NEWS: People in mars?

UAE looks to Mars for STEM inspiration

The UAE Space Agency was formed as recently as 2014, and Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center was established in 2015. The center has already successfully launched two home-grown satellites, and the Emirates is targeting Mars with plans for a probe in 2020 -- the Arab world's first mission to another planet. More ambitious still, there are plans to develop a human settlement on Mars by 2117.

At the World Government Summit in February 2017, the UAE previewed its vision of what that colony might look like. In November, their VR presentation was made available on YouTube.
In September, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, unveiled renders of Mars Science City, a $136 million simulation center planned for the desert outside Dubai.

The center will be covering 1.9 million square feet -- the largest project of its kind -- it will include  laboratories simulating the surface of Mars, agriculture testing areas and a museum. Much of it will be built using 3D printers.

The Emirates' space program is aware it's entering towards the back of the race.

Our primary target is having education and outreach," says Sarah Amiri, UAE minister of state for advanced sciences and science lead at the Emirates Mars Mission. "It's about building people, it's not about building buildings... It's creating people that are creative enough to stimulate your economy and to stimulate the growth of your entire nation."

In other words, space is a means to an end.
Afshin Molavi says "We sometimes think that the only way a space program is successful is when you have men on the moon planting a flag, or in the case of Dubai maybe rockets that land on Mars," he says. "But a space program is successful because of what it does on Earth."

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/07/middleeast/dubai-uae-mars-mission-global-gateway/index.html

NEW: California is burning

California wildfires: Flames seen from space.

Six large wildfires, and other smaller blazes have erupted since Monday, ther are about 500 buildings have been destroyed. Satellite imagery taken on December 5 shows how the fires took hold - driven by extreme weather, including low humidity, high winds and parched ground.

About 5,700 firefighters have been battling the brushfires, officials said on Thursday, with many drafted in from neighbouring states to help.

The Thomas fire in Ventura County to the north of Los Angeles remains the largest fire and spread as far as the Pacific coast. It consumed 180 square miles (466 sq km) since it broke out on Monday, and destroyed more than 430 buildings.

Creek Fire: Another blaze north of Los Angeles, the Creek fire, is 20% under control and covers some 15,323 acres.

Rye Fire: The Rye Fire threatened more than 5,000 homes and structures northwest of Los Angeles near Santa Clarita. It consumed thousands of acres and triggered evacuations of homes and schools.
The fire authorities say it is now 25% under control.

Skirball Fire: In the rich Los Angeles enclave of Bel Air, firefighters were seen removing artwork from luxury homes on Wednesday as the Skirball Fire raged. It has forced hundreds of residents in the wooded hills to evacuate and charred more than 475 acres.

Lilac Fire: North of San Diego, another blaze spread from 10 acres to 4,100 acres in just a few hours. It destroyed 20 structures and prompted evacuations and road closures.

Californian authorities have issued a purple alert - the highest level warning - amid what it called "extremely critical fire weather." 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42278027

GAP YEAR

I have been thinking about a gap year for a long time, but now it's a reality. After I finish my batxillerat I will take a gay gap year and I will travel around the world. In my gap year I will be visiting as many places as I can, but I will go to New York and Los Angeles first. After I have been there for a few months in each place,  I will go to Mexico and Brazil to spend a few months in every place, and after that the last month I will go to Hawaii.

I will use Workaway, a page where you can pick any place of the world and go there.You have to pay the airplane, but when you arrive your host family will pay the expenses and the stay in his house in exchange for taking care of their children and the house. I will be working in every country in a house taking care of the children for 6 hours 5 days every week. The rest of the time I will have free time to visit the most exotic places of the country.

The first thing I have to do is save money for travel. My plan is to work from June (after finishing the selectivity) until December, and in January 2019 I will begin my trip. 

I want to do this gap year for myself, to disconnect from the student life and think well what I want to do in the future and what I want to study in the university. I've always wanted to volunteering in another countries so this will be my opportunity to do it. I also want to do it to learn new languages and cultures around the world. After I finish my career I'd like to have another gap year to go volunteering in developing countries to help people.