Popularity can buy you a trip to Sweden

By Virginia Mitreva

A hotel in Sweden is offering accommodation to those with a high number of Facebook friends and/or Instagram followers. If you have either more than 2,000 Facebook friends, 100,000 on a fan page or over 100,000 followers on Instagram, the hotel offers you a free seven-night stay at the luxury hotel, which will usually cost you £260 per night.

So what do you have to do? All you have to do is post when you make the reservations, when you check in, when you check out and you have to tag the hotel's website and Facebook page.  The same rules apply for those on Instagram, in all posts, guests must use #nordiclighthotel and tag Nordic Light Hotel when you're there and have checked-in. 

The hotel believes by doing this “they increase their income by accepting personal social networks as currency.” The CEO of the hotel commented on this bizarre giveaway by saying that he believes that “the promotional benefits outweigh the cost of giving away free hotel rooms”.

And for guests who are not quite so popular on social media, but have a fair share amount of friends or followers the Nordic Light Hotel has something to offer too.

Facebook:

100,000 fans or more= 100% discount

2,000 friends or more= 100% discount

1,500 friends or more=15% discount

1,000 friends or more=10% discount

500 friends= 5% discount

Instagram:

100,000 followers or more= 100% discount

15,000 followers or more= 15% discount

10,000 followers or more= 10% discount

5,000 followers or more= 5% discount

Thousands of Students Protest against University fees in Central London

By Rhea Panjwani
On Wednesday 19^th November 2014, thousands of students from over forty towns and cities, organised by the Student Assembly Against Austerity, marched along the streets of central London protesting against student loans and demanding free education. The protestors clashed with the police who attempted to stop them from entering the Parliament square. This student demonstration was the biggest in the last four years. They carried banners and signs which had slogans such as ‘Free Education, Tax the Rich’ and shouted:
“What do we want? Free Education! When do we want it? Now!” and “Shame on You!”

Missiles were thrown at police officers and in some places, protective fencing surrounding the parliament square was pulled down.

It all started with the government’s decision in 2010 to remove the limit on university tuition fees from £3200 per year and raised it to nearly three times the amount at up to £9000. A recent study by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has revealed that an average student who leaves university has a huge debt of about £44,000. About 75% of students who have taken student loans will only clear them when they are in their fifties. By that time, most of them will need the money to manage their own families, pay off their mortgage and fund their children’s education.

Towards the end of the day six arrests were made, including two for affray and two for assault.

The first comet landing

By Anya Stacey

On the 12^th of November the first space probe ever landed on a comet, this comet was called Rosetta.

Comets are huge lumps of rock that orbit planets such as earth.  Scientists wanted to explore the comets in more detail than we already have.

This programme has been going on for a very long time and finally a space probe landed. As the space probe landed, the probe projected its landing gears into the nucleus of the comet to keep it attached, however, various reports have said that the probe is already starting to detach.

So, big space programming companies like NASA are getting involved in this operation.

Scientists are excited to find new discoveries such as the elements that the comet contains, and what dangers it could bring to Earth as life goes on.

The space probe will project and take various pictures of the comets surface and maybe even look for bacterial life’s existence, however scientists highly doubt that.

Currently scientists believe that comets are spare or stranded lumps of rock that were left over after the Big Bang was caused, but looking into even more detail can always make new discoveries.

Let’s hope for exciting new discoveries after this overwhelming news!

 

 

More female characters to be in the new Lego film

By Aydah Ashraf

The Lego Movie directors have said they'll put more female characters, like heroine Wild-style, in the sequel. They think it’s not fair just to have men, as women are active and strong as well.

They told the BBC that it's important to inspire young women as well as young men. 

They haven't revealed whether the main character would be female, but they did say they think there's a shortage of female leads in recent years. 

The Lego toy company made headlines in August when it released a set of three female scientist figures - a palaeontologist, an astronomer, and a chemist - but it has also faced criticism for the predominantly pink Lego Friends range, which is aimed at young girls.

The Lego Movie has made more than $468m (£294m) worldwide and will make more in many years to come. 

Are we alone?

By Olivia Haigh

Since the beginning of time, we have been told about extraterrestrial life such as life on Mars, yet still we haven’t had proof, until now. For centuries, we humans have inhabited the Earth and made it the place we call home. Now, evidence of possible life on Mars has created an even bigger debate for scientists. The real question is, are we alone?

There is a possibility that there are microbes living on Mars. “There is also a possibility that life began on Mars,” stated Professor Brian Cox at a recent STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) day in Lincoln.

Wherever there is water, there are microbes, living forms that could possibly evolve, giving us a new form of life. Probes will be sent to Mars on a new mission to look for underground water. “There is a chance that there is water under the surface of Mars and wherever there is water, like on earth, there will most probably be some sort of life forms,” added Professor Cox.

NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirits and Opportunity, are exploring Mars. It began in 2003 and they are there in order to look at the surface and geology. Evidence of a thigh bone was found, meaning this could lead to proof that life began on Mars and possible evidence of dinosaurs.

But why aliens? Why not another form of human being? Think about the word alien, the dictionary definition is ‘belonging to a foreign country’. What’s the first thing you think of when you say alien? We all seem to picture a short green blob with one eye, but what could they really look like? What if we are living amongst aliens, but we don’t notice because we all look exactly the same? Turn to the person next to you; do you know for sure that they’re from Earth? Are we really alone?

 

Enid Blyton Set for Cinema!

By Alisha Shaikh

Enid Blyton’s stories have always been some of my favourite books to read, whether it’s one from her boarding school series or her mysteries. No matter how much I tell myself that I’m far too old to still be reading stories intended for much younger children, I just can’t resist picking up a Malory Towers book when I feel like relaxing. Generations of families have been enchanted by her captivating novels and now her stories are going to be spread to a far wider audience than people who enjoying reading.

‘The Magical Faraway Tree’, one of Blyton’s most loved books, is all set to be made into a movie. It will be produced by Neal Street Productions (Sam Mendes’ company) and may even have three parts, like the book - The Magic Faraway Tree, The Folk of the Faraway Tree and Up The Faraway Tree.

Marlene Johnson, head of the Enid Blyton Estate, told the BBC, "Enid Blyton was a passionate advocate of children's storytelling, and The Magic Faraway Tree is a fantastic example of her creative imagination.” Many of Enid Blyton’s series were “fantastic examples of her creative imagination”, including the ever popular: Famous Five, Secret Seven, Five Find-Outers, Malory Towers and St Clare’s, to name just a few.

Enid Blyton is also well-known for assisting in the production of Noddy, the TV show that several young children grew up to. I still own the Noddy annual story book of 2004 and I consider it a pretty good representation of my childhood!

I’m incredibly excited about the movies and, although as of yet the release date hasn’t been specified, I just can’t wait!

Schoolboy inventor is given funding for printer idea

By Aydah Ashraf

13-year old Shubham Banerjee has been promised a few hundred thousand dollars to develop his idea by tech company Intel. A Braille printer will provide blind people with the chance to print out and read pages from the Internet as well as other text documents.

 

It has been difficult to develop electronic Braille printers in the past due to their cost but he thinks he has got it. The teenager originally created a prototype of a Braille printer out of Lego when he was just 12.

He was invited to show this early version of the printer at the White House in Washington DC.

The schoolboy from California has secured funding to bring his idea for a low-cost Braille printer to market. This new printer will mean blind people will not need to order Braille read books. Braille is a system of bumps to read.

Shubham originally came up with the idea for a science fair. He then set up his company Braigo Labs with funding from his parents. He is now working with the tech company on a new version using a budget-priced chip and 3D-printed parts. Let’s wish him full success on this.

Rosetta: The Most Daring Landing Ever Attempted

10 years ago, the Rosetta deep space explorer was sent off to begin its long journey into deep space. This journey was long, and along the voyage to the comet it had to get not one, but three gravity assists from earth and one from mars (Using the gravity of the planets to get to the right direction and increase its speed). After that, the comet went into hibernation for a couple of years, before finally embarking on the comet earlier this year. However, (If everything goes to plan that is) today will prove the be a historic event in the history of astrophysics and space travel, as this is both the first time that an orbital spacecraft has ever orbited a comet, and the first time that a lander has attempted to land on one. This could prove to be a historic day for earth and physics, as if the landing is successful, scientist will be able to know a large amount of information about how comets work, and whether they were the reason as to why our planet has an atmosphere and oceans. In fact, even before they have landed scientists have begun to find new and unexplained things, such as a strange noise coming out of the comet, which they believe to be a stream of charged particles coming out of the comet, however the exact reason is not yet fully known (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2830476/Listen-Rosetta-s-comet-singing-Scientists-baffled-mysterious-sounds-recorded-near-67P-ahead-Philae-landing.html, visit that link to hear the singing comet).

Today will be a day that will truly go down in history, and the knowledge gained from the comet should prove revolutionary. Remember to visit the live stream at: http://new.livestream.com/esa/cometlanding

The landing should happen around 3:30 PM GMT, and we should get the first images at around 5:30, as there is a several hour delay from the spacecraft to earth. Make sure to stay tuned!

Damian Bemben
Columnist

Remember what the Poppy Stands for.

If you follow the YJA blog, you’ll probably know that once every fortnight I do a generally light-hearted blog about current events and what’s happening now, but it wouldn’t feel right to do so on such an important date. Yesterday was the centenary of the First World War and Armistice Day. It was a day to remember the soldiers who have been killed in conflicts since the start of the First World War. But what many people forget is that it was not a day of patriotism. We honour the fallen, we do not honour the war. We remember the futility of war. We remember all who have fallen, not just British but all casualties of the wars, as apart from they’re leaders, not much was different from the soldiers on both sides of the trenches. 

When you remember the fallen, remember this.

The poppy grew on both sides of the fields.

Damian Bemben
Columnist

A Helping flipper from the Robo-Penguin researcher

By Emily Bonner

On 2^nd November, findings from a report on the behaviour of Emperor penguins in the Antarctic were published thanks to the help of a robotic rover dressed as a penguin chick. The researchers, from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, told BBC news they were trying to find "a less invasive and stressful way to collect data on these species", which are known to be extremely timid.

Dr Yvon Le Maho, who led the study, found that when approached by humans, the penguins’ heart rates would increase considerably, so came up with the idea of using a rover to study them in their normal state. Early models looked a little like remote controlled cars and Dr Yvon explained to BBC news that "Emperors huddle together, because they have no [other] territorial defence… So when they see the rover approaching, they get very stressed.”

Five models later, and the researchers had disguised the rover as a fluffy chick. The penguins seemed much more comfortable around it, even huddling with it and trying to communicate with it.

The scientists wanted to avoid the usual approach of tagging flippers, because they felt it was “unethical” and altered the penguins’ health. They worked with nature filmmakers to come up with a new approach of using under-the-skin transponders, which work like microchips. The rover can recognise the transponders within 60cm of a penguin, providing useful data for scientists.

"Scientists do not generally speak about disturbance they cause," Dr Le Maho told BBC News. “But I have always been very concerned with that - it relates to both science and ethics."

Armistice Day

By Adesua Alabi

It’s the time of year when we see politicians, celebrities and royalty on the news are wearing red poppies to commemorate remembrance or Armistice Day. Armistice Day is celebrated in the commonwealth countries on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month and marks the end of the First World War.

This year Armistice Day is on Tuesday 11th November. On this day a two minutes silence takes place to remember and honour over 1 million commonwealth service men and women that have fought and died in the First World War and is an opportunity to remember those who are still fighting in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, defending our country to the present day. The Royal British Legion has a poppy appeal and all of the donations go towards supporting those who were injured in battle and the general welfare of service men and women, nationally 51 million was spent in 2013 to fund the welfare on those in need.

The poppy is used to commemorate the war as it was the only thing that survived on the battlefields of Flanders and other places where some of the bloodiest battles took place. Many people have written poems about what Armistice days means to them as losses are felt by many across the commonwealth. The poppy symbolises life, colour, and hope and reassures those who are still fighting, making it a fitting symbol for the occasion. Wreaths, broaches of poppies and other memorabilia are worn by those who choose to and reflects personal memories and feelings.

At the Tower of London a total of 888,246 poppies have been installed by families who have lost loved ones in WW1 or in battles while defending their country. Across 4 months people have come to the Tower of London to lay a poppy in memory of someone or as a sign of gratitude and respect, leaving a powerful visual reminder of the First World War Centenary as part of the Every Man Remembered act. It is a time where all people regardless of social status or race come together to honour and reflect on the bravery and sacrifices made by those who died in the centenary for the safety and security of our country.  

For me Armistice Day is a chance to show my respect towards those who fought for the safety of the country that I live and learn in. Although none of my family members, that I am aware of, have died in the First World War I know of others that have lost loved ones and of course it will have a different meaning and significance to each person.

 All in all Armistice Day is a opportunity to reflect on many things like the deaths of loved ones who died in the war but may not have fought on the frontline or the deaths of loved ones in general and provides a time of peace and congeniality.

Fear and Laughter, how the internet is slowly devolving

Unless you’ve not yet got any sort of television or the internet, you’ve most likely heard of the current leaks happening on the internet. If you haven’t, then let me give you a very short explanation. A large amount of photos and videos, saved to the Apple iCloud and now Snapchat have been leaked on the internet, showing how unsafe the internet really is. I’m not here to say that it’s the people taking these photos who are at fault here, even though it’s not a great idea to trust random companies with your private photos.  The companies aren’t being blamed for this happening, as although they’ve been shown by most major news sites, it’s usually the fault of the “Hackers” that do it, instead of the company, which just breeds an aura of “There was nothing we could do about these leaks” and “We’re fixing it now that it’s happened”.

And before you say it’s a one off thing, this has been happening for a while now, and it’s slowly devolving the internet. For example, only after the credit card numbers and numerous private information got leaked from PlayStation a couple of years ago, was it found that PlayStation did not actually encrypt any of the numbers, along with the NSA leaks, where it was found that the United States government along with many others are spying on its own people, being given access to pictures, phone calls, internet history, pretty much anything that they wanted. And yet there was barely any outrage from people, as the internet seems to be for most politicians and world leaders a joke. I mean think about what happened when it was found that the white house was monitoring just its opponents! Surely the whole world should be a little more important?

But no, as the internet today is just seen as something that can’t be taken seriously at these moments. For politicians, the internet is just a tool that needs to be supressed, and with events like the leaks happening, it’s making people a lot more likely to agree with the government, as by disagreeing to not censor, you are seen as the same as the people leaking pictures and videos, the internet being put into one big bubble. But people don’t care, as currently, and rightly so, the only crackdowns made are for those doing illegal activities. But governments want more power over the internet, and people don’t care about giving them it, as it “Doesn’t affect them.”

The government won’t do anything while the majority care about the internet being censored. But luckily for them, it seems a lot of voters don’t care what happens. And that’s what will break our freedom of speech, not some totalitarian censorship or sneaky NSA spies arresting random people.

It will break from people not caring.

By Damian Bemben
Columnist

#dontpanicbutton

By Kyra Balderstone

Today in aid of World mental health day, I sported my red button in aid of anxiety. Anxiety is a feeling of worry and nervousness for fears and just panicking in general. Believe it or not, 1 in 6 people experience anxiety at least once in their life. There are many different symptoms of anxiety which can include:

·         Feeling frightened, nervous or panicky all the time

·         Feeling down or depressed

·         Having difficulties sleeping and eating

·         Difficulty to concentrate on things

·         Feeling tired and irritable

·         The racing of your heart

·         A dry mouth, trembling

·         Faintness

·         Stomach cramps

·         Diarrhoea

This campaign was originally made by beauty blogger and Youtuber Zoella (a.k.a Zoe Sugg) because she is the new ambassador of mental health. Zoe herself suffers from quite severe anxiety and panic attacks and likes to raise awareness by posting videos on her channel and writing passages on her blog.

Zoe told her viewers on her daily vlog to wear a red button if you suffered from anxiety or knew someone who did, take a picture and upload it onto social media with the hashtag: #dontpanicbutton

The red buttons symbolize solidarity and also to help raise awareness of mental health issues. The symbol is a red button because a red button is normally considered a symbol of emergency and panic like a fire alarm or an emergency button in a lift. So to try and raise awareness Zoe and the mental health charity Mind took the button and have adapted its meaning.

I sported my button today, did you? Will you be inspired and raise awareness?

Pluto set to return as a planet?

By Virginia Mitreva

There were once nine planets however back in 2006 the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of its status by saying it was too small to ‘pack sufficient gravitational punch’. Pluto is now known as a ‘dwarf planet’ leaving eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Pluto was originally kicked out because it did not ‘meet the criteria’ set up by the International Astronomical Union (AUI). Indeed Pluto doesn’t meet the criteria because it is small and has a radius of around 750 miles, which is less than 20 per cent of the Earth’s radius and its circumference is about 4,500 miles (this makes it smaller than our moon).

However not everyone agreed with the decision and the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics released a statement saying “a dwarf fruit tree is still a small fruit tree, and a dwarf hamster is still a small hamster.” Furthermore the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre held a debate and let the audience decide if Pluto was a planet and the audience decided that Pluto is in fact a planet by a 2-1 vote.

There is no definite answer that Pluto will return to its previous status as a planet. But there is hope due to the fact that in 2015 a spacecraft called New Horizons will be launched, the first ever spacecraft to be sent to Pluto and should arrive at the ‘dwarf-planet’ by July of the same year. New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, believes that Pluto is a planet. “I think the public is better suited to this than astronomers, at least,” Stern continued to say, “The IAU should never have pretended to have the expertise to enter into this debate. It’s a matter for planetary scientists, not astronomers.”

Do you think Pluto should be defined as a planet?

Ebola Crisis

By Jolanta Grant

Eight attacked and found killed - talk about outbreak acceleration.

If six Red Cross volunteers who were attacked on the 14th of September wasn't enough, eight people (who were part of a team of 9) sent to educate villages in Guinea about Ebola, have been found dead after they were attacked by angry locals.

The discovery of the bodies happened in a remote area, south-east of the country which was clarified by the Guinean Government Spokesman, Damantang Albert Camara. He hauntingly describes"The bodies were found in the village latrine", he reports, "Three of them had their throats slit".

Action was taken as a result and Guinea's Prime Minister, Mohamed Fofana had stated that six people had been arrested following the incident, which took place on Tuesday the 16th of September in Wome.

Mr Fofana notifies Guinea that the ruthlessly killed team consisted of local administrators, two medical officers, a preacher and three accompanying journalists. There is still one body missing.

Although investigations into the killers have proceeded, Guinean officials have vowed to pursue anyone else involved in the killings.

"Everyone else involved in these murders will be hunted down and brought before court to be sanctioned under the law", Government Spokesman Damatand Albert Camara notified the town.

Ebola first broke out in March in this south-east Guinea area, close to the town of Nzerekore.

Since then, Ebola has killed somewhat 2,630 people and infected at least 5,357 people according to the World Health Organisation.

The team of nine who had a prospect to educate the village, were part of a large group of people who volunteered to take on extreme measures to contain the outbreak. Now there's 9 less vital people to help sustain the lives of others through this unfortunate time and event.

Sierra Leone has been worst-hit by the by the virus and has begun a three-day nationwide  lockdown aimed at eradicating the virus.

What was initially a loan to locate the ill, the Government said the lockdown will now seek to make people aware of the risks of Ebola and what steps to take if a family member falls sick. The actions taken were as follows, an exemplary number of 30,800 volunteers have trained for their dawn-to-dusk information campaign, with residents flocking to buy food and medicine before the lockdown starts.

Volunteers were relieved and satisfied to see queues forming alongside streets as people stocked up on fuel to equip them for the days ahead.

Banks are overflowing as clients rush to withdraw cash, as a result, there has been a decline in working hours to reduce infections among people.

Some pacifists and optimists suggest a few days of hardship are worth it if it can help stop Ebola's progression across the country.   

Arachnophobes beware!

By Jolanta Grant

Professor Hart of the University of Gloucestershire said that the mild summer meant the weather has not been able to thwart the quantity of prey available to spiders, meaning they had more to feed on than usual- which lead to experts saying what many of us arachnophobes dread to hear, larger-than-usual house spiders will be crawling over the door mats of many UK homes soon.  

Males spiders finding warmer environments in homes and seeking to pry out females is always foreseeable in this season, but due to the warm summer this year, spiders have been feeding on the abundance of prey in the last few months. This means we are not only predicted to see a greater quantity of spiders arranging themselves behind wardrobes, and wrapping themselves in silky safety nets on higher ground, but exerts are implying that they will be bigger too... Yes that's right, let's blame the summer.

It was the fact that the summer was so mild that drove the motive of spider survival. The not too hot or cold weather gave the spiders a wider access to their prey which kept up the biodiversity this month of male and female spiders. Both sexes stay in their webs until the autumn when the males become more nomadic and search for females.

Alongside the fact that people are seeing house spiders more frequently due to the increase in their population and more frequently because last winter was quite mild, or even because the conditions around them have become better (attracting more spiders) the point that Professor Hart tries to hit home is how useful they are at pest control.

'We want to encourage people to respect and learn more about their little house guests' - quite a proposal for you fellow arachnophobes!

Autumn Awareness – How to keep your pets safe this season

By Pippa Wilson
The trees are browning, the weather is turning colder and the 5^th of November traditionally translates to millions of cats and dogs cowering under sofas and stools wondering what all the commotion is about...

Fireworks tend to be extremely stressful for your pet as they are loud, unexpected and cause them to feel anxious and vulnerable. We don’t often realise that dogs can not only hear the loud banging, they can also sense the vibrations, making the whole firework display a very traumatic affair!

The best way to calm your pet is to close the curtains, put the light on and play some music to mask the sounds of the fireworks outside. If your pet sees you are anxious, it will display similar signs so the best idea is to ignore the fireworks. Pretend they aren’t happening and your pet may believe that too!

The use of calming pheromone diffusers are becoming increasing popular as they help your pet feel calmer and safer. Adaptil for dogs and Feliway for cats are recommended to be used at least 48 hours before the fireworks are due to start.

Fleas and ticks are also a massive issue for cats and dogs in the autumn; they thrive in long grass and woodland areas so are easily transferred onto your pet’s fur. Make sure your brush your pet after any possible contact with fleas and keep up to date with your pet’s regular flea treatment.

Having a quick chew on a conker is also a big no-no! Conkers, acorns and fallen fruits can cause stomach upsets so make sure you don’t let your dog sneak one into his bed to nibble on!

All in all, as long as your pet is clean, calm and conker free, you should be in for a wonderful autumn!

 

Why the Apple Watch marks the beginning of a customizable revolution

There’s no doubt that people love standing out. Whether it’s using fashion sense, personality or technology, people want to be different.

I’m by no means an apple fan, I don’t own any apple products, but I can’t deny the huge influence that apple has on the technology market. The IPhone revolutionised smart phones, the Macintosh having a giant impact on the customer market, turning people that use computers from people who invested a huge amount of time to get it working, with limited options for the average consumer, to putting computers in the “mainstream” so to say.

I’m not excited by the watch itself, I’m not rich enough to buy it, and the Apple Watch “Edition” which includes a 18 carat gold casing is just a better way of putting a giant  “I’m Rich, Mug Me” target on you then wearing a giant gold medallion saying exactly that. What I am excited for however is the prospects that it brings to the table.

Sure, there’s been smart watches before, Samsung released the galaxy gear earlier this year to a very modest (to say the least) reception. The problem with it was that it looked, well it looked like something a cut and paste business man wears to his meeting, to match with his Bluetooth headset.

 

 

Apple have been really clever in how customizable the watch is. Similar to IPhone cases, you can customize the watch straps in a wide variety of apple owned mechanisms, through classic leather straps to magnetic straps, similar to IPad cases, and the clever thing that they have done is allowed it to be removable, meaning that if you get bored with your normal leather brown strap, you can just replace it with a better looking metallic one, or however you like. You can even customize the clock face.

And if there is anything people want, it’s to look unique. You don’t want to be another face in the crowd, you want to have something that says you. This is why I think that the Apple Watch is marking the start of a great revolution in personalised electronic equipment. Sure there have been others before, but usually personalisation is kept to a minimum, sure you can change the layout of your computer, but it’s still the same, sure you can have a new case for a phone, but you’ll only show it off to your friends once or twice and then they’ll forget about it, and unless you’re extremely unsociable, they won’t see it a lot.

The Apple Watch is the start of a personalised revolution in the both physical and online media. Whether it’s the best Smart Watch it’s left to see, but I’m expecting a lot more customizability in future brand new electronics, and who knows? Maybe soon enough we’ll have complete customizability, set any layout, icon; start up sound, even shape that you want, all it needs is an easy way to do it.

If you’re listening google, I’m expecting a share of the profits. 

Damian Bemben
Columnist

Cousin of Higgs Boson observed in Superconductors

By Damian Bemben

A relative of the Higgs Boson, one that inspired the long hunt for the Higgs Boson in the first place, has been observed properly for the first time.

The Higgs Boson itself was first proposed to exist in the 1960s, and only appeared in the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva in 2012, 50 years later. Peter Higgs and François Englert theorised the existence of the particle, and received the Nobel Physics prize for their hard work and dedication in 2013.

However their ideas were actually inspired by how photons (Particles of Light) behave in superconductors. Metals, when dropped to an extremely low temperature (around -234 Degrees Celsius), allow electrons to move around them with little to no resistance. This produces a lot of extremely cool effects, for example the Meissner effect, which allows a magnet to levitate above a superconducting surface.

However, when the metal reaches around zero degrees kelvin (Absolute Zero, which is the lowest temperature that can possibly be reached) , vibrations are made in the superconducting metal, which in turn slow down photons, making light act as if it has a mass.

This effect is linked very closely to the Higgs Boson, and Ryo Shimano at the University of Tokio who led the team making the new discovery has said that they are the Mathematical equivalent of Higgs particles.

In order to find this new effect, Shimano and his team shook the superconductor with a beam of light, which is a similar method to how particle physicists created the actual Higgs Boson in the Hadron Collider in the first place.

This could prove to be an amazing discovery in physics as by comparing the similarities between the Hadron Collider and the absolute zero superconductor could prove to be very useful in studying the actual Higgs Boson. This is because "One can really do the experiments in a table-top manner, which would definitely reveal new physics and hopefully provide some useful feedbacks to particle physics." Shimano has said.

Blue Whales Bouncing Back

By Damian Bemben

A new study shows that the population of blue whales in California are starting to yet again reach a sustainable level.

Blue whales are big. They weigh on average 190 tonnes, to put that into perspective you would need to stack up at least 3 large tanks on a giant scale in order to compare with the size of a blue whale, and even then you would need to add another 10 tonnes onto it.

Their large size could explain why at least 11 blue whales are struck every single year by ships along the U.S. West Coast.

Doesn’t seem like much does it? But only 3 whales on average die every year through natural threats, which is another reason why this is such a huge success story.

The study itself has shown that along the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean, there are now about 2,200 Blue Whales, this is decades after the hunting the whales was banned by the IWC (The International Whaling Commission).

This might seem as a very small number, however before the ban took place, around 3,400 California blue whales were killed between 1905 and 1971. “It’s a conversation success story” said Cole Monnahan, one of the publishers of this study.

It’s not all good news however, as although the California Blue Whales have managed to recover, they are the only known population of blue whales that have managed to get back to a sustainable population after the global whaling ban.

“California blue whales are recovering because we took actions to stop catches and start monitoring. If we hadn’t, the population might have been pushed to near extinction” explained Monnahan.

The conservation of blue whales off the California coast could prove to set an example for other countries, showing that it is very possible to help get a population of animals back to sustainable standards.

Although blue whales are still threatened, this shows the gigantic effect that people can have on animal populations, for better or worse.

Paralympians return from Sochi

This year, Britain had one of their most successful years at the Winter Paralympics since Innsbruck in 1984.The GB team won six medals - one gold, three silvers and two bronzes - which made the team finish 10^th in the medal table.

Photo: Charlotte Evans, Kelly Gallagher,
 Jade Etherington and Caroline Powell

This was the first ever gold medal won by the GB paralympians, thanks to Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans in the super G.

Jade Etherington and her guide Caroline Powell took bronze in the same competition and won a whopping total of three silver medals in the visually impaired downhill, slalom and super combined. GB's wheelchair curling team, Aileen Neilson, Gregor Ewan, Jim Gault, Bob McPherson, and Angie Malone, took a bronze medal.

British skier Jade Etherington, who won three silvers and a bronze along with her guide Caroline Powell, has been classed as being the greatest British Winter Paralympian of all-time; because of this Etherington had the honour of carrying the British flag at the closing ceremony. Unfortunately, Etherington missed her final race of the competition, Sunday's giant slalom, because of illness but recovered for the closing ceremony.

The closing ceremony celebrated the achievements of the 547 athletes from 45 countries who competed for the 72 medals.

International Paralympic Committee president, Sir Philip Craven, exclaimed that the Games were the best ever Winter Paralympics. "Proud Paralympians - your inspirational athletic performances have redefined the boundaries of possibility," he told the crowd. "You have shown the world that absolutely anything is possible and that life is about amazing capabilities and not perceived deficiencies."

Britain hopes to exceed even further in future Paralympics and the UK has set up funding to help create future winter Paralympic stars.

The Paralympic flag was lowered and presented to Pyeonchang in South Korea, hosts of the 2018 Winter Games.

Virginia Mitreva,

year 8