22 de Abril de 2019.
Everybody goes out on the streets and wears orange. The traditions of Christmas Santa is not a prominent figure in the traditional Holland Christmas celebration. Instead, children look forward to the arrival of St. Nicholas in November. St. Nicholas wears red bishop’s robes and is accompanied by a helper who is known as Zwarte Piet or Black Peter. Children are told that St. Nicholas and Black Peter spend the year writing down good and bad behaviors in a large book and preparing a list of presents that they will give the Dutch children who have been well behaved. If children have been bad, however, they are told that Black Peter will chase them with a stick! In Holland, presents are […]
22 de Abril de 2019.
Experiências na pele da cauda de ratinhos, que partilha muitas características com a pele humana, permitiram clarificar a competição celular na pele e identificar compostos que podem contribuir para novas soluções anti-envelhecimento. Um estudo publicado na revista Nature demonstra que a competição entre células estaminais, impulsionada por uma proteína específica de colagénio, é fundamental para manter a pele “jovem” e também para o seu envelhecimento com o tempo. O estudo, em ratinhos, identifica ainda compostos que podem contribuir para novas soluções anti-envelhecimento da pele humana. A pele envelhecida é mais fina, mais frágil e é caracterizada por uma cicatrização mais lenta das feridas, assim como reduzidos reservatórios de células específicas da pele, como os queratinócitos e melanócitos. O fenómeno da […]
19 de Abril de 2019.
Poland is a country in which traditions and religious holidays are still very strongly cultivated. Two of the most important during the year are, of course, Christmas and Easter. Christmas days are family time. The celebration begins with supper on December 24, when the first star hits the sky. It is a symbolic reference to the Star of Bethlehem announcing the birth of Jesus. Before sitting down to the dinner, family share pieces of a wafer and everyone is wishing each other all the best for Christmas and New Year. This custom is a reference to the Last Supper and the sharing of bread. On the table should appear the traditional 12 dishes, under the table there is hay, and […]
18 de Abril de 2019.
Primeira molécula de sempre formada no universo detetada pela primeira vez no espaço O hidro-hélio surgiu numa temperatura de 3.700 graus Celsius, milhares de anos após o Big Bang. É a primeira molécula de sempre formada no universo e foi detetada numa nébula a três mil anos luz. O mais antigo tipo de molécula foi detetado pela primeira vez de sempre no espaço, revelou esta quarta-feira a equipa de cientistas responsável pelo estudo. A molécula HeH+ surgiu milhares de anos após o Big Bang e trata-se assim da primeira molécula de sempre a ser formada, no início do universo. A molécula, com carga positiva e conhecida como hidro-hélio, terá tido um papel determinante no começo do universo. O hidro-hélio surgiu […]
17 de Abril de 2019.
The traditions in Liechtenstein are very similar to the rest of Europe. Our Christmas traditions start on the first Sunday of December. We light a candle on that day and spend the day with our family and some people go to church. The following Sunday we light another candle and so on until the fourth Sunday of the month. On the 24th of December, a lot of people go to church and spend the day with family. Most people have a family dinner and also open the presents on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day a lot of people usually spend the evening/day with the extended family. During the following days, everyone visits other families and friends. Carnival is the biggest […]
16 de Abril de 2019.
A cientista britânica Imogen Napper procura origens invulgares dos plásticos nos oceanos. O seu trabalho já contribuiu para a proibição de microesferas no Reino Unido. Imogen Napper tem apenas 27 anos mas as suas investigações sobre microplásticos já fizeram a diferença. Ao mostrar que uma embalagem de um produto cosmético pode ter quase três milhões de microesferas, influenciou a proibição destas pequenas partículas de plástico no Reino Unido. Noutro estudo, mostrou que durante uma lavagem de roupa na máquina podem ser libertadas mais de 700 mil microfibras, que irão parar ao ambiente. Por detectar plástico em sítios onde não são logo visíveis, é considerada uma detective dos plásticos. A investigadora britânica cresceu em Bristol e desde a infância que frequenta […]
15 de Abril de 2019.
How to celebrate Carnival, Easter or Christmas in Germany. In Germany, the carnival season starts already at the 11th of November and ends months later at Ash Wednesday, which means that our season is much longer than in most of the other countries. However, there is a lot to experience during this time and most of the people are crazy about this season of the year. On the 11th of November, different villages and cities present their carnival prince of the season and celebrate the beginning of carnival with performances and music. From the beginning of January, you can visit lots of different carnival events, where dancing groups or well-known carnival bands perform traditional carnival dances and carnival-live-music. Everyone is […]
13 de Abril de 2019.
A estudante de doutoramento no MIT liderou a criação de um novo algoritmo para produzir a primeira imagem de um buraco negro. Katie Bouman tem 29 anos e, até há bem pouco tempo, quase nada sabia sobre um dos enigmas “mais entusiasmantes” do universo. “Nem um só algoritmo, nem uma só pessoa fez esta imagem”, salienta a cientista. Katherine Bouman não é astrónoma. Até há seis anos, a cientista de computadores de 29 anos quase nada sabia sobre buracos negros, a não ser que eram um dos enigmas “mais entusiasmantes” do universo. Esta semana foi dado um passo gigante para os conhecer melhor. E, assim, Bouman pôde livrar-se do segredo que guardava: “É tão fantástico poder finalmente dizer ao resto […]
12 de Abril de 2019.
Queen or king of Poland? Actually… both. How is this possible? Just look at the story of old Polish monarch from the 14th century. Jadwiga Andegaweńska known also as Queen Jadwiga or Saint Jadwiga was a third daughter of Louis the Great, King of Hungary and Poland, and Elizabeth of Bosnia. She was born between 1373 and 1374. At this time nobody supposed that she will become the King of Poland, as she was the third child and her father had only two thrones to be filled. However, the oldest sister died and that is why the King decided to give the throne of Poland to Jadwiga, especially when Polish people insisted to have their own King. She was crowned […]
11 de Abril de 2019.
A substância viscosa protege os peixes de bactérias, fungos e vírus presentes na água. E pode ter aplicações nos humanos, revela um novo estudo. O muco que torna os peixes escorregadios pode ser fonte de novos antibióticos eficazes contra bactérias multirresistentes, como a Staphylococcus aureus, que provoca infecções graves, defendem investigadores num novo estudo. A substância viscosa protege os peixes de bactérias, fungos e vírus presentes na água aprisionando os microorganismos antes que estes consigam penetrar nos tecidos dos peixes e, de acordo com o estudo, que será apresentado na reunião anual da Sociedade Americana de Química, tem também uma composição rica em polissacarídeos (hidratos de carbono que integram estruturas orgânicas) e peptídeos (biomoléculas que agregam aminoácidos) com propriedades antibacterianas […]
6 de Março de 2019.
Let’s talk about the most iconic king Belgium has had in its history. Boudewijn was born in 1930, son of Prince Leopold, and his mother Astrid of Sweden who died in an automobile accident in 1935. On 15th of December 1960 he married to Dona Fabiola, unfortunately, they had no children. Remarkable facts: He replaced his father, King Leopold, at the age of just 21 due to the unpopularity of the former king. – During Boudewijns reign, the Belgian Congo became the independent Democratic Republic of Congo. – Boudewijn attended the state funeral of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, as head of state of the Belgian state – in 1990 Boudewijn refused to sign a bill permitting abortion, the […]
4 de Março de 2019.
Today’s article is about the German Emperor and King of Prussia He was born during the German monarchy on the 18th October 1831, in Potsdam and died at the age of 56, in June 1888. Friedrich was the son of the former Emperor Wilhelm the First and his wife Augusta. But the marriage wasn’t happy at all. Due to the fact that his parents had different opinions considering politics, Friedrich’s childhood was difficult and often lonely. His father was very conservative, so Friedrich had been raised in a military tradition since an early age. In spite of that, his mother had a more liberal point of view and persisted on an alternative to the military education, which was a classical […]
1 de Março de 2019.
For the 70th Anniversary of Outbreak of World War II. The black, marbled monument consists of two parts: a sculpture and memorial beneath it. The sculpture presents the bust of a crying man. He is holding his head with both hands. His grief is caused by the death of people who died during the attack of German bombers, mostly patients of the hospital. The writing on the memorial includes the following information: “ This is a place where a memorable act of violence happened and Nazi crimes over a defenseless population of the city of Wieluń on the first of September 1939, at 4:40”. During the first hours of World War II, German dive bombers started bombing the city of […]
27 de Fevereiro de 2019.
The first Dutch historical and cultural monument of the Golden Age. The Royal Palace of Amsterdam is a palace on the Dam in the center of Amsterdam. Nowadays the palace is used by the Royal Family for reception occasions and exhibitions. The Palace was built in the style of the Dutch Classicism between 1648 and 1665 as a city hall and was designed by the architect Jacob van Campen. It cost around 8,5 million guilders. This was a lot of money, even during the 17th century well known as the Golden Age. Until the year of 1808, it served as a city hall. After that, the building was offered as a palace for King Lodewijk Napoleon. In 1813 the palace […]
25 de Fevereiro de 2019.
The Cathedral of Amiens is known as the vastest one in France. In the heart of a rich agricultural region of Northern France, the City of Amiens developed itself along the valley of the Somme. The city had during the medieval period a great influence. Indeed, the beginning of the construction of the Cathedral in 1220 highlighted the large prosperity of the Diocese at the time. The edification was quite fast. By the end of the Thirteenth Century, the building was almost complete. By this fact, Notre-Dame of Amiens offers an architectural uniqueness which is missing in most of its contemporary rivals. Incidentally, the Cathedral mixed simultaneously flamboyant and rayonnant Gothic styles. It became thus a source of inspiration for […]
22 de Fevereiro de 2019.
Squares are not only for playing poker! In a town near to where I live in Bregenz, there is a House called Cubus, the Cubus is a giant grey square. This square is used as a museum for all kind of arts. Mostly artists of the new art wave expose their art in there. This interesting building was built in 1978 with the purpose of being a museum of modern arts. I chose this building because for me it is the most and best-known house of modern arts around. I have got to be honest, the arts are not my favorite type of creative outlets, but even though the couple of times I was there due to school trips, this […]