space
A nursery of scientists
The center Món Natura Pirineus, in Les Planes de Son, is a nursery for young scientists. Since 2007, the La Pedrera Foundation organizes the Youth and Science stays. For two weeks students from all over Catalonia receive theory classes, practice in the laboratory and field work in the areas of biology or astronomy. To get […]
The parabolic flight
Gravity is an ubiquitous physical magnitude on the surface of the Earth. There is no material or device capable of eliminating it. The only way to not feel gravity is in free fall. Some airplanes make a maneuver that consists in describing a parabola like the one that would make an arrow shot by an […]
Gravity, a matter of weight
We will travel to Bremen, in Germany, where there is one of the highest drop towers in the world (ZARM), capable of generating microgravity conditions of almost 10 seconds, and which is used by the European Space Agency (ESA) to test space technology. We will measure the differences of gravity between the level of the […]
Balloons to the stratosphere
Catalan industry is a world leader in the manufacture of balloons, used for sport and tourism. We will ascend to 6,000 meters with a balloon made in Igualada and see how the temperature and oxygen decrease rapidly with altitude. Faced with these difficulties, Would you dare to ascend balloon into the stratosphere, 36 kilometers altitude? […]
Tempus fugit
Time is an unattainable dimension. We live within the time from birth, and it structurates our lives. We have learned to measure it with nanosecond precision in atomic clocks, but we are still experiencing it subjectively. Einstein showed that time is relative and, apparently, on a cosmic scale could be slowing down until stop it. […]
Low cost satellits
The aerospace industry is a sector with so high investment that only large agencies like NASA or ESA, or the multinational companies can afford. An international team of students and engineers of UPC is developing a project to send a satellite into space for less than 1,200 euros. The challenge is part of the “N-Prize” […]
Atom: asking the matter
Hadrons, neutrons, quarks, gluons, or the famous Higgs particle are concepts of the atomic physics related to a big question: what is matter? “Quèquicom” visits CERN, a laboratory built 100 meters underground in Geneva, Switzerland, where the properties of some subatomic particles like hadrons are investigated from colisions in an accelerator called LHC (Large Hadron […]
Bacteria: from our intestine to Mars
Go to Mars will be an impossible mission if bacteria can not be used to produce the food needed by the astronauts, and to recycle detritus. In addition, each of the astronauts will take 2 kilos of bacteria in his digestive, the intestinal flora that any human needs to survive. We fly from intestinal Crohn’s […]
The fall and the light
Light therapy, is a treatment that helps to overcome the seasonal gloom caused by the reduction of hours of light during autumn and winter. The reporter Pere Renom interviews specialists in psychiatry and sleep, and a lighting technician. He also visits one of the most beautiful autumn landscapes of Catalonia, in the Pyrenees, to explain […]
