nature

'Nature' includes Catalan astronomer Guillem Anglada-Escudé amongst 10 best scientists of 2016

December 19, 2016 06:20 PM | ACN

‘Nature’s 10’, the annual list which distinguishes the year’s best scientists according to the journal, has included Catalan astronomer, Guillem Anglada-Escudé amongst its names. The researcher at Queen Mary University of London detected the nearest known planet outside the Solar System which he baptised ‘Proxima b’. He put together a team and got observing time on the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at the European Southern Observatory as well as other telescopes that could double-check whether any promising evidence that they found was caused by stellar activity, which can mimic the signs of a planet. Within days, they confirmed that the planet was there; within weeks, they submitted a manuscript detailing their discovery. The planet, called Proxima b, has at least 1.3 times the mass of Earth and orbits Proxima every 11.2 days.

Catalan scientists discover that saturated fat fuels the spread of cancer

December 8, 2016 06:52 PM | ACN

A group of scientists from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) at the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology have identified a population of oral tumour cells which may feast on fats to spread throughout the body — a process called metastasis. According to the study, published this Wednesday in the prestigious scientific magazine ‘Nature’, some of these cells expressed high levels of a molecule called CD36, which helps cells to take up lipids from their environment. The research shows that applying antibodies that block CD36 and eliminate its interaction with fatty acids resulted in a reduced number of metastatic focus and also reduced their size by around 80% to 90%. “If we cut the lipids supply to those cells which generate metastasis they are practically unable to spread”, the leader of the IRB ‘Cancer and Stem cells’ team, Salvador Aznar Benitah, explained. 

The best nature photos of 2015 on display at CosmoCaixa

May 18, 2016 06:51 PM | ACN

Barcelona’s CosmoCaixa science museum has inaugurated an exhibition replicating that of the Natural History Museum in London called ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’. The 100 photos on display were selected out of 42,000 images received in the eponymous contest put forth by BBC Wildlife Magazine in 2015. The pictures chosen for the exhibition were also selected because they stimulated “defence of biodiversity and protection of the environment” stated the director of Research and Knowledge of the ‘Fundació la Caixa’ foundation, Jordi Portabella. One can also admire the two winning images from the 2015 contest: ‘A tale of two Foxes’ and ‘Ruffs on Display’, taken respectively by Don Gutoski and Ondrej Pelánek.

 

British primatologist Jane Goodall awarded prestigious Premi Internacional Catalunya

May 18, 2015 09:27 PM | ACN

Jane Goodall, British anthropologist and primatologist, has been awarded the 27th Premi Internacional Catalunya, which is the most prestigious prize given by the Catalan Government and recognises outstanding people who have contributed to humankind’s development and progress through their careers. The award follows the decision of an independent jury formed of high-profile professionals from Catalonia and abroad. The jury has unanimously chosen Goodall from a list of 152 candidates for the prize from 52 different countries for her “scientific, empirical and committed work”. She is considered one of the most important experts in animal behaviour thanks to her more than 50 years research in Gombe Stream National Park, in Tanzania, studying the behaviour of chimpanzees. Previous awardees include Desmond Tutu, Lula da Silva, Haruki Murakami, Jimmy Carter, Karl Popper, Jacques Delors, Aung San Suu Kyi, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Amartya Sen, among others. The award ceremony will take place in Barcelona on the 27th of July.

Scabies infection threatens the last population of Iberian wild goats in Catalonia

February 13, 2015 11:17 PM | ACN / Nisse Laiho-Murdoch

Hunters and park rangers are currently working together to try to contain the outbreak of Scabies in the wild population of Iberian ibex in the mountainous area of Terra Alta, in the south of Catalonia. This is the last surviving population of this local species throughout Catalonia, after it became extinct from the Pyrenees. Negotiations between the two parties began late last month after the Catalan Government's Department of Agriculture granted permission to hunt and kill the infected specimen before the disease spreads. A previous case in 1987, which eliminated 97% of the goat population, has meant that the Department of Agriculture is not taking this news lightly and want a swift yet controlled extermination of the diseased animals in order to prevent the extinction of the species in Catalonia.

London shows the nature photography work by Catalan and Hasselblad Award-winner, Fontcuberta

July 24, 2014 09:31 PM | ACN

Barcelona-born photographer Joan Fontcuberta presents his first major exhibition in the UK, ‘Stranger than Fiction’, which represents an overview of 30 years of his artistic work on nature photography. It opened on Wednesday at London’s Science Museum's Media Space and will be running until the 9th of November. The six-part collection of pictures and artefacts aims to examine the presumed reliability of photography and shake the viewer's consciousness by mixing fact with fiction, science with art, and persuasive storytelling with a deep questioning. After London, the exhibition will travel to the National Media Museum in Bradford (northern England) from the 19th of November 2014 to the 8th of February 2015.

Israeli airline Arkia to link Tel Aviv with Lleida-Alguaire, near the Catalan Pyrenees

April 10, 2014 07:54 PM | ACN

The Israeli airline Arkia will offer a total of 20 flights during the summer and 20 more during the winter between Tel Aviv and the Lleida-Alguaire Airport. The new connection will start on the 27th of June and will have a capacity of 110 passengers per flight. Israeli tourists will be better connected to Western Catalonia and the Pyrenees, which host a large range of ski resorts, adventure sports opportunities, impressive mountain landscapes and unique Romanesque art. In addition, the Israeli Ambassador recently unveiled a route following the mountain paths used by thousands of Jews who crossed the Pyrenees to escape Nazi persecution. Lleida's Pyrenean landscape consists of high peaks, lakes and mountain forests, including the National Park of Aigüestortes.