Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Europe



Do not get confused. The topic relates to Europe the satellite, not the continent.

Before starting out talking about this curious satellite, let's say that I've been going over wikipedia again, and I've found quite a few articles talking about the universe. How I came to this I don't know, but it is probably due to my everlasting curiosity of learning new things. Yep, wisdom is based on knowledge and how you interpret it. No info -> No knowledge -> No wisdom... :D Besides, It's been the 40th century since the first time man landed on the Moon.

Europe is one of the four main satellites of Jupiter. It is also the most interesting at a scientific level. It is approximattely the same size of our beloved moon, but a bit more colourful, and not as dusty. :D Europe's atmosphera is a weak layer composed by oxygen (100%), but this is not a biological oxygen (which means no plant or biological being has created it). The underlying theory about it says the oxygen is freed due to a surface's reaction to the sun beams. The magnetic field is quite weak in comparison to other planets, however it is rather influenced by the field generated by its father (Jupiter) which is one of the strongest ones in the Solar System. Moreover, sciencists speculates that Europe's core is made up of iron.

Here comes the interesting thing: Europe's surface is not made of earth or silicates as the Earth's is, on the contrary it is made of water, and this layer of water is 90 km deep, which totally forms the crust of the satellite. The surface is frozen due to the low temperatures outside (-170º) and it keeps a salty ocean underneath it, which is likewise warmed by the core activity.

Let's say this water rallies all the conditions to hold life in it, and real beings live within. Wow! That would mean we are not alone in the universe, and there's something else out there. Of course we must think in lifeforms like bacteria or microorganisms. I wont bet my ass there are carnivorous monsters twice the size of a human swimming and killing each other under that thick layer of ice... That would be awesome though, wouldn't it?

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Tenada


Finally, I ended and hanged my first serious webpage on the internet. The page can be viewed at www.tenada.es under firefox 3.0 / IE 8.0, according to my tests.

First of all, the spanish word "tenada" refers to an old building to store the grass and food for the cows. This building was used in the past by people from León and Asturias (Northern provinces of Spain).

Now, this word has been taken for more than 17 years to refer to a folk band composed for more than 30 dancers and quite a few musicians. They all keep the Leonese tradition alive by means of dancing, playing instruments and singing. They preserve the songs of old that are being lost through the years, since old people do not transmit them to the new generations. Besides, they investigate and put together old works, old costumes and old traditions aiming for a better understanding of the leonese society, and maintaining the integrity and identity of the old lifestyle adopted long ago.

Technically, the page has everything they need to start out on the internet. News, events, pictures and contact info. Moreover, the control is taken by them and not by me (The webmaster) when it comes to update news or upcoming events. Now, I am working on extending the functionality, specifically creating a mailing list where you can input your e-mail and receive notifications.

I have learnt a lot (PHP, server-side scripting, java scripting and domain related stuff), and I feel a bit proud of it. Hope you enjoy it folks! I've contributed to the Net, at last!