Weekly review

First stage of plasma engine

The Ad Astra Rocket laboratories in Liberia, Guanacaste, and Houston, Texas, work non-stop in order to attain their current major goal: assemble a plasma engine as powerful as the one planned to be tested at the International Space Station in 2010. The first stage of the VX-200 is ready and has been tested, said former NASA astronaut Dr. Franklin Chang. It is the part of the engine where plasma –an ion soup at over 50,000 Celsius degrees– is produced. It will propel the engine that Dr. Chang –who was born in Costa Rica– designed to travel to Mars and beyond. The second stage will start before the end of May, when the superconductor magnets, another major component, will be ready. Plasma is so hot that no known material can hold it, but the superconductor magnets are conceived to create a magnetic field that will hold the plasma.

Guerrilla money

	Imprimir		Recomendar
	Disminuir		Aumentar

The police confiscated $480,000 belonging to Colombian guerrillas. The cash was kept in a safe at the home of a couple in Santa Barbara, Heredia, north of San Jose. The money was found after Colombian authorities alerted their Costa Rican peers about the existence of the safe, which was part of the data found in the computers belonging to Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC in Spanish) second in command Raul Reyes, killed in a Colombian raid of a guerrilla camp located within Ecuadorian territory on March 1st. The data gave the exact location of the safe. The couple linked to the funds claim that they were not aware of the contents of the safe, which they though contained only documents, but admitted that they were aware that it belonged to the FARC.

“Living fossil” fish thrives

The gar, a primitive fish covered with hard scales and having long jaws with needle-like teeth, also called alligator fish locally, is thriving in the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge in northern Costa Rica. While other populations of the “living fossil” –which has practically not changed since the dinosaur era– are endangered elsewhere, here their numbers are increasing, thanks to the joint work of scientists and area residents. Visitors from the four corners of the world come to watch the spawning of the gar, Costa Rican National University biologists said.

From poachers to conservationists

The residents in the Parismina River Delta, on the Costa Rican Caribbean, used to kill leatherback turtles, which nest in the area, and to poach on their eggs, too. “It was normal. The need to survive encouraged that massacre; chances of making money were scarce,” admits Alberto Morales, one of the many residents who went from poachers to conservationists. Now they earn a living from the hundreds of volunteers who come to protect the turtles and pay around $20 each for a bed and three squares a day, during the March-October season. Acting as guides, watchmen, teaching tropical dances, and providing other goods and services enable other locals to make a decent living. Further details on the organization for the protection of turtles in the area are available at www.parisminaturtles.org.

Fiscal surplus

The public treasure recorded a surplus in February, Finance Minister Guillermo Zuniga announced. He said that this was explained partly because tax collection improved last month. He added that it is highly possible for the positive balance to repeat in the coming months and that, were there a deficit, it would be easily handled.

Submarine connection

More speed, ease in the transmission of data, and covering more of the rural areas of Costa Rica are part of the aims of linking the country to the Web’s Global Crossing line in the Pacific. Currently, the links are with the Maya and Arcos lines in the Atlantic. Costa Rican Power and Telecommunications Institution (ICE in Spanish) chief executive Pedro Quiros said that the connection demands a $24-million investment. He added that it is ICE’s duty to help Costa Ricans enjoy first-world connections, both in rural and urban communities. ICE’s Telecommunications assistant manager Claudio Bermudez added that the current major challenge is the mobile video, which will be a fact early next year.

8-digit telephone numbers

Effective the first minute on March 20th, all telephone numbers in Costa Rica went to eight digits. While the area code and all 3-digit numbers remain unchanged, all home and business phones now start with a “2” and all cellular ones start with an “8”.