Lycée Blaise Pascal Rouen

Tate Modern

C. Reymond, Quentin0x — 2013-06-18T09:22:51Z

^{Tate Modern

This visit was very interesting because many people think that art is boring and abstract but if someone gives us the key to access to his secret, art is wonderful. Some examples :
The Three Dancers
The painting shows three dancers, the one on the right being barely visible. A macabre dance takes place, with the dancer on the left having her head bent at a near-impossible angle. The guide explains us that the dancer on the right is supposed to be Ramon Pichot, a friend of Picasso who died during the painting of Three Dancers. The dancer on the left is then Germaine Gargallo (Pichot's wife) with the one in the centre who is Gargallo's boyfriend : Carlos Casagemas, also Picasso's friend. Casagemas tried to shoot Gargallo but he failed, he then pointed the gun to his temple and this time, the gun worked. He died. The guide left us to decide whether this was the truth or a mere dream and reminds us that a dream reveals many more things that we think…
Sunflower Seeds
Ai Weiwei is known for the design of the Beijing National Stadium, more commonly known as the "Bird's Nest", the main stadium of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His work : 100 million seeds were manufactured by traditional methods and delicately painted by hand in the city of Jingdezhen, the major center for the production of Imperial porcelain for over a thousand years. Ai has long been fascinated by the cultural traditions of materials and objects, and of porcelain in particular the survival of its artisan production, its supreme quality, its early traditions of mass production and global export and the value still invested in it as a cultural artifact in China today. At the beginning, all the seeds were for the “guest” room of Tate Modern : the Turbine Hall. A small amount of them were kept in Tate galleries. The seeds were also potent symbols of the Cultural Revolution.

There were 10,000 seed at the beginning, for the original exhibition in the Turbine Hall, and people were allowed to come in and walk over them : a tremendous experience ! Unfortunately, lots of peoples took home a sample of the seeds. So they had to close the site and now w can see a reduced version of this work of art, woth only 1,000 seeds. But when you know that they are all handmade and hand painted, it changes you view if it !
The Red and Black room
One if the room that we saw contained some of the Mark Rothko's Seagram Murals.

In 1958 Rothko was commissioned to paint a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant on the ground floor of New York's Seagram building, designed by Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson. The Seagram murals were the first works conceived by Rothko as a series exploring variations on a closely-defined compositional theme. He experimented with permutations of the floating frame and its background, different surface treatments and the use of vibrant and somber color. Rothko's doubts about the appropriateness of the restaurant as a setting for his work ultimately led him to withdraw from the commission. In the late 1960s, Rothko donated nine of the Seagram murals to the Tate Gallery. Since 1970 they have been displayed almost continuously at Tate, in different configurations, as the so-called Rothko Room. Rothko did not decide upon a final scheme for The Four Seasons restaurant, nor did he prescribe a fixed order for the display of his murals at Tate.

The guide who was with us, tell us that Rothko give some conditions : the exposition should always be on display, there should be only one door, a seat in the middle of the room and a dim light on the room. When you look at those paintings this must calm you down.}

Tower bridge : an astounding monument

C. Reymond, xxxlk — 2013-06-18T09:22:15Z

Tower bridge : an astounding monument

It was on the morning of Tuesday 22nd October when we, the European class, arrived in front of Tower Bridge. I couldn't help but gaze and marvel at its spectacular structure and design, but the morning breeze reminded us that we had to get our feet moving in order to enter the warm building if we didn't want to freeze. No sooner had we arrived than a guide ushered us to a lift as he introduced himself. He was welcoming and had a nice sense of humour. Despite his Irish accent, I was able to gather all the information I needed about the bridge. I have to say that the bridge holds a pretty fascinating story behind it.

All began in the second half of the nineteenth century when the east of London, due to the increase of commercial traffic along the river Thames, sought the building of a new bridge, one that wouldn't interfere or block river traffic that's to say a bridge that allowed large ships to pass .

Many designs were submitted without success. It was only in 1884 that a bascule bridge by Horace James was approved. Unfortunately, the latter died the very same year leaving John Wolfe as the appointed Engineer.

The architectural plan consisted of building a 265 meter long bascule bridge, with the two halves of the bridge opening upwards and outwards thus allowing ships to pass through. Moreover, in order for the bridge to withstand the forces exerted by the mass of the two towers and bascules, two walkways were created.

The opening of the bridge has used steam hydraulic power until 1975 when it was replaced by a modern electro-hydraulic system. That year, the bridge was painted red, white and blue to celebrate the Queen's silver jubilee.

Tons of events have taken place on this bridge such as wedding ceremonies, marriage proposals and even motor cross tournaments. Hearing the guide tell us all these stories about a plane which passed between the two spans and the bridge itself or that of a bus driver who became a hero after driving his bus from one side of the bridge to the other while it was opening and so on... made me feel connected to this bridge in some way.

At the end of our visit, we got to stride across the walkways above the city of London as we took in the view of the different skyscrapers and the Thames River. It sure was exhilarating!

I feel very privileged to have taken part in this tour. This experience was one in a million.

We are used every day but we are neglected, we can be read or heard but we are not all the same. What are we ?

C. Reymond, DORE — 2013-06-18T09:21:47Z

By definition, a language is a system of phonic and graphic signs which allow humans to express their mind and to communicate. In the world there are between 3,000 and 7,000 different languages but half of them could disappear by the end of this century. The death of languages isn't a new phenomenon : linguists reckon that during the last 5,000 years, 30,000 languages were born and disappeared without leaving any trace.
But the rhythm of disappearance of languages has sped up especially since The European colonial conquests in the 19th century. We can say that a language is considered as endangered as soon as the number of its speakers stops increasing or is too low, when it loses its function of communication in daily life or when it's not money-making economically. Experts evaluated that a language can survive if it has at least 100,000 speakers. However, half of the present total of languages counts less than 10,000 speakers. I will take the example of Canada. Today in this country there are 200 languages which are spoken. This high number comes from on one side immigration and on the other side native people. However, the Canadian government recognises only two official languages : Frend and English. Therefore Canada is officially only a bilingual nation.
Now I will talk about first nation languages. First nation is a term that characterized the first population who have lived in north America. Today there are around of 60 first nation languages in Canada such as Inuktitut, Thaida or Cree. However nowadays the majority of these languages are endangered. It's in part because of large languages, here it's English and French but in other countries it's the same problem because large languages are used in schools, jobs, shops and on TV. As a result, first nation languages are only used in families or in little communities. Moreover, because of the Canadian government, first nation children were taken out of their family and sent to white families or to boarning schools. In boarning schools first nation languages were forbidden and children learned to be contemptuous to their origin. As a result first nation languages have known a big decline. the same was done with Breton in France around 1900 when only French was accpeted in schools and students were punished if they didn't speak it all the time.
Some organisations try to save languages such as UNESCO because they consider that languages belong to the immaterial cultural heritage of humanity. But there is no miraculous process to save languages. One solution which has already functionned was to create a political nation as they did for Pakistan. It was first created to stop riots between the muslims and the hindus in India after independance but its creation also allowed to save the Urdu language. Today it's the official language in Pakistan. But it's not possible to do this for the 7,000 languages in the world.
In the same way, a dead language could reappear with time like Hebrew. This language disappeared at the second century after Christ and remained for a long time a written language in the Jewish communities in Europe. But at the end of the second World War, all the Jews in Europe and especially in Germany were sent to a new country created for them which is Israel. As a result, Hebrew was revived and became the official language of Israel.

To conclude, I think that languages are very important to understand the cultures of countries or smaller populations or know their history because today we can see that disappearance of languages creates grey areas in the history of humanity. Some people like our assistant work to revive endangered languages (her speciality is Cree) by encouraging people who still talk it to be proud of it, record and write in the language about the history of their community, and encouraging them to use it in their everyday life, through road signs, menus in restaurants, etc...

LSD an accidental discovery which upset the world from the 1960's to the 1990's.

baudoinf, C. Reymond — 2013-04-08T09:09:46Z

I don't want here to sing the praises of the drug but rather show that the common opinion that says that science is always a good thing for Man is false even if we don't need to go as far as the invention of the nuclear bomb in order for science to become a harmful thing for Man. And also those experimentations are not all beneficial for people because it can be done on them without their consent.

LSD-25 is an accidental discovery made by Albert Hofmann a chemist from Sandoz laboratories. It was the 25th molecule he had synthesized from ergot (claviceps purpurea), a fungus that grows on rye and also on others plants. The name of this fungus, ergot, comes from the fact that its looks like the ergot of a rooster. It the only known molecule he had synthesized which have hallucinogenic properties but he didn't discover its properties before the second time he synthesized LSD-25 in 1943 when a small amount of LSD came into his mouth accidentally. The first time, in 1938, when he found it he was searching for a molecule or a drug which could improve breathing and the blood circulation, a drug which lowers blood pressure and improves brain function. But he didn't find any when he made experiments on mice, he just has noticed that they were restless.

LSD-25 is a “psychedelic” molecule (the first which coined this term was Humphry Osmond a British psychologist, this term means “that comes to light the spirit”). It was better known, from the 1960's to the 1970's, under the name of Acid. It's odorless, colorless and also undetectable in liquid or impregnated on sweet…

The effects differ from one person to another because the real effects of LSD on people are rather unpredictable, it begins 30 to 90 minutes after the taking and the effects can last about 12 hours. It differs also with the dose you take, a normal dose today is about 0.25 micrograms of LSD per 2.2 pounds (about 1 kg) of body weight, the typical dose in the 1960's was up to 4 times as much. People who take it frequently can build up a tolerance that induces the fact that they take a larger dose each time but they can develop a state of manque if they don't take drug for a month or more. So it is not an addictive drug as Cannabis and it is non toxic and doesn't produce compulsive drug-seeking behavior.

It can be taken in different way, you can take it in the form of a liquid which is totally transparent or a tablet, or also -and it's the most common way to take it- in the form of a blotter paper soaked with LSD.
Its physical effects are: dilated pupils (which the doctor who examined Hofmann when he experienced the trip the 16 April of 1943 called “bicycle day”, later he explained in his book My problem child what his discovery change in his life and the problems he have had to facing after his discovery), higher body temperature, increasing the heart rate and the blood pressure, the person sweats, has a loss of appetite, dry mouth, is sleeplessness, has some tremors, it also produces insomnia…

LSD produces also some chemical and psychological effects on people
who take or have taken it: it produces delusion and strong visual hallucinations, the senses of time and self changes, they can feel several different emotions at the same time and often swing rapidly from one to another. But the biggest and most common effect produced by LSD on users is the feeling of synesthesia (hearing colors, seeing sounds) blending sensory perceptions. It's produced by a sense “cross over”. (I will explain this phenomenon a bit later in this article).

But the effects felt by these people also depend from the fact that they experiment a “trip” or a “bad trip”. The bad trip differs from the normal trip in the fact that in a normal trip people experiment a sweet communion and see the world around them differently, whereas in a bad trip a panic envelops them, assaulted by terrifying thoughts and feelings, they are afraid of loosing control and of insanity, death and despair. They experiment an attitude similar to paranoia (scientists think that a bad trip occurs in special conditions: if there is any bad noise or if they experiment this in a bad place or alone…). It can in the worst cases because of the madness it create in people, drive them to commit murder or committed suicide.

Moreover in some case there are problems afterwards like flashbacks which are some HPPD (Hallucinogen Persisting Perceptive Disorder). Those flashbacks consist in many reliving of moments which occurred during an old trip (bad or not). But there are some HPPD which are more problematic like schizophrenia, severe depression, mental illness or other psychosis that can be induced by the absorption of LSD. They can appear some days, months or even some years after this or these absorption(s) (during a trip people experiment a situation where they can't tell what is real from what is an illusion and sometimes they never get out of this state).

Precisely how works LSD in the brain is not well-known, it just mimics Serotonin: a neurotransmitter (chemical messenger which the brain uses to communicate with the whole body) which is naturally produced in the brain-. Scientists think that because of its very similar shape to Serotonin's, LSD can replace Serotonin and simulate the brain and the nerve cells (receptors) in the synaptic area

(synapse is the way that electric information -creates by the brain- can travel to on neuron from another to go to the different parts of the body which finally permit to us to control our movements, speech, senses an so on… so to live. In other words it's the way our brain can interact with our body and the environment.) and thanks to that action change the way you feel the world around you. Because Serotonin is responsible for regulating moods, appetite, muscle control, sexuality, sleep and sensory perception; so we can say that LSD interferes with how the brain's serotonin receptors work (it may inhibit neurotransmission, stimulate it or both).

However LSD is quickly metabolized in the liver by the body and it is eventually excreted in the urine, but it remains nevertheless complicated to make a test to detect if a person has been taking it because if he has taken a small amount it more often gone a few weeks afterwards.

About the history of ergot and LSD in the Ages, the use and the aim that a person absorbs these differ strongly.

The ergot was used as a mystical way to meet gods in some tribes like the mushrooms that are taken by the Indian's tribes in North America.
But it was also used during the 19 century by midwives on pregnant women as an ecbolic (a drug or agent that hastens labor or abortion) and stops the bleeding after childbirth but it can create some dysfunctions in the baby's or mother's body and even birth defects, it's due to the dosage. Later, M Hofmann thanks to his discovery made also with ergot, the Ergobasine which became the preeminent uterotonic (is an agent used to induce contraction or greater tonicity of the uterus. Uterotonics are used both to induce labor , and to reduce postpartum hemorrhage).

There were also some accidentally absorptions that occured in the Middle Ages and once in the 1950's in a French village. In the Middle Ages a thousand people became mad and died because of the rye bread they had eaten which was infected by ergot, there is also the affair of hysteria and supernatural claims made during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, which may have been caused by members of the town unknowingly consuming bread tainted with ergot. The symptoms include tingling and burning of the limbs, muscle pain, diarrhea, "impaired mental function" and gangrene, and also vein and artery getting clogged up and even spasms or convulsions.

So as I said before he was searching for an analeptic, a circulatory and a respiratory stimulant. But some characteristic people used his discovery to do something completely different. Sandoz laboratories commercialized LSD-25 under the name of Delysid in 1947, it has been used by some psychologists to better understand some illness like schizophrenia and provided a mental relaxant (particularly in anxiety states and obsessional neurosis). It was “an insight into the world of ideas and sensations of mental patients” and it was seen as a “teaching tool” by some psychologists.

It was introduced in 1948 as a “psychiatric cure-all” and hailed it as a remedy for everything from schizophrenia to criminal behavior, sexual perversions and also alcoholism. Dr. Osmond was one of the first who gave LSD to alcoholics in Alcoholics Anonymous, about 50 % of the study group had not had a drink (this success rate had never been duplicated by any other means). It was also used with psychotherapy in an effort to overcome “homosexual tendencies” WHICH IS NEITHER A MENTAL ILLNESS NOR AN ILNESS!!

The USA were very interested by this discovery, they try to use LSD as a truth drug and a chemical weapon. It was the CIA which did these experimentations under the MK-ULTRA project, it was undertaken from the 1950's through the 1970's, the CIA explored the possibilities of pharmaceutical mind control. It did these experimentations on hundreds of participants many without their knowledge or consent, the participants included CIA agents, government employees, military personnel, prostitutes, members of general public and even mental patients. But these researches have been only created severe psychological torture, and lead people to commit suicide and psychiatric wards. The CIA decreed that LSD-25 was too uncontrollable to make it of any practical use as a truth drug or chemical weapon.

So it brings the last use of LSD-25, from the 1960's to the 1990's with the hippie community and the recreational use.

The most prominent pro-LSD was a psychology professor at Harvard University named Timothy Leary. He was conducting experiments on state prisoners; the result of his experimentations had a success rate of 90 % for preventing repeat offenses, it produced no murders, no suicides, or psychotic breaks or bad trips. Almost all Leary's participants felt a profound mystical experience which has had a positive effect on their lives. Timothy Leary was also the “inventor” of the motto that synthesizes all the meaning of the Hippie movement: “Turn on. Tune in. Drop out.”

During the 1960's, it expanded into a subculture that extolled mystical and religious symbolism, it was a method for the hippies to raise their consciousness. It also impregnated the rock musicians of that time and made rock become a psychedelic rock or “acid rock”. This influence reveals itself clearly in some titles of song like “Purple Haze”, a song by Jimi Hendrix a famous guitarist from the 1960's (purple haze is a slang term for LSD).

A famous writer, Aldous Huxley (26 July 1854 – 22 November 1963) wrote a book on his own experience of psychedelic drug which is named The doors of perceptions (1954) -this title takes a leaf out of The marriage of heaven and hell wrote by a poet, William BLAKE. The name of the rock group The doors is also takes a leaf out of it- he explained his feelings during his recreational use. He also wrote Heaven and Hell (1956) another book on this subject and a very famous “anticipation novel”, Brave a new world (1931, the title takes a leaf out of a citation from Shakespeare).

LSD is today used to treat some strong headache like the cluster headache because it relaxes the people and the nervous system.
To conclued my article I would tell you that LSD was so famous in the 1960's because f its price, 5 dollar to a single dose but the fact is that like all other drugs it's bad for the health on the long run and I think (but it's only my opinion) that taking drug can't change anything in our lives or just bring something for a little moment and then lots of problems. So I don't see any benefits to taking drugs.

Further readings : If you want to know more about LDS :

• http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd.shtml
• http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/serotonin/LSD.HTM
• http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6uvr4_docu-revelations-sur-le-lsd-et-la-m_news

And if you want to discover other accidental discovery you can go on :

• http://listverse.com/2008/02/24/top-10-accidental-discoveries/
• http://science.discovery.com/brink/top-ten/accidental-inventions/inventions.html
• http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/galleries/2010/08/31/famous-accidental-discoveries.html
• http://www.impactlab.net/2010/02/21/19-accidental-discoveries-that-changed-the-world/

Coca Cola vs. Pepsi

AlexisB, C. Reymond — 2013-04-08T09:09:25Z

Act I : Syrups against stomach ache

The invention of the recipe of Coca-Cola is an essential part of the legend built around the brand for 120 years. In 1885, the pharmacist John Pemberton created in California a recipe to heal stomach ache. He sold his product on a small scale. In 1888, Asa Griggs Candler bought the brand and decided to make Coca Cola a real part in the drink business, because he was sure that Coke was special. That's why he managed to make the sales take off through an intense marketing campaign and decided to sell his drink across the United States.

The birth of Pepsi in 1893 looked exactly like Coca-Cola. It started with the invention of a North Carolina pharmacist, Caleb Bradham. This drink was created to relieve stomach pain and restore energy. The case of pharmacy will take an industrial turn in 1902.

Act II : The Crisis

The crisis of 1929 surprised the two soda specialists in very different situations. Coca-Cola, which was taken in 1919 by a consortium of businessmen from Atlanta for $ 25 millions, dominated the market.

Contrary to Coca-Cola, Pepsi knew bad days… Its new owner, Charles G. Guth decided to sell the brand to Coca-Cola… In vain. In 1931, Pepsi was on the verge of bankruptcy for the second time in twelve years.

In desperation, Charles G. Guth tested a risky strategy : cutting prices. After buying a stock of recycled beer bottles, it offered 36 cl Pepsi at the same price as 18 cl of Coca-Cola. The brand was saved in 1936 and Pepsi made a profit of $ 2.1 million. Then $ 4.2 million in 1938.

Act III : The Internationalization

In the 30s, while his rival was recovering, Coca-Cola already extends internationally through the creation of The Coca-Cola Export Corporation (in 1930).

But it was World War 2 which made Coca-Cola known outside the borders of the US. And, thanks to a marketing stroke of genius : the company officials announced that they would provide all soda in the U.S. military, for only 5 cents a bottle. Coca-Cola conquers the world alongside GIs. As a bonus, the brand name became the most famous in the United States.

During that time, Pepsi Cola was back firmly on its domestic market, waiting for the end of the war to try to take its revenge. Its tactic : Forge close ties with the U.S. administration. Thus the brand wan exclusive access to the Soviet market in 1959, with the support of Nixon.

Act IV : The diversification

To win more than other, both brands were seeking to diversify. Coca-Cola bought the company fruit juice powder Minute Maid in 1960. For its part, Pepsi Cola was launching a "light" version in 1964 : Diet Pepsi, and in 1965 invented an energy drink for athletes : Gatorade. Pepsi also took advantage of the postwar boom to diversify into cereals, buying Quaker Oak in the 60s. and in the early 80's, biscuits appetizer Frito-Lay.

For its part, Coca-Cola brand will decline until 1980, by copying Pepsi with Coca-Cola Light (1982), or Powerade (1988).

Today, the wallets of Coke and Pepsi products are substantially similar, the two giants who have been steadily copying each other. For Example : The 7up (Pepsi) and Sprite (Coca), Lipton and Nestea (a joint venture between Nestle and Coca), Vanilla Coke and Pepsi Vanilla. But each brand has its adherents.

But the leader remains the leader and the challenger, challenger. In 2006, Coca-Cola had a global market share of 53% in the segment of sodas.

Conclusion

In 2010, Pepsi has lost its second top-selling soft drink in the US. Indeed, the drink of Pepsi Company has been downgraded to a third position, and is now overtaken by the Coca-Cola and the Coca-Cola light... The drink lightened Coca-Cola Company, which was a derivative of the base product, finds itself behind the iconic red can, becoming one of its main competitors. (927 million cases of Coca-Cola Light were sold in 2010 United States, against 892 million for Pepsi-Cola. The Coca-Cola has remained on the way ahead, with 1.6 billion fund passed.)

By Alexis Ballet, TSI1

Sound, Compression, Loudness War

C. Reymond, F.Everaert — 2013-04-08T09:09:11Z

A PDF file about Sound, Compression and the Loudness War, with two sound examples to help you understand better.

- 2012-2013 London, What are we ? LSD, magnetism...

Magnetism

C. Reymond, DORE — 2013-04-08T09:08:56Z

Magnetism is a force of attraction or replusion that acts at a distance. It is due to a magnetic field*, which is caused by moving electrically charged particles. It is brought about by magnetic objects such as a magnet or the Earth.

A magnetic field consists of lines of flux which are called magnetic field lines* coming from moving electrically charged particles. The lines of magnetic flux extend* from one end of the object to the other. By convention, we call one end of a magnetic object N or North-seeking pole* and the other S or South-seeking pole*, as related to the Earth's North and South magnetic poles. The magnetic flux is defined as moving from North-seeking to South-seeking.

A magnetic field can be defined as the Lorentz force law. The Lorentz force* is the force that a charged particle suffers from a magnetic field. This law is a relationship between the movement of the particle through the magnetic field, the strength of that magnetic field and the force of the magnetic field on the particle. The following equation is F = qvB. F is the force on the particle in Newton, q is the electric charge of the particle in Coulombs, v is the speed of the charge in meters per second and B is the strength of the magnetic field in tesla.

The magnetic field of an object creates a magnetic force on other objects which have magnetic fields too. That force is what we call magnetism.

When two magnets or magnetic objects are close to each other, there is a force that attracts the opposite poles together ; and when the same poles face each other, the magnetic force pushes them apart.

Individual particles such as electrons can have magnetic fields therefore larger objects can also have a magnetic field, which comes from a sum of the fields of its particles. When the force of this magnetic field is important, these objects are called magnets. A magnet of the size of one coin has a magnetic field with a force of 1,25 teslas, it can attract ferromagnetic materials such as iron, nickel or cobalt and can lift an object which weighs 9kg.

The Earth is a giant magnet but the magnetic pole that is in the northern hemisphere is a south-seeking pole because it attracts the north-seeking pole of a magnet. As a result, its magnetic field travels frome the South pole (North-seeking pole) to the North pole (South-seeking pole). The force of its magnetic field is on average 5.10-5 T (=0,00005 T) or 0,5 G because 1 tesla is equal to 10 000 gauss.

Today magnetism has many uses in modern life for example in medicine with Magnetic Resonance Imaging* (MRI). It's a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize internal structures of the body in detail. MRI makes use of the property of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to image nuclei* of atoms inside the body.

An MRI scanner is a device in which a patient is lied down* in a large and powerful magnet. The magnetic field of the magnet is used to align the magnetization of some atomic nuclei in the body, and radio frequency magnetic fields are applied to change the alignment of this magnetization. As a result the scanner detects a rotating magnetic field produces by the nuclei and it uses these information to make an image of the scanned area of the body.
The force of the magnetic field in MRI varies from 0,2 to 3 teslas (it depends on the scanner) and there are research scanners that study higher field strenghts such as 7 teslas.

In conclusion, magnetism is a force that acts at a distance and is caused by a magnetic field. A magnetic field is composed of magnetic field lines that are orientated from North-seeking pole to South-seeking pole of a magnetic object like a magnet or the Earth. A magnetic field is derived from the Lorentz force law : F=qvB ; this is the force that a charged particle puts up with a magnetic field. The unit of the strength of the magnetic field is in tesla and today this strenght is used in medical imaging technique* in radiology to visualize internal structures of the body in detail.

Sources : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_resonance_imaging
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/magnetism_lorentz.htm
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/magnetism.htm

Vocabulary :

Magnetic field : Champ magnétique
Magnetic field lines : Lignes de champs
to extend : s'étendre
North-seeking pole : Pôle Nord magnétique
South-seeking pole : Pôle Sud magnétique
The Lorentz force : La force de Lorentz ou force électromagnétique
Magnetic Resonance Imaging : Imagerie par Résonance Magnétique (IRM)
Nucleus (sg), nuclei (pl) : noyau, noyaux
to be lied down : être allonger
Medical imaging technique : technique d'imagerie médicale

Projet Comenius : Be wise.

A. Pouliquen, C. Reymond — 2013-03-25T15:45:51Z

Un projet européen et normand : Éducation, sciences et innovation sont aujourd'hui au cœur du développement européen. De grands projets scientifiques : l'Agence Spatiale Européenne (ESA) et le développement des technologies spatiales, le CERN et la recherche de la matière noire … apportent un rayonnement et un avenir incontestés à l'Europe en cette période où l'Europe sociale et économique traverse tant de difficultés. Mais, l'Europe et l'espace sont aussi présents dans notre région à travers de nombreuses entreprises notamment la SNECMA à Vernon qui fait les moteurs de nos fusées (Vulcain, Viking) . Une des solutions aux difficultés actuelles pourrait être l'innovation scientifique, mais pour cela il nous faut que le système éducatif forme des scientifiques sachant collaborer et innover en langue anglaise avec des partenaires européens.

Informations générales :
Un projet Comenius multilatéral est un projet financé par l'Europe. Seuls huit établissements (Lycée, collège ou école) de la région Haute-Normandie ont été sélectionnés en 2012. Nous avons reçu une bourse de 25000 € pour réaliser avec des partenaires européens notre projet sur l'innovation scientifique en Europe, sur une période de deux ans. Nous avons choisi avec nos partenaires, deux grands thèmes pour illustrer l'innovation scientifique au niveau de nos régions et de l'Europe. International Space Science en lien avec l'agence spatiale européenne et Normandie AeroEspace. Particles and Nuclear Physics en lien avec le CERN et l'IN2P3 très présent en Normandie et en région parisienne GANIL, SOLEIL, ...

Déjà planifié ou réalisé (de novembre à mars) :• Visite et découverte de l'innovation à l'université de Rouen (3 octobre avec la 2GT2)
• Visite de la SNECMA et de UTC Aerospace (Vernon) (14 novembre)
• Se présenter et faire connaissance avec nos partenaires en ligne. (fin novembre/décembre)
• Vidéoconférence avec les partenaires sur l'espace (mi-décembre)
• Visite à Londres pour travailler avec nos partenaires anglais et l'observatoire de Greenwich (du 5 au 8 février)
• Visite de l'accélérateur linéaire d'Orsay et participation aux Masterclass avec le CERN (5 mars)
• Accueil de nos partenaires en Normandie et préparer leurs visites à Rouen, Paris…(du 25 au 28 mars)

Nos objectifs :• Faire sortir les sciences du cadre de la classe par des visites à nos partenaires et dans les grands centres scientifiques, mais aussi par des partenariats et des rencontres avec des professionnels des sciences qu'ils soient chercheurs, ingénieurs ou techniciens.
• Faire aborder à nos élèves les sciences et techniques de pointe ; les défis et les évolutions majeures que l'on attend dans les prochaines années. Ces évolutions actuelles et passionnantes sont encore trop peu connues et étudiées par nos élèves.
• Montrer toute l'innovation présente dans notre région et en Europe.
• Nous voulons aussi transmettre à nos élèves cette capacité à innover en leur faisant produire des ressources pour partager leurs découvertes sur les projets européens et les entreprises locales.
• Apprendre à nos élèves à communiquer dans une langue commune et en utilisant les technologies actuelles du web 2.0 en toute légalité et de façon responsable (droits d'auteurs…).