Dobili smo nov kilogram

We have a new kilogram

Written by Dr. Katja Žerjavič, translated by JL Flanner

Pred več kot dvesto leti so meroslovci določili, koliko tehta en kilogram: točno en liter vode.

More than two hundred years ago, metrologists determined how much one kilogram weighs: exactly one litre of water.

Kmalu so ugotovili, da takšno merilo ni najbolj natančno. Izdelali so kilogramski valj iz platine, ki je bolj zanesljivo in priročno merilo. Poimenovali so ga mednarodni prototipni kilogram.

They soon found that such a criterion was not the most accurate. They made a one kilogram platinum cylinder, which is a more reliable and convenient measure. It was called the International Prototype of the Kilogram.

Ta valj je edini predmet na svetu, ki tehta točno en kilogram. Shranjen je pod tremi steklenimi zvonovi v trezorju Mednarodnega biroja za uteži in mere v Parizu.

This cylinder is the only object in the world that weighs exactly one kilogram. It is stored under three glass bells in the vault of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris.

Naredili so še 67 njegovih kopij, ki so spravljene v laboratorijih po vsem svetu. Občasno jih zmerijo in primerjajo z izvirnikom.

There were also 67 copies made, which are stored in laboratories around the world. Occasionally they are measured and compared with the original.

Odkrili so, da so se mase valja in kopij sčasoma spremenile. To je velik problem za inženirje in znanstvenike, ki morajo meriti izredno natančno.

It was found that the masses of the cylinder and the copies changed over time. This is a major problem for engineers and scientists, who need to measure extremely accurately.

Meroslovci so se zato odločili, da morajo kilogram ponovno določiti, vendar tokrat še bolj natančno.

Metrologists therefore decided to re-determine the kilogram, but this time even more precisely.

Minuli petek so zato na mednarodnem sestanku izglasovali, da od maja prihodnje leto kilogram ne bo več določen s predmetom, ampak z zapleteno fizikalno enačbo.

Last Friday, at an international meeting, they voted that from May next year the kilogram will no longer be determined by an object, but by a complex physical equation.

Kilogram bo seveda še vedno tehtal en kilogram.

A kilogram will, of course, still weigh one kilogram.

»Ponovna določitev je podobna prenovi kleti v hiši. Na koncu je hiša od zunaj videti enako, vendar je zaradi boljših temeljev manj verjetno, da se bo porušila,« je pojasnil Michael de Podesta, raziskovalec iz londonskega nacionalnega laboratorija za fiziko.

"Redefining is similar to renovating the cellar in a house. In the end, the house looks the same from the outside, but it is less likely to collapse due to better foundations, "explains Michael de Podesta, a researcher at the London National Laboratory of Physics.

Znanstveniki bodo v prihodnosti lahko natančno računali maso, pri tem pa jim ne bo treba uporabiti kovinskega valja.

In the future scientists will be able to more accurately calculate mass, but will not need to use a metal cylinder.

Read more stories and improve your Slovene at Časoris, while all our dual texts can be found here. 

Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children, and each week we’ll take an article and post it here as an English-Slovene dual text. 

Kdo je prepričal volivce na lokalnih volitvah?

Who convinced voters in local elections?

Written by Sonja Merljak Zdovc, translated by JL Flanner

Ljubljančani so izvolili sedanjega župana Zorana Jankovića.

The people of Ljubljana elected Zoran Janković, the current mayor.

V Mariboru se bosta v drugem krogu pomerila podjetnik Aleksander Saša Arsenovič in Franc Kangler, ki je že županoval v tem mestu.

In Maribor, entrepreneurs Aleksander Saša Arsenovič and Franc Kangler, who has already been mayor of this city, will move to the second round.

V Kopru je največ glasov dobil sedanji župan Boris Popovič, v Celju prav tako sedanji župan Bojan Šrot, toda v Kopru bo odločilen drugi krog, v katerem bo poleg Popoviča še Aleš Bržan.

In Koper, the majority of votes were won by the current mayor Boris Popovič, while in Celje the current mayor Bojan Šrot also stays sin charge, although in Koper there will also a second round, with Popovič facing Aleš Bržan.

V Murski Soboti, Novem mestu in Velenju so nove stare župane dobili že kmalu po zaprtju volišč: to so dr. Aleksander Jevšek, Gregor Macedoni in Bojan Kontič.

In Murska Sobota, Novo mesto and Velenje, returning mayors were announced shortly after the closure of the polling stations: these are Dr. Aleksander Jevšek, Gregor Macedoni and Bojan Kontič.

Na Ptuju pa se bosta v drugem krogu pomerila Nuška Gajšek in dr. Štefan Čelan, v Novi Gorici Matej Arčon in dr. Klemen Miklavič in V Slovenj Gradcu Tilen Klugler in Andrej Čas.

In Ptuj, Nuška Gajšek and dr. Štefan Čelan, Nova Gorica Matej Arčon and dr. Klemen Miklavič and V Slovenj Gradec Tilen Klugler and Andrej Čas.

V mnogih krajih so volivci na lističih lahko obkrožili le eno številko pred imenom kandidata in tam izbira ni bila težka.

In many places, voters could circle only one number in front of the candidate's name on the ballot and there were no difficult choices.

Drugje je bilo bolj napeto, saj krajani do poznih večernih ur niso vedeli, kdo bo odločal o prihodnosti kraja.

It was somewhat more tense elsewhere, since people did not know until late into the evening what would decide the future of the place.

Letošnje lokalne volitve so pustile pečat. Na volišča se je namreč odpravilo več ljudi kot pred štirimi leti in več kot na državnozborskih volitvah.

This year's local elections made an impressions, with more voters than four years ago, and more than in the National Assembly elections [earlier this year].

To je spodbudna novica, saj o prihodnosti odločajo tisti, ki gredo voliti, in ne tisti, ki ostanejo doma.

This is encouraging news, because the future is decided by those who go to vote, and not those who stay at home.

Volivna udeležba po Sloveniji je bila do zaključka redakcije 46,92 odstotka, v ponedeljek pa so podatki kazali, da je glasovalo 50,61 ljudi. Najvišja udeležba je bila v Solčavi, kjer je glas oddalo 84,23 odstotka volivnih upravičencev. Po ponedeljkovih podatkih je bila najnižja v Vojniku (35,47).

Voter participation throughout Slovenia was said to be 46.92 percent by the end of voting, and on Monday data showed that 50.61 people voted. The highest participation was in Solčava, where 84.23% of voters turned up. According to Monday's data, the lowest was in Vojnik (35.47).

Drugi krog volitev bo 2. decembra.

The second round of elections will take place on December 2nd.

Read more stories and improve your Slovene at Časoris, and find all our dual texts here.

Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children, each week we’ll take an article and post it here as an English-Slovene dual text, along with a translation.

Nova dajatev za Facebook in Google?

New fee for Facebook and Google?

Written by Mojca Štruc, translated by JL Flanner and G Translate

Po podatkih Unesca približno 67 milijonov otrok po svetu ne obiskuje šole.

According to UNESCO, around 67 million children around the world do not attend school.

Nekateri morajo namesto tega delati. Drugim tega ni treba početi, vendar niso zato prav nič srečni. Če se ne bodo šolali, se namreč nikoli ne bodo naučili brati, pisati in računati.

Some have to work instead. Others do not have to go to school, but they are not very happy about it. If they do not go to school, they will never learn to read, write and count.

Ljudje, ki tega ne znajo, so “nepismeni”. V življenju jim je zato lahko zelo težko.

People who do not know this are “illiterate”, and life can be very difficult for them.

Zadnja leta je takšnih, ki jim je težko, vse več. Zaradi razvoja novih tehnologij namreč velja, da je pismen tisti, ki poleg branja, pisanja in računanja obvlada še digitalno in medijsko pismenost.

In recent years things have been getting more and more difficult for them. Due to the development of new technologies, being literate now means, in addition to reading, writing and doing math, that one also has the ability to master digital and media literacy.

Medijska pismenost je širok pojem, ki vključuje na primer digitalno, informacijsko in vizualno pismenost. Pomeni sposobnost kritične, ustvarjalne in varne rabe medijev in medijskih vsebin v vseh možnih oblikah.

Media literacy is a broad concept, which includes, for example, digital, information and visual literacy. It means the ability to make critical, creative and safe use of media and media content in all possible forms.

To pa ni čisto preprosto!

This is not so easy!

V Veliki Britaniji zato prav te dni razmišljajo, kako bi otrokom omogočili, da bi postali medijsko pismeni.

In the United Kingdom, they are now thinking about how to enable children to become media literate.

Domislili so se, da bi tehnološka podjetja, kot so Google, Facebook in Twitter, britanski vladi odslej plačevala posebno dajatev.

They though that technology companies, such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, would now pay a special levy to the British government.

Ta podjetja po njihovem mnenju namreč sama ne storijo dovolj, da bi zaščitila svoje uporabnike pred različnimi spletnimi pastmi, kot so lažne novice ali enostranska politična propaganda.

In their opinion, these companies do not do enough to protect their users from various online traps, such as fake news or one-sided political propaganda.

Z dajatvijo bi vlada dobila denar za plačilo učiteljev, ki bi otroke učili, kako do različnih medijev in medijskih vsebin kritično dostopati in jih presojati.

With the levy, the government would get money to pay teachers to instruct children how to access and evaluate different media and media content.

Zaenkrat je to še ideja.

For now, this is still just an idea.

Britanski politiki bodo do zime pripravili dokument, v katerem bodo bolje pojasnili potrebne ukrepe. Potem bo sledila razprava, ali je njihov predlog dober.

But by the winter British politicians will prepare a document in which they will better explain the measures needed. Then a debate will be follow if the proposal is thought to be good.

Read more stories and improve your Slovene at Časoris, with all our dual texts here.

Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here as an English-Slovene dual text.

Evropa si želi manj plastičnih smeti

Europe wants less plastic waste

Written by Mojca Štruc, translated by JL Flanner and G Translate

Plastični odpadki se kopičijo vsepovsod: na smetiščih, v mestih, v hribih, v morju.

Plastic waste accumulates everywhere: at dumps, in cities, in the mountains, in the sea.

Na svetu jih je toliko, da bi lahko prekrili Slovenijo, kup smeti pa bi bil visok 14 metrov.

There’s so much plastic waste in the world that it could cover Slovenia, and the pile of trash would be 14 meters high.

Nič čudnega torej, da je 87 odstotkov Evropejcev zaskrbljenih.

It’s no wonder that 87 percent of Europeans are worried.

Nekateri smo dovolj ozaveščeni, da se trudimo živeti brez nepotrebnih plastičnih izdelkov. Med njimi so slamice, vrečke, jedilni pribor in lončki za kavo.

Some of us are sufficiently aware of the problem that we are trying to live without unnecessary plastic products. Among these are straws, bags, cutlery and disposable coffee pods.

A kljub trudu posameznikov ti izdelki še niso izginili s prodajnih polic.

But despite the efforts of individuals, these products have not disappeared from supermarket shelves.

Greenpeaceovo poročilo kaže, da mnoga podjetja uporabljajo vse več plastike za enkratno uporabo.

A Greenpeace report shows that many companies use more and more disposable plastics.

Da se to ne bi več dogajalo, bi lahko poskrbeli politiki.

If this is going to stop, it will need work from politicians.

Evropski poslanci danes sprejemajo Direktivo o zmanjšanju vpliva nekaterih plastičnih proizvodov za enkratno uporabo na okolje.

MEPs today adopted a directive to reduce the environmental impact of certain disposable plastic products.

Čeprav večina politikov direktivo načelno podpira, še ne vemo, ali bo res sprejeta.

Although most politicians support the directive in principle, we do not yet know if it will be accepted.

Ni namreč čisto jasno, katere plastične izdelke naj bi direktiva omejila ali prepovedala.

It is not quite clear which plastic products should be restricted or banned by the directive.

Tisti, ki niso zadovoljni s sedanjim predlogom, zanj morda ne bodo glasovali, četudi se zavedajo, da moramo vsi skupaj nekaj narediti.

Those who are not happy with the current proposal may not vote for it, even if they think that we must do something.

Stališče do direktive je sprejela tudi slovenska vlada. Sporočila je, da jo načeloma podpira.

The Slovenian Government has adopted the directive, saying that it supports it in principle.

Na hrvaškem otoku Zlarin pa so se domačini kar sami odločili, da ne bodo več uporabljali plastike. Pravijo, da bodo to lahko izpeljali. Kupci bodo morali za vsak plastični lonček plačati kavcijo, torej nekaj kun drobiža, ki jo bodo dobili nazaj, ko bodo lonček vrnili.

On the Croatian island of Zlarin, the locals themselves decided not to use plastics again. They say they can do this. Customers will have to pay a deposit for each plastic pot, that is, a few kuna that will get them back when the pot is returned.

Vse pa bo odvisno od ljudi, pravijo pobudniki ideje Zlarin – otok brez plastike.

Everything will depend on people, say the initiators of the idea of ​​Zlarin - an island without plastic.

Zadnja novica

Latest news

Poslanci so podprli prepoved plastičnih izdelkov za enkratno uporabo.

MEPs backed the ban on disposable plastic products.

Read more stories and improve your Slovene at Časoris, or read another English-Slovene dual text here.

Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here, along with a translation. 

Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here, along with a translation. 

Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here, along with a translation. 

Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here, along with a translation.  

STA, 28 September 2018 - In the first piece of legislation put forward since the Marjan Šarec government was sworn in two weeks ago, the Ministry of Culture is proposing to secure an extra EUR 123m for culture between 2020 and 2026. 

Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here, along with a translation.