Final exam date.

Hi, everyone.
The dates of our final exam is Friday, May 13th. 
The exam is obligatory, and to pass the course you must pass the final exam, which is worth 40%.
Best regards.
Tom.

Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles!

A team of Japanese scientists has found a species of bacteria that eats the type of plastic found in most disposable water bottles.
The discovery, published a few days ago in the journal Science, could lead to new methods to manage the more than 50 million tons of this particular type of plastic produced globally each year.
The plastic found in water bottles is known as polyethylene terephalate, or PET. It is also found in polyester clothing, frozen-dinner trays and blister packaging.
“If you walk down the aisle in Wal-Mart, you’re seeing a lot of PET,” said Tracy Mincer, who studies plastics in the ocean at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
Part of the appeal of PET is that it is lightweight, colourless and strong. However, it has also been notoriously resistant to being broken down by microbes – what experts call “biodegradation”.
Previous studies had found a few species of fungi can grow on PET, but until now, no one had found any microbes that can eat it.
To find the plastic-eating bacterium described in the study, the Japanese research team from Kyoto Institute of Technology and Keio University collected 250 PET-contaminated samples including sediment, soil and wastewater from a plastic bottle recycling site.
Next, they screened the microbes living on the samples to see whether any of them were eating the PET and using it to grow.

The new PET-eating fungi found in debris and wastewater could be a way to break down the artificial cellulose in plastics into non-hazardous and biodegradable properties. Photo: EPA

They originally found a consortium of bugs that appeared to break down a PET film, but they eventually discovered that just one of bacteria species was responsible for the PET degradation. They named it ideonella sakainesis.
Further tests in the lab revealed that it used two enzymes to break down the PET. After adhering to the PET surface, the bacteria secretes one enzyme onto the PET to generate an intermediate chemical. That chemical is then taken up by the cell, where another enzyme breaks it down even further, providing the bacteria with carbon and energy to grow.
The researchers report that a community of Ideonella sakaiensis working this way could break down a thin film of PET over the course of six weeks if the temperature were held at a steady 86°F (30°C).
Mincer said the study was impressive and did a good job showing that these organisms were eating the plastic pretty well. However, he said it was not immediately clear whether or not it would help keep plastics out of the ocean, for example.
“When I think it through, I don’t really know where it gets us,” he said. “I don’t see how microbes degrading plastics is any better than putting plastic bottles in a recycling bin so they can be melted down to make new ones.”
He added that the research could make it easier to identify other microbes that might have similar PET-degrading capabilities.
“This process could be quite common,” he said. “Now that we know what we are looking for, we may see these microbes in many areas around the world.” – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service

Original source: http://www.star2.com/living/science-technology/2016/03/29/newly-discovered-bacteria-can-eat-plastic-bottles/

CLASS UPDATE 11.04.16

SPEAKING	-Warmer: p. 86, ex. 1 (1+2) -Vocabulary related to work: p. 88, ex. 1. a, b.
LISTENING	- p. 88, ex. 2. a, b. / p. 89 ex. 4 a, b.
READING	We got our exams back and we corrected them.
GRAMMAR	- Tricky futures: Future Perfect and Future Continuous. p. 89, ex. 6, 7, 8
VOCABULARY	Language of work. p.88
HOMEWORK	-p. 89, ex. 8 (When we use by we must use Present Perfect!) - prepare the oral project for the back of Easter.

WHY FRANCE IS NOT WORKING (and we don't know anything)

A lot of Frech citizens protested yesterday against the new employment law reform. Workers and students refuse this change because it supposes a big regression in their employment and social rights, leaving them as "a kleenex", that can be used and throw out when the owner or the boss decide and without any excuse.

It's curious to observe this situation is winning over Europe, such as Portugal, France or even Germany can show us with their right wing politics and governmetns, but more curious is not to know anything about this topic, because nothing is said in our country's mass media.


http://www.euronews.com/2016/03/09/why-france-is-not-working/

Refugees

It's a very sad situation. People need to move out of their country because of war. They have to scape with anything, children, old people, women and men looking for a new life, a better one; but when they arrive to europe the have to sleep on the ground, eat by charity and they cant obtain a job or a house, because for the goverments and the society they are no one. The dont have an identity.

I hope most of them, one day, have a good life and can forget all this terror.

EURONEWS

TWO YEARS ON, MH370 FAMILIES DEMAND ANSWERS

This new speaks about what happened with the flight MH370 while it was doing the route kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. It hasn't been found yet, however, the agency has said that the flight will be found in the next four month.

The worst thing is that families feel ignored, they need answers about what happened with that flight in which where their love ones.

I hope experts achive to find out what happened and give answers and support to the families.

WWW.EURONEWS.COM

Hello, everyone.
Here's a link to help you improve your listening while following the news and current events. The presenters are speaking for an international audience, so it's easier to follow than the BBC, while also including a reasonably complete transcript.

Please try it out, and leave a comment on the blog.

http://www.euronews.com/2016/03/06/boat-sinks-off-turkish-coast-at-least-25-refugees-drown/


Best regards.
Tom.

CLASS UPDATE 26/02/2016 & HOMEWORK

CLASS UPDATE 26/02/2016 & HOMEWORK

SPEAKING	-We did the quick review on page 76. -We also talked in groups about the gender roles related to page 84/85.
LISTENING	-Ex. 4a/b, 85 page.
READING	-84/85 pages.
GRAMMAR	-We played the quantifiers games that Tom sent to our mail.  -Compound nouns+Adjectives on page 84. -Extra Practice 9A on page 123.
HOMEWORK	-We have to make groups to prepare the oral project. -Extra practice to prepare the exam. We have exercices on the blog and in pages 123/124. Good luck!