Pirate Captain Kidd's treasure found in Madagascar

7 May, 2015

 A 50Kg silver bar with inscriptions has been found in Madagascar by the US explorer Barry Clifford.  It is said that the bar belonged to the 17th century notorious pirate Captain Kidd. According to Clifford, his metal detector indicated that the whole cavity where he found the silver bar was full of metal, however, he wasn't able to identify nor spot the metal because of the muddiness o of the water inside the cave.

Captain Kidd was hired in the late 17th century by the British crown to tackle piracy and capture enemy french ships. Instead, he became a pirate. In 1701 he was accused of murdering one in his crew and sinking several British ships; the same year he was executed. It is legend that the rope broke twice before he was finally hung. 

It is extraordinary how the currently forgotten job of explorer can discover such interesting findings, contributing to the amazing world of piracy legends. This, of course, boosts tourism and offers us some more information about how living in the 17th century was. 

As a sailor, I've always been attracted to this kind of legends and when I saw this news report in the BBC, I knew I had to share it. Who on earth hasn't wondered as a child becoming a pirate?       

70 years since liberation

Seventy years back from now, Jersey island was liberated from five years of Nazi rule. Yesterday, the VE day was commemorated with local bands playing, a performance from the cadette's academy and several acts around the clock. 

The Nazi army invaded some of the channel islands during WWII, triggering the exodus of hundreds from their homes. Jersey was devastated, and the Nazi law was imposed. In this news documentary we hear the testimony of some who suffered the shortage of war...

Thanks to commemorations like yesterday's we remind ourselves about the horrors of war, and this motivates us to keep on working for a better society, with a sense of community and brotherhood among all human beings. Related with Human rights, we can't forget the overwhelming violation of them that occurred during WWII. However, we must remember too that, despite living in safe countries, war still happens around the globe and we are all involved in it as long as we refuse to make a difference and try to stop them.

#makelovenotwar

source: BBC

#motheroftheyear

Baltimore mom who slapped son: He embarrassed himself

April 30, riots in protest against the abusive use of violence Baltimore's police did leading to the death of a demonstrator, Freddie Gray, past April.

Toya Graham had told her son not to go to the demonstration, but when he heard school had closed earlier and so had done "the mall", she knew he was there. She approached the police and was behind their shield when she recognized her son's baggy sweatpants. He was in a group of teens covered with hoodies and was carrying a rock. She just lost control.

Press recorded the angry mother slapping and shouting to her son, while dragging him back home. According to Toya's declarations, that was just intolerable: he was allowed to protest for Gray's death,  and to go to his funeral too, still, vandalism was not a way of demanding justice.

Although abusive use of force led by police is absolutely reprehensible, I definitely agree with Toya, no way of violence is good and no violence should be used to call for justice. Find more info in the BBC or check out this video:

"I asked politely"

Alleged Bank robber Dominyk Antonio Alfonseca denies crime because he asked politely - NBC news

Monday afternoon, Virginia. Dominyk Alfonseca committed one of the most curious robberies ever. According to his defense, Alfonseca did not commit robber because he asked politely to the bank teller. As it seems, he handed in a note demanding 150.000$ as well as hurry, regarding that police would take three to four minutes to get there. Besides, he said he'd appreciate if they hit the alarm once he'd left. Police caught him twenty minutes later with a sports bag full of cash.

Evidence of the case haven't been hard to find; Alfonseca videotaped the robber and posted it on Instagram. 

Is it really a crime? Police says so, while Dominyk argues it wasn't because he did not use force nor acted violently. As I see it, it is hard to tell what should the punishment be, however it is clear that he stole a considerable amount of money, so something must be done...

Have you ever wondered how would you steal a bank?

tesla battery

Fossil fuels are going to exhaust eventually, yet we still rely on them as if they were endless supplies. Why? The most popular answer among those in favor of using gas and petroleum nonstop was that renewable energy sources were expensive and transient, besides, the energy they produced could hardly be stored for further usage.

Now, this defence has been blown away by the renewable power billionaire Elon Musk, who has just launched the Tesla Battery, capable of storing up to 10kW hours of energy. This brilliant invention is targeted to domestic use, however, a model for community use that can hold up to 10MW has been developed too. 

Tesla battery production is about to start, nevertheless, its commercialization will be facing difficulties due to pressure to governments from the energy monsters, which are already fighting against this democratization of power. 

It is indignant to see how an invention that could save the future of our planet, which is seriously threatened by greenhouse effect and contamination produced by non-renewable energies, is being rejected from markets or presented unfair difficulties due economical interests. 

Find more information here: IFL science!

tragedy in the mediterranean

Two more migrant boats issue distress calls in Mediterranean

This was the headline in The Guardian's news report last Monday, however, it could have been any other media's opening.

Two migrant boats were rescued from the Italian coast of Lampedusa after one had capsized causing the death of over seven hundred people. The passengers, who were refugees from Libya and other northern Africa countries, were seeking a better life in Europe. Only in 2015, over 25.000 people have tried this journey and more than a thousand have lost their lives trying it.

It is overwhelming to see how these people have to run away from their homes seeking a better and safer place to live. What overwhelms me too is the reaction of the EU, which is close to none. European governments are debating and discussing while this happens. The triton mission is far from becoming a solution.

As I see it, human rights are being neglected by all the countries envolved: those which have such a situation that triggers the exodus of its citizens, those which make an effort to help the refugees but aren't capable of working this situation out, and, overall, all those which simply ignore the problem.

Do we really want a world where people have to run away from home because it is no longer safe? 

cyber security

The Cyber Security Challenge takes place in the UK every year in order to recruit "cyber defenders".

The final stage of the challenge took place onboard the HMS Belfast, where computer terror simulation threatened London's City Hall by targeting it with the cruise's guns. According to the instructions, the participants had 48 hours to determine whether the threat was real, recognize the attack and stop it. 

21-year-old Adam Tonks won the final stage this morning, receiving a recognition plus industry training and £100,000 worthing university courses. As he declared, to win this contest you need a lot of knowledge, but also the ability of responding quickly to challenges, team collaboration skills and communication skills.

From my point of view, this is a very effective way of finding the cream of the cream in that area, as well as a very good initiative to create an interest amongst people for national security and also to make citizens realize how important is to keep safe cyber data and personal information... if a hacker is able to hack into the army, what could he do with our personal computer?

21st century school

High schools are often recognized for their massive and prison-like looking (specially mine). The Sandy high school, in Oregon, is now a highlight from the 21st century schools.

The 310,000-square-foot building is perfectly integrated with the forestal area and provides students an approach to nature through architecture, as well as plenty of facilities. Finished in August 2012, Sandy high school is inspired in the old roman constructions, with a central piece that joins three axis in the part where most social activity takes place. In every axis there are classrooms, laboratories, etc. And the building even includes an atrium, gym and an auditorium.

Regarding that my school has a considerably prison-looking, with huge grey concrete walls and grilles in every window, Sandy high school seems to me a perfect place to get inspired and work harder more motivated. A school well integrated in nature, with wooden walls, enhances people's creativity and creates a more comfortable atmosphere.

feeling fat

Facebook responds to a Change.org petition asking to remove the "feeling fat" emoji from the status list.

After more than 17.000 people signed for the petition, the social network has removed the face with double-chin related with the status feeling fat. The petition, started by Catherine Weingarten and the group against negative body image "endangered bodies", has rapidly spread in the net and reached its objective.

The group "endangered bodies" claims that emojis and status like that, which may seem absolutely innocent, are extremely dangerous to those with eating disorders. Catherine Weingarten adds that feeling fat is not only something you feel in front of the mirror and makes you feel uncomfortable with yourself, it is the constant thought that others are judging you for your image and making fun of your body.

It is amazing how movements like that can change the world. In my opinion, emojis that can offend individuals or even communities should be removed in order to achieve a society where being fat or religious is not a fault but something absolutely natural.

Check "The guardian" for more info.

new headquarters for apple

The technology monster Apple is building a new and massive future-like headquarters in Cupertino.

"Campus 2" is set to be finished in 2016 and will house almost 13.000 employees. This building will include offices, innovation centers and development departments, an amphitheater, parks, parking lots, canteen and an infinite list of facilities that will leave few reasons for the employees to leave the campus.

This insule-like structure has been criticized for its spaceship looking and for creating a parallel society inside cupertino city. The company's spokesmen state that this structure has no further purpose than enhancing collaboration among employees and creating an innovation center that will take technology to unknown limits.

As a fan of apple's technology and architecture, I can't really state against this new headquarters because I'll probably admire the building for its functionality and innovations, as well as the products that might be created there inside... Though I also see that this insule-like center is likely to separate Cupertino's community from "apple community" instead of integrating a new social meeting point in the middle of the city. From my point of view, it would be nice chance to renovate Cupertino's downtown and integrate the citizens into the development process.

hello barbie

Talking toys?

Some years ago we met a few toys that were able to pronounce a limited collection of sentences, such as "Hi! how are you?" or "nice to meet you!". But when I was a child I could have never imagined that my talking-whinnie the poo would answer back to my question and would be able to hold a conversation!

Now, the world famous Barbie doll is able to to recognize voices, answer questions, propose games and even chat with a kid! It was first introduced in NY's toy festival and first fears are already appearing. It seems like this barbie records conversations, sends them via internet to a Talktoys center which analyzes them and then uses a program similar to those integrated in smartphones to answer back and learn from its owner.

At first sight, it could seem an amazing toy, it is, indeed, a revolutionary doll, however, privacy advocates defend that this product could misuse the information it records, which may, eventually, be sent to third parties and violate privacy rights. In addition, some consumer associations denunciate that to analyze this conversations has no further purpose than studying the market to develop more effective publicity.

As I see it, we have to consider both sides of the coin: this doll is a revolutionary toy that can help children make fun. However, I understand all this fears and worries, because this doll doesn't sound innocent to me at all... I mean that this product is attractive for children, of course, but from my point of view a toy capable of holding conversations with children could not only misuse the information it gathers (not the toy but the company) but also diminish children's imagination, because if the toy answers back... there's no space left for the kid to think! 

google news

Google news has been removed from Spanish networks.

A recent change in the Spanish law has caused the closure of the Google news service in Spain. This new legislation obliges every publication to charge any website for sharing it, even if only a tiniest title is shown. Therefore, services like google news, which doesn't make money of its activity, have been forced to remove their portals. 

From my point of view, this new legislation, which theoretically tries to protect the authors and help them get money from their articles, is doing nothing but holding up the access to information. The lack of this wide used service is an obstacle when trying to find what's happening in the world... To sum up, a new maneuver from the Spanish government to control the information and keep us, the Spanish citizens, putting up with everything they say or do. 

In addition to that, the Spanish newspapers are now more difficult to find online, therefore, some of them (especially those read by a minority) are struggling to keep up with the global media and are now likely to disappear.

You can find the "boe" on that concern here. And the whole news on this link.

jonathan ward

As technology industries rise at a stunning rhythm, so does the number of employees they hire and the facilities they require. The needing of expanding their headquarters bring to the tech-giants the chance to demonstrate their power by building modern impressive centers. 

Not only designed for being functional, these buildings are meant to represent the companies' philosophy. By constructing campus that house both offices and leisure zones, they try to turn the centres into social spaces, where colleagues interact more and even mix with citizens. The times of hieratic massive skyscrapers are gone, they say the 21st century architecture is about building cities in each building rather than erecting towers in the cities.

From my point of view, this new way of understanding work places can be extremely positive to both employees and citizens. Working in a building that transmits its nice atmosphere to the people in it, boosts creativity and productivity. And it's obvious that impressive buildings attract tourists and enrich a city.

Read the complete article.

underground

Underground stations have always been known as gloomy places, where you should rush to catch the train and preserve your wallet. Yet a new trend is trying to change this by transforming these bad reputed spots into places of architectural interest.

The CNN has elaborated a ranking of the most impressive underground stations in the world.

As you may know, I'm really interested in architecture, in fact, I want to be an architect. These stunning art works, that make your journey through the underground tunnels something quite like visiting a museum or impressive buildings, fascinate me. As I see it, architecture is not only the science of constructing well, but also the art of transforming ordinary buildings into places of interest. Functionality combined with beauty make something as vulgar as a flat become a piece of art, something that represents a city, a country... 

Building practically will be useful, building practical art will be rewarding!

ehs

EHS -electromagnetic hypersensitivity intolerance syndrome- is known as the new disease triggering terrible headaches, insomnia and malaise.

Although it is not scientifically demonstrated, an increasing number of people believe they're influenced by the wireless technology. Regarding there are more than 5billion mobile phones out there, almost a wifi per family living in a developed country, radios and microwaves working in each house... it is difficult to make a math and find out the density of waves influencing our bodies.

The standard population aren't aware of this waves, but a significant group of people defend their bodies are influenced by these technologies and that they suffer from EHS. 

West Virginia, in the US is probably the only place on the developed world where wireless technologies are banned. This is not to keep people safe form radiations, but because that state is the house of the largest steerable radio telescope on earth. 

Diane Schou and other witnesses tell us their story.

In my opinion these people aren't completely wrong, mainly because I've noticed an increasing  on the frequency I suffer from headache since wifi was installed everywhere. I really appreciate this technologies, yet we must consider whether we are exposing ourselves to too much radiations and if they  worth the price we'll pay.  

News article based on CNN and Daily Mail reports.

fontus

Water out of the blue!

Kristof Retezár, an industrial design student at the University of applied arts in Vienna came up with the idea of a bottle that was able to produce water out of the air. It is meant to be used attached to a bike and while riding. After an hour cycling, and with proper conditions (20ºC and 50% humidity), it produces half a liter of fresh and drinkable water.

The device condenses the surrounding air to collect moisture in a flask or a bottle that can be changed at any time. 

This Retezár's brainchild could be very useful if improved. Can you imagine how beneficial it could be in a country with poor rains but high humidity rates? As I see it, it is a dream come true that will be, in a future, not only helpful for cyclists but also for the whole planet. The only drawback I could imagine, is what would happen if the air surrounding is polluted? However, I also see quite an easy answer: incorporate filters to the device!

needle in haystack

Sven Sachsalber wants to prove the popular saying: as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. 

The artist, known for his bizarre performances is to spend 48h looking for needle in a haystack, as part of his exposition in the "Palais de Tokyo" in Paris. The director of the museum hid the needle and the search will be "exposed" in one of the rooms of the Palais. It is due to last for about two days but the search will take as much time as Sachsalber needs to find the needle. 

Another recent strange performance of the artist is locking himself for 24h inside a room with a cow. 

It seems that today everything is considered as modern art... I'm not saying this performance is not art, though I'd rather name it challenge or spectacle to be shown in fast motion. I've always preferred classical art such as traditional paintings (including art nouveau and contemporary art such as Dali or Picasso) to this new way of understanding art... art is beauty and critics, this new wave of artists are mixing it with eccentricity and nonsense.

Catalonia overwhelmingly votes for independence from Spain in straw poll

"Catalonia overwhelmingly votes for independence from Spain in straw poll". This is how the NY Times titled the article about the 9N in Catalonia.

2,25 Million people voted yesterday in Catalonia in favor of Catalonia's independence from Spain. Catalonia's independence is an issue that has been one of the main preoccupations in Mariano Rajoy's legislature since in 2012 a massive demonstration in Barcelona claimed for independence. After a legal fight between the governments of Spain and Catalonia, the referendum that was due to be celebrated in Catalonia the ninth of November was declared illegal by the spanish. As promised in his  electoral campaign and pressured by catalan civil organizations, Mas (Catalonia's prime minister) convened a straw poll to demonstrate Catalonia's aims to vote and decide.

As I see it, Spanish government's attitude is absolutely antidemocratic and seems to be deaf in front of Catalonia's claim. This stance demonstrates a lack of consideration to the catalans, and, in my opinion, enhances catalans' hope for independence.

There's more to add: the constant propaganda against Catalonia that spanish media are promoting is creating a hate atmosphere amongst Spain. Furthermore, these media are choosing images for their covers that do not represent the Catalan movement AT ALL. 

In conclusion: as Catalan, I'd like the Spanish government to listen to us and start, at least, to debate instead of just ignoring every single movement of the catalan society. 

sleep for memory

Scientists in China and the US have recently discovered the connection between the quantity of sleep and the way neurons do their job. As it seems, the better and more we sleep, the better our brain works. This improvement of our sleep improves at the same time our memory. Scientists have proved with their experiment that subjects having more sleep were more likely to learn more and fatser than those sleeping less. They explain this phenomenon proving that when we sleep our brain reviews everything that we have done during the day, including that what we have studied.

I think it is fascinating to see how science can explain some incredible things such as this curious fact. Some rimes I've read in articles and books that the loss of sleep and, basically to stop sleeping, can boost our mental capacity and our brain habilites. This investigation, however, shows that it is actually the approrpiate amount of sleep what improves our mind.

More info at:  http://www.bbc.com/news/health-27695144

spain's king abdicates

Today, at short past ten, Mariano Rajoy, the president of Spain, appeard on an official communicate telling Spain that the king Juan Carlos the 1st had decided to abdicate and pass the crown to Felipe, his heir.

The news surprised Spain and the spanish whilst everyone was working on their jobs. By midday the breaking new had already spreaded around the country and the world. At that time, Juan Carlos have made another communicate, then talking himself about the reasons of his decision and encouraging the spanish to trust in Felipe. According to his speech, it seems that he considers he's ruled the country for long enough and it is time for his son to sit on the throne. He's also spoken about his health and the difficult moment Spain is living (the deep crisis it is suffering).

The new have instantly become trending topic on twitter and lots of politicians, economists but also citzens have given their opinion and point of view about it. It is good to remember that Juan Carlos is the third king to abdicate within a year in Europe (the Belgian and the Dutch abdicated last year). The politic tensions Spain's living with the Catalan process have become more sensible around the country, where a lot of citzens (not only catalans and euskeras) have expressed their wish to transform Spain into a republic.

As I see it, a King was very useful some time ago (...perhaps the last century?) but now, that democracy has reached its maturity, a crown has nothing to do in a country but spending its money...