Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Virgen de Guadalupe

Como científico y católico me pareció que este articulo que me envió mi primo es muy interesante:

DESCUBRIMIENTOS DEL MANTO DE LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE Méx.
¿Quieres leer algo que no sólo te sorprenderá sino que te cambiará para siempre? Entonces lee lo que la ciencia ha descubierto en el manto de la Virgen en Guadalupe:

1. Estudios oftalmológicos realizados a los ojos de María han detectado al dilatar, al acercarles luz, la retina se contrae y al retirar la luz, se vuelve exactamente como ocurre en un ojo vivo.
2. La temperatura de la fibra de maguey con que está construida la tilma mantiene una temperatura constante de 36.6 grados, la misma que el cuerpo de una persona viva.
3. Uno de los médicos que analizó la tilma colocó su estetoscopio debajo de la cinta que María posee (señal de que está encinta) y escuchó latidos que rítmicamente se Repiten a 115 pulsaciones por minuto, igual que un bebé en el vientre materno.
4. No se ha descubierto ningún rastro de pintura en la tela. De hecho, a una distancia de 10 centímetros de la imagen, sólo se ve la tela de maguey en crudo: los colores Desaparecen. Estudios científicos no logran descubrir el origen de la coloración que forma la imagen, ni la forma en que la misma fue pintada. No se detectan rastros de pinceladas ni de otra técnica de pintura conocida. Los científicos de la NASA afirmaron que el material que origina los colores no es ninguno de los elementos conocidos en la tierra.
5. Se ha hecho pasar un rayo láser en forma lateral sobre la tela, detectándose que la coloración de la misma no está ni en el anverso ni en el reverso, sino que los colores flotan a una distancia de tres décimas de milímetro sobre el tejido, sin tocarlo. Los colores flotan en el aire, sobre la superficie de la tilma.
6. La fibra de maguey que constituye la tela de la imagen, no puede perdurar mas que 20 o 30 años. Hace varios siglos se pintó una replica de la imagen en una tela de fibra de maguey similar, y la misma se desintegró después de varias décadas. Mientras tanto, a casi 500 años del milagro, la imagen de María sigue tan firme como el primer día. La ciencia no se explica el origen de la incorruptibilidad de la tela.
7. En el año 1791 se vuelca accidentalmente ácido muriático en el lado superior derecho de la tela. En un lapso de 30 días, sin tratamiento alguno, se reconstituye Milagrosamente el tejido dañado.
8. Las estrellas visibles en el Manto de María reflejan la exacta configuración y posición que el cielo de México presentaba en el día en que se produjo el milagro.
9. A inicios del siglo XX, un hombre escondió una bomba de alto poder entre un arreglo floral, el cual colocó a los pies de la tilma. La explosión destruyó todo alrededor, menos la tilma, que permaneció en >perfecto estado de conservación.
10. La ciencia descubrió que los ojos de María poseen los tres efectos de refracción de la imagen de un ojo humano.
11. En los ojos de María (de tan sólo 7 y 8 mm) se descubrieron diminutas imágenes humanas, que ningún artista podría pintar. Son dos escenas y las dos se repiten en ambos ojos. La imagen del obispo Zumárraga en los ojos de María fue agrandada mediante tecnología digital, revelando que en sus ojos está retratada la imagen del indio Juan Diego, abriendo su tilma frente al obispo. El tamaño de ésta imagen? Una cuarta parte de un millonésimo de milímetro.

Es evidente que todos estos hechos inexplicables se nos han dado por una razón: Querían captar nuestra atención. ¿Capturaron la tuya?
Para finalizar considera tres hechos sorprendentes más:

1. "Guadalupe" significa en el idioma indígena: "aplasta la cabeza a la serpiente". Es justo el protoevangelio en Génesis 3:15: María, vencedora del maligno.
2. La imagen es una pintura tal y como la detalla Apocalipsis 12: "apareció en el cielo una señal grande, una mujer envuelta en el sol, con la luna debajo de sus pies".
3. La Virgen tiene una cinta en el vientre, está "encinta" o embarazada" para indicar que Dios quería que Jesús naciera en América, en el corazón de cada americano.

Sorry about the post in spanish but if you want to know more about La Guadalupe, visit this link in english.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Why James again???

I like the song but enough is enough, isn't it Marife?
"You are gullible" had legal problems but the animation is still on.
Other lyric like "My cubicule",is ok but not as the first one.
The article What's wrong with being Blunt? By SARAH SANDS in the Daily Mail is a ok but people hate the song not because of the guy or the song itself, it is just because it was on the radio every 20 minutes. No damage control can fix this, I still like the song but not that much, I'm tired of it.
Ok, lets link the video then

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The Team

The first three mouse-keteers (T, Jon and I) met at the beginning of the year. As homeless we start to look for a roof to put over our heads, it took several days until we found our old chapel. The University was really helpful (yeah sure).
Then we found Arne... we needed 4 people to pay for the rent!

This is the 73 High street team:


Tohid (T): Iranian (West London, represent), good mate always happy, doesn't drink and has a car. Now you know who the designated driver was.


Jon: He is Jon Bond for the people on e-bay, the post office and the depot in Hong Kong.


Arne: The crazy German who is doing his second PhD.


Delphin: Our guest for one month (stays 9 months) Excellent cook, but you don't want to joke about the French wine, she will go ballistic.


This is me having a snack in the kitchen (notice the shisha in the top left corner, for more information look on this blog in the next couple of weeks).

73 High Street

I'm sure you remember Madness song "Our house", here is our version.

Arne wears his Sunday vest
Delphine's tired she needs a rest
The kids are playing up downstairs
Jonny's sighing in his sleep
T's got a deadline to keep
He can't hang around



Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our

Our house it has a crowd
There's always something happening
And it's usually quite loud
Pauline (our landlady) she's so house-proud
Nothing ever slows her down
And a mess is not allowed (???)


Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our

Our house, in the middle of our street
(Something tells you)
(That you've got to get away from it)
Our house, in the middle of our

Frisco gets up late for work
Adri has to iron his shirt
Then she sends the kids to school
Sees them off with a small kiss (besito!!)
She's the one they're going to miss
In lots of ways


Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our

I remember way back then when
Everything was true and when
We would have such a very good time
Such a fine time
Such a happy time
And I remember how we'd play
Simply waste the day away
Then we'd say
Nothing would come between us (except for some NPower bills)
Four (well five) dreamers



Arne wears his Sunday vest
Delphine's tired she needs a rest
The kids are playing up downstairs
Jonny's sighing in his sleep
T's got a deadline to keep
He can't hang around

Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our
Our house, was our castle and our keep
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, that was where we used to sleep
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our street

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Cranfield??? Where???

I am almost out of this little town, I have been here for almost one year and people still ask me: “Cranfield? Where is it?” Well I can tell you that it is in the middle of nowhere and there is nothing to do except to go to the pub (3 in the village and 3 at the university), so it is like Ciudad Ojeda but people speak English and the weather is colder, but not too much.
I'm going to show you all where Cranfield is.


From London to Cranfield is about 1 hour driving on the M1. Cranfield is located between Milton Keynes and Bedford.


Between the village and the university is the airport. Cranfield is the only University in the UK with their own airport for the School of Aeronautics. But I had to go around the airport to Uni on my bicycle. It is looooong, especially after a good party at the CSA bar and Lanchester Hall, going back is an odyssey.


My house, perfectly located, Budgens (supermarket) on one side, bus stop across the street and two pubs at less than 100 meters


Detail of my house, with a nice garden (excellent pool parties during the summer)

Well, at least you know Cranfield. Now, How to get here, that is another story.....long story

Thursday, September 07, 2006

I finished my thesis!!!!


Job done!!! I finished and handed in my thesis yesterday.
If you want to read my work, you will need a translation of the common research phrases that I use:

  • "It has long been known..." I didn't look up the original reference
  • "A definite trend is evident..." These data are practically meaningless
  • "Of the great theoretical and practical import..." Interesting to me
  • "While it has been impossible to provide definite answers to these questions..." An unsuccessful experiment, but I hope to get published
  • "Three of the samples were selected for detailed study..." The results of others didn't make sense
  • "Typical results are shown..." The best results are shown
  • "These results will be shown in a subsequent report..." I might get around to this if I'm pushed
  • "The most reliable results are those obtained by Hicklemirch..." Hicklemirch was my graduate assistant
  • "It is believed that..." I think
  • "It is generally believed that..." A couple of other people think so too
  • "It is clear additional work will be required before complete understanding of the phenomenon occurs..." I don't understand it
  • "Correct within an order of magnitude..." Wrong
  • "It is hoped that this study will stimulate further investigation in this field..." This is a lousy paper but so are all the others in this miserable topic
  • "Thanks are due to Joe Blotz for assistance with the experiment and to Sally Frink for valuable discussion." Blotz did the work and Frink explained to me what it meant
  • "A careful analysis of obtainable data..." I lost three pages of notes
  • "A statistically oriented projection of the significance of these findings..." Wild guess
  • "A highly significant area for exploratory study..." A usless topic selected by my committee


  • Thanks Arne for the "Writing Style for Researchers"
    Arne was Forest Ranger in Canada, a teacher for children with especial needs in Scotland and now he is doing his SECOND PhD(*) at Cranfield University
    Crazy German!!!!

    (*)PhD: Permanent Head Damage

    Saturday, September 02, 2006

    The Notorious Bettie Page


    The real girl behind the pictures of the famous Pin-Up remains a mystery. Still, I can't wait to watch the movie
    Here is the soundrack

    Sunday, August 20, 2006

    Blogs, Blogging and Bloggers.....

    For the New Kids on the Blog!!! .... like me

    A weblog can be loosely defined as a journal or diary which is published on the World Wide Web. The process of updating and maintaining a weblog is known as blogging and the author is known as a blogger. Weblogs are usually updated at regular intervals using user-friendly software that requires little or no technical background.
    The rate of growth of blogging has been astounding. According to
    Technorati there are currently (early 2006) there are now over 26 million weblogs in existence. They reckon that:
    The blogosphere (ie: the weblog universe) doubles in size about every 5.5 months.
    A new weblog is created roughly every second and there are over 80,000 weblogs created daily.
    About 55% of all weblogs are active.
    About 13% of all weblogs are updated at least weekly.

    I'm sure you will find this Wikibook about Blogs, very helpful if you want to become a blogger.

    Friday, August 18, 2006

    The Red Box

    The red phone box is considered an icon of the UK. It was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1924.
    The London Metropolitan Boroughs opposed the Post Office telephone box (Kiosk N°1), which was designed in 1920 and made of concrete; therefore the Royal Fine Art Commission invited several architects and societies to submit their designs. Scott won the competition but his original design was slightly different, in fact the color of the box was not red but silver. Scott’s design was placed in service as Kiosk N°2 in the London area in 1926. A K3 cream design was also introduce by Scott for rural places a few years later.
    In 1935 the K6 was designed to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V. It became the first red telephone kiosk to be used extensively outside of London and around the UK. Some other models were designed after that, like Bruce Martin’s K8 in 1968.
    BT, the Post Office Telephone’s successor used more utilitarian design and started to replace the boxes in the 70’s. Although in 1996, BT introduced a box that resemblances the K2 and K6 designs.
    Pictures of the different phone boxes:



    More
    pictures and the phone box history

    Thursday, August 10, 2006

    Farnborough International Air Show 2006



    On Friday 21 of July, Harry and I went to the Farnborough International Air Show, sowthwest London.
    The show was open for a week and had several exhibitors pavilions, static aircraft displays and an excellent flying display. We flew from Cranfield Airport (Harry is a private airplane and helicopter pilot) in a small Cessna to Blackbushe Airport where we took a cab to Farnborough; I don't think they would let us park the Cessna next to the A380.



    We start with Bell/Boing where we saw a V-22 Osprey and several Bell Helicopters; then the Italians display with the Tornado and the C27J Spartan.




    After that we passed through the Us Navy and US Airforce displays, the RAF, some jet companies and every other display with airplanes like the Soux, the Skeeter, the Sligsby T67 and others that we also had the opportunity to see flying, such as the AH64D Apache Longbow, a C17, a Lynx Mk7, a C130J and many others.





    The Red Devils (a group of crack heads), the UK Parachute team did a nice show to start the flying display.
    The most amazing demostrations were performed by the F-16, the MIG-29 OVT, the Harrier GR7, the V-22, the A340 and the big A380 (this airplane is huge!!!). Airbus pilots fly the A380 so easy and the slow pass in front of the tribune was incredible.




    The Red Arrows did an excellent shown with their Hawk T11-A, 9 aircaft in the air at full speed, beautiful formations and scary crossings in front of the people. Another of the highlights of the day: a Spitfire, a Lancaster and a Hurricane passing over the field in formation.
    That was just beautiful.





    I used my phone to take the pictures the pictures (I forgot my camera), not bad at all!!!
    After a lot of walking around, a small sandwich for lunch and four hours of flying display, we came back to Cranfield by the end of the afternoon (45 minutes flying instead of 2 an a half hours driving, good time to pop on the pub for a pint). If you want more information about the show, here is the
    link.

    Sunday, July 23, 2006

    Inicio de actividades


    Bien pues, debo decirles que me he divertido con mi blog de actividades submarinas, aunque sinceramente, casi nunca encuentro tiempo para escribir. De todos modos voy a empezar con este blog (un poco más informal) para mis amigos con algunas fotos, viajes y situaciones divertidas (siempre pasa algo interesante).
    Por ahora el link de una comunidad retro bien simpática que además siempre tiene excelentes dibujos y fotos de los 50's, (Bettie Page incluida).