30 dic 2012

The Earth and its two moons (by Lucas)

'Earth may have once had two moons, but one was destroyed in a slow-motion collision that left our lunar current orb lumpier on one side than on the other', scientists say.

Astronomers have long been puzzled by the differences between the side of the moon that always faces the Earth (near side) and the side that always faces away (far side). The topography of the near side is relatively low and flat, while the other is high and mountainous .
For the theory to work, the smaller moon must have crashed into the larger one at about 4,400 miles (7,081 kilometers) an hour. 

"This is the slowest possible collision the two massive bodies could have if they fell into each other’s gravity," explained study co-author Erik Asphaug,  a planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). But such a collision would have left the far side splattered with especially hard rocky materials that now form the current lunar highlands.

According to the theory, the two moons coexisted peacefully for about 80 million years, each in its own stable orb, but a gravitational problem may have affected and made them crashed. The moons were the same colour and composition, but one was about three times larger than the other.

Remember that this is just a theory, not necessarily a fact, so, what do you think?

2 dic 2012

The Last Supper (text by Lucas and illustration by Ramiro)


The Last Supper

Hurry up, Peter! Your uncles are about to arrive!’ said his father. ‘Welcome, John! Your brother is here.’

While the guests were arriving, Peter was spicing the barbecue. He was then called by his uncle Pope, ‘Peter, come here to say hello to your uncle!’

Peter spiced the barbecue in a hurry and he didn’t realize he had made a terrible mistake...

Hi Pope! How are you?’
Fine, but a bit hungry.’
So let’s go to eat... dinner is ready.’

A few minutes later, everyone was sitting at the table, laughing and talking. They were served the spiced tasty barbecue. Half an hour later the dishes were empty.

Time for dessert,’ said John, but when he stood up he felt a terrible stomachache and fell down, dead.
Uncle Pope started coughing, as well as aunt Mary. The night was filled with coughing and desperation. To Peter’s surprise, everyone fell dead into their dishes. Panic invaded his body, so he stood up to ask for help. It was at that moment when he saw at a glance the empty bottle of the ‘spice’.

Rat poison??’ he whispered. Suddenly, he started coughing...
NOTE: The previous story and illustration were submitted to the "Cuentos de mi Ciudad" Contest, organised by The Bristish Council and KEL Ediciones.