Very cold ice films in laboratory reveal mysteries of universe. Could life have started in a lump of ice?

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Very cold ice films in laboratory reveal mysteries of universe. Could life have started in a lump of ice?

The universe is full of water, mostly in the form of very cold ice films deposited on interstellar dust particles, but until recently little was known about the detailed small scale structure.

Now the latest quick freezing techniques coupled with sophisticated scanning electron microscopy techniques, are allowing physicists to create ice films in cold conditions similar to outer space and observe the detailed molecular organisation, yielding clues to fundamental questions including possibly the origin of life.

According to a press release by EurekAlert, researchers have been surprised by some of the results, not least by the sheer beauty of some of the images created, according to Julyan Cartwright, a specialist in ice structures at the Andalusian Institute for Earth Sciences (IACT) of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Granada in Spain.

Recent discoveries about the structure of ice films in astrophysical conditions at the mesoscale, which is the size just above the molecular level, were discussed at a recent workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and co-chaired by Cartwright alongside C. Ignacio Sainz-Diaz, also from the IACT. As Cartwright noted, many of the discoveries about ice structures at low temperatures were made possible by earlier research into industrial applications involving deposits of thin films upon an underlying substrate (ie the surface, such as a rock, to which the film is attached), such as manufacture of ceramics and semiconductors. In turn the study of ice films could lead to insights of value in such industrial applications.

But the ESF workshop\’s main focus was on ice in space, usually formed at temperatures far lower than even the coldest places on earth, between 3 and 90 degrees above absolute zero (3-90K). Most of the ice is on dust grains because there are so many of them, but some ice is on larger bodies such as asteroids, comets, cold moons or planets, and occasionally planets capable of supporting life such as Earth. At low temperatures, ice can form different structures at the mesoscale than under terrestrial conditions, and in some cases can be amorphous in form, that is like a glass with the molecules in effect frozen in space, rather than as crystals. For ice to be amorphous, water has to be cooled to its glass transition temperature of about 130 K without ice crystals having formed first. To do this in the laboratory requires rapid cooling, which Cartwright and colleagues achieved in their work with a helium «cold finger» incorporated in a scanning electron microscope to take the images.

As Cartwright observed, ice can exist in a combination of crystalline and amorphous forms, in other words as a mixture of order and disorder, with many variants depending on the temperature at which freezing actually occurred. In his latest work, Cartwright and colleagues have shown that ice at the mesoscale comprises all sorts of different characteristic shapes associated with the temperature and pressure of freezing, also depending on the surface properties of the substrate. For example when formed on a titanium substrate at the very low temperature of 6K, ice has a characteristic cauliflower structure.

Most intriguingly, ice under certain conditions produces biomimetic forms, meaning that they appear life like, with shapes like palm leaves or worms, or even at a smaller scale like bacteria. This led Cartwright to point out that researchers should not assume that lifelike forms in objects obtained from space, like Mars rock, is evidence that life actually existed there. «If one goes to another planet and sees small wormlike or palm like structures, one should not immediately call a press conference announcing alien life has been found,» said Cartwright.

On the other hand the existence of lifelike biomimetic structures in ice suggests that nature may well have copied physics. It is even possible that while ice is too cold to support most life as we know it, it may have provided a suitable internal environment for prebiotic life to have emerged.

«It is clear that biology does use physics,» said Cartwright. «Indeed, how could it not do? So we shouldn\’t be surprised to see that sometimes biological structures clearly make use of simple physical principles. Then, going back in time, it seems reasonable to posit that when life first emerged, it would have been using as a container something much simpler than today\’s cell membrane, probably some sort of simple vesicle of the sort found in soap bubbles. This sort of vesicle can be found in abiotic systems today, both in hot conditions, in the chemistry associated with \’black smokers\’ on the sea floor, which is currently favoured as a possible origin of life, but also in the chemistry of sea ice.»

This is an intriguing idea that will be explored further in projects spawned by the ESF workshop. This may provide a new twist to the idea that life arrived from space. It may be that the precursors of life came from space, but that the actual carbon based biochemistry of all organisms on Earth evolved on this planet.
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Expert recommends town councils to design low-allergy impact green spaces

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Expert recommends town councils to design low-allergy impact green spaces

Contributing to the diversity of plant species (avoiding the massive use of an only or a few species); using examples of native flora preferably instead of exotic species and promoting the participation of experts in the design of landscaped areas are some of the recommendations town councils should consider when designing green spaces with a low-allergy impact. That is the opinion of Paloma Carinanos Gonzalez, researcher of the Department of Botany of the University of Granada, who takes part in the Master Degree in \’Gardening, Landscaping and Public Space\’ organised by the UGR.

In Spain, between 30-35% of the population shows any type of allergy. A 20% of them present allergy to pollen, a fact which has experienced an increase in the last years. In addition, pollen allergy is more frequent in women than in men; in children than in adults and in cities than in rural environments, due to the low-quality of the air for the presence of atmospheric pollutants.

The researcher of the UGR offers a list of alternative species to avoid plants of urban parks and gardens provoking allergy to the inhabitants. Floral species such as Magnolia grandiflora (magnolia), Celtis australis (hackberry), Schinus molle (pepper plant) or Citrus (orange and lemon tree), as well as species from the family of the aromatic (lavender, rosemary, sage…) are highly recommendable as ornamental plants, as they present a low-allergy impact. Besides, she recommends to carry out an appropriate pruning, observing latency periods and the sproot of new leaf buds.

According to Carinanos Gonzalez, species such as cypress trees, privets, elm trees, plane trees, daisies or grass are commonly used by the administration when it comes to design urban green spaces. \’All of them have been described as allergen plants, and they provoke serious damage to the people who suffer such problem,\’ says the UGR Professor.

Some of the causes which contribute to the presence of allergies in the cities due to the existence of ornamental plants are the favourable meteorological conditions to the emission and presence of pollen in the atmosphere. \’In general – says Carinanos- temperatures between 20-25 C in spring and 50-60% humidity facilitate the emission of pollen. This, together with a moderate wind speed, makes diffusion even stronger.\’ In addition, \’town councils use too many examples for the ornamentation of parks and gardens, and they do not observe the minimum separation necessary for the examples to grow, says the expert.\’

The introduction of exotic species, which give rise to new types of allergy, and the interaction of the plants with other atmospheric pollutants, present in cities (such as ozone and carbon dioxide, as the particles derived from combustion in diesel engines may remain adherent to the surface of pollen grains increasing their allergen activity) are other of the factors which contribute to the allergic nature of the ornamental species.
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Comienza el II Ciclo de Conferencias ‘La Ciencia y sus Aplicaciones’ en el Cine Municipal de Huércal Overa

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Comienza el II Ciclo de Conferencias ‘La Ciencia y sus Aplicaciones’ en el Cine Municipal de Huércal Overa

A partir de mañana, la localidad de Huércal Overa acogerá la celebración de la segunda edición del Ciclo de Conferencias Científicas ‘La Ciencia y sus Aplicaciones’, en el que colaboran el Ayuntamiento y las Universidades de Granada y Almería. Durante los días 7, 8 y 9 de noviembre, se impartirán un total de diez conferencias y mesas redondas, que correrán a cargo de reconocidos expertos académicos y profesionales sobre la ciencia.

El Cine Municipal de Huércal Overa será el escenario que albergará este ciclo de conferencias, que será inaugurado mañana viernes, 7 de noviembre, a las diez de la mañana, en un acto presidido por el alcalde de Huércal Overa, Luis García Collado; el rector de la Universidad de Almería, Pedro Molina y el rector de la Universidad de Granada, Francisco González Lodeiro.

A partir de este acto comenzarán las ponencias del primer día que versarán sobre: ‘La vida para controlar la Tierra’, ‘Valorización de residuos orgánicos agrícolas: Aspectos microbiológicos’, ‘Alimentación Funcional’ e ‘Innovaciones tecnológicas en horticultura protegida’.

La segunda jornada, 8 de noviembre, comenzará a las nueve de la mañana con ‘Agua y Medio Ambiente’ y le seguirán: ‘Microcontaminantes orgánicos de interés en la sociedad actual’, ‘Las plantas cultivadas y su nutrición. Nuevas tendencias’ y ‘La energía solar y sus aplicaciones’. El día finalizará con una mesa redonda sobre ‘Retos en la formación e investigación en la sociedad del conocimiento’.

El domingo, 9 de noviembre, habrá dos conferencias que pondrán punto y final a esta segunda edición del ciclo de conferencias científicas en el municipio de Huércal Overa. Las ponencias tratarán sobre ‘Influencia física y química en la iluminación’ y ‘Plantas transgénicas. ¿Ángeles o demonios?’.

La clausura, que comenzará a las doce y media, correrá a cargo de Luis García Collado, alcalde; Ana Rubio, concejal de Universidad; Antonia Garrido, Enrique López-Cantarero y Andrés Parra, coordinadores del curso.

El ciclo de conferencias está homologado por el Centro de Profesorado de Cuevas-Olula y también es equivalente a dos créditos de libre configuración por las Universidades de Almería y Granada. Los interesados en conseguir esa convalidación han debido de formalizar una inscripción, válida para la concesión de un certificado acreditativo. De lo contrario, se puede asistir de forma gratuita y libre.
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Expert recommends town councils to design low-allergy impact green spaces

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Expert recommends town councils to design low-allergy impact green spaces

Contributing to the diversity of plant species (avoiding the massive use of an only or a few species); using examples of native flora preferably instead of exotic species and promoting the participation of experts in the design of landscaped areas are some of the recommendations town councils should consider when designing green spaces with a low-allergy impact. That is the opinion of Paloma Cariñanos González, researcher of the Department of Botany of the University of Granada, who takes part in the Master Degree in «Gardening, Landscaping and Public Space» organized by the UGR. In Spain, between 30-35% of the population shows any type of allergy. A 20% of thempresetn allergy to pollen, a fact which has experienced an increase in the last years. In addition, pollen allergy is more frequent in women than in men; in children than inadults and in cities than in rural environments, due to the low-quality of the air for the presence of atmospheric pollutants.

Alternative species

The researcher of the UGR offers a list of alternative species to avoid plants of urban parks and gardens provoking allergy to the inhabitants. Floral species such as Magnolia grandiflora (magnolia), Celtis australis (hackberry), Schinus molle (pepper plant) or Citrus (orange and lemon tree), as well as species from the family of the aromatic (lavender, rosemary, sage…) are highly recommendable as ornamental plants, as they present a low-allergy impact. Besides, she recommeds to carry out an appropriate pruning, observing latency periods and the sproot of new leaf buds.

According to Cariñanos González, species such as cypress trees, privets, elm trees, plane trees, daisies or grass are commonly used by the administration when it comes to design urban green spaces. «All of them have been described as allergen plants, and they provoke serious damage to the people who suffer such problem», says the UGR Professor.

Allergy causes

Some of the causes which contribute to the presence of allergies in the cities due to the existence of ornamental plants are the favourable meteorological conditions to the emission and presence of pollen in the atmosphere. «In general – says Cariñanos- temperatures between 20-25ºC in spring and 50-60% humidity facilitate the emission of pollen. This, together with a moderate wind speed, makes diffusion even stronger». In addition, «town councils use too many examples for the ornamentation of parks and gardens, and they do not observe the minimum separation necessary for the examples to grow», says the expert.

The introduction of exotic species, which give rise to new types of allergy, and the interaction of the plants with other atmospheric pollutants, present in cities (such as ozone and carbon dioxide, as the particles derived from combustion in diesel engines may remain adherent to the surface of pollen grains increasing their allergen activity) are other of the factors which contribute to the allergic nature of the ornamental species.
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Very cold ice films in laboratory reveal mysteries of universe. Could life have started in a lump of ice?

Escrito por

Very cold ice films in laboratory reveal mysteries of universe. Could life have started in a lump of ice?

The universe is full of water, mostly in the form of very cold ice films deposited on interstellar dust particles, but until recently little was known about the detailed small scale structure. Now the latest quick freezing techniques coupled with sophisticated scanning electron microscopy techniques, are allowing physicists to create ice films in cold conditions similar to outer space and observe the detailed molecular organisation, yielding clues to fundamental questions including possibly the origin of life. Researchers have been surprised by some of the results, not least by the sheer beauty of some of the images created, according to Julyan Cartwright, a specialist in ice structures at the Andalusian Institute for Earth Sciences (IACT) of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Granada in Spain.

Recent discoveries about the structure of ice films in astrophysical conditions at the mesoscale, which is the size just above the molecular level, were discussed at a recent workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and co-chaired by Cartwright alongside C. Ignacio Sainz-Diaz, also from the IACT. As Cartwright noted, many of the discoveries about ice structures at low temperatures were made possible by earlier research into industrial applications involving deposits of thin films upon an underlying substrate (ie the surface, such as a rock, to which the film is attached), such as manufacture of ceramics and semiconductors. In turn the study of ice films could lead to insights of value in such industrial applications.

But the ESF workshop\’s main focus was on ice in space, usually formed at temperatures far lower than even the coldest places on earth, between 3 and 90 degrees above absolute zero (3-90K). Most of the ice is on dust grains because there are so many of them, but some ice is on larger bodies such as asteroids, comets, cold moons or planets, and occasionally planets capable of supporting life such as Earth. At low temperatures, ice can form different structures at the mesoscale than under terrestrial conditions, and in some cases can be amorphous in form, that is like a glass with the molecules in effect frozen in space, rather than as crystals. For ice to be amorphous, water has to be cooled to its glass transition temperature of about 130 K without ice crystals having formed first. To do this in the laboratory requires rapid cooling, which Cartwright and colleagues achieved in their work with a helium «cold finger» incorporated in a scanning electron microscope to take the images.

As Cartwright observed, ice can exist in a combination of crystalline and amorphous forms, in other words as a mixture of order and disorder, with many variants depending on the temperature at which freezing actually occurred. In his latest work, Cartwright and colleagues have shown that ice at the mesoscale comprises all sorts of different characteristic shapes associated with the temperature and pressure of freezing, also depending on the surface properties of the substrate. For example when formed on a titanium substrate at the very low temperature of 6K, ice has a characteristic cauliflower structure.

Most intriguingly, ice under certain conditions produces biomimetic forms, meaning that they appear life like, with shapes like palm leaves or worms, or even at a smaller scale like bacteria. This led Cartwright to point out that researchers should not assume that lifelike forms in objects obtained from space, like Mars rock, is evidence that life actually existed there. «If one goes to another planet and sees small wormlike or palm like structures, one should not immediately call a press conference announcing alien life has been found,» said Cartwright.

On the other hand the existence of lifelike biomimetic structures in ice suggests that nature may well have copied physics. It is even possible that while ice is too cold to support most life as we know it, it may have provided a suitable internal environment for prebiotic life to have emerged.

«It is clear that biology does use physics,» said Cartwright. «Indeed, how could it not do? So we shouldn\’t be surprised to see that sometimes biological structures clearly make use of simple physical principles. Then, going back in time, it seems reasonable to posit that when life first emerged, it would have been using as a container something much simpler than today\’s cell membrane, probably some sort of simple vesicle of the sort found in soap bubbles. This sort of vesicle can be found in abiotic systems today, both in hot conditions, in the chemistry associated with \’black smokers\’ on the sea floor, which is currently favoured as a possible origin of life, but also in the chemistry of sea ice.»

This is an intriguing idea that will be explored further in projects spawned by the ESF workshop. This may provide a new twist to the idea that life arrived from space. It may be that the precursors of life came from space, but that the actual carbon based biochemistry of all organisms on Earth evolved on this planet.
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Innovación incrementa su presupuesto para 2009 un 11,56% hasta alcanzar los 2.606 millones de euros

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Innovación incrementa su presupuesto para 2009 un 11,56% hasta alcanzar los 2.606 millones de euros

El consejero de Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa, Francisco Vallejo, ha presentado en Parlamento andaluz los presupuestos de 2009 de su departamento, que se incrementan un 11,56%, hasta alcanzar los 2.606.236.280 euros. En cifras absolutas, el presupuesto cuenta con 270 millones más que el año anterior, el segundo crecimiento más importante de los departamentos del Ejecutivo andaluz tras la Consejería para la Igualdad y Bienestar.

Vallejo ha destacado que se trata de un presupuesto elaborado para dar respuesta a la actual coyuntura financiera, pero también para continuar desarrollando el nuevo modelo económico basado en la innovación y el conocimiento que se viene impulsando desde la Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa en los últimos años.

En este sentido, el consejero ha señalado la necesidad de mantener la apuesta por este nuevo modelo económico, como la mejor baza para afrontar la actual situación económica y garantizar el desarrollo presente y futuro de Andalucía.

El presupuesto de Innovación para 2009 incrementa la financiación universitaria en los niveles acordados en el nuevo modelo, sigue aumentando los recursos destinados a las políticas de I+D+i, la investigación de excelencia, las infraestructuras científico tecnológicas y el avance de la sociedad de la información. Asimismo, continúa con apoyos económicos muy importantes en las líneas de incentivos a las empresas, a los emprendedores y al fomento de una nueva cultura energética.

Además, se adapta a las líneas de austeridad marcadas por el Gobierno andaluz en línea con la actual situación económica, disminuyendo un 11,5% el programa de dirección y servicios generales.

En lo que respecta a la partida de financiación de Universidades, este programa tiene una dotación económica en el presupuesto de 1.579 millones de euros, lo que representa un incremento del 3,5% respecto al ejercicio anterior, la mayor cantidad de recursos de la historia de la universidad andaluza y un incremento acumulado del 70,44% desde 2004. Este aumento permitirá cubrir los compromisos de cada universidad para el 2009, de acuerdo con los nuevos conceptos que se determinan en el modelo de financiación.

Igualmente, se destina una importante cantidad de recursos al Plan Plurianual de Inversiones en Infraestructuras universitarias. El presupuesto para 2009 se dota con 111,7 millones de euros, que, además, se incrementan con otros 16,3 millones adicionales procedentes de la disposición adicional segunda. De esta forma, a un año del cumplimiento de la vigencia del Plan se han comprometido ya el 92% de las inversiones previstas hasta finales de 2010.

Con estos recursos en el 2009 se harán realidad, entre otros, el edificio del Paraninfo y Rectorado de la Universidad de Almería, además de su edificio interdepartamental de Ciencias de la Salud; la nueva Escuela Superior de Ingeniería de Puerto Real (Cádiz) y la ampliación de la Facultad de Ciencias de la universidad gaditana; la adaptación del antiguo edificio de la Facultad de Veterinaria como rectorado de la Universidad de Córdoba, además de la mejora del edificio de ingenierías ‘Leonardo da Vinci’; y la urbanización del Campus de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de Granada y los nuevos centros de este espacio (edificio de servicios centrales, la Escuela Universitaria y la Facultad de Medicina).
También se abordarán la Escuela Politécnica Superior en la Universidad de Huelva; la urbanización de la primera fase del Campus Científico-Tecnológico de Linares en Jaén; las nuevas sedes de las escuelas Politécnica y de Ingenieros Industriales de la Universidad de Málaga, y el edificio para el complejo económico y social de esta institución; el edificio mixto interdepartamental y la terminación de la biblioteca de la Pablo de Olavide; y finalmente, la nueva sede de las facultades de Derecho y Ciencias del Trabajo, la biblioteca general y la nueva ubicación para la Escuela Universitaria Ciencias de la Salud, proyectos de la Universidad de Sevilla.

En relación a los programas de Investigación Científica e Innovación y de Servicios Tecnológicos y Sociedad de la Información, Vallejo ha destacado que Andalucía está realizando la mayor apuesta que nunca ha realizado una comunidad autónoma por la I+D+i. Para 2009, la cantidad destinada alcanzará los 439 millones de euros, un 12,2% más que en 2008. Este crecimiento continúa con el esfuerzo inversor que realizó la Junta la pasada legislatura para impulsar el sistema andaluz de conocimiento, que en los últimos cuatro años permitió incrementar un 135% los recursos destinados a I+D+i. De este modo, el presupuesto de 2009 supone un paso adelante en el desarrollo del Plan Andaluz de I+D+i, que movilizará más de 25.400 millones de euros en el periodo 2007/13.

Si se analizan las cifras y conceptos del programa de Investigación Científica e Innovación, por quinto año consecutivo el gasto en investigación crece respecto al ejercicio anterior por encima de la media del presupuesto de la Consejería, un 14,4%. Esto supone alcanzar para 2009 la cantidad de 285 millones de euros.
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Expert recommends town councils to design low-allergy impact green spaces

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Expert recommends town councils to design low-allergy impact green spaces

Contributing to the diversity of plant species (avoiding the massive use of an only or a few species); using examples of native flora preferably instead of exotic species and promoting the participation of experts in the design of landscaped areas are some of the recommendations town councils should consider when designing green spaces with a low-allergy impact.

That is the opinion of Paloma Cariñanos González, researcher of the Department of Botany of the University of Granada, who takes part in the Master Degree in “Gardening, Landscaping and Public Space” organized by the UGR.

In Spain, between 30-35% of the population shows any type of allergy. A 20% of thempresetn allergy to pollen, a fact which has experienced an increase in the last years. In addition, pollen allergy is more frequent in women than in men; in children than inadults and in cities than in rural environments, due to the low-quality of the air for the presence of atmospheric pollutants.

Alternative species
The researcher of the UGR offers a list of alternative species to avoid plants of urban parks and gardens provoking allergy to the inhabitants. Floral species such as Magnolia grandiflora (magnolia), Celtis australis (hackberry), Schinus molle (pepper plant) or Citrus (orange and lemon tree), as well as species from the family of the aromatic (lavender, rosemary, sage…) are highly recommendable as ornamental plants, as they present a low-allergy impact. Besides, she recommeds to carry out an appropriate pruning, observing latency periods and the sproot of new leaf buds.

According to Cariñanos González, species such as cypress trees, privets, elm trees, plane trees, daisies or grass are commonly used by the administration when it comes to design urban green spaces. “All of them have been described as allergen plants, and they provoke serious damage to the people who suffer such problem”, says the UGR Professor.

Allergy causes
Some of the causes which contribute to the presence of allergies in the cities due to the existence of ornamental plants are the favourable meteorological conditions to the emission and presence of pollen in the atmosphere. “In general – says Cariñanos- temperatures between 20-25ºC in spring and 50-60% humidity facilitate the emission of pollen. This, together with a moderate wind speed, makes diffusion even stronger”. In addition, “town councils use too many examples for the ornamentation of parks and gardens, and they do not observe the minimum separation necessary for the examples to grow”, says the expert.

The introduction of exotic species, which give rise to new types of allergy, and the interaction of the plants with other atmospheric pollutants, present in cities (such as ozone and carbon dioxide, as the particles derived from combustion in diesel engines may remain adherent to the surface of pollen grains increasing their allergen activity) are other of the factors which contribute to the allergic nature of the ornamental species.

Reference: Prof. Paloma Cariñanos González. Department of Botany of the University of Granada. Phone number: +34 958 241977. E-mail: palomacg@ugr.es
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De la Vega defiende el papel de las mujeres como punta de lanza en la lucha por la paz

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De la Vega defiende el papel de las mujeres como punta de lanza en la lucha por la paz

La vicepresidenta primera del Gobierno, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, ha defendido hoy la labor de las mujeres como «punta de lanza» en la lucha por la paz y su contribución, como agentes activas, a la resolución de conflictos.
De la Vega ha hecho estas declaraciones durante la inauguración del seminario internacional «Mujeres y paz. Teoría y prácticas de una cultura de paz» que, organizado por la Universidad de Granada, analizará hasta mañana las convergencias y paralelismos entre los movimientos feminista y pacifista.

Durante su intervención, la vicepresidenta ha subrayado el hecho de que, a diferencia de lo que ocurría hace un siglo, hoy el 90 por ciento de quienes pierden la vida en los conflictos armados son civiles, fundamentalmente niños y mujeres.

Ha instado no obstante a no caer en el error de reducir a las mujeres a un «papel pasivo» en los conflictos, porque lejos de ello, ha dicho, ocupan la «primera línea» en la lucha por la paz como responsables de sus familias y procuradoras de una mínima economía de subsistencia.

«En las zonas en conflicto, son muchas las luchas que no se libran con fusiles», ha indicado De la Vega, para quien las mujeres han demostrado ser «las más activas agentes de paz».

De la Vega se ha remontado a los años fundacionales del movimiento internacional por la liberación de las mujeres para asegurar que la lucha por la igualdad y el movimiento por la paz han caminado y evolucionado de forma conjunta.

El movimiento de mujeres sigue siendo en su opinión una acción para la paz «comprometida, activa y creadora», y es por ello, ha agregado, que existe una «afinidad natural» entre el avance de la mujer y la paz que se muestra en «la lucha pacífica» de éstas por la libertad y la emancipación.

«La única revolución triunfante y que sigue progresando ha sido la pacífica revolución de las mujeres», según De la Vega, que se ha referido a la adopción en los últimos años de disposiciones internacionales que buscan fomentar la participación de la población femenina en la pacificación y reconstrucción de sus comunidades.

Aunque la resolución 1.325 de la ONU marcó un «hito fundamental» y fue adoptada por unanimidad, hasta la fecha sólo una decena de países, España entre ellos, ha aprobado, como aconseja la resolución, un plan de acción sobre mujeres, paz y seguridad, según la vicepresidenta primera del Gobierno, para quien «es mucho» lo que queda por recorrer «para pasar de la letra a la realidad».

Para De la Vega, que ha apelado a la unidad de las mujeres para ser oídas, «la apertura al mundo, el estrechamiento de lazos y la cooperación internacional» es la «única esperanza» para afrontar los retos actuales.

Es hora, ha dicho, de que las mujeres «salgan de su invisibilidad» y de aprovechar su capacidad en beneficio de la paz. Para ello ha considerado necesario contar con más mujeres en los procesos de paz y de reconstrucción nacional y en los organismos internacionales, apuesta en la que ha enmarcado algunas de las iniciativas del Gobierno como la Alianza de Civilizaciones.

En la inauguración del seminario han participado, entre otros, la consejera andaluza de Igualdad y Bienestar Social, Micaela Navarro, y la diputada nacional del PSOE Cándida Martínez, para quien De la Vega «ha sabido trasladar -desde la Vicepresidencia del Gobierno- las ideas y prácticas de las mujeres al lenguaje del poder».
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Expert Recommends Town Councils To Design Low Allergy Impact Green Spaces

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Expert Recommends Town Councils To Design Low Allergy Impact Green Spaces

Contributing to the diversity of plant species (avoiding the massive use of an only or a few species); using examples of native flora preferably instead of exotic species and promoting the participation of experts in the design of landscaped areas are some of the recommendations town councils should consider when designing green spaces with a low-allergy impact. That is the opinion of Paloma Cariñanos González, researcher of the Department of Botany of the University of Granada, who takes part in the Master Degree in «Gardening, Landscaping and Public Space» organized by the UGR.

In Spain, between 30-35% of the population shows any type of allergy. A 20% of thempresetn allergy to pollen, a fact which has experienced an increase in the last years. In addition, pollen allergy is more frequent in women than in men; in children than inadults and in cities than in rural environments, due to the low-quality of the air for the presence of atmospheric pollutants.

Alternative species

The researcher of the UGR offers a list of alternative species to avoid plants of urban parks and gardens provoking allergy to the inhabitants. Floral species such as Magnolia grandiflora (magnolia), Celtis australis (hackberry), Schinus molle (pepper plant) or Citrus (orange and lemon tree), as well as species from the family of the aromatic (lavender, rosemary, sage…) are highly recommendable as ornamental plants, as they present a low-allergy impact. Besides, she recommeds to carry out an appropriate pruning, observing latency periods and the sproot of new leaf buds.

According to Cariñanos González, species such as cypress trees, privets, elm trees, plane trees, daisies or grass are commonly used by the administration when it comes to design urban green spaces. «All of them have been described as allergen plants, and they provoke serious damage to the people who suffer such problem», says the UGR Professor.

Allergy causes

Some of the causes which contribute to the presence of allergies in the cities due to the existence of ornamental plants are the favourable meteorological conditions to the emission and presence of pollen in the atmosphere. «In general says Cariñanos- temperatures between 20-25ºC in spring and 50-60% humidity facilitate the emission of pollen. This, together with a moderate wind speed, makes diffusion even stronger». In addition, «town councils use too many examples for the ornamentation of parks and gardens, and they do not observe the minimum separation necessary for the examples to grow», says the expert.

The introduction of exotic species, which give rise to new types of allergy, and the interaction of the plants with other atmospheric pollutants, present in cities (such as ozone and carbon dioxide, as the particles derived from combustion in diesel engines may remain adherent to the surface of pollen grains increasing their allergen activity) are other of the factors which contribute to the allergic nature of the ornamental species.

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Ian Gibson: «Nada va a impedir» buscar a Lorca, pero yo «no quiero ver»

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Ian Gibson: «Nada va a impedir» buscar a Lorca, pero yo «no quiero ver»

Ian Gibson, biógrafo de Federico García Lorca, fusilado durante la Guerra Civil, está seguro de que «nada va a poder impedir» la búsqueda de los restos del «poeta español más famoso del siglo», aunque él «no podría aguantar el dolor» de verlos.

«Tengo confianza total en que se va a buscar. Nada lo va a poder impedir», «esto está en marcha» y «la familia no creo que pueda influir nada a estas alturas». «El proceso es imparable», declaró Gibson en una entrevista a la AFP.

Para este hispanista irlandés «es muy malo para todo el mundo, para la familia de Lorca, que haya tantas versiones» sobre su paradero.

Sobre él se barajan dos lugares cercanos en la provincia de Granada, donde fue fusilado por milicianos de la sublevación de derechas a mediados de agosto de 1936, un mes después del comienzo de la Guerra Civil (1936-1939).

El biógrafo, de 69 años, cree que «Lorca estaría en contra de su propia familia, porque hay otras personas enterradas con él y sus familias quieren encontrarlos».

Los familiares se oponían a que se exhumen sus restos, frente a los parientes de tres personas probablemente enterradas junto a él, el maestro de escuela Dióscoro Galindo, y los banderilleros anarquistas Francisco Galadí y Joaquín Arcollas, en la provincia de Granada (Andalucía, sur), donde vivía el poeta.

Pero el juez Baltasar Garzón autorizó el 16 de octubre la apertura de varias fosas donde pueden encontrarse los cuerpos de desaparecidos de la guerra, además de anunciar que investigará el paradero de más de 100.000 personas y las circunstancias de su muerte durante este período y la represión de los primeros años de la dictadura de Franco (1939-1975).

La justicia local ya ha recibido la autorización y un equipo de la universidad de Granada prepara la apertura de la fosa, que podría retrasarse hasta comienzos del próximo año debido a las lluvias.

Ante esta evidencia, la familia, resignada, y después de mostrarse dividida sobre la apertura de la fosa, ha decidido presenciar los trabajos y pidió a un juez que se hagan en la intimidad para evitar que se convierta en «un circo mediático».

Para el escritor irlandés, encontrar el cuerpo de este poeta comprometido con los gobiernos republicanos de izquierdas ayudaría a conocer las circunstancias de su muerte, «si lo torturaron antes de matarlo». «Yo creo que sí».

Además «es una cuestión de decencia, de justicia», ya que «lo que pasó en la postguerra fue un crimen masivo» y «a nadie se le ocurre dejar a un abuelo en la cuneta».

Y encontrar los restos de Lorca «daría un impulso tremendo» al proceso de búsqueda de los desaparecidos, ya que «estamos hablando del poeta español más famoso del siglo y más traducido de todos los tiempos» y del «desaparecido más famoso de la Guerra Civil». «Es importante para el mundo».

Pero Gibson, que en 1966 visitó el lugar que le señalaba el enterrador de Lorca, Manuel Castilla, y que documentó en su biografía (1971), no quiere asistir a la exhumación.

«No quiero ver, no podría aguantar el dolor de ver los restos de Lorca. Mme daría un infarto», asegura.

La investigación de la muerte del poeta «caló tan profundamente en mí que no puedo olvidarlo. He convivido con su obra, su sufrimiento, su condición de gay en una sociedad machista. Estoy absolutamente identificado con su mensaje», describe.

Miembros de la familia de Lorca alegaban que si se abre la fosa, el lugar perdería su magia, lo que para Gibson es «ridículo».

«El meollo es que el Estado ayude a las familias a buscar a sus muertos y darles un entierro digno. Si no quieren sacar a Lorca, pueden dejarlo ahí», estima.

El hispanista sitúa la fosa en un punto entre los términos municipales de Alfacar y Víznar, pero otros indicios la sitúan a unos 600 metros, en el paraje llamado El Caracolar, lo que aquél tampoco descarta.
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Life in a Lump of Ice

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Life in a Lump of Ice

The universe is full of water, mostly in the form of very cold ice films deposited on interstellar dust particles, but until recently little was known about the detailed small-scale structure. Now the latest quick freezing techniques coupled with sophisticated scanning electron microscopy techniques, are allowing physicists to create ice films in cold conditions similar to outer space and observe the detailed molecular organisation, yielding clues to fundamental questions, including possibly the origin of life.

Researchers have been surprised by some of the results, not least by the sheer beauty of some of the images created, according to Julyan Cartwright, a specialist in ice structures at the Andalusian Institute for Earth Sciences (IACT) of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Granada in Spain.

Recent discoveries about the structure of ice films in astrophysical conditions at the mesoscale, which is the size just above the molecular level, were discussed at a recent workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and co-chaired by Cartwright alongside C. Ignacio Sainz-Diaz, also from the IACT. As Cartwright noted, many of the discoveries about ice structures at low temperatures were made possible by earlier research into industrial applications involving deposits of thin films upon an underlying substrate (ie the surface, such as a rock, to which the film is attached), such as manufacture of ceramics and semiconductors. In turn the study of ice films could lead to insights of value in such industrial applications.

But the ESF workshop\’s main focus was on ice in space, usually formed at temperatures far lower than even the coldest places on earth, between 3 and 90 degrees above absolute zero (3-90K). Most of the ice is on dust grains because there are so many of them, but some ice is on larger bodies such as asteroids, comets, cold moons or planets, and occasionally planets capable of supporting life such as Earth. At low temperatures, ice can form different structures at the mesoscale than under terrestrial conditions, and in some cases can be amorphous in form, that is like a glass with the molecules in effect frozen in space, rather than as crystals. For ice to be amorphous, water has to be cooled to its glass transition temperature of about 130 K without ice crystals having formed first. To do this in the laboratory requires rapid cooling, which Cartwright and colleagues achieved in their work with a helium «cold finger» incorporated in a scanning electron microscope to take the images.

As Cartwright observed, ice can exist in a combination of crystalline and amorphous forms, in other words as a mixture of order and disorder, with many variants depending on the temperature at which freezing actually occurred. In his latest work, Cartwright and colleagues have shown that ice at the mesoscale comprises all sorts of different characteristic shapes associated with the temperature and pressure of freezing, also depending on the surface properties of the substrate. For example when formed on a titanium substrate at the very low temperature of 6K, ice has a characteristic cauliflower structure.

Most intriguingly, ice under certain conditions produces biomimetic forms, meaning that they appear life like, with shapes like palm leaves or worms, or even at a smaller scale like bacteria. This led Cartwright to point out that researchers should not assume that lifelike forms in objects obtained from space, like Mars rock, is evidence that life actually existed there.

«If one goes to another planet and sees small wormlike or palm like structures, one should not immediately call a press conference announcing alien life has been found,» said Cartwright.

On the other hand the existence of lifelike biomimetic structures in ice suggests that nature may well have copied physics. It is even possible that while ice is too cold to support most life as we know it, it may have provided a suitable internal environment for prebiotic life to have emerged.

«It is clear that biology does use physics,» said Cartwright. «Indeed, how could it not do? So we shouldn\’t be surprised to see that sometimes biological structures clearly make use of simple physical principles. Then, going back in time, it seems reasonable to posit that when life first emerged, it would have been using as a container something much simpler than today\’s cell membrane, probably some sort of simple vesicle of the sort found in soap bubbles. This sort of vesicle can be found in abiotic systems today, both in hot conditions, in the chemistry associated with \’black smokers\’ on the sea floor, which is currently favoured as a possible origin of life, but also in the chemistry of sea ice.»

This is an intriguing idea that will be explored further in projects spawned by the ESF workshop. This may provide a new twist to the idea that life arrived from space. It may be that the precursors of life came from space, but that the actual carbon based biochemistry of all organisms on Earth evolved on this planet.

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Ian Gibson: «Nada va a impedir» buscar a Lorca, pero yo «no quiero ver»

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Ian Gibson: «Nada va a impedir» buscar a Lorca, pero yo «no quiero ver»

Tengo confianza total en que se va a buscar. Nada lo va a poder impedir», «esto está en marcha» y «la familia no creo que pueda influir nada a estas alturas». «El proceso es imparable», declaró Gibson en una entrevista a la AFP.

Para este hispanista irlandés «es muy malo para todo el mundo, para la familia de Lorca, que haya tantas versiones» sobre su paradero.

Sobre él se barajan dos lugares cercanos en la provincia de Granada, donde fue fusilado por milicianos de la sublevación de derechas a mediados de agosto de 1936, un mes después del comienzo de la Guerra Civil (1936-1939).

El biógrafo, de 69 años, cree que «Lorca estaría en contra de su propia familia, porque hay otras personas enterradas con él y sus familias quieren encontrarlos».

Los familiares se oponían a que se exhumen sus restos, frente a los parientes de tres personas probablemente enterradas junto a él, el maestro de escuela Dióscoro Galindo, y los banderilleros anarquistas Francisco Galadí y Joaquín Arcollas, en la provincia de Granada (Andalucía, sur), donde vivía el poeta.

Pero el juez Baltasar Garzón autorizó el 16 de octubre la apertura de varias fosas donde pueden encontrarse los cuerpos de desaparecidos de la guerra, además de anunciar que investigará el paradero de más de 100.000 personas y las circunstancias de su muerte durante este período y la represión de los primeros años de la dictadura de Franco (1939-1975).

La justicia local ya ha recibido la autorización y un equipo de la universidad de Granada prepara la apertura de la fosa, que podría retrasarse hasta comienzos del próximo año debido a las lluvias.

Ante esta evidencia, la familia, resignada, y después de mostrarse dividida sobre la apertura de la fosa, ha decidido presenciar los trabajos y pidió a un juez que se hagan en la intimidad para evitar que se convierta en «un circo mediático».

Para el escritor irlandés, encontrar el cuerpo de este poeta comprometido con los gobiernos republicanos de izquierdas ayudaría a conocer las circunstancias de su muerte, «si lo torturaron antes de matarlo». «Yo creo que sí».

Además «es una cuestión de decencia, de justicia», ya que «lo que pasó en la postguerra fue un crimen masivo» y «a nadie se le ocurre dejar a un abuelo en la cuneta».

Y encontrar los restos de Lorca «daría un impulso tremendo» al proceso de búsqueda de los desaparecidos, ya que «estamos hablando del poeta español más famoso del siglo y más traducido de todos los tiempos» y del «desaparecido más famoso de la Guerra Civil». «Es importante para el mundo».

Pero Gibson, que en 1966 visitó el lugar que le señalaba el enterrador de Lorca, Manuel Castilla, y que documentó en su biografía (1971), no quiere asistir a la exhumación.

«No quiero ver, no podría aguantar el dolor de ver los restos de Lorca. Mme daría un infarto», asegura.

La investigación de la muerte del poeta «caló tan profundamente en mí que no puedo olvidarlo. He convivido con su obra, su sufrimiento, su condición de gay en una sociedad machista. Estoy absolutamente identificado con su mensaje», describe.

Miembros de la familia de Lorca alegaban que si se abre la fosa, el lugar perdería su magia, lo que para Gibson es «ridículo».

«El meollo es que el Estado ayude a las familias a buscar a sus muertos y darles un entierro digno. Si no quieren sacar a Lorca, pueden dejarlo ahí», estima.

El hispanista sitúa la fosa en un punto entre los términos municipales de Alfacar y Víznar, pero otros indicios la sitúan a unos 600 metros, en el paraje llamado El Caracolar, lo que aquél tampoco descarta.
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