On board an aircraft modified Boeing 727, and Marco Gomez Sergio Cortes took off from Ellington Field Air Base, near the Johnson Space Center of NASA in Houston and several times rose to 9,000 meters.

Then fell sharply to 6,000 meters high, performing aerial maneuvers that allowed them to experience microgravity on 40 sequences of 25 seconds each.

Gomez Cortes carried the tricolor in his suit, since both work in Ad Astra Rocket, founded by physicist Franklin Chang Costa Rica, whose main objective is to build a plasma engine to serve, inter alia, to tow satellites space or travel to Mars.

Cortez is an electromechanical engineer graduate of the University of the Americas International (UIA). He was born in Bogota, Colombia, Costa Rica but is nationalized. Work in Ad Astra from the start of the subsidiary in Liberia, in July 2006.

Meanwhile, Josephine Gomez is a graduate aerospace engineer at the University of Georgia, USA. Work in Ad Astra from 2011.

According to an official statement issued yesterday by the company, this flight is part of a cooperation project between the U.S. space agency NASA and Ad Astra company with which it is intended to test both develop space technology.

Yesterday, Costa Ricans were devoted to an experiment of heat transfer in microgravity.

This exercise aims to assess the design of the cooling system called VASIMR plasma engine.

Recall that in this technology is vital to ensure that none of the engine components are affected by the high temperature plasma.

Reactions. “We are very proud of all Ad Astra team and, in particular, Sergio and Marco who have performed brilliantly in the preparations for this mission. They represent the pride of Costa Rica, “Franklin Chang said yesterday in an official release.

Scientists were also very excited. ”The experiments in microgravity represent the duality of the scientist, not only to formulate theories in the laboratory, but also testing them in extreme environments,” said Gomez.

“This experience is something I had longed for many years and hope to encourage many young people to begin to dream big and realize that it is not impossible, just have to try,” he said Cortez.

This is the second time that Team Costa Rican company involved in these flights Chang. Last year, the engineers did Oguilve Jorge and Juan Ignacio del Valle.

Three more flights are planned this week with the participation of five scientists from Ad Astra, including the two Costa Ricans.

For the period between 180 days and 269 days (six months to less than nine months) the rate rose from 7.1% to 7.35% for the 270 to 359 days (nine months to less than one year) increased from 8.05 to 8.3% for the 360 to 1,079 days (one year less than three years) of 8.55% to 8.8% for the of 1,080 to 1,079 days (three to less than fiveyears) rose from 9.75% to 10% and for a period of five years and up from 10.1% to 10.35%.

With these settings who have money invested in this system from today receive a little extra for interest payments.

In Central Direct may reverse any person who is registered and has the digital certificate. The minimum investment is ¢ 100,000.

The institution has always justified that these adjustments result in lags in the current rates of electronic repositories term regarding yields offered by other investment alternatives in the market.

Central Bank President Rodrigo Bolaños, announced on 31January, presenting the macroeconomic program that interest rates would rise following the large deficit facing the Government,expected this year at 4.5% of the production and global (also includes the Central Bank and a sample of six public institutions) of 6.7%.

La Nacion

Meanwhile, 43% supported the initiative and 11% did not know or did not respond to the consultation of the polling company.

Data obtained from the most recent survey for the newspaper La Nacion, which was drawn between 9 and 17 April.

This query has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points up or down each input. The survey included 1,200 people view over 18 years, consulted through personal interviews around the country.

Yes and no. The firm delved into the reasons for the 552 people who said they were against the project and the 132 who failed or did not respond to the question: Do you agree with the construction of Chinatown?

31.2% responded that their disagreement is that the so-called Chinatown is an imposition of a culture.

19.7% said it is a disadvantage for domestic sellers, 19.6% indicated that they lost a historic site and 11.1% said that there will be greater disorder vial.

Other reasons given indicate that the project would generate more corruption, it is an unnecessary expense and that no social or economic benefit to the country.

It should be underlined that many of those surveyed gave more than one reason, therefore, the sum of the responses exceed 100%.

Because the query is reduced to 684 people, the margin of error increases to 3.7 percentage points up or down.

Asked about the results of the survey, Johnny Araya, mayor Josephine and leading advocate of this urban initiative, said the project is part of the local government’s efforts “to promote San Jose as a tourist destination.”

“The Municipality has urban interventions that not only seek to generate better quality of life to people, but cause more economic development of the city, including Chinatown project,” said Araya.

Araya emphasized that the project will change the name to the street 9, better known as Paseo de los Estudiantes, a name that dates back to 1937, when it opened in the then government of León Cortés Castro.

Merchants in the area surveyed by this method were hopeful that the future boulevard called Chinatown enhance the flow of clientes.Colaboró: Esteban Ramirez.

On the walls of a room made of stone in a village known as Xultún, in the jungles of Petén (northern Guatemala), there were pictures of soldiers and hundreds of hieroglyphs that represent how the Maya wrote numbers and had their calendars.

This room would have been the work space of a scribe of the people, as explained in the latest issue of Science.

Some of the symbols represent various cycles of the Mayan calendar: the ceremonial calendar of 260 days, the solar calendar of 365 days, the 584-day cycle of the planet Venus and the cycle of 780 days of the planet Mars, explained the archaeologist William Saturno of Boston University, leader of the exploration and excavation of this site, originally discovered about 100 years ago.

The Maya were great astronomers, developed complex calendar and happen liked to figure out when celestial phenomena as eclipses.

One of the most elaborate Mayan texts, known as the Dresden Codex by custodiarse in the State library of the German city, is just a calendar that shows, among other things, what gods influence every day.

Significance of the finding. “For the first time we can see what records can be made by a scribe, whose job was to be the Notary in the Mayan community,” said William Saturno.

“There is little symbols on the walls, rods and points representing columns of numbers. It’s like the kind of thing that only appear in one place: the Code of Dresden, the Maya wrote many centuries later. We have not seen anything like this, “said David Stuart, an expert on Mesoamerican art and writing at the University of Texas at Austin.

Codes such as Dresden, created in a paper type, date between 1300 and 1521 AD, known as the Late Postclassic period. Precursors Calendars Classic period, from 200 to 900 AD, had not been found.

No end. The scientists explained that, contrary to what some people believe, there is no sign that the Mayan calendar (let alone the world) will end in 2012.

“It’s like the odometer of a car, with the Mayan calendar from the 120,000 to 130,000. The car gets a little closer to the junkyard, but the Mayan calendar just start again, “said Anthony Aveni, an astronomer at Colgate University and coauthor of the article.

“The ancient Mayans predicted the world will continue,” said Saturn.

As for Stuart, the concept of the Mayan calendar has been “manipulated” and when the December 21, 2012 end of the period 13, the schedule will start over and thus continue its cycles over millions of years.

Who argue that the world will end in 2012, based on the 13 long cycles of the Mayan calendar, known as baktun, will face the finding that older this calendar is 17 baktun, which adds about 1,500 years to the accounts.

IBM will invest $ 300 million and employ about 1,000 professionals. The CEO of that company’s Global Services, Patt Romero Croin, said the new facility will support customers in the areas of security, data warehousing, business analysis and other services required by companies.

The President of the Republic, Laura Chinchilla, who participated in the opening accompanied by the ministers of Foreign Trade, Anabel Gonzalez, and Science and Technology, Alejandro Cruz, expressed his admiration for the company.

“This investment allows us to make up steps in the pyramid of technology and innovation,” said the president.

He said the business environment and research, IBM has garnered five Nobel laureates and that patents have changed the way of life for millions of people around the world.

Foreign Trade Minister, Anabel Gonzalez, said that IBM has professionals in over 170 countries with the largest number of industry experts.


This new system will work similar to that of its predecessors with outstanding sites for favorite applications and detailed pages on each program. The only difference is that you require to be downloaded, Facebook takes users to the Apple and Google: App Store and Google Play.
At the moment there are some applications that are known will be part of the Facebook application center as Draw Something, Pinterest, Spotify or Viddy.
In much the services cost, the inclusion of paid apps is still in development, as well as the possibility of implementing flat rate services to use the App Center.
At the moment not set an official date on which the service will be available nor in the countries where you can access the new App Center. Only has revealed that the launch will occur in “coming weeks”.

The extension of this benefit is affected by other major buyers, such as Nespresso, Green Mountain Coffee and Royal said Ron Peters, chairman of the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafe).

Other companies that buy high quality coffee in Costa Rica are Peet’s Coffee & Tea in the U.S. and German broadcaster Hochland Kaffee said, for his part, Roberto Mata, manager CoopeDota.

Mata admitted that the chain has shown willing to increase purchases of quality grain produced by the cooperative. ”They buy everything we offer,” he said.

CoopeDota sells 20% of its production to Starbucks. The remaining 80% goes to other buyers and a small percentage for local consumption.

Reality. Peters said the country currently produces 23 quintals per hectare, whereas 10 years ago the records were 30 quintals. The expectation is that the sector officer regain the 30 quintals in the next three years.

He said the country’s challenge is to achieve that goal without expanding the area planted to grain. ”It is to be profitable over time and therefore sustainable,” he said.

Manuel Antonio Barrantes, Herbazú benefit of Tarrazu, was also optimistic about the possibility that an increase in production greater impact on international purchases.

“I believe that Starbucks would buy more coffee because coffee like Costa Rica. If the country increases its productivity, some sectors could be improved, “he said.

Carlos Mario Rodriguez, director of Agriculture’s office of producer support Starbucks, based in our country, said its purchases represented in different parts of the world depend on production and market demand.

Peters of Icafe, said that the multinational buys around 10% of the annual harvest of local coffee, which in the period 2011-2012 was 2.3 million quintals.

Barbara Schmid, Program Manager CAFE Practices, Starbucks said the company not only cares about paying good prices, but supports plans best production practices.