The End of Whatever

As promised, I did some serious research into this Mayan calendar doomsday prediction, and I must say that I'm quite a lot more confused now, but here you have the basics:The Maya, an Ancient civilization with the reputation of being more intelligent than us (as it usually happens with all ancient civilizations), predicted a sort of galactic alignment on Dec 21st 2012 (winter solstice). Apart from this, there's a planet that is also going to be very near our orbit, thus influencing the movement of the earth, and adding to the speculation of 'we are not alone' conspiracy theories. Of course, this is going to translate into tsunamis, earthquakes, pole shift, hurricanes, planetary collisions, unexpected visits from outer space, and many other special effects. So everything is going to happen at the same time.



Needless to say, the Maya Calendar agrees with I-ching predictions, Nostradamus, other seers and fortune tellers and, of course, scientific evidence of all sorts -although the scientists are already dead.

KEY WORDS: startingly precise predictions, take seriously, obsessed with, accurate, take place, white skinned bearded gods, arrive in, alignment, pole shift, worldwide disasters, backed by science, mass extinction of species, doomsday, profecy, intriguing

	Rem - End Of The World .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

"It's the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine"

Others think that, the end of the world "as we know it" only means the beginning of something new, a spiritual awakening, a global transformation of consciousness, and a collective rebirth into the new era: the age of Aquarius (or flower-power revisited).

• WATCH VIDEO

(**sorry about the studpid adverts, it's a real nightmare to try to get rid of them, and not always possible, not even in the age of Aquarius)

	HAIR - Age of Aquarius .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

When the Moon is in the 7th House, and Jupiter aligns with March, then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars -this is the dawning of the age of aquarius ....READ lyrics

There is still a third group of people who think this is all b....** , a HYPE, a HOAX

• WATCH VIDEO
  

BUT why, oh why does the Mayan calendar end in 2012?

This is all the information I managed to gather , so if you have any more facts and figures from a reliable source, please let me know. It's important to plan for the future.

Supermoon

If you look up in the sky on March 19th you'll see a 'Supermoon', which is when "the moon’s orbit is nearest the Earth - and the sun, moon and Earth are all in alignment."

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

• Transcript?

Some people think this supermoon might have been the cause of so much devastation in Japan READ ON

Astrologers and scientists have different versions of their own on the supermoon and its effects, something that’s pretty expected. READ ON
Read on 2
Whatever the effects of the supermoon, the moon will be bigger and brighter, it's going o be a beautiful sight, so we can only hope that it won't cause any more harm to the Earth.

And just to remind you of some idioms containing the word moon:

Baby rips it up

I'm not very fond of 'viral' videos, you know, these funny videos that spread out like a virus in the internet, but I liked this one. In spite of the many bad things happening around the world, I thought I wanted to share it. Laughter is highly contagious ...and it can be understood in any language.

• READ: Mail Online: Laughter is the best cure
• WATCH: CBS News. Laughter as medicine
• READ: What's funny?
• Smile? Laugh? Giggle? Chuckle? The McMillan dictionary: All U can learn

By the way, the baby is ripping up his/her daddy's job rejection letter.

The most typical face in the world

The National Geographic Magazine has revealed what the most typical human on the planet looks like, as part of their new series which focuses on the human race called ‘Population 7 billion’.


The research found that a 28-year-old Han Chinese male is the most typical person on the planet, with 9 million around the globe. So was learning English the right choice? Shouldn't you be learning Chinese? They won’t be dominating for long, though. The National Geographic also found that within the next 20 years, the most typical person will come from India. So what now ?
Watch this video and check how similar to/different from the most typical person you are.
 If you want to know more on this topic, watch The Economist: 7 billion video
7 billion? Aren't there TOO MANY people on the planet?

Blah, blah, blah...

How can I improve my spoken English? This video is more inspirational than practical, but it goes to the core question of 'dancing' with your partners rather than 'monologuing' or producing 'memorised' sentences that 'the teacher will like' (ahem...). Below you'll find some more tips that you'll have to adapt to your own habits (like talk to yourself). You'll see that language skills are obviously connected and part of a whole - the time invested in reading, listening, writing, and working on gr...ooops ...sorry 'use of English' will sure contribute to your speaking skills-and vice versa.
- E.How , more EHow
- English at home
- Learning tips ( tips n.2,3,5,6,13 particularly interesting)

And a very important one: KISS (Keep It Short and Simple), which means DON'T get entangled in your own story -generally because you wanted to translate it word by word from your mother tongue. You don't need to do this. You know more than what you think, so USE IT. Make life easier for your partners who should understand what you are saying so that they can react to what you are saying so that you can dance all together.

Sorry there's no pill. Or rather, the only pill is regular practice and patience. But you know all that, don't you? It's just a reminder (remember 'remember'/'remind'?).

Of course, frustration may be part of the process, but it's transitory -and you can always scream and shout in this blog if you need it.

Elementary, my dear Watson

**Take over?
Years ago, computer Deep Blue beat chess world champion Garry Kasparov. Now IBM's Supercomputer Watson has beaten two human competitors in America's quiz show Jeopardy!

• Watch Newsy Video (+ transcript)
• BBC : Read article

I must admit that when my computer crashes or when I lose my pen drive I feel like a part of my brain is missing.

• Mail online: Human brain shrinking

But you are on the right track if you don't want your computer to take control of your life:

• The Guardian: Being bilingual good for your brain
• Mind power news: Increase your brain power
• Train your Brain with BrainBashers

Love is in the air

Last weeek we were talking about feelings, reactions and states of mind, so how would you feel if your loved one proposed on the plane from Lisbon to Barcelona? On cloud nine? Over the moon? Between the devil and the deep blue sea, maybe? The rest of the passengers were happily entertained, that's for sure. A taste of Valentine's day next week.

KEY WORDS: stewardess, in-flight meals, familiar and unexpected voice, crew members, shocked and embarrassed, bride-to-be, I'd better not, on cloud nine.

Back to the future

A flying car? Forget about the Transition! Teleportation is the future, and it looks like somebody at the University of Queensland, Australia, has found out how to do it.


Whatever the "entangled quantum particles" are, we are closer to time travel, or so it seems. However, you could only (if we had the technology) be teleported into the future, which is where I'd go anyway. But wait a minute ... imagine you travel to next year so you see yourself in the 5th year? Or maybe not? But then you should be able to learn enough to come back to L4 and pass it? Wouldn't it be a bit of a mess?

• Transcript
• The Massachusetts Institue of Technology Blog
• The Express buzz: data teleportation a reality soon

For those of you with a scientific mind:

• Time Travel: Einstein's big idea. Key words: speed of light, to hold the key, to follow in the footsteps, rocket ship, headlights, twin brother, to overtake, to be aware of (the change).
• Stephen Hawking: How to build a time machine

Terrafugia Transition

No traffic jams, no long and winding roads, no speed limits...those of you who were thinking of buying a new car, just wait:

• Script? Here
• READ how the flying car works in The Telegraph
• More details in Mail Online , The Guardian, and Discover

I don't like flying, but I'm sure I'd love to drive-fly the Transition. 30 miles per gallon on the ground (can you calculate how much that is in l./km?) This is the real hybrid car -and it comes with a parachute! 70 people have already pre-booked the car. Would you buy it?

Nothing new under the sun

The good thing about the financial crisis is that people have to rack their brains as to how to get out of it. This is an interesting story about a woman from Galicia who claims to be the owner of the sun. It seems that governments cannot claim ownership of planets, stars and other celestial bodies, but individuals can.

• READ the story HERE
• WATCH VIDEO HERE. Keywords: source, public notary, treaty, mankind, turns out, loophole, scary, to tax, hilarious.

Needless to say, she wants to profit from her new property, so if you thought that sunbathing would be free forever you may be wrong. Is that a clever move or -as someone said the other day- she's losing her marbles? I think I'll get myself a whole galaxy before it gets too crowded here. What piece of universe would you like to own ?