A Espanya tan sols un 15% de les càtedres universitàries les ocupen dones. A l’hora de rebre reconeixements públics, les dones també es queden enrere. Dels 457 de premis Nobel que s’han atorgat des del 1901, només 11 han estat per a dones. La ciència encara és sexista. Amb el mateix talent, sovint les dones cobren menys que els homes, tenen moltes més dificultats per prosperar, aconsegueixen menys beques i tenen més possibilitats d’acabar abandonant la seva carrera. I és així arreu del món. Les dones que dirigeixen grups de recerca encara són minoria.

Un estudi dut a terme per Jo Handelsman, actualment directora de l’Oficina de Política Científica i Tecnologia de la Casa Blanca, publicat el 2012 a la revista PNAS, mostrava com 127 professors de biologia, química i física decidien donar un sou anual 3720 dòlars inferior a la Jennifer que al John. Dos biòlegs ficticis inventats per a fer l'estudi, tots dos formats a la Universitat de Yale, en amb currículums idèntics i ambdós optant a ocupar dues posicions iguals com a tècnics de laboratori.

Al CCCB, del 3 al 10 de febrer s'incia un cicle de debats que pretén posar de manifest totes aquestes diferències i sobretot reflexionar profundament sobre les millors solucions que es poden aportar per pal·liar-les.

Per a més informació:
http://www.cccb.org/ca/marc-dones_i_cincia-173070

The star, named Kepler-444, hosts five planets smaller than Earth, with sizes varying between those of Mercury and Venus. The important fact is that, at 11.2 billion years old, it is the oldest star with Earth-sized planets ever found and proves that such planets have formed throughout the history of the Universe.

The LHCb collaboration, in which ICCUB members actively participate, submitted today a paper reporting the discovery of two new particles. The particles, known as the Ξ_b^'- and Ξ_b^*-, were predicted to exist by the quark model but had never been seen before.

The new particles are baryons made from three quarks bound together by the strong force. The types of quarks are different, however: the new Ξ_b particles both contain one beauty (b), one strange (s), and one down (d) quark. Thanks to the heavyweight b quarks, they are more than six times as massive as the proton. But the particles are more than just the sum of their parts: their mass also depends on how they are configured. Each of the quarks has an attribute called "spin". In the Ξ_b^'- state, the spins of the two lighter quarks point in the opposite direction to the b quark, whereas in the Ξ_b^*- state they are aligned. This difference makes the Ξ_b^*- a little heavier.

The two new particles are observed through their decay into the ground state Ξ_b⁰ and a π^-

By observing these particles and measuring their properties with such accuracy, LHCb physicists make a stringent test of models of nonperturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Theorists will be able to use these measurements as an anchor-point for future predictions.

More information can be found in the article published in La Vanguardia:

ESA’s Rosetta mission has soft-landed its Philae probe on a comet, the first time in history that such an extraordinary feat has been achieved.

After a tense wait during the seven-hour descent to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the signal confirming the successful touchdown arrived on Earth at 16:03 GMT (17:03 CET).

The first result identified heat pockets of 200,000 degrees Fahrenheit, lower in the solar atmosphere than ever observed by previous spacecraft. For its second finding, IRIS observed numerous, small, low lying loops of solar material in the interface region for the first time. The unprecedented resolution provided by IRIS will enable scientists to better understand how the solar atmosphere is energized. A surprise to researchers was the third finding of IRIS observations showing structures resembling mini-tornadoes occurring in solar active regions for the first time. Another finding uncovers evidence of high-speed jets at the root of the solar wind. The final result highlights the effects of nanoflares throughout the corona. Large solar flares are initiated by a mechanism called magnetic reconnection, whereby magnetic field lines cross and explosively realign. These often send particles out into space at nearly the speed of light.

The new information will help researchers better understand how our nearest star transfers energy through its atmosphere and track the dynamic solar activity that can impact technological infrastructure in space and on Earth.

World Space Week at Catalonia

World Space Week is the celebration at the international level for the contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition.

Barcelona Activities Programme

Castelldefels Activities Programme

A Total Lunar Eclipse eclipse took place on 8 October at 10:54 TU.

The Eclipse wasn't visible from Catalonia, and was best seen from the Pacific Ocean and bordering regions.The eclipse occurs at the Moon's descending node in southern Pisces, two days after perigee (October 06 at 09:41 UT). This means that the Moon will appear 5.3% larger than it did during the April 15 eclipse (32.7 vs. 31.3 arc-minutes)

Image by Morris Maduro, California