Benefits of studying abroad

Nowadays, interested students in exchange experiences are really often. The interest is mostly linked  to greats opportunuties involved. The benefits and reasons to study overseas are uncontable, but the most important ones are see the world, hone language skills and personal development.

Firstly, you will see the world, experience a new brand country with differents outlooks, culture and behavior. You also can visit others neighboring countries and see museums and landmarks.

Secondly, studying abroad give you the opportunity to completely immerse yourself in a new language, and there is no better way to learn. There, you have the chance to practise speaking and listening skills wherever you are.

The last one is personal development. Being in a foreign place by yourself can be tough from time to time, and it tests your ability to adapt to many situations while being able to solve problems.

To conclude, being in a foreign country brings to exchange students unique opportunities to have a different view of the world, knowing different people and culture.  Therefore, if you have a possibility to do it, do not waste it.

-Monique Tebaldi

Geology: an overview

Have you chosen a course to do at university? Are you still in doubt? It is a very important decision to make and this article will certainly help. Every week we will introduce one course, which will give to high school students a general understanding how the courses are.

This week the course is geology. In Brazil, the duration is five years. In the first two years is the basic course and you will mainly study chemistry, maths and physics. From the third year to the last one, is the professional course. You will take geological subjects such as petroleum geology, geological engineering and environmental geology. The principally difference between geology and others courses is the fact that geology has field trips, which encompass key visits along the country, where you can practise and analyse in the field what you have learnt in class. As nature is everywhere, you will see geology all the time.

Nowadays, there are many job opportunities for geologists along with the increase of interest in geoscience among students. The salary is between five and twenty five thousands, but the average is about eight thousands in brazilian currency.

Next week we are going to talk about biology.

Geologist in a field trip.

-Monique Tebaldi

Gray Wolf

Wolf or gray wolf (Canis lupus), is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. It is an ice age survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene, about 300,000 years in August The DNA sequencing and genetic studies reaffirm that the gray wolf is the ancestor of the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), however some aspects of this statement has been questioned recently. A number of other gray wolf subspecies have been identified, though the actual number of subspecies is still under discussion. Gray wolves are typically apex predators in the ecosystems they occupy. Although not as adaptable to human presence as usually occurs with other canid species, wolves have developed in various environments such as temperate forests, deserts, mountains, tundra, taiga, grasslands and even in some urban areas. The gray wolf, the red wolf (Canis rufus) and the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) are the only three species classified as wolves. The other wolves belong to subspecies.

The weight and size of wolves vary greatly worldwide, tending to increase proportionally with latitude, as predicted by the theory of Christian Bergmann. In general, the height measured from the shoulder ranges from 60 to 95 centimeters. The weight varies geographically. On average, European wolves weigh 38.5 kg; wolves of North America, 36 kg; Indian and Arabian wolves 25 kg. Although rare, wolves with more than 77 kg were found in Alaska, Canada, and former Soviet Union. The largest recorded gray wolf in North America was killed on 70 Mile River in east-central Alaska on July 12, 1939 and weighed 79 kg. Already the largest weight recorded wolf was killed in Europe after the Second World War in the area of the region Kobelyakski Poltavskij the Ukrainian SSR, and weighed 86 kg. The wolf is sexually dimorphic, the females of a typical population of wolves typically weigh 20% less than males. Females also have narrower snout and forehead, slightly shorter legs and the smooth coated and less massive shoulders. The measured gray wolves from 1.30 to 2 meters from the nose to tail, which, in turn, is about 1/4 of the total body length.The gestation period ranges from 60 63 days. The cubs, which weigh about 0.5 kg at birth, are blind, deaf, and completely dependent on their mothers. The average size is 5-6 pups, though there are two Soviet records of litters with 17 puppies. The pups reside in the den and stay there for two months. The play is usually on high ground near an open water source, and has an open chamber at the end of an underground or hillside tunnel that can be up to several meters long. During this time, the puppies become more independent and start to explore the area immediately around the rings. With about five weeks of age, gradually move away from the place of birth to a mile away. The growth rate of the wolves is slower than that of coyotes and wild dogs. They begin eating regurgitated foods after two weeks feeding of milk only, which in wolves has less fat and more protein and arginine than milk canine.By this time, their milk teeth emerge and they are fully weaned after 10 weeks. During the first weeks of development, the mother usually stays with her ​​litter alone, but eventually most members of the group contribute in some way to the creation of the puppies. After two months, the restless pups are taken to a venue where they can stay safe when most adults go out to hunt. One or two adults stay behind to ensure the safety of the pups. After a few more weeks, if able to demonstrate, is allowed to join the adult offspring in the hunt, and they have priority over any animal hunted. Take part of hunting is a way to allow the puppies to practice the rituals of domination or submission, which will be essential to their future survival in pack. Puppies only participate as observers in the hunt until they reach about eight months old, when they become mature enough to participate actively.

Wolves typically reach sexual maturity after two or three years, an age when many of them are forced to leave their places of birth and seek mates and territories themselves. Wolves reach maturity generally live six to ten years in nature, while in captivity until they can reach twice the age. The high mortality rates reflect the low life expectancy of wolves. The cubs may die for lack of food or by predators such as bears, tigers, wolves adults or other wildlife. The main causes of mortality of wolves are hunting, accidents involving vehicles and the injuries incurred during the attack on their prey. Although adult wolves may occasionally be killed by other predators, rival groups of wolves are often the most dangerous enemies, except for humans.

By: Rodrigo Pinto

Ballast Water Management

The correct definition of ballast water management is to:

Deal with treatment defined as a process or mechanical, physical, chemical or biological method to kill, remove or render infertile, harmful or potentially harmful organisms within ballast water. Ballast water management involves precautionary water uptake practices and either mid ocean exchange.

Let me give you an example. Everyday various marine species are being carried around the world. When they are discharged into new environments, they may become invasive and severely disrupt the native ecology, impact economic activities such as fisheries and cause disease and even death in humans.

So, how do we solve this problem? It’s a difficult question. But the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Resolution A.868 (20) helps us. It requires:

1. All officers and crew involved in ballast water management to receive proper training.
2. All ships to minimize the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens.
3. All ships to develop and follow a ballast water management plan
4. All ships to record all ballast operations

In addition, we have some techniques which are  used to minimize those impacts. The Ballast water exchange is currently considered the single most practical method for ballast water management. It can be accomplished by either the sequential empty-refill method or by overflow method. It has been reported that these methods are about 95% effective in eliminating aquatic organisms. Ballast Water Exchange operations should be performed in deep water away from coastal shelves and estuarine influences.

Overflow Method

To sum up many methods are being developed to minimize the risks of ballast exchange. These new methods are based in treat ballast water by filters and ultraviolet capsules.

Hiago Gaspar de Freitas

Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti, (12 October 1935 – 6 September 2007), was an Italian tenor who also crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most commercially successful tenors of all time.
Pavarotti began his professional career as a tenor in 1961 in Italy. In the same year, he made his first international performance in “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi, in Belgrade, Serbia (then Yugoslavia). He sang in major opera houses of Italy. The young tenor became known during an Australian tour next to the renowned soprano Joan Sutherland in 1965. He made his U.S. debut in Miami, also at the invitation of soprano. His position as a leading lyric tenor of his generation came between the years 1966 and 1972, during their performances at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and other Italian opera houses. At the Metropolitan Opera House, he sang the role of Tonio in “La fille du Regiment” by Gaetano Donizetti and received the title of “King of High C’s” when he sang the aria” Ah mes amis … pour mon âme “. Gained worldwide fame with his brilliant and beautiful tone, especially at range. He was the greatest tenor in the “bel canto” in Verdi’s Aida and La Bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini) of his generation. At the end of the 1970s and 1980s, he continued to show up in the largest theaters in the world.

He became popular among the public at the 1990 World Cup in Italy with performances of the aria “Nessun Dorma” from the opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, in the presentation of The Three Tenors, alongside friends and tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. The three showed up again several more times.
His last performance in an opera was at the Metropolitan Opera in March 2004. A year later, the National Italian American Foundation indicated the Italo-American Walk of Fame in recognition of his work throughout his life. His last appearance on stage was at the opening of the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006, when he sang for the last time “Nessun Dorma” and received a warm ovation from thousands of people.

During his farewell tour, Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2006. The tenor fought the implications of this diagnosis, undergoing a major abdominal surgery and started making plans for the resumption of his tour. On Thursday, September 6, 2007, he died in Modena, Italy, at the age of 71. Within hours of his death, his manager, Terri Robson, made ​​the official statement: “The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. He remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of the disease ”

By: Rodrigo Pinto

‘Bottom five’ – places in Rio de Janeiro not to go before you die

If we ask you what places you’d like to go before you die, we presume you’d come with a list with at least five different places, and Rio could be one of these. Besides some wonderful places, Olympic Games are going to be here, so why not coming? But don’t your heart talks to you and says ‘be careful while choosing places to visit in Rio, dear’? Or maybe it simply says ‘do not go to Rio, stupid’. This article was made to try to convince your heart that you can come here almost relaxed and to convince your mind that your heart can be almost totally right.

The first place we advise you not to go is Bangu. Carioca people feel extremely hot when being there in summer, so imagine you being there even in winter! Actually, there’s no ‘winter’ in this place.

Where Bangu is truly located
*’Sol’ = Sun in English; ‘Terra’ = Earth in English

Baixada Fluminense is the second place you can’t consider going. It’s a place consisted of thirteen counties, in which each one has its peculiarity, like São João de Meriti, where there are more potholes than roads, Nilópolis, which is almost as hot as Bangu, Magé and Seropédica, which are furthest than Narnia, and Duque de Caxias, where this article was written.

A ‘happy’ family having a picnic somewhere in Baixada Fluminense.
P.S. even us, who speak Portuguese, couldn’t understand what is written.

Places which the name starts with ‘Garden’ (‘Jardim’ in Portuguese) or ‘Park’ (‘Parque’ in Portuguese), like Jardim Gramacho, Parque das Missões, Jardim Primavera etc., must not be in your mind. The least worst things they can provide you are gardens or parks, seriously.

We know that one of the reasons for you to come to Rio is Carnival. Well, Central do Brasil is like Carnival, but in an opposite way. For example: on Carnival, you may find crowds of people walking around the same place, dancing, jumping, having fun and melting a lot, but they’re happy with it. In Central you may also find crowds of people walking around it and melting a lot, but because they need to run fast to catch the subway or to arrive on time at their works. Besides that, in Central you can also find people dancing, singing and jumping, but they’re not having fun, they’re just crazy. Places smelling urine can be found both on Carnival and in Central do Brasil. For these reasons and others, this is the fourth place where you might not consider going.

Central do Brasil almost empty – so imagine it almost full…

The fifth and worst place where you must never consider going is ALERJ (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro). We presume that, since you’re coming to Rio to enjoy wonderful places and have fun with the Carioca, you don’t want to meet corruptive people, who think that the society is brainless, commit money laundering, practice nepotism and many others totally wrong attitudes. ALERJ is the easiest place in Rio where you can find this kind of people, so please, do not lose your time going there, and if you go there, go only with the purpose of protesting against them.

ALERJ full of politicians. Yes, this is considered full, even though we can see many empty places.

As you already know now the places where you’re supposed not to set foot in Rio, we hope we have convinced your heart that you can come to know the remarkable places that can only be found here in the wonderful state of Rio de Janeiro.

Gabriel Alves

Ballet D’action: Swan Lake

Jean Georges Noverre

This article is about ballet d’action, but not about all of them, it is especially about one. Introducing the topic, ballet d’action is a kind of ballet which is primarily designed to tell the story with dancers’ expressions and mimes. The first choreographer who introduced that kind of ballet was Jean Georges Noverre, who had that idea because of his belief that ballet steps should be used to describe characters’ emotions instead of just pre-established movements.

The most known ballet d’action nowadays is Swan Lake. It was choreographed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1876. The original ballet is divided in four acts and tells Odette’s story, a princess who was turned into a swan by a malefic sorcerer’s curse. The promise of eternal love to Odette was the only way to break the curse.

Prince Siegfried and Odette

It was Prince Siegfried’s anniversary and his mother decided to offer him a wonderful prom. The only request front of the castle, deciding to hunt them. But it was night and the swan was turned into a beautiful young woman called Odette. was that the next day he ought to choose one of the ladies who were in the prom as his future bride. When the prom finished he saw lots of swans in front of the castle, deciding to hunt them. But it was night and the swan was turned into a beautiful young woman called Odette.

Prince Siegfried and Odile

When he saw her he fell in love and promised to love her forever. The following day has arrived. Siegfried thought that Odette was the girl that appeared in the Queen’s court, but she was not. This new girl was Odile, sorcerer’s daughter. When he promised to love her forever, the promise that he had made to Odette was broken.

If you want to know the end of that pretty ballet d’action, watch that video:

Hiago Gaspar de Freitas

Peter Gene Hernandez

One of the best pop artists in the world is a man, he has earned lots of awards, sold 10 million albums and 58 million singles worldwide, he is an American singer-songwriter and also a recorder producer, he is Peter Gene Hernandez, better known as Bruno Mars.

Peter was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1985, he has five brothers and he came from a musical family, his parents were singers, so since when he was a child he was influenced to be part of musical world. His nickname Bruno was given by his father when he was a kid, because he was alike Bruno Sammartino, a professional wrestler, and Mars is since girls used to say that he was really gentleman, out of this world, so probably he came from Mars.

He won a Grammy award for best Pop Vocal Performance with “Just the way you are”, this is one of his worldwide hits, another one is “The lazy song”, and let us not forget “Treasure”, this is one of his latest song that is making a huge success all over the world.

In 2012, Bruno Mars came for the first time in Brazil, at Summer Soul Festival, he performed in three different states: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Florianópolis. The reviews were greats, his concert is really lively and he is always affectionate with the public.

Michelle Kim Kuriya.

The Air Cannon

With simple everyday components and a little bit of Physics knowledge, you’ll be learning now how to make a simple but astonishing experiment: the air cannon.

Materials you need

• Plastic bucket without handle
• Plastic bag
• Tape
• Scissors or stiletto

The Experiment

Firstly, you have to cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket. This hole must have a smaller diameter than the open side and must be in the centre of the bucket.

After that, tape firmly the plastic bag over the opening that is opposite the hole. Be careful when taping, because the bag can’t contain any air leaks.

Then it’s ready to be played – yes, it can be used as an amazing toy! You only have to make some good targets, like your friend’s hair or some candles, and tap on the plastic so that the air goes outside the bucket.

What about Physics?

The subject being addressed on it is called Continuity Equation. It says that the flux of air inside the bucket is equal to the flux through the exit site, which is given by the product of the velocity in which air is flowing and the area it’s occupying. Therefore, the area is inversely proportional to velocity, so that the fluxes continue being the same both inside the bucket and at the exit orifice. That is to say, as the air occupies a smaller area when flowing through the open orifice, its velocity must be greater at this location so that it equals the flux on the whole process.

A_{1 .} V₁ = A_{2 .} V₂

Very interesting, isn’t it? To make it even more amazing, watch this video below showing the largest and most powerful air cannon the world has ever seen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayaiArVkpA4

Gabriel Alves

“Where dreams come true!”

If you are looking for a place to spend your vacation where is magical, memorable and you can have an amazing time with your friends or family, you are looking for the Walt Disney World Resort. This is the most visited complex in the world, which is located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and there are 24 themed resorts, four theme parks, two water parks, covering 30,080 acres. So it is impossible to not enjoy and have some fun in this place.

The first theme park to be constructed in this complex was MagicKingdom. There you can find the classic Disney characters walking trough the park, and you can see all them together at the thrilling parades. Another attraction is the breathtaking firework at night, and one curiosity about this is that during the firework you can see Tinkerbell character flying near to the Cinderella’s Castle. It should also be noted that inside of Cinderella’s Castle has a beauty salon called “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique”, where you can be “transformed” in a real princess.

Let us not forget that are more three incredible theme parks, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Each one has an unique characteristic. For instance, the first one mentioned has more musical performances, and the entertainment is directed to animals and environment, the second park is the technological one, is always in construction, because technology is always innovating, there you can find eleven different pavilion representing different nations and your culture. The last one is where you see the behind the scenes, since live shows to backstage tour, you will know everything about entertainment life.

So what are you waiting to book your ticket to explore this amazing land?

Michelle Kim Kuriya.