NEWS: New blood alcohol sensors could make cars shut down if they sense drivers are over the legal drinking limit

This piece of news was written for the online version of the Daily Mail in 6th June. It doesn't say who wrote it. It talks about a new system for the car industry that makes it posible to shut down the car when it detects a high level of alcohol in the driver's blood.

The DADSS (Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety) programme started in 2008 and now the first mock-ups are showing up. The device has been created by the collaboration of the National Highway Safety Administration, for the blood alcohol detectors, and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety.

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The invention is based in two detectors of blood alcohol. The first one is the breath-based system, which measures the levels of alcohol molecules in the driver's breath. The second one is the touch-based system, which makes a near-infrared tissue spectroscopy to detect alcohol molecules in the driver's blood by the transpiration of his or her touch. This mode works with the use of light intensity to detect the alcohol molecules, as alcohol only absorbs certain wavelenghts. These two methods cause the car to shut down if the alcohol levels are at 0.08% (the legal limit) or higher.

Some of the mock-ups were presented in the Congress with representatives at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

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Personally, I think this is a great device for vehicle industry. It is amazing that we can improve safety so much with it. The cause of many vehicle crashes accidents is that one of the drivers was drunk. As a consequence of the introduction of the DADSS to the industry, there will be less accidents. The best thing we can do in this sector of technology is not to improve in faster and fancy vehicles, but to improve in safer vehicles.

Here you have the video of the news!

VOCABULARY

wavelength: the distance, measured in the direction of a wave, between two successive points in the wave that are characterized by the same phase of oscillation.

pinpoint: to locate or describe exactly or precisely.

mock-up: a model, often full-size, for study, testing, or teaching.

NEWS: British tourists face travel chaos as strikes by Spanish air traffic controllers threaten to disrupt holidays

This piece of news was written by Neil Sears and Gerard Couzens for the Daily Mail in the 7th June. It is about the several walkouts that Spanish air traffic controllers are planning and how it affects British tourists.

On Monday, thousands of British tourists started to get worried about their holidays in Spain because Spanish air traffic controllers started a series of two-hours-long walkouts planned for the week. Holidaymakers are hurrying up to book rooms for them because they'll have to deal with delays or cancellations of their flights.

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The eight walkouts planned will be two hours long. The first two were performed on Monday, but there are more planned for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The Spanish law says that there has to be at least 70% of the air controllers' staff during walkouts but many will say that they're sick so they can stay home. The reason of these strikes, organised by USCA (the Spanish air controllers' association) is to protest against the sanction given to 61 air controllers that made a walkout facing Aena back in 2010 (the military force's procedure was needed then). They were initially planned for May but were put off because of the Germanwings plane crash.

Many tourists will lose their money because the services that they've hired can't change their dates (hotels, trips, flights...). Air controllers' say that it's their only alternative to do a walkout despite the economic damage for their country and tourists. Some airlines have the intention to maintain all their flights, althought they might be delayed.

Personally I think that air controllers shouldn't stop air traffic for several days like that. I don't mean that they can't do a walkout. If they want to, it's their right. But I think that it is quite exaggerated to stop working for several days, leaving all the tourists without their dreamt (and paid) holidays.

Here you have the video of the news!


VOCABULARY

strike: work stoppage. Walkout also means the same.

holidaymaker: somebody on vacation, tourist.

stranded: unable to leave.

spokesman (spokesperson): speaker for a group.

REVIEW: Jane Eyre

I've read Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. The book is about the romance between Jane Eyre, a governess at Thornfield Hall, and Edward Rochester, the master of the house. Jane arrives there aged eighteen after a hard childhood, and meets Mr. Rochester, a man in his late thirties with a difficult temper. They slowly fall for each other, but some impediments will make their relationship seem imposible.

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As jane Eyre, it's not so easy for me to open up to people I don't know. Just like her, I'd rather be guided by common sense, putting it over my emotions.

I loved the book, but I think that not everyone would like it because some of the character's feelings may seem too subtle, specially Jane's. My favourite part of the book was when Mr. Rochester disguised as a gipsy woman and pretended to make Jane jealous of Miss Ingram. He was in some way telling her that he was interested in her, Jane! My least favourite part was Jane's childhood at Lowood because I found it boring. I don't think that I wouyld change anything in this book. It is what it has to be,

The jane Eyre film of 2011

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I liked the fact that neither Mr. Rochester nor Jane were perfect on their own, but they complimented each other really well. It didn't matter the age gap between them, not their different economic and social situation, they loved each other. Also, I liked the fact that Jane decided to put her dignity over her feelings. It was really difficult for her but she was really strong.

NEWS: Germanwings crash: co-pilot 'treated for depression'

On the 27th of March there was a terrible plane crash in the Alpes. This piece of news talks about the cause of the accident.

Police have recently found evidence that Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the Lufthansa crashed plane (A320), suffered from severe depression back in 2009 and that he probably caused the plane crash deliberately, killing 150 people.

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Andreas Lubitz started the pilot training in 2008 but gave it up for several months in 2009 after he continued with it. Althought he passed all the tests and was considered completely re-established from his depression, police have find clues of mental illness in Lubitz's flat and, for that reason, they've taken away the co-pilot's belongings to examine them. They have found an important clue. Althought thay won't say what it is they have assured that it is not a suicide note.

The plane's Black box has revealed crucial information about the tragedy. The pilot left the cockpit to go to the toilet. When he came back, the door was barred and Lubitz didn't open it. The pilot tried to break the door with an axe without results. In the recording, Lubitz seems to want to crash the plane.

For this reason, most airlines have announced a rule that establishes that there can never be just one crew member or person in the cockpit.

Alexander Lubitz

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His parents are really hurt about this tragedy. They have a huge trauma, not only because their son has died, but also because he is responsible of the plane crash and the death of so many people.

Personally, I don't understand how someone could do such a terrible thing. He must have had a very serious illness to do that so cinically.

VOCABULARY

cockpit: the compartment in a small aircraft in which the pilot, crew, and sometimes the passengers sit

black box: an electronic device, such as a flight recorder, that can be removed from an aircraft as a single package.

axe: a hand tool with one side of its head forged and sharpened to a cutting edge, used for felling trees, splitting timber, etc

YOUR SAY: Horoscopes

We all know what horoscopes are. There are twelve signs and you are assigned one according to the date of your birth. The signs are all represented in star constellations that change with the seasons of the year. Each sign has a personality that can be extended to anyone with that sign. Also, the stars are supposed to tell the future of each sign and that's how horoscopes become so popular in magazines and newspapers. Whether it is monthly, weekly or daily, horoscopes tell people what will happen to them in the future. They are usually divided in different topics and the most common ones are love, friendship, family and work. They are also used to measure the compatibility between signs comparing their personality traits. But, do you think that horoscopes really apply to people?

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There are a lot of people who think they do. They truly believe that the future that is being told for their signs is actually real. Althought sometimes it does seem like what is being told to you kind of relates to your present situation, horoscopes are just made by a bunch of people who have to invent something different for each sign every month/week/day and are probably typing whatever comes to their minds. It's not the stars plan if you're going to "find that special someone in an uncommon situation" or "you should work a little bit more or you might get fired at your job". The thing is that we make our own destiny. If we live up to horoscopes and have so much confidence in what they say, we will stop making decisions for ourselves. Of course, I'm not saying that everyone does that. In fact, I don't think that there's much people out there that believe so much in this things.

Whenever someone doesn't like their horoscope

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More over, there's the signs personality traits. I am a Sagittarius (my birthday is on 7th December) and, for example, I'm supposed to be adventurous, honest (a little too much and can come up as rude), too independent and moody, creative, generous, careless... The list goes on, but I think you can understand what I'm talking about. I do consider myself honest, but I don't think that I'm tactless. Careless? Well that doesn't sound like me, but I guess if my horoscope says so... Independent? Okay maybe a little bit. I don't disagree with everything there is on the list, but that's the problem: we are more than a list of virtues and flaws. And those qualities that we own can't define us. It is what we do with our qualities, time and experiences what really tells the world who we are and builds up our destiny. Not the stars, not our birth date, but ourselves.

As a conclusion, I think that horoscopes are funny and entertaining but not real at all. If everyone could be classified by their birth dates and personality traits this could be the next Divergent movie. We all skip the pages of our magazines to read our horoscope (you know you do that, everyone does) because we are curious, but I don't think that many people take it seriously.

YOUR SAY: Into the blue

Now that summer is approaching  I'm sure that everyone has been preparing their swimsuits and towels to head straight up to the beach as soon as this schoolyear ends. The thing is that we don't really know what lies under the sea. Many biologists say, actually, that the surface of the moon is more well-known than the depths of the oceans. Strange, right? How could we not know everything about our planet? Specially about the water environments that cover about 71 % of the Earth's surface.

Yeti crab

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In the last decade more than a thousand new animal species have been discovered in the deep seas, and there are yet a lot more to be found. The Census of Marine Life and the World Register of Marine Species has registered the existence of really strange creatures that can survive in places where sunlight can't reach. There are about 228,000 species known to scientist, but they estimate that the real number is over 2 million species. Everyday, new strange creatures are entering the list. Who knows what may lie in the depths of our oceans?

There are even some scientists that believe that many of these species could be specimens of early evolution. That could easily be true, knowing the fact that some of these creatures are enormous and would have hardly had any predators down there.

Young icefish

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Polychaete Carpet Worm

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The deep blue sea is a world unknown to us, and its landscapes and inhabitants remain a mistery hard to resolve. It strikes me that having the ability to create a lot of advanced technology, there isn't more application of it in the discovering of new creatures in places humans can't reach. It's also a bit scary for me. Whenever I'm bathing at the beach I always wonder if there are any fishes or animals and it makes me really nervous. Knowing that there might be "sea monsters" that no one knows about swimming somewhere under my feet makes it even worse. I'm not saying that we should avoid the beach so we won't meet any of these creatures, I'm just really surprised and curious of it. Personally, I don't like marine species a lot  and I guess that's why it frightens me a little bit, but I do think that there should be more grants for biologists so we can widen our knowleadge of the Earth.

So now... Well, you know, you can go pack your things and go to have a nice, relaxing and quiet bath in the nearest beach! I wish you have a really good time!

YOUR SAY: Building a better world

We all know that our planet is going out of resources at a faster speed every year. One of the industries that has caused a lot of damage to our planet is the construction sector. It has sped up the process of deforestation and also pollution. Nowadays, there is an alternative that is changing and renovating this sector. It is known as ecoarchitecture. But what is ecoarchitecture?

Ecoarchitecture consists of building sustainable buildings that blend into the environment without causing any damage to it. It can be summarized with seven points:

• All the energy that is used in the house must come from renewable energies.
• Have a water supply that can "recycle" water by a cleansing process.
• There has to be a control of noises and toxic emissions.
• Waste management must be harmless for the planet.
• The materials used to build the construction must be appropiate and natural.
• The building must blend into the environment, adapting to it instead of making the land adjustable to our wants.
• It must have a good quality-price relation.

Park Royal, Singapore

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I believe that ecoarchitecture is something that should be encouraged by all governments. It's an efficient and nice way to take care of our planet and think of future generations. Althought this kind of buildings are more expensive at first, in time they come up as a solution to save money as well due to the energy and supply systems that they use. They can be a compensation somehow for all the damage that the construction sector has caused to the environment and a way to avoid that damage  to go on. Ecoarchitecure is also a good thing to reduce pollution. Specially in big cities, where everything is really crowded, these green buildings with vegetation and gardens in them would suppose a reduction of the levels of CO2 because of the increase of oxygen in the atmosphere.

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As a conclusion, I think that this is the future of architecture and the construction sector. We have to take care of our planet and what could be a better way to do it that to start from our homes? Incentivazing this constructions we can take a step forward for a more sustainable world. I know, it is only one step, but in that way we will have already started the path.

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