The Baqueira Beret station suffers the death of Francisco Vaquero, a skier with 45 years who was enjoying this place with a few friends.
At about three in the afternoon, they made the decision to go down a ski slope that was closed. This track, called Pasarells, is black double rhombus, which means that it is one of the most difficult tracks in the station. It is also very difficult because it is very narrow and it has rocks and pine trees.
The people who work in the station say that it had been closed for three days because it was in very bad conditions, it was very hard and it had a lot of ice.
Despite that, they decided to take a risk. Francisco fell, with the bad luck that he hit with a pine tree. Immediately a helicopter arrived and took him to the Vielha hospital. He arrived with a pulse , but in the end he died.
From the station they issued a statement giving condolences to family and friends. They also said that we have to take into account if a track is close or not.
With this death is the second one in the Val d’Aran, is something strange since the last death was several seasons ago.
The Importance of (Mental) Health during the Pandemic
Since the onset of COVID-19, millions of people, mostly young people and teenagers, have struggled with mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety, leading to suicide.
By María Vilariño Ceresuela
29th January 2022
Most of us have always been careful with eating healthily and working out in order to be physically well and fit, but it wasn’t until the beginning of the pandemic and the lockdown when we realised the importance of mental health.
In March 2020, our whole world fell apart. We stopped going to school, to our offices, we stopped exercising, we stopped being surrounded by people and we stopped socialising in person, as the only way we could study or chat with our friends was by using the computer. We started to become more technologically dependent and all our healthy routines were destroyed: we went to bed after midnight and woke up at lunchtime, we forgot to spend time with our families and spent the whole day on social media, which became more and more toxic. Apps like TikTok or Instagram soon became part of our daily life, and we checked them hundreds of times per day.
Some anxiety symptoms.
Since the beginning of the lockdown, most of us haven’t known how to spend our free time and have enjoyed watching other people live their lives and have fun from our bed. In addition, the media has been almost full of teenagers having ‘the perfect life’ and ‘the perfect body’, which makes young people feel like they aren’t beautiful enough, smart enough or good enough.
There is a major increase in the number of U.S. adults that report symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia during the pandemic compared to pre-COVID-19 figures. Each person faces these diseases in a different way. However, most of the people have increased their use of alcohol and drugs, thinking they may make a difference and that they can help them. Actually, these substances can make the pain even worse.
Mental health illnesses.
To avoid this kind of illness, it’s essential to take care of our bodies and our minds and be with other people. It is very important to get enough sleep to limit screen time and relax. Some tips such as taking care of our minds and focusing on positive thoughts and healthy priorities can be useful.
Anyway, the best thing we can do is to let people know that we are by their side, they are not alone and everything will be okay.
Scientists estimate that in 2050 the quantity of microplastics in our planet will reach one billion tons.
Microplastics discovered in mass on a beach.
By Claudia Gándara Vázquez
February 23rd, 2022
We all have probably heard about this type of plastic once in our lives, but do we really know what this term means?
Microplastics are small pieces of plastic composed of polymers and additives that can be very harmful to the environment and animal health.
According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency, any plastic less than 5 mm in length is considered microplastic. Due to their size, these plastics are almost invisible. However, they are in many of the objects we use every day such as cosmetics or cleaning products. These particles have a very low level of degradability and that is why they are so harmful to our planet.
The production and use of microplastics in the world has increased a lot in recent years to reach more than 320 million tons in 2015 and scientists estimate that the quantity of microplastics in our planet will reach one billion tons in 2050.
According to where they come from, we can classify microplastics into two types: primary microplastics and secondary microplastics.
Primary microplastics are the ones that were purposefully made to be that small size and we can find them in lots of common household products.
Secondary microplastics are particles that come from the degradation of other plastic products. The types of plastics from which secondary microplastics usually come from are polyethylene and polypropylene, among others.
Now that we know what microplastics are, we are going to talk about their effects on our seas and oceans.
Microplastics can be ingested by sea animals that humans consume, so they can end up in humans and be so harmful to us. Plastic also causes lots of damage to animals. Microplastics can poison animals when they ingest them, which can negatively affect human food supply and wipe out lots of marine species. There are reports that claim that more than 260 species have ingested plastic or were trapped in plastic items.
But, what does this mean? How can microplastics affect humans?
Nowadays, we don´t know much about how these particles could affect human beings, and many scientists state that microplastics cannot affect us, but recently research has been published by experts from the Utrecht University Medical Center, that says that microplastics can affect human health. According to the report, the cells of our organism that fought against microplastics die when they come in contact with them.
This is why microplastics are a big issue nowadays, so we need to get solutions to help our oceans to deal with this huge concern. For instance, passing laws to forbid the use of plastic microspheres, reducing the consumption of plastic products, such as plastic bags, unnecessary packages, or raising the price of products with a great amount of plastic.
So, if we want to save our oceans and their marine life, we must take care of them and realize that this is a real problem.
The magic is back with the new Harry Potter special: Return to Hogwarts, two decades after the first book of the collection (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) came out, causing great success and managing to sell millions of copies. After this great event, six more books were published and eight films were released. Soon, readers from all over the world knew the wizarding world of J.K. Rowling.
Although the books triumphed, it was the films that made the Potterheads (how the Harry Potter fans are called) feel closest to Harry and get the chance to connect with him. The cast of these movies was fantastic, it felt like the actors were created specifically to play Rowling characters; they had similar personalities and thus, it was so authentic.
The Harry Potter cast.
This special reunion, released on HBO Max, with all the actors and actresses is memorable for those who have grown up with Harry Potter.
“It sounds so geeky, but I really do like studying and reading, and if I’m not working on Harry Potter, then my greatest relaxation is to sit with a book” – Emma Watson.
Listening to the cast talk about how they felt while filming the movies and all the experiences they have lived thanks to the creator of all this magic makes them feel nostalgic and emotional. Now that the audience is older, they can relate to the story even more.
Apart from remembering old times, they also talk about how some of the actors didn’t know how to handle the sudden fame. This is what happened to Emma Watson -Hermione Granger in the films-, who, being so young, thought about quitting acting in these films when she felt she could not bear more stress.
These deep and emotional conversations made the audience feel this experience was unique in such a special way that some tears fell down their cheeks.
Scientists estimate that in 2050 the quantity of microplastics in our planet will reach one billion tons.
Microplastics discovered in mass on a beach. By Claudia Gándara Vázquez February 23rd, 2022 We all have probably heard about this type of plastic once in our lives, but do we really know what this term means? Microplastics are small pieces of plastic composed of polymers and additives that can be very harmful to the environment and animal health. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency, any plastic less than 5 mm in length is considered microplastic. Due to their size, these plastics are almost invisible. However, they are in many of the objects we use every day such as cosmetics or cleaning products. These particles have a very low level of degradability and that is why they are so harmful to our planet. The production and use of microplastics in the world has increased a lot in recent years to reach more than 320 million tons in 2015 and scientists estimate that the quantity of microplastics in our planet will reach one billion tons in 2050. According to where they come from, we can classify microplastics into two types: primary microplastics and secondary microplastics. Primary microplastics are the ones that were purposefully made to be that small size and we can find them in lots of common household products. Secondary microplastics are particles that come from the degradation of other plastic products. The types of plastics from which secondary microplastics usually come from are polyethylene and polypropylene, among others. Now that we know what microplastics are, we are going to talk about their effects on our seas and oceans. Microplastics can be ingested by sea animals that humans consume, so they can end up in humans and be so harmful to us. Plastic also causes lots of damage to animals. Microplastics can poison animals when they ingest them, which can negatively affect human food supply and wipe out lots of marine species. There are reports that claim that more than 260 species have ingested plastic or were trapped in plastic items. But, what does this mean? How can microplastics affect humans? Nowadays, we don´t know much about how these particles could affect human beings, and many scientists state that microplastics cannot affect us, but recently research has been published by experts from the Utrecht University Medical Center, that says that microplastics can affect human health. According to the report, the cells of our organism that fought against microplastics die when they come in contact with them. This is why microplastics are a big issue nowadays, so we need to get solutions to help our oceans to deal with this huge concern. For instance, passing laws to forbid the use of plastic microspheres, reducing the consumption of plastic products, such as plastic bags, unnecessary packages, or raising the price of products with a great amount of plastic. So, if we want to save our oceans and their marine life, we must take care of them and realize that this is a real problem.
Return to Hogwarts: 20 Years of Magic By María Vilariño Ceresuela February 20th, 2022 The magic is back with the new Harry Potter special: Return to Hogwarts, two decades after the first book of the collection (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) came out, causing great success and managing to sell millions of …
