atmosphere
Nitrogen till the root
Nitrogen is an essential element for life, but since its availability is limited it must be recycled. The most important compartment on the planet where it accumulates is the atmosphere (N2). Hence, special bacteria introduce it into the biosphere through a process called fixation. Once there, it is transferred through the food chain from vegetables […]
Climate change, critical level
Global warming has not stopped since the industrial revolution and in the Quèquicom we are also witnesses. In 2006 we dedicated a report to climate change. In 2019, thirteen years later, we made an update. We will see how has evolved the CO2 in the atmosphere, the temperature of the sea in Estartit, the fish […]
The butterfly effect
The weather in Catalonia depends on the atmospheric circulation in the middle of the North Atlantic, thousands of kilometers away. Any slight change in the initial conditions there will trigger a completely different result. This behavior, characteristic of chaotic systems, is known as the butterfly effect and is responsible for the unpredictablility of weather in […]
Balloons to the stratosphere
Catalan industry is a world leader in the manufacture of balloons, used for sport and tourism. We will ascend to 6,000 meters with a balloon made in Igualada and see how the temperature and oxygen decrease rapidly with altitude. Faced with these difficulties, Would you dare to ascend balloon into the stratosphere, 36 kilometers altitude? […]
Lightning catchers
The lightning are highly potent electric shocks that occur in microseconds. Nevertheless, it is possible to catch them with a high speed camera, detect them by antennas, track them on trees or subsurface minerals, lead them to lightning rods, and reproduce its plasma in cutting steel machines, fluorescent or neon. Speakers Oscar Van der Velde, […]
Spring in Barcelona
Spring is an explosion of life in the countryside. But under a watchful eye, is also an explosion of life in the city. The reporter Pere Renom walk in the city of Barcelona, racking and a spectacular spring. Explains the weather, vegetation and wildlife in urban spring. In the studio, presenter Jaume Vilalta shows how […]
Low cost satellits
The aerospace industry is a sector with so high investment that only large agencies like NASA or ESA, or the multinational companies can afford. An international team of students and engineers of UPC is developing a project to send a satellite into space for less than 1,200 euros. The challenge is part of the “N-Prize” […]
Atom: asking the matter
Hadrons, neutrons, quarks, gluons, or the famous Higgs particle are concepts of the atomic physics related to a big question: what is matter? “Quèquicom” visits CERN, a laboratory built 100 meters underground in Geneva, Switzerland, where the properties of some subatomic particles like hadrons are investigated from colisions in an accelerator called LHC (Large Hadron […]
The fall and the light
Light therapy, is a treatment that helps to overcome the seasonal gloom caused by the reduction of hours of light during autumn and winter. The reporter Pere Renom interviews specialists in psychiatry and sleep, and a lighting technician. He also visits one of the most beautiful autumn landscapes of Catalonia, in the Pyrenees, to explain […]
The greenhouse effect and climate change
In “Quèquicom”, prominent experts explain clearly what are the main evidence of climate change, why the planet is heated, what say predictions and what can be done to combat it.
