bezos and Zuckerberg Could Boost Clean Energy

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They're more than a who's who of Silicon Valley. The new billionaires' clean energy club consists of the world's tech titans, including leaders in India and China. Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced Monday, the first day of two-week UN climate talks in Paris, that a group of 28 private investors will help countries shift from fossil fuels to energy sources that do not emit planet-warming greenhouse gases.

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WE KNOW THE CITY WHERE HIV FIRST EMERGED

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WE KNOW THE CITY WHERE HIV FIRST EMERGED

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This article explains how the HIV has evolved from the beginning until today. The scientists have studied some different viruses and their family tree, and then they suggest that HIV-1 group M jumped to humans from apes in the city of Kinshasa (DR Congo) on 1920s. Moreover, the article shows how the virus expanded due to economical reasons.

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It is easy to see why AIDS seemed so mysterious and frightening when US medics first encountered it 35 years ago. The condition robbed young, healthy people of their strong immune system, leaving them weak and vulnerable. And it seemed to come out of nowhere.

Today we know much more how and why HIV - the virus that leads to AIDS - has become a global pandemic. Unsurprisingly, sex workers unwittingly played a part. But no less important were the roles of trade, the collapse of colonialism, and 20th Century sociopolitical reform.

HIV did not really appear out of nowhere, of course. It probably began as a virus affecting monkeys and apes in west central Africa.

From there it jumped species into humans on several occasions, perhaps because people ate infected bushmeat. Some people carry a version of HIV closely related to that seen in sooty mangabey monkeys, for instance. But HIV that came from monkeys has not become a global problem.

It seems that this form of HIV simply took advantage of events

We are more closely related to apes, like gorillas and chimpanzees, than we are to monkeys. But even when HIV has passed into human populations from these apes, it has not necessarily turned into a widespread health issue.

HIV originating from apes typically belongs to a type of virus called HIV-1. One is called HIV-1 group O, and human cases are largely confined to west Africa.

In fact, only one form of HIV has spread far and wide after jumping to humans. This version, which probably originated from chimpanzees, is called HIV-1 group M (for "major"). More than 90% of HIV infections belong in group M. Which raises an obvious question: what's so special about HIV-1 group M?

A study published in 2014 suggests a surprising answer: there might be nothing particularly special about group M.

It is not especially infectious, as you might expect. Instead, it seems that this form of HIV simply took advantage of events. "Ecological rather than evolutionary factors drove its rapid spread," says Nuno Faria at the University of Oxford in the UK.

Faria and his colleagues built a family tree of HIV, by looking at a diverse array of HIV genomes collected from about 800 infected people from central Africa.

The very first person to be infected with HIV-1 group M probably picked up the virus in the 1920s

Genomes pick up new mutations at a fairly steady rate, so by comparing two genome sequences and counting the differences they could work out when the two last shared a common ancestor. This technique is widely used, for example to establish that our common ancestor with chimpanzees lived at least 7 million years ago.

"RNA viruses such as HIV evolve approximately 1 million times faster than human DNA," says Faria. This means the HIV "molecular clock" ticks very fast indeed.

It ticks so fast, Faria and his colleagues found that the HIV genomes all shared a common ancestor that existed no more than 100 years ago. The HIV-1 group M pandemic probably first began in the 1920s.

Then the team went further. Because they knew where each of the HIV samples had been collected, they could place the origin of the pandemic in a specific city: Kinshasa, now the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At this point, the researchers changed tack. They turned to historical records to work out why HIV infections in an African city in the 1920s could ultimately spark a pandemic.

A likely sequence of events quickly became obvious.

Everything was in place for an explosion in infection rates in the 1960s

In the 1920s, DR Congo was a Belgian colony and Kinshasa - then known as Leopoldville - had just been made the capital. The city became a very attractive destination for young working men seeking their fortunes, and therefore also for sex workers. The virus spread quickly through the population.

It did not remain confined to the city. The researchers discovered that the capital of the Belgian Congo was, in the 1920s, one of the best connected cities in Africa. Taking full advantage of an extensive rail network used by hundreds of thousands of people each year, the virus spread to cities 900 miles (1500km) away in just 20 years.

Everything was in place for an explosion in infection rates in the 1960s.

The beginning of that decade brought another change.

The story of the spread of HIV is not over yet

Belgian Congo gained its independence, and became an attractive source of employment to French speakers elsewhere in the world, including Haiti. When these young Haitians returned home a few years later they took a particular form of HIV-1 group M, called "subtype B", to the western side of the Atlantic.

It arrived in the US in the 1970s, just as sexual liberation and homophobic attitudes were leading to concentrations of gay men in cosmopolitan cities like New York and San Francisco. Once more, HIV took advantage of the sociopolitical situation to spread quickly through the US and Europe.

"There is no reason to believe that other subtypes would not have spread as quickly as subtype B, given similar ecological circumstances," says Faria.

The story of the spread of HIV is not over yet.

For instance, in 2015 there was an outbreak in the US state of Indiana, associated with drug injecting.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been analyzing the HIV genome sequences and data about location and time of infection, says Yonatan Grad at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. "These data help to understand the extent of the outbreak, and will further help to understand when public health interventions have worked."

This approach can work for other pathogens. In 2014, Grad and his colleague Marc Lipsitch published an investigation into the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhoea across the US.

"Because we had representative sequences from individuals in different cities at different times and with different sexual orientations, we could show the spread was from the west of the country to the east," says Lipsitch.

What's more, they could confirm that the drug-resistant form of gonorrhoea appeared to have circulated predominantly in men who have sex with men. That could prompt increased screening in these at-risk populations, in an effort to reduce further spread.

In other words, there is real power to studying pathogens like HIV and gonorrhoea through the prism of human society.

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We know the city where HIV first emerged

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It is easy to see why AIDS seemed so mysterious and frightening when US medics first encountered it 35 years ago. The condition robbed young, healthy people of their strong immune system, leaving them weak and vulnerable. And it seemed to come out of nowhere.

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INTELLIGENT PEOPLE ARE GENETICALLY PREDISPOSED TO BE HEALTHIER, EXPERTS FIND

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INTELLIGENT PEOPLE ARE GENETICALLY PREDISPOSED TO BE HEALTHIER, EXPERTS FIND

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This piece of news is about a research from Edinburg University. It shows that people who have higher intelligence linked to their genes are also less likely to become sick, develop disease or die early. This research supports that the same genes make people taller, healthier and having a bigger brain.

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To unpick the connection between gene variants, health and intelligence, researchers analysed data from more than 100,000 people between the ages of 40-73.

After comparing each person's mental test data with their genome, they found that some traits linked to disease and thinking skills shared the same genetic influences.

The 'super' genes were also linked to being taller, and having a larger brain.

Previously scientists thought that socio-economic factors were largely to blame for the link between low education and poor health. But the new study suggests that genetics also plays a part. So intelligent people from a poor background have a better chances of staying healthier, than those who are less brainy.

Researchers hope the study will help understanding of some of the links between low levels of cognitive function and poor health.

Professor Ian Deary, Director of the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiolog y (CCACE) at the University of Edinburgh, who led the research, said: "In addition to there being shared genetic influences between cognitive skills and some physical and mental health states, the study also found that cognitive skills share genetic influences with brain size, body shape and educational attainments."

However the authors point out that there are many other environmental factors which influence health over time.

Dr. Sarah Harris, a lead author on the paper, said: "These conditions are also heavily influenced by environmental factors.

"This study did not address whether people with these conditions are more or less likely to have higher cognitive abilities or a degree than people without the conditions."

The research was published in the journal Molecular Science.

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Intelligent people are genetically predisposed to be healthier, experts find

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To unpick the connection between gene variants, health and intelligence, researchers analysed data from more than 100,000 people between the ages of 40-73. After comparing each person's mental test data with their genome, they found that some traits linked to disease and thinking skills shared the same genetic influences.

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WHAT'S BEHIND THE FREAKISHLY WARM WINTER IN THE EASTERN U.S.?

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WHAT'S BEHIND THE FREAKISHLY WARM WINTER IN THE EASTERN U.S.?

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Here there is an explanation about the high temperatures that Eastern U.S. was suffering in December. It is due to the “El Niño”, the periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean every few years and the Jet Stream. It shows that the last December was the hottest in history, due to the global climate change.

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People from Massachusetts to Mississippi cut down their Christmas trees while wearing shorts and t-shirts this year. Now, the chances for a white Christmas are slim to none for much of the East Coast, leaving kids disappointed and adults scratching their heads.

Two weekends ago, temperatures were 20 to 30 degrees higher than normal in much of the East, shattering records in some places. Warm temperatures have returned in many places Wednesday, and forecasts for the near future suggest more of the same.

What's going on? One big factor is the strong El Niño taking place this year. The periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean every few years tends to bring more moisture and warmer temperatures to the western coasts of North and South America. Globally, El Niño boosts air temperatures by at least 0.1°C, writes meteorologist Jeff Masters with the Weather Underground.

El Niño has spurred warmer temperatures around the planet for several months. October was the warmest on record, at 0.98°C (1.76°F) above the 20th century average for the month.

Not only does El Niño bring warmer temperatures, but it's also been forcing the jet stream farther to the north. Normally, that band of strong, high winds brings colder air and more moisture down to lower latitudes. This year, El Niño and wind patterns combined to push heavy snow to places such as Denver while still leaving areas further east relatively balmy. (It's basically the reverse of what happened with the jet stream this time last year, when a blast of cold air from the polar vortex brought unusually low temperatures to the eastern U.S.)

But the severe lack of snow cover in much of the East is also contributing to a feedback loop that's keeping things warmer, writes meteorologist Eric Holthaus. ( Learn more about El Niñ o's effects on the weather.)

Finally, it's likely global warming is contributing at least partly to the warmth, although it can't be considered fully responsible, notes Holthaus. This year is shaping up to be the warmest year on record, according to the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization, with global surface temperatures set to breach a 1 degree Celsius rise from pre-industrial levels. 2014 was also the hottest year to date, and the past five years are shaping up to be the hottest such period.

This winter has been unusually warm in much of Europe, too, hurting sales for winter clothing.

Unseasonable weather is one of the many potential effects of global warming that world leaders discussed at the Paris Climate Talks earlier this month, when countries agreed to a new roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cope with a shifting climate.

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What's Behind the Freakishly Warm Winter in the Eastern U.S.?

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People from Massachusetts to Mississippi cut down their Christmas trees while wearing shorts and t-shirts this year. Now, the chances for a white Christmas are slim to none for much of the East Coast, leaving kids disappointed and adults scratching their heads.

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NASA EXAMINES GLOBAL IMPACTS OF THE 2015 EL NIÑO

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NASA EXAMINES GLOBAL IMPACTS OF THE 2015 EL NIÑO

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This article exposes the different impacts that “El Niño” produces globally. It explains how some different aspects as the rainfalls in California, the ozone levels in the atmosphere or the increasing risks of wildfires in the tropics.

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NASA Examines Global Impacts of the 2015 El Niño

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People the world over are feeling, or soon will feel, the effects of the strongest El Niño event since 1997-98, currently unfolding in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. New satellite observations are beginning to show scientists its impact on the distribution of rain, tropospheric ozone and wildfires around the globe.

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EIGHT MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC DUMPED IN OCEAN EVERY YEAR

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EIGHT MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC DUMPED IN OCEAN EVERY YEAR

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This article explains that it is nearly impossible to measure the quantity of plastic that is dumped into the sea every year. However, it is clear that year after year there is more plastic debris and we must act urgently.

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Scientists have come up with a new way to measure ocean trash-and the numbers are even worse than thought.

In 2010, eight million tons of plastic trash ended up in the ocean from coastal countries-far more than the total that has been measured floating on the surface in the ocean's "garbage patches."

That's the bad news. The even worse news is that the tonnage is on target to increase tenfold in the next decade unless the world finds a way to improve how garbage is collected and managed.

The findings are part of a groundbreaking study published Thursday in that for the first time quantifies how much garbage flows into the world's oceans every year.

Until now, most efforts to measure ocean debris have involved sample counts of plastic floating on the surface in large garbage patches in each of the world's oceans. A study last year, for example, estimated the amount of floating trash to be 245,000 tons at most.

The new study also identifies the major sources of plastic debris and names the top 20 countries generating the greatest amount of ocean-bound trash. China is first. The United States is 20th. The rest of the list includes 11 other Asian countries, Turkey, five African countries, and Brazil.

Even though the United States has a highly developed garbage collection system, it nevertheless made the top 20 for two reasons: It has a large, dense coastal population and, as a wealthy nation, is a large consumer of products. (See video: " Are You Eating Plastic for Dinner?")

"What we have done is look at the other side of the equation-what's coming out of the faucet, rather than what's already in the bathtub," says Kara Lavender Law, an oceanographer at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and a co-author of the report.

"The size of the discrepancy is huge-20 to 2,000 times more than the range of estimates of floating debris. That is pretty shocking, especially when you consider that the amount going into the ocean in a single year and what we're counting in the oceans has been going in for 50 years."

To make the figure eight million tons comprehensible, Jenna Jambeck, the University of Georgia environmental engineer who led the study, likens it to lining up five grocery bags of trash on every foot of coastline around the globe.

"And by 2025, those five grocery bags of plastic are going to be ten bags," she says.

That would be 155 million tons a year if present garbage management practices remain the same.
Plastic, Plastic Everywhere
Jambeck and her team combined population and economic data from 192 coastal countries bordering the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans in addition to the Black and Mediterranean Seas. They found that these countries created 275 million tons of garbage annually, of which 4.8 to 12.7 million tons of plastic flowed into the oceans. That's only 2 to 5 percent of the total waste created in those countries.

The use of plastics for consumer products has become increasingly dominant, and production has steadily increased since the material was first put into wide use a half century ago. In 2012, for example, 288 million tons of plastic were manufactured globally.

Ocean plastic has turned up literally everywhere. It has been found in the deep sea and buried in Arctic ice. It has been ingested with dire consequences by some 700 species of marine wildlife.

The pioneering study also creates a new mystery. Because the gap between what is found floating and what flows into the ocean is so large, scientists now have to figure out where else it collects and in what amounts.

"What we need to do now is close the gap," Richard Thompson, a marine biologist at the U.K.'s Plymouth University.

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Eight Million Tons of Plastic Dumped in Ocean Every Year

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Scientists have come up with a new way to measure ocean trash-and the numbers are even worse than thought. In 2010, eight million tons of plastic trash ended up in the ocean from coastal countries-far more than the total that has been measured floating on the surface in the ocean's "garbage patches."

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REMEMBER WHEN EVERYONE WAS USING SOLAR ENERGY?

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REMEMBER WHEN EVERYONE WAS USING SOLAR ENERGY?

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This piece of news explains the evolution of calculators and how they were powered by solar cells in the 80s and 90s. At that moment, some people imagined a lot of new products with solar cells, but nowadays not even calculators have solar cells.

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For 30 years, the technology that could help save the world has been in the hands of children.

Solar calculators were such a routine part of math class from the mid-1980s onward that they barely warrant any surprise or wonder today, even though a mostly solar-powered future is still decades away, if it happens at all.

So why did solar end up in calculators long before it appeared elsewhere in daily life, and why does solar still seem so cutting edge today when we see it on houses, theme parks, and combination recycling bins/wi-fi routers?

The first solar calculator hit the market in 1976. The Sharp EL-8026 -nicknamed Sun Man-united two technologies that had evolved in tandem. The old calculators of the early '60s were heavy, expensive (they cost the equivalent of thousands of dollars by today's standards), tube-powered tabletop machines. But with the rapid development of transistors and efficient LCD screens, they quickly became pocket-size gadgets that required only a single processor chip.

Meanwhile, advances in manufacturing had made solar panels-first developed at Bell Labs in the mid-1950s-cheap and efficient enough to be used on devices other than satellites. Putting them on calculators showed off how inexpensively the panels could be made and how little energy was needed for the processors to function.

This kind of display of technological achievement was fairly standard in consumer products at the time.

"When Texas Instruments wanted to push the then-new transistor, they chose the radio as first blockbuster application," says Joerg Werner, who maintains the Datamath Calculator Museum online.

Werner points out that the earliest computer chips followed a similar path, going from rockets to pockets and wrists ( perhaps you had a cool solar LCD watch to go with your sun-powered calculator).

The first solar calculators had their disadvantages: The Sun Man's solar panels were on the back and the Teal Photon, which came two years later, needed bright light to operate. But by the early '80s, Sharp and Texas Instruments had developed solar panels that could run under low or artificial light. This pushed solar and the attached low-cost calculators, firmly and finally, into the mainstream.

One Texas Instruments promotion in 1984 gave free solar calculators to businesses that bought TI computers. A few years later, Chicago Public Schools paid $1.1 million for 167,000 solar TI calculators to use in classrooms. A 1989 trend-watching column declared solar calculators "in" and astrology "out" (the same column declared Morris the Cat in and Kitty Dukakis out).

Newsweek referenced solar calculators in 1990 to explain what solar panels were, while a column in the St. Petersburg Times predicted,"You'll be seeing a lot more new solar products on the shelves in the coming year," including devices for scaring away backyard moles and charging car batteries.

The technology that made tiny, efficient calculators possible also brought us mobile phones, personal computers, Game Boys, Tamagotchis, and Furbys in just a few years-minus the solar cells. Some of these devices needed small, constant streams of power to maintain their memories, and others just used a lot of juice, as anyone who tried to beat Link's Awakening on a long car trip surely knows.

And while solar calculators continue to outsell non-solar models for Texas Instruments, kids who stick with math class often move on to TI-89s and other graphing calculators. These are great for calculus and trigonometry, but they're too powerful to run on solar.

Instead, solar moved to less-visible places, like the lights and signs on highways. As they get more efficient, solar panels are increasingly showing up not just in large-scale arrays, but on house rooftops and parking lot canopies. If Tesla CEO Elon Musk's plans work out, we'll all have batteries to store solar power for our homes.

But that doesn't mean children of the '80s, '90s, and today are all rushing to make their houses as green as their calculators. Solar calculators may have convinced a generation that the sun could power gadgets, but it's not the same as convincing them that the power in tiny calculators could stream from an outlet.

The problem, says professor and futurist Cindy Frewen, is that people don't necessarily think of rooftop panels the same way they might think of consumer electronics. "People adopt their gadgets, but they accept their energy," she says. "They take it for granted: 'This is what I have in my house.'"

That might change as utilities and clean energy companies offer more consumer-friendly options for solar panels and batteries to go with them like Tesla's Powerwall, a battery designed by and for technophiles.

The next generation may not even expect to plug their gadgets into a grid. Texas Instruments, the maker of all those school calculators, is working on circuits that will draw power from their users' movement. It's not likely to power a house, but as tablets make their way to classrooms, it's a great excuse for a long recess.

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Remember When Everyone Was Using Solar Energy?

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For 30 years, the technology that could help save the world has been in the hands of children. Solar calculators were such a routine part of math class from the mid-1980s onward that they barely warrant any surprise or wonder today, even though a mostly solar-powered future is still decades away, if it happens at all.

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EU EXIT WOULD RISK JOBS, SAYS GROUP OF BUSINESS BOSSES.

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EU EXIT WOULD RISK JOBS, SAYS GROUP OF BUSINESS BOSSES.

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This article talks about a letter that is signed by 36 chairmen from FTSE 100 companies who support being part of the EU. Some people think that they signed this letter because they were pressed by the Government. Here we can read different positions about the referendum that will decide if the UK will continue being part of the EU.

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Leaving the European Union would threaten jobs and put the UK's economy at risk, leaders of some of Britain's biggest companies have said.

Bosses - including those of BT, Marks & Spencer and Vodafone - signed a letter published in the Times, saying an EU exit would deter investment in the UK.

Leave campaigners point out two-thirds of FTSE 100 firms, including Tesco and Sainsbury, did not back the letter.

A referendum on whether the UK should stay in the EU will be held on 23 June.

Follow the latest updates with EU referendum Live

The UK's EU vote: All you need to know

Civil servants banned from helping EU out campaigners

Remain v Leave: Where does your MP stand?

Corbyn attacks 'theatrical sideshow'

EU vote: Is UK safer in or out?

David Cameron earlier took questions from employees of mobile phone giant O2, one of the signatories of the letter, at its headquarters in Slough, on the first of a series of tour events to sell his pro-EU message to voters. The move is designed to reach beyond Westminster and the emerging divisions within the Tory party.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the most high-profile politician to back EU exit, has urged people to focus on the issues and played down talk of ill feeling between him and the PM, saying "team spirit" within the party was good.

'Great future'

In a move described by No 10 as "unprecedented", chairmen or chief executives of 36 FTSE 100 companies signed the letter, organised by Stronger in Europe and Downing Street, backing the campaign to stay in the EU, including Burberry, BAE Systems and EasyJet.

The FTSE bosses were among a total of 198 signatories from the business world, including the chief executives of Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

However, nearly two-thirds of the UK's largest publicly listed businesses did not sign, including RBS and Barclays.

Asked about why the majority of FTSE 100 companies did not sign the letter, Mr Cameron said companies were often reluctant to "make any form of political statement".

But he added: "If the leave campaign could produce 35 business leaders of this sort of stature they'd be over the moon and I don't think they have the prospect of doing that with FTSE 100 leaders in any way."

On Boris Johnson's decision to campaign against him, the prime minister said he had "huge respect" for the London Mayor and he had "great future in British politics" but added: "He has got it wrong on this one."

Bank of England governor Mark Carney, has meanwhile, said policymakers are "not making a judgment" on the outcome or consequences of the referendum.

Mr Carney told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee that the Bank was treating the June vote as it would "every other political event".
Analysis by the BBC's business editor Kamal Ahmed
For politicians supporting Britain remaining in the European Union, the blessing of business leaders is seen as a positive step.

And the list signing the pro-European letter - at least in part orchestrated by Number 10 - are certainly a hefty bunch. But a few health warnings.

First, many of the people who have signed have long been public advocates of Britain remaining in the EU. These include Sir Roger Carr of BAE, Iain Conn of Centrica, Dame Carolyn McCall of EasyJet and Bob Dudley of BP.

Second, some of the business leaders named say that although Britain would be better off economically in the EU, the UK is still a significant market.
Read Kamal's blog
The letter from business leaders said Mr Cameron had secured a commitment from the EU "to reduce the burden of regulation, deepen the single market and to sign-off crucial international trade deals".

The signatories wrote: "Business needs unrestricted access to the European market of 500 million people in order to continue to grow, invest and create jobs. Britain will be strong, safer and better off remaining a member of the EU."

John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow airport, denied he had been pressurised into signing the letter, saying his company wanted to get the message across that the EU had "opened up the aviation market and reduced the cost of flying".

"Lower costs of flying mean we can go on holiday more easily, we can go on business more easily - so whether you are going on a stag night or exporting there is a real benefit of being part of the EU," he told the BBC News Channel.

Richard Tice, co-founder of Leave.EU, said Downing Street had admitted using taxpayers' money and "applying pressure" on FTSE chairmen and chief executives to sign the letter.

"The truth is that despite the bullying of a prime minister who has no real business experience, it is other normal commercial factors which will determine the continued success of British businesses to invest and grow," he said.

And Vote Leave, another group campaigning for EU exit said it was "disappointing to see the prime minister resorting so quickly to trying to scare people into voting for his deal".

A BT spokesman said: "Any suggestion that our company has been pressured into publicly supporting continued UK membership of a reformed EU is untrue" and it wanted to inform the public about how the EU benefits its business.

Meanwhile, senior figures from both sides of the debate are making their voices heard.

Boris Johnson urged people to ignore those "spreading alarm and anxiety" about the economic risks of EU exit, saying many of those involved supported the UK joining the euro in the 1990s.

"We have a great opportunity now to strike new deals for Britain to be the hub of new trading arrangements around the world," he said.

'Leading not leaving'

Former home secretary Alan Johnson, who is heading Labour's In campaign, has warned that two thirds of British jobs in manufacturing depend on demand from Europe and leaving could put up to 50,000 apprenticeships at risk.

"There is no progressive case for Britain to isolate itself," he said in a speech in Bristol. "We need to be leading in Europe, not leaving."

According to BBC research, 142 Tory MPs will campaign to remain in the EU, 120 to leave, while 68 have yet to make their positions clear.

Former Conservative leader Lord Hague has warned that splits over Europe in his party could take "generations to heal".

These divisions were laid bare during a debate in Parliament on Monday, when a succession of Tory MPs questioned the substance of the PM's agreement with EU leaders - announced on Friday.

The overwhelming majority of Labour MPs back continued EU membership as do the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats but the Democratic Unionists and UKIP are opposed.

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EU exit would risk jobs, says group of business bosses - BBC News

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Leaving the European Union would threaten jobs and put the UK's economy at risk, leaders of some of Britain's biggest companies have said. Bosses - including those of BT, Marks & Spencer and Vodafone - signed a letter published in the Times, saying an EU exit would deter investment in the UK.

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This piece of news shows how the companies spend between $100m and $600m in order to get the Oscar awards. Here we can read some different tactics to influence the 6000 Oscar voters.

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Film studios spend millions of dollars each year campaigning to get their movies in the minds of the 6,000 or so Oscar voters, hoping to win their acclaim. But does it work?

Heard the one about the actress who paid for her own full-page adverts telling Oscar voters to consider her performance?

Or the Hollywood producer banned from the award ceremony for campaigning against a rival blockbuster?

Just two of the most high-profile attempts to influence what must be the most select group of voters on the planet, the 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Estimates for the total amount Hollywood spends on Oscar campaigns range from $100m right up to $500m in a single year.

It's not the kind of figure studio bosses like to talk about. But the film producer and blogger Stephen Follows has crunched anonymous data provided by some of his industry colleagues.

He puts the cost of a successful best picture campaign at around $10m with most of the cash going on advertising, media, talent costs and publicists.

Adverts

In Oscar season, studios aggressively pay for adverts in the trade press, politely reminding voters about the merits of their films and the performances of their stars.

The phrase "for your consideration" plastered on billboards and in print is now something of a Hollywood cliché itself.

A front page advert in the Hollywood Reporter in Oscar season is thought to cost up to $72,000 - industry magazine Variety is likely to charge a similar fee.

In 2011 the actress Melissa Leo, frustrated at a lack of mainstream press coverage, paid for her own adverts to push her performance in the film, the Fighter.

She was accused of "going rogue" by some. It worked and she took home the best supporting actress award that year.

Dirty tricks?

Then there is the murkier side of all this: a select group of Oscar consultants whose job it is to get their films into the minds of Academy members.

They are paid between $10,000 and $20,000 a movie but can easily double or triple that fee if the client gets nominated or goes on to win.

Academy members are invited to select screenings in Los Angeles, New York or London. Stars will often make a personal appearance or take part in an audience Q&A.

"These are highly-paid, shark publicists who know the Academy members, know how to get to them and know what they like," Hollywood reporter Gayle Murphy says.

Outright bribery is banned of course but voters say they are swamped with free gifts and trinkets ahead of the official nominations.

"I've gotten books, cookbooks and just about everything short of Lincoln condoms," one anonymous voter told the Hollywood Reporter in 2013. "It's ridiculous."

Under official Academy rules revised in 2011 any direct lobbying by email or telephone is banned.

After the nominations are announced, studios are not allowed to hold screening receptions with free food or drink, a favourite tactic in the past.

Negative comments

Comments, either made directly or on social media, that attempt to "cast a negative or derogatory light" on rival movies are particularly frowned upon.

In 2010, Nicolas Chartier, one of the producers behind the film the Hurt Locker, was banned from the Oscars for sending out an email asking voters to back his movie over "a $500m film" - a clear reference to rival best picture nominee Avatar.

The Hurt Locker was victorious that year and he did eventually get his statue a month after the ceremony itself.

But it's thought this kind of practice is far from a one-off.

It's suspected that those Oscar consultants may be partly responsible for the steady stream of negative stories which appear in the press in awards season.

Whether that's Slumdog Millionaire accused of employing badly paid child actors or Zero Dark Thirty criticised for condoning torture.

Is it all worth it? Figures put together by Edmund Helmer, a data analyst with Facebook, in 2013 suggest maybe not.

Stripping out other factors, he calculates a best picture Oscar win adds only $3m to a film's box office takings, far less than the $14.2m boost after a win at the Golden Globes.

That might be because the Oscars come at the end of the long awards season when films tend to have been on general release for some time.

A separate study in 2014 found winning an Academy award boosts the pay of an actor by $3.9m but actresses see a much smaller $500,000 rise.

The man behind the study, the academic Kevin Sweeney, says he can't explain the discrepancy for certain, but industry-wide gender bias with more starring roles for men is likely to play a part.

All this is about far more than money of course. Hollywood politics and recognition from your peers play an important part.

As Edmund Helmer himself writes, both the Golden Globe and Oscar races "are not just about selling tickets to the films that win.

"The awards bring opportunities to the winners - and the unquantifiable gratification of victory."
The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:15 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.

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How much does it cost to win an Oscar? - BBC News

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Film studios spend millions of dollars each year campaigning to get their movies in the minds of the 6,000 or so Oscar voters, hoping to win their acclaim. But does it work? Heard the one about the actress who paid for her own full-page adverts telling Oscar voters to consider her performance?

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THE MAN WHO MADE 'THE WORST VIDEO GAME IN HISTORY'

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THE MAN WHO MADE 'THE WORST VIDEO GAME IN HISTORY'

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It explains how Howard Scott Warshaw was asked to design the videogame of the film ET. He had to design and program it in a five weeks period, when the time needed for this kind of videogame was over 6 months. This game is considered as the worst videogame in history.

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The video game of Steven Spielberg's ET is considered to be one of the worst of all time and has even been blamed for triggering the collapse of Atari. Howard Scott Warshaw, the gifted programmer who made it, explains how it was rushed out in a matter of weeks - and how he feels about those events in California now.

Spielberg was unimpressed.

"Couldn't you do something more like Pac-Man?" he asked.

It was July 1982 and Atari, then one of the world's most successful tech companies, had just paid a reported $21m for the video game rights to Spielberg's new blockbuster, ET the Extra-Terrestrial.

Howard Scott Warshaw was the programmer tasked with designing the game.

"I was stunned," says Warshaw. "Here was Steven Spielberg, one of my idols, suggesting that I knock off the game! My impulse was to go, 'Well, gee, Steven, couldn't you make something more like The Day The Earth Stood Still?'"

Warshaw's stock was high at Atari. The 24-year-old had just finished the video game of Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg considered Warshaw a "certifiable genius" and 36 hours earlier Warshaw had been hand-picked for their next collaboration.

"It was a day that will live in infamy in my life forever," says Warshaw. "I was sitting in my office and I get a call from the Atari CEO. He said, 'Howard, we need the ET video game done. Can you do it?'

"And I said, 'Absolutely, yes I can!'"

Games for the Atari 2600 were distributed on cartridges that took weeks to manufacture. If ET was to be in the shops for Christmas, Warshaw had a tight deadline.

"The CEO goes, 'We need it for 1 September.' That left five weeks to do it! Normally it'd be six to eight months to do a game, not five weeks.

"Then he said, 'Design the game and on Thursday morning, be at the airport and there will be a Learjet waiting to take you to see Spielberg.'

"I'm not sure exactly what I was full of but whatever it was, I was overflowing with it."

Warshaw drew up his pitch to Spielberg, and travelled from the Atari headquarters in Sunnyvale, California to Los Angeles. His idea was an adventure game in which the player had to help ET phone home by collecting components to make an inter-planetary telephone. The player would have to dodge government agents and scientists in order to complete the mission.

"I got down to Spielberg and I laid out the whole design," he says. "I told him, 'I think it's really important that we do something innovative. ET is a breakthrough movie and I think we need a breakthrough game.'

"I talked him out of the idea of a Pac-Man knock-off. But the key was to design a game that I could deliver in five weeks."

Atari needed ET to be a hit. In 1982 sales had reached a peak of $2bn but the company was losing market share to home computers like the Commodore 64, which could do more than play games.

"It was the hardest I've ever worked on anything in my life," says Warshaw, who was the game's sole programmer. "I started working at the office but after a while I realised there was a problem; I still have to go home to sleep and eat occasionally.

"So we had another development system installed in my house so that I would never be more than two minutes away from working on the code except when I was driving.

"There was a manager who was assigned to make sure I was eating so that I'd be able to keep going.

"When it came to the end of the process, my reaction was, 'Wow, I did it!'"

Atari ordered an initial run of four million copies and budgeted a reported $5m on what would be, at the time, the biggest-ever advertising campaign for a video game.

"ET needs help from his human friend - and that's you!" read the magazine ad. Television commercials ran for weeks. Spielberg himself appeared in a promotional video, whilst Warshaw was flown to the London premiere of ET and given a seat in front of the Princess of Wales.

"The bosses believed that as long as we put anything out the door with ET's name on it would sell millions and millions," he says.

To begin with, the game was "right up there on the Billboard top sellers" but word began to spread that there were serious problems.

"It was a finished game but it certainly wasn't perfect," Warshaw says. "There were too many opportunities where you could suddenly wind up in an odd situation. That was too much for a lot of people and caused them to put the game down."

Players complained that the ET character would inexplicably fall into pits and get stuck. As one 10-year-old told The New York Times: "It wasn't fun."

Atari soon realised that ET was not going home. In early December 1982 it announced "disappointing" sales for the year and the value of its parent company Warner Communications plunged. The results triggered steep drops in the value of other video game makers.

"After the Christmas season it was starting to come back from retailers," says Warshaw. "It still sold nearly 1.5 million units, but when you needed to sell four million, that's not good enough."

By the second quarter of 1983, Atari's parent company announced losses of $310m.

"Things just started to unravel," says Warshaw. "It's awesome to be credited with single-handedly bringing down a billion-dollar industry with eight kilobytes of code. But the truth is a little more complex."

Find out more

Listen to Howard Scott Warshaw on Outlook on the BBC World Service

Outlook tells extraordinary stories from around the world

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Consumers were turning to the home computer and the market was saturated with video games. In a bid to avoid collapse, prices - and much of the workforce - were slashed. But it was futile and in July 1984 Warner offloaded Atari for $240m.

"I took some time off to recover from the whole experience," says Warshaw. "I went into real estate for a couple of years and hated it.

"Eventually I went back to technology, returning to video games as a manager and director, but it had lost the charm by then."

Creatively unfulfilled, Warshaw undertook projects in writing and TV production.

"I knew I was done with the industry but I couldn't envision an alternative. I became depressed."

Warshaw's solution was "to throw reason to the wind" and in 2008 he retrained as a psychotherapist.

"Maybe a part of me really wanted to compensate for all the trauma and depression I created with the ET game," he says. "But in reality it's something I always wanted to do."

Today Warshaw bills himself as The Silicon Valley Therapist, "fluent in both English and nerd". Does he use his own story of colossal failure with clients?

"Sometimes I do," he admits.

"But every therapist uses their own experience with their clients. To me it's a very natural thing. Programmers and therapists are all systems analysts. It's just that I've moved on to a much more sophisticated hardware."

In April 2014 Warshaw was given his own chance to obtain closure on the ET fiasco. A film company was making a documentary about a legend that had persisted for 30 years - that in 1983 Atari had buried truckloads of the unsold ET games in the New Mexico desert.

"I never believed it, I just thought it was absurd," says Warshaw.

The city of Alamogordo granted permission for a public excavation to take place. Warshaw was invited to attend.

"When we arrived, there was a long, long line of fans from all over the country who had travelled to see this," he says. "It was an odd thing to sit there and literally watch your past being dug up."

The excavation confirmed that Atari products were indeed buried at the dump and Warshaw was filmed at the moment a battered and crushed copy of ET was pulled from the ground.

"I became extremely emotional," he says. "This little game that I had written in five weeks more than 30 years ago was still generating excitement. I was full of gratitude.

"Is ET really the worst game of all time? Probably not. But the story of the fall of the video game industry needed a face and that was ET.

"I actually prefer it when people do identify it as the worst game of all time because I also did Yars Revenge and that's frequently identified as one of the best of all time. So between the two, I have the greatest range of any designer in history!"
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The man who made 'the worst video game in history'

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The video game of Steven Spielberg's ET is considered to be one of the worst of all time and has even been blamed for triggering the collapse of Atari. Howard Scott Warshaw, the gifted programmer who made it, explains how it was rushed out in a matter of weeks - and how he feels about those events in California now.

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YOUR SEASON OF BIRTH IS STAMPED ON YOUR DNA AND CAN AFFECT YOUR RISK OF ALLERGIES

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YOUR SEASON OF BIRTH IS STAMPED ON YOUR DNA AND CAN AFFECT YOUR RISK OF ALLERGIES

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People born in autumn or winter are more likely to suffer from allergies than people born in spring or summer. It could be to the sunlight and vitamin D levels. It is true that DNA comes from our parents, but this research has detected some little variations that affect  DNA and the process where specific genes are activated to produce a certain protein. These variations are related to the season of birth.

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Blame epigenetics. www.shutterstock.com

People born in autumn or winter are more likely to suffer from allergies than people born in spring or summer. Nobody is certain why this is, but there are several theories. These include seasonal variations in sunlight (which could affect vitamin D levels), levels of allergens such as pollen and house dust mite (which vary by season), the timing of the baby's first chest infection (colds tend to be more common in winter), and maternal diet (price and availability of fruit and vegetables vary by season).

But no matter which of these exposures causes changes to the risk of developing an allergy, until now nobody knew how these early environmental influences were so long lasting.

Our study tested whether epigenetic marks on a person's DNA could be a mechanism behind these birth season effects. Of course, your genome doesn't change depending on which season you're born in, but there are epigenetic marks attached to your DNA that can influence gene expression - the process where specific genes are activated to produce a certain protein. This may result in different responses to immune triggers and hence different susceptibility to diseases.

Unlike DNA, which is inherited from your parents, epigenetic marks can change in response to the environment and allow gene expression to respond to environmental exposures. And they can also be very long-lasting.

Epigenetic imprint

We scanned DNA methylation (one type of epigenetic mark) profiles of 367 people from the Isle of Wight and found, for the first time, that the season in which a person is born leaves an epigenetic print on the genome that is still visible at the age of 18. This discovery means that these marks on the genome could be how season of birth is able to influence the risk of having allergies later in life.

We went on to test whether these DNA methylation differences that varied by season of birth were also associated with allergic disease. We found that two of them appeared to be influencing the risk of allergy in the participants. As well as allergies, other studies have shown that season of birth is associated with a number of things such as height, lifespan, reproductive performance, and the risks of diseases including heart conditions and schizophrenia. It is possible that the birth season-associated DNA methylation that we discovered might also influence these other outcomes but this will need further investigation.

The marks that we found in the DNA samples collected from the 18-year-olds were mostly similar to the epigenetic marks found in a group of Dutch eight-year-olds that we used to validate our findings. But when we looked at another cohort - a group of newborn babies - the marks were not there. This suggests that these DNA methylation changes occur after birth, not during pregnancy.

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There's something about the seasons

We are not advising women to change the timing of their pregnancy, but if we understood exactly what it was about birth season that causes these effects, this could potentially be changed to reduce the risk of allergy in children. For example, if the birth season effect on allergies was found to be driven by sunlight levels experienced by the mother during pregnancy or breastfeeding, then the increased risk of allergies among babies born in autumn and winter might be lessened by giving the expectant or breastfeeding mother vitamin D supplements. You wouldn't need to time births with the seasons to get the benefits.

Our study reports the first discovery of a mechanism through which birth season could influence disease risk, though we still don't know exactly which seasonal stimuli cause these effects. Future studies are needed to pinpoint these, as well as to investigate the relationship between DNA methylation and allergic disease, and what other environmental exposures have an effect.

With the considerable burden allergic disease places not only on individual sufferers but also on society, any step towards reducing allergy is a step in the right direction.

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Your season of birth is stamped on your DNA and can affect your risk of allergies

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People born in autumn or winter are more likely to suffer from allergies than people born in spring or summer. Nobody is certain why this is, but there are several theories.

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PEOPLE WITH LESS ACTIVE SOCIAL LIVES MAY BE HAPPIER - IF THEY'RE INTELLIGENT

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PEOPLE WITH LESS ACTIVE SOCIAL LIVES MAY BE HAPPIER - IF THEY'RE INTELLIGENT

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There is a research that has exposes that if you are an intelligent person who lives in an urban environment and you spend less time with your friends, you might be happier. This is a part of the “paleo happiness” theory. It is related to the environment where people live, their IQ rate and the circles of other people that they have.

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Are you an urban-dwelling loner who often prefers staying home with a book to going to a party? If so, psychologists say there could be a good evolutionary explanation for it.

You may not have to spend a lot of time with your friends to be happy, according to research published last month in the British Journal of Psychology. In fact, if you're an intelligent person living in an urban environment, spending less time with your friends might make you happier.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from a national survey of 15,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 28, which included information about their living environments, well-being, IQ and relationships.

After controlling the data for socioeconomic status, the researchers found that people who were less intelligent than average (as measured by IQ tests) and lived in higher population-density environments (like big cities) reported lower levels of overall life satisfaction than those who lived in rural areas. The data also revealed that the more social interactions with close friends they had, the happier these lower-IQ adults reported themselves to be.

However, the opposite was true for people with higher IQs than average. More intelligent people were more satisfied with their lives when they lived in a city, and they were happier when they spent less time with their close friends.

"The human brain in large part responds to the current environment as if it were the ancestral environment." Psychologist Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa

Why would the data show such results for highly intelligent people?

According to the "savanna theory of happiness," the things that made our ancestors happy on the African savanna -- such as living in more rural environments in close hunter-gatherer tribes -- might also make us happy today.

In other words, the average human brain may have evolved to function best in a rural environment with fewer people. When placed in an urban setting with a higher population density, our brains may signal for us to split into smaller social circles, Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa, a psychologist at the London School of Economics and the study's lead author, told The Huffington Post in an email.

"The human brain in large part responds to the current environment as if it were the ancestral environment -- as if we were still hunter-gatherers living on the African savanna," Kanazawa said.

Much like the "paleo diet," the savanna theory (or "paleo happiness") holds that the human brain and body still prefer the conditions of earlier times.

"The human brain -- just like any other human body part -- is evolutionarily designed for and adapted to the conditions of the ancestral environment," Kanazawa said. "The brain therefore has difficulty comprehending and dealing with entities and situations that did not exist in the ancestral environment."

Kanazawa theorizes that intelligence helped humans evolve to become concerned with more than merely surviving. Therefore, people with higher-than-average IQs may now be especially well-equipped to overcome stressors that our ancestors wouldn't have been able to mentally process -- like, say, living in Manhattan.

"More intelligent individuals are better able to... see such evolutionarily novel situation as higher population density as what it truly is -- a benign situation that requires no alarm or discomfort," Kanazawa said. "Hence more intelligent individuals are less likely to experience lower levels of happiness in response to higher population density than less intelligent individuals."

Of course, as with many other findings in evolutionary psychology, "paleo happiness" is just a theory. So take it with a grain of salt, and don't ditch all your friends on a whim.

"The savanna theory of happiness, as with all of my work, is a theory in basic science," he said. "Basic scientists like me merely seek to explain nature."

Kanazawa has courted controversy before, when he used weak evidence from his own research to argue that black women are less attractive than women of other races, New York Magazine reported. This time around, however, his research made it into a published, peer-reviewed study, and seems to have more support from the community.

Dr. Carol Graham, a leading happiness researcher and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, told The Washington Post that highly intelligent people may see socializing as an idle distraction from more important things, such as pursuing long-term career or self-improvement goals.

"The findings in here suggest (and it is no surprise) that those with more intelligence and the capacity to use it ... are less likely to spend so much time socializing because they are focused on some other longer term objective," Graham told the newspaper.

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People With Less Active Social Lives May Be Happier -- If They're Intelligent

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Are you an urban-dwelling loner who often prefers staying home with a book to going to a party? If so, psychologists say there could be a good evolutionary explanation for it. You may not have to spend a lot of time with your friends to be happy, according to research published last month in the British Journal of Psychology.

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CLOSING APPS TO SAVE YOUR BATTERY ONLY MAKES THINGS WORSE

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CLOSING APPS TO SAVE YOUR BATTERY ONLY MAKES THINGS WORSE

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It is thought that when Apps in our mobile are closed battery is saved. That is not true. When Apps are in the background they are not running and they don’t use battery, they are only in memory and they will start faster when they are open again. If they are closed, when they are open again, they are not in memory and they will waste more time and battery. It is the same situation for iOS and Android.

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For a certain sort of smartphone user, closing apps becomes almost automatic. You double-tap the home button on your iPhone or hit the multitasking key on your Android, and you just start swiping. You close all the apps you've been using. Days, weeks, months' worth. Not only is there something deeply cathartic about it, but it feels like a cleansing, a reset. Best of all, with no apps running, your battery's in great shape! Right?

Right?!

Wrong. In the last week or so, both Apple and Google have confirmed that closing your apps does absolutely nothing to improve your battery life. In fact, says Hiroshi Lockheimer, the VP of Engineering for Android, it might make things worse.

@pierce @mcwm @MarcusDPK @qz could very slightly worsen unless you and algorithm are ONE (you kill something, system wants it back etc)

- Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) March 14, 2016

Really that's all you need to know. You can stop here. This isn't even particularly revealing, really; it's just nice to hear the people who built the platforms confirm it. Here's the takeaway, once again: Stop closing your apps, because it's not doing you any good. But if you want to know why, it helps to have a basic understanding of how multitasking works.

On iOS, for instance, there are five different states an app can be in at any given time. (Android's setup is similar enough that we don't need to go over both.) Not Running is obvious: You haven't launched it, it's not running. Active is up on the screen and doing stuff. Inactive is a transitional phase, where it's on the screen but not doing anything as you switch to something else. Background is when the app isn't in front of your face but is working, refreshing your emails or bringing in the latest fire tweets. Last, there's Suspended, which is when an app is in the background and doing absolutely nothing. It just sits in memory like a bump on a log.

On both Android and iOS, algorithms run memory management. They'll close apps that need to be closed, typically ones that have been dormant for a while or are using more power or memory than they should. And they're very good at knowing when you're going to need data, or want a refresh, or open an app again. Apps that are already in memory open quickly, rather than having to fully start again; it's like waking your computer from sleep rather than rebooting it completely. You're far, far better off letting the system work for you rather than forcing it to re-open and re-start everything every time. Battery questions aside, it makes your phone slower and less coherent.

If you're into saving battery, there are lots of things you can do. Turn down screen brightness. Turn off background refresh for apps. Use Low Power Mode in iOS, or enable Doze on Android. Turn off location sharing for apps that don't need it (which is a good idea regardless). Put the whole thing in Airplane Mode, if you're feeling really crazy. But stop swiping your apps out of view, because it's not helping. If anything, it's making it worse.

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Closing Apps to Save Your Battery Only Makes Things Worse

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For a certain sort of smartphone user, closing apps becomes almost automatic. You double-tap the home button on your iPhone or hit the multitasking key on your Android, and you just start swiping. You close all the apps you've been using. Days, weeks, months' worth.

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STUDY CONFIRMS LINK BETWEEN DIABETES DRUG AND INCREASED RISK OF BLADDER CANCER

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STUDY CONFIRMS LINK BETWEEN DIABETES DRUG AND INCREASED RISK OF BLADDER CANCER

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This piece of news exposes that the use of diabetes drug pioglitazone is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. It shows a research with people who have diabetes type 2, which has demonstrated the increase of bladder cancer when this drug is used, even though this risk keeps low.

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The diabetes drug pioglitazone is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer, finds a study published by The BMJ today. The findings suggest that the risk increases with increasing duration of use and dose.

No increased risk was seen for a similar drug (rosiglitazone).

Pioglitazone and rosiglitazone belong to a class of drugs called thiazolidinediones that help to control blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, in 2005, a trial unexpectedly showed an imbalance in the number of bladder cancer cases with pioglitazone compared with placebo.

Since then, the association between the use of pioglitazone and bladder cancer has been controversial, with studies reporting contradictory findings.

So a team of Canadian-based researchers set out to determine whether the use of pioglitazone, when compared with other anti-diabetic drugs, was associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer in patients with type 2 diabetes.

They analysed data for 145,806 patients from the UK Clinical Practice Research Database (CPRD), who were newly treated with diabetes drugs between 2000 and 2013. Potential influential factors such as age, sex, duration of diabetes, smoking status and alcohol-related disorders, were taken into account.

Compared with no thiazolidinedione use, the use of pioglitazone was associated with an overall 63% increased risk of bladder cancer (121 per 100,000 person years vs 89 per 100,000 person years), with the risk increasing with increasing duration of use and dose.

In contrast, the use of rosiglitazone was not associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer in any analysis, suggesting the risk is drug-specific and not a class effect.

These results remained largely unchanged after further sensitivity analyses.

The authors stress that, in absolute terms, the risk of bladder cancer remains low. But they suggest doctors and patients should be aware of this association when assessing the overall risks and benefits of this therapy.

A second study, also published by The BMJ today, compares diabetes drugs - particularly newer drugs (thiazolidinediones and gliptins) - in their potential ability to control blood sugar levels and prevent serious complications.

Professors Julia Hippisley-Cox and Carol Coupland at the University of Nottingham used another large UK primary care database (QResearch) to analyse data for 469,688 adult patients with type 2 diabetes between 2007 and 2015.

Again, potential influential factors such as age, sex, duration of diabetes, smoking status and deprivation, were taken into account.

They found clinically important differences between different drugs (alone and in combination) and risk of five key outcomes - blindness, amputation, severe kidney failure, high blood sugar (hyperglycaemia) and low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) events.

Both studies are observational so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. However, the researchers say these results may have implications for prescribing, and suggest doctors and patients should be aware when assessing the overall risks and benefits of diabetes drugs.

In an accompanying editorial, Victor Montori, Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic in the USA suggests that working closely with their clinicians, " patients can identify the agent that is best for them given their context, both clinical and personal."

He points out that observational evidence can help, but warns that "sometimes even large practice databases are too small and incomplete to provide reliable estimates." And he calls for broad collaboration and shared decision making "to compensate for imperfect and sometimes corrupt information, with a humble and generous commitment to understand fully what is best for each patient."

More information: Marco Tuccori et al. Pioglitazone use and risk of bladder cancer: population based cohort study, BMJ (2016). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.i1541

Julia Hippisley-Cox et al. Diabetes treatments and risk of amputation, blindness, severe kidney failure, hyperglycaemia, and hypoglycaemia: open cohort study in primary care, BMJ (2016). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.i1450

Victor M Montori. Selecting the right drug treatment for adults with type 2 diabetes, BMJ (2016). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.i1663

Provided by: British Medical Journal

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Study confirms link between diabetes drug and increased risk of bladder cancer

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The diabetes drug pioglitazone is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer, finds a study published by The BMJ today. The findings suggest that the risk increases with increasing duration of use and dose. No increased risk was seen for a similar drug (rosiglitazone).

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ZIYAH GAFIC: EVERYDAY OBJECTS, TRAGIC HISTORIES

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ZIYAH GAFIC: EVERYDAY OBJECTS, TRAGIC HISTORIES

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The author explains how he decided to photograph different objects that have been recovered from the massive graves from the Bosnia war. He exposes how these objects can be used in order to identify their owners. These objects can give an identity to the dead people that genocide denied.

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Ziyah Gafić: Everyday objects, tragic histories

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Ziyah Gafić photographs everyday objects-watches, shoes, glasses. But these images are deceptively simple; the items in them have been exhumed from the mass graves of the Bosnian War. Gafić, a TED Fellow and Sarajevo native, is photographing every item from these graves in order to create a living archive of the identities of those lost.

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CATHERINE CRUMP: THE SMALL AND SURPRISINGLY DANGEROUS DETAIL THE POLICE TRACK ABOUT YOU.

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CATHERINE CRUMP: THE SMALL AND SURPRISINGLY DANGEROUS DETAIL THE POLICE TRACK ABOUT YOU.

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In this TED talks video the speaker shows how the Police Departments and Federal Government in the U.S. recollect massive quantity of data using technologies as license plates readers or locating mobile phones. This information is not only from criminals but innocent people too.

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Catherine Crump: The small and surprisingly dangerous detail the police track about you

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A very unsexy-sounding piece of technology could mean that the police know where you go, with whom, and when: the automatic license plate reader. These cameras are innocuously placed all across small-town America to catch known criminals, but as lawyer and TED Fellow Catherine Crump shows, the data they collect in aggregate could have disastrous consequences for everyone the world over.

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LOOSE WOMEN: CHOOSING BABY NAMES - GARY IS DYING OUT

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LOOSE WOMEN: CHOOSING BABY NAMES - GARY IS DYING OUT

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In this video the women talk about choosing babies names. They say that there are some names that are dying out. They also explain that the names sometimes depend on the time that they are chosen. Although this is an important decision, sometimes it depends on famous people or according to different cultures.

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Choosing Baby Names - Gary Is Dying Out | Loose Women

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After the news that the name Gary is dying out, the Loose Women discuss how they chose their baby names.

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FIVE MINUTE DEBATE: IS SUPERSTITION IRRATIONAL?

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FIVE MINUTE DEBATE: IS SUPERSTITION IRRATIONAL?

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Speaker 1 exposes that superstition is not rational, but rationality does not show all the truth about human condition. Instead of this, speaker 2 considers that the truth must be based in observation and facts.  She considers that science can show the truth and not superstition.

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Britain is preparing to let off fireworks and light bonfires to commemorate the death of Guy Fawkes and the foiling of his gunpowder plot to blow up parliament. But what part do ritual and superstition play in modern life - and is it rational? Guardian columnist Giles Fraser discusses these questions with Tracy King, rationalist and producer of Tim Minchin's Storm movie

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Is superstition irrational? - five-minute video debate

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Britain is preparing to let off fireworks and light bonfires to commemorate the death of Guy Fawkes and the foiling of his gunpowder plot to blow up parliament. But what part do ritual and superstition play in modern life - and is it rational?

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FIFTH GEAR - STOP/START ENGINES SAFE FUEL?

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FIFTH GEAR - STOP/START ENGINES SAFE FUEL?

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It is an experiment with a Renault Megane equipped with a stop/start system in order to demonstrate if this system saves fuel and money. The driver makes a first run with 1 liter of diesel with the system switched off and he reached 12,8 miles. In the second run with the stop/start system on, the car reached 14,2 miles.

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Fifth Gear - Stop/Start Engines Save Fuel? (Renault Mégane III)

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Fifth Gear real-world test: Do Stop/Start systems really save fuel and by how much?

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DRIVING A CAR WITH NO OIL #TBT - FIFTH GEAR

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DRIVING A CAR WITH NO OIL #TBT - FIFTH GEAR

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This is the experience of driving a car without oil. The driver explains to us that oil has three purposes: lubrication, cleaning and cooling. As it was predicted, the motor without oil gets definitively damaged in a short time. He asks a lot of people about checking oil level and a lot of them never do that.

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Driving A Car With No Oil #TBT - Fifth Gear

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In this week's #ThrowbackThursday we revisit the time Tim Shaw tried driving a car after draining it's oil. Guess how that turned out. For more fantastic car reviews, shoot-outs and all your favourite Fifth Gear moments, subscribe to our Official Channel: http://goo.gl/IPXAgl

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This video exposes the actual situation of FIFA, where the majority of its people who voted for the Qatar’2018 and Russia’2022 World Cup are being investigated for corruption. Now FIFA must elect a new president who will deal with a Federal Investigation from the USA.

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Ever since the decision to award World Cups to Russia and Qatar in 2010, Fifa has been beset by allegations of corruption. Richard Conway looks at the history of football's world governing body in the last five years.

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LUCIANNE WALKOWICZ: LET'S NOT USE MARS AS A BACKUP PLANET

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LUCIANNE WALKOWICZ: LET'S NOT USE MARS AS A BACKUP PLANET

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In this video the speaker explains that she works on looking for other habitable planets. She says that we are studying Mars in order to understand the conditions for life that this planet had in the past. We don’t  have to think about Mars like a back up planet, we have to consider to preserve the Earth.

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Lucianne Walkowicz: Let's not use Mars as a backup planet

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Stellar astronomer and TED Senior Fellow Lucianne Walkowicz works on NASA's Kepler mission, searching for places in the universe that could support life. So it's worth a listen when she asks us to think carefully about Mars.

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FIVE MINUTE DEBATE: SHOULD THERE BE RESTRICTIONS ON WEARING THE NIQAB?

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FIVE MINUTE DEBATE: SHOULD THERE BE RESTRICTIONS ON WEARING THE NIQAB?

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Speaker 1 says that only for some specific situations the niqab should be forbidden. In her opinion, politicians should not legislate over religious beliefs. Instead of this speaker 2 considers that niqab must be forbidden, in some cases as a sign of trust or equality.

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Columnists Nabila Ramdani and Joan Smith discuss whether any restrictions should apply to the wearing of the Islamic full-face veil (niqab) in public. Is Britain on the way to a French-style ban? Is the matter one of national importance? Or are the number of people wearing the niqab in Britain too small for it to be a serious concern?

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Should there be restrictions on wearing the niqab? - five-minute video debate

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Columnists Nabila Ramdani and Joan Smith discuss whether any restrictions should apply to the wearing of the Islamic full-face veil (niqab) in public. Is Britain on the way to a French-style ban? Is the matter one of national importance? Or are the number of people wearing the niqab in Britain too small for it to be a serious concern?

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DRIVING A ROVER SD1 WITH A PLANE ENGINE #TBT - FIFTH GEAR

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DRIVING A ROVER SD1 WITH A PLANE ENGINE #TBT - FIFTH GEAR

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Here we can see how a man has put in a ROVER SD1 motor from a plane that was used in the WW2. This motor was used in the Supermarine Spitfire and it is V12 and 27L. The presenter explains how the owner of the car changed the box gear taking it from a bus. They made a speed  test  reaching 162 mph.

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Driving A Rover SD1 With A Plane Engine #TBT - Fifth Gear

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In this week's #ThrowbackThursday, Jonny takes a ride in another ridiculous car. This time it's a Rover SD1 with the engine of a Spitfire fighter plane. For more fantastic car reviews, shoot-outs and all your favourite Fifth Gear moments, subscribe to our Official Channel: http://goo.gl/IPXAgl

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BEST BRITISH SPORTS CARS! #TBT - FIFTH GEAR

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BEST BRITISH SPORTS CARS! #TBT - FIFTH GEAR

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Here we can see why some different F1 teams have their development centers in UK. That’s why there is a long tradition of engineering and love for sports cars. After that the video shows seven different models of British Sports Cars.

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Best British Sports Cars! #TBT - Fifth Gear

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It's #ThrowbackThursday! Tiff Needell goes through his picks for the best sports cars made in Britain! For more fantastic car reviews, shoot-outs and all your favourite Fifth Gear moments, subscribe to our Official Channel: http://goo.gl/IPXAgl

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SEBASTIAN THRUN: GOOGLE'S DRIVERLESS CAR

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SEBASTIAN THRUN: GOOGLE'S DRIVERLESS CAR

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In this video the speaker exposes that the first cause of death of young people are traffic accidents. Furthermore he explains how a car driven by a machine is more effective than a car driven by a person and how we can have some benefits from this situation.

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Please [contact us](https://www.ted.com/contact) and let us know what happened.

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FIVE MINUTE DEBATE: SHOULD LEGAL AGE OF CONSENT BE LOWERED

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FIVE MINUTE DEBATE: SHOULD LEGAL AGE OF CONSENT BE LOWERED

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In this debate speaker 1 defends that the legal age of consent must be lowered in order to protect young people under the legal age who have consented sexual relations, otherwise they could be prosecuted. The position of the speaker 2 is that if this age of consent is lowered we will be sending a negative signal to sex offenders.

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The legal age of consent for sexual relationships is 16 in the UK. But official figures suggest that as many in one in three teenagers are having sex at a younger age. Some public health campaigners have called for the age of consent to be lowered - a move recently rejected by the government. Peter Tatchell and Ellie Cumbo discuss whether 16 is the right age of consent, and whether a lowering of the age of consent would send the wrong signals to older sexual predators

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Should the legal age of consent be lowered? - video debate

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The legal age of consent for sexual relationships is 16 in the UK. But official figures suggest that as many in one in three teenagers are having sex at a younger age. Some public health campaigners have called for the age of consent to be lowered - a move recently rejected by the government.

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BBC NEWS: APPLE ACCUSED OF FAILING TO PROTECT WORKERS

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BBC NEWS: APPLE ACCUSED OF FAILING TO PROTECT WORKERS

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This is a video from BBC News that shows the work conditions to the people who are assembling the Iphone 6 and Ipad. Here, through secret images, we can see how the workers sleep during their breaks or directly how they fall asleep as they work. The workforce is exhausted and they work more than 60 h/week. Apple is breaking its promises about protecting workers.

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Apple accused of failing to protect workers

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Subscribe to BBC News www.youtube.com/bbcnews A BBC investigation for Panorama has exposed poor working conditions at factories making Apple products in China. The undercover team secretly filmed the iPhone production line and found Apple's promises to protect workers were routinely broken.

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Here we can see a different test never made of a Smart. They crash this car at a speed of 75 mph against a 20 tones block of concrete. It is demonstrated that the rigid Smart passenger cell is nearly indestructible. The car resists this impact, but not the passengers.

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HOW VIRTUAL REALITY CAN CREATE THE ULTIMATE EMPATHY MACHINE

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HOW VIRTUAL REALITY CAN CREATE THE ULTIMATE EMPATHY MACHINE

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The author explains how VR can help us to emphatize with other people, because VR is not a frame or simply a window to the world. With VR you can feel the same feelings as people in the films and this fact can help us change our minds and help to take decisions to improve their lives.

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Chris Milk: How virtual reality can create the ultimate empathy machine

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Chris Milk uses cutting edge technology to produce astonishing films that delight and enchant. But for Milk, the human story is the driving force behind everything he does. In this short, charming talk, he shows some of his collaborations with musicians including Kanye West and Arcade Fire, and describes his latest, mind-bending experiments with virtual reality.

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THE AUSTOUNDING ATHLETIC POWER OF QUADCOPTERS

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THE AUSTOUNDING ATHLETIC POWER OF QUADCOPTERS

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It shows how the quadcopters can be programmed with mathematical algorithms and then their behavior can be similar to athletes.

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Raffaello D'Andrea: The astounding athletic power of quadcopters

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In a robot lab at TEDGlobal, Raffaello D'Andrea demos his flying quadcopters: robots that think like athletes, solving physical problems with algorithms that help them learn. In a series of nifty demos, D'Andrea show drones that play catch, balance and make decisions together -- and watch out for an I-want-this-now demo of Kinect-controlled quads.

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VISUAL ILLUSIONS THAT SHOW HOW WE (MIS)THINK

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VISUAL ILLUSIONS THAT SHOW HOW WE (MIS)THINK

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It shows some different images that can confuse our mind. Our perception is different from reality. We have an idea of real things that we can not change although they are different.

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Al Seckel: Visual illusions that show how we (mis)think

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Al Seckel, a cognitive neuroscientist, explores the perceptual illusions that fool our brains. Loads of eye tricks help him prove that not only are we easily fooled, we kind of like it.

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It explains how we think that our decisions are always under our own control, but this is not true.  It shows some examples where we can see how our mind is sometimes manipulated.

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Dan Ariely: Are we in control of our own decisions?

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Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we're not as rational as we think when we make decisions.

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27/04/2017
I went to the EOI, before class, with three mates to have a debate about two different topics.

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I went to the EOI three times to read and rehearse the "monologues" before class.

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28/04/2017
The University Murders - The Lathi File
It was an interesting activity where we talked about the story that we have read and we developed a different one with the same beginning and the same ending. It was very funny and interesting

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18/04/2017
The conversation was about religions and beliefs. We also talk about how religions have always been beside to the power of the different governments.

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21/03/2017
We talked about terrorism and international politics. It was really interesting to share different points of view about Integrism.

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13/02/2017
We talked about paintings and what we look at them.

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I have seen Season 1

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This is the third part of this trilogy, where Pam and Greg are parents of a five-year-old twins. Here both parents meet again and Pam's father continues with his suspicions about Grec. A lot of new crazy and funny situations.

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Now that Pam and Greg are going to marry, it is a good moment for Pam's father for knowing Greg parents. They go to visit them and spend some days together. Greg's parents are peculiar and there are very funny situations.

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It is a comedy, where Pam introduces her boyfriend, Greg Focker to her parents. Pam's father is a retired agent from the CIA and doesn't like Greg. A lot of funny situations occur. A funny film.

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I'm reading this book and I have not finished, but it is very interesting. It shows how technology can improve our lives. We do not have to think that technology is our enemy, if we work together we will get better results.

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It is a novel about a boy who has been refused from society and how he tries to return back. It is a story about homeless and sex-offenders that you can not imagine. It could seem an strange book, although it will make you think about.

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This book shows how the global economy works from some clear examples that anyone could understand. You will learn a lot of things by reading it. Funny and easy to read. I highly recommend.

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It is an amazing story about the NSA (National Security Agency from USA). It is regarding a Megacomputer that can spy any kind of communication in the world, although they were coded. The main part of the story takes place in Seville (where we can see how the author makes some mistakes about the Spanish culture). However, it is a good novel to read.