Field work on the island of Corvo by elements of the SPEA and the Technical University of Munich led to the discovery of several specimens of Myosotis azorica.

Since 2001 there were no known records of this small blue flower endemic in Flores and Corvo and only had 5 recorded in 2012, on a cliff which was later destroyed by earthmoving, suspecting that the species could be lost or extinguished . From 2009 to 2012, there were even several unsuccessful attempts to locate the plants of this species under the LIFE "Safe Islands for Seabirds" project. However, the recent work of exploration to the coastal cliffs of the island of Corvo in the Azores archipelago, carried out by the technicians of the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA), Carlos Silva and Tania Pipa and researcher at the Technical University of Munich (Germany) Prof. Dr. Hanno Schaefer led to the rediscovery of one of the rarest endemic plants of the Azores and the World "forget-me-not."

The greatest threat to their survival, and other coastal plants and birds, is the high grazing pressure of 245 goats and wild sheep inhabiting the slopes of Corvo and where there are the highest cliffs of the North Atlantic. The "Forget-me-not" is just out of reach of these herbivores on steeper slopes and inaccessible cliffs, which unfortunately are very unstable and collapse, which may lead to the disappearance of this rare plant.

SPEA, in collaboration with the Natural Park of Corvo and the Technical University of Munich are joining efforts to define the action plan for the species Myosotis azorica and hope to increase production in the nursery by the number of individuals of this species extremely threatened, so that in the near future, all visitors and residents of the Corvo can enjoy the beauty of this plant and it lives up to its name and is not left by the wayside. Although globally this species is listed as the status vulnerable species the situation is quite worrying.

http://www.spea.pt/pt/

And with it the aesthetic that concerns thousands of women.

Very recently I recalled an interesting debate on the body of actress Betty Faria. Sounds weird, does not? Well, for those who do not know she is one of the greatest divas of Brazilian art scene, was considered during consecutive years, one of the most beautiful and sexy women of her country and was recently the target of virtual bullying because "dared" according to anonymous voices and very critical ones, wear a bikini on the beach showing the splendor of her aging body at 70. And all this uproar, eventually generate a long discussion about freedom of choice and the bias associated with the feminine aging. And this is not just a matter of Brazil, is also ours, because, when approaching summer is not by chance that there is an almost insane rush to gyms and clinics for beauty treatments, with the aim of dishing away the "excesses "of winter.

Women are normally the prime targets of companies, through incessant marketing campaigns with products that promise miraculous reduce weight, eliminate cellulite, minimize the signs of aging and reaffirm the skin in a few weeks, all conveniently promote by a young and sculptural model, which only helps to feed our guilt feeling. Without forgetting the enormous effort of magazines to show the Tvand movies stars all beautiful and wonderful in their bikinis, which demoralizes even more. How many of us can say without any hesitation that never bothered with their body before summer? No one! And who says yes is lieing. So why so much effort to look clean on the beach? Because of the reviews of others, let's be frank. How many of us have not been subjected to veiled or even direct criticism on parts of our body "shamelessly" displayed? Hence stretch marks, belly or legs, marks of cellulite, flabby muscles, to the skin to white, visible flare, all is identified as defective. But will Betty Faria as we have no right to the bikini? Since when has the pleasure of bathing in the sea became a only privilege of being young and with seemingly immaculate bodies?
And interestingly, although we realize it's patent bias in society towards women, to aging and the passage of time on the body, we reiterate those same stereotypes when we yield to the imperatives of a particular force and relentless aesthetic and I'm not claiming that we should be careless with our health and physical well-being, we have only the right to go to the beach, as we want. And here I am in the same team with Betty Faria!

The Marine Biology Station of Funchal, which is part of the science department of the Municipality of Funchal, this year celebrates 15 years of existence. An anniversary marked with a series of initiatives open to the general public through open days and nights, where are show scientific projects undertaken by the institution covered through lectures and documentaries aimed for the families, as the director and coordinator of educational actions, Mafalda Freitas tell us.

You study sharks in the Madeira archipelago, since 2010 there were about 70 different species.
Mafalda Freitas: There currently are about 75 species of sharks, rays and mantas. Of course some say because the investigation is continuing and it is not appearing every day, but when we have scientific projects or campaigns, arise whenever new specimens. In the latter project were to investigate until 2.500 meters deep with fishing and we find five new species in the seas of the island.

These fish arise due to warming of the sea?
MF: No, in this case often appear. It's the first time because they could be fish at those depths. Not everything has to do with the heating of water in Madeira we make the monitoring of the fish along the coast and then yes, we have seen a lesser depth is are occurring species were sighted only in tropical seas and other sites where these fish are more colorful and more attractive, for example, in the Red Sea, this is because the temperature of the sea is rising.

Altogether 25 new species of fish have been identified, but have you cataloged more?
MF: The species marked the last 20 years are about 25 , we here are very few and do research in different areas. Hence the numbers.

There is a widespread perception that the number of rays is reduce there.
MF: There is confusion between the number of species and in terms of specimens are is not falling, it's always the same. What this is to reduce the number of animals, but we take into account that according to the indicators of the European Union (EU) appear less sharks and rays in depth. It is avoids the capture of specimens, or animals, whose life cycle is very slow and life. Now, we also know that there is the phenomenon of overfishing worldwide.

Was the movie success of 2013 and is a good bet to refresh your summer nights, because it already smells like the month of August.

Within a year of its debut in Portugal, the comedy of Ruben Alves who snatched the French public and the Portuguese somehow (but c'mon now) continues to be successful and for those who have not seen this movie I suggest it strongly. Interestingly, I would talk about my personal experience in the cinema, I must emphasize that it amused me greatly and I recognized many of the tics of the Portuguese people. Their adorable idiosyncrasies, among them, the blessed habit of discretion, not too call the attention, of merit by working, tirelessly lusas mothers and their eternal and imaginary concerns as reflected in calls, the abundance of food on the table and the national obsession with football, though I believe that this is an almost universal craze! And yet, the famous tapperwares that are used for almost everything! Laughed till tears, but I noticed that many people commented on the wayout that the Portuguese were not anything like that, is the migrants is that behaved that way and I was truly hurt by those comments. Firstly, the Portuguese emigrants are like any other, trying to keep at any cost their identity as they know it and do not come to me with this bullshit that they are different, because it is not true. Just take a walk through some villages of Portugal to find some of these realities. Incidentally, I challenge those to show me a portuguese house without tapperwares! Not to mention the famous living rooms that are only used when there are guests, the clean kitchens, which are replaced by more improvised one for the everyday enjoyment, called attachments, which truly where we cook so the house wont get dirty. Tell me what is the people of Europe with these quirks? And it's not bad, is what we are, period. The only thing to do is take it with joy and natural relaxation. The "golden cage" is a fun and uncompromising example of this way of being, with the advantage of being full of wonderful Portuguese actors that made me smile and brimming with pride. So hopefully if you are Portuguese do not be offended, enjoy and have fun in an uncomplicated way and if you are not Portuguese, see it and laugh or not! Have a nice movie.

The Ecological, Environmental Monitoring and Wildlife Center (CERVAS), located in Gouveia, returned to Nature Wildlife at different points of the districts of Guarda, Coimbra, Viseu and Castelo Branco.

Throughout the month of July 40 animals were collected and recovered by this structure which belongs to the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forestry (ICNF) / Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela (ENP) being in its most birds, especially those of nocturnal prey, like owls of the woods, or Galicians owls or small snorts, but there are also diurnal raptors such as ógeas or black buzzzards and even other groups such as the white Storks. The specimens were collected early due to falls from nests, but there are also situations trampling, illegal captivity and collisions.

In Cervas, only in 2013, 353 animals were received, of which 85% (300 animals) were alive at the time of their entry. To these add up to 18 300 animals that were in the recovery phase in late 2012, and 2 of these joined in 2009, 2 in 2010, 2 in 2011 and 12 in 2012. Compared with 2012 records, it appears a small increase (346 to 353) in the number of total inflows and a large increase (182 to 300) in the number of live animals, bucking the trend of recent years. It is noteworthy that this was the year with the highest number of live tickets since the beginning of operation of the center in 2006.
During the year it was possible to release 191 animals, which was in full recovery, which is a release rate of 60%, and is reflected in a slight increase of 0.8 percentage points when compared to the year 2012. Was the best year to date, the success of the return of recovered animals to nature, from the beginning of the activity level of the hinds. The Passeriformes order was most represented in inflows, followed by Falconiformes and Strigiformes. The fall was the cause of the nest with the highest number of tickets, then the illegal captivity. The Guarda district was the main source area of live animals, followed by Coimbra and Viseu. The SEPNA-GNR continues to be the entity with the largest number of live animals delivered to Cervas. 91 shares in 2013 return to the nature of wild animals recovered in Hinds involving 5439 people were held.

http://cervas-aldeia.blogspot.pt/

It is now one of the new attractions of Portugal and in good time.

They say you should not return to the places where we were happy, because you never can replicate those moments, that ideal of happiness that is forever stuck in time, however hard we try. And it's true. What they forgot to add is that it does not matter, because life is not just a series of unchanging and static pieces of a puzzle , it is what it is, a finite continuum of joys, disappointments, loves, unlove, hugs, tears and sadness. Without being in this order, we are understood. And it's about a particular location that I want to talk, the undefeated.
Recently I revived its corners, alleys and lanes and I came across a new city less neighborhood, more cosmopolitan, and although I still listen the everyday insults, Oporto is changing and winning new shades in every way. The city that I knew would appear darker of appearence but hid in its womb people with a boundless generosity. Welcomed us with open arms and carried us almost to the lap, as if we were family and is sure that I am given to a slight exaggeration, but in this case not so much.
It was a mixture of village and town, where everyone greeted you at the exit of the buildings, we knew the girls of "pingo doce" by name, could tell the stories of madmen that hung on our side of the street and in which was discussed in a loud, rejoicefull collective uproar the football results, or the latest nonsenses uttered by politicians, while we were squeeze in every bus stop during the morning hustle and bustle. Stores with boards worn by time crunched to greet us, the moldy smells of time toasted our nostrils with childhood memories and from the back came the friendly smiles and the phrase of the occasion: miss, what can I do for you?

Ricardo Ribeiro brings the portugality in his heart but embraces other musicality with the same passionate momentum, that makes him a unique voice in the world of fado. "memory square" is his last record and it is an example of how life, friends and affections mark his personal journey generously embraced also his career.

His last record work, "memory, square" was named best album of 2013.
Ricardo Ribeiro: Yes, fortunately for some entities.

Then this record also defines you as an artist? It was your best?
RR: Maybe it's one that best defines me. But I still have a long way to go. I do not have a knack, not a lot of freedom, let's just say, to quantify what I do, I can say that is a very lucid and generous from the people who I gathered on the CD and also by the type of repertoire work.

What does "memory square" far from the "door of the heart"?
RR: The "door of the heart" is a work full of traditional fado, ie, no approaches to other musical genres. Indeed, what distance this album from my previous current records is that it already meets other genres that embrace with the same love and tenderness, as fado. Hence the Arabic music, baroque, finally, the friends I work with and have great musical partnerships, not to mention the emotional part, as is with Pedro Jóia, the Rabih Abou-Khalil, Pedro Caldeira Cabral and Ricardo Rocha. Anyway, a lot of interesting people who gathered on this work that moves away from others and it has still different fados with Portuguese guitar.

Both the anthology, as the "door of the heart" are records of traditional fado, then how is it jumps onto an album of Portuguese and Arabic music, in a medium as traditional as is the fado?
RR: When I worked with Rabih Abou-Khalil had no desire to be, or approaching fado, ie, I was a Portuguese who happens to be singer, singing songs with his band since 2005's. The album only came out in 2008 but continues to work. At the time, it was viewed with amazement, people were much admired with that way of singing and I still reap the fruits of that work.

It is a brand founded in 2005 by Gabriel Ribeiro. It is differentiated by its unique aesthetics of contemporary pieces, which are interconnected in various arts from sculpture to conceptual art. Throughout the work there is a profound reflection on the ancient techniques of Portuguese jewelery, as well as a strong concern for establishing a very own identity without similar, which distinguish the pieces for all its features.

How is the jewelery arrives into your life?
Gabriel Ribeiro: It's a journey that happens by chance in professional terms. I never thought about being a jeweler in my life, why? Because I always had the idea of integrating the world of the arts in painting or in sculpture and was a bit hesitant when I was younger, which is normal, because I had a passion for these two areas and therefore took the course in fine arts in the Middle School of Soares dos Reis, already thinking of college. However, in 1992, I see an ad in a newspaper asking for a creative, but did not explain precisely nothing, I anwer the add, I was selected in the interview and I noticed it was a jewelery company. Jewelry Art was a very well known company in this area, incidentally, was one of the best at a national level and the one that 22 years ago already had a cabinet of design. I "landed" at a point where I never imagined at the time I accepted the challenge, because I needed to earn a living and stayed with that company for four years, only drew the pieces, but never created objects in three-dimensional terms.

So how you jump onto jewelry author?
GR: At the same time I was studying at the School Soares dos Reis, in visual arts, to join fine arts, but that year the night course closed and I was very disappointed even with the country because I thought it cut opportunities to those who want to study, to get a life and build a dream. While all this happens there is a teacher who is aware of the situation and suggested to me that I should look the other way in the area of arts, jewelery in ESAD (School of Art and Design) where there was a degree with the choice of night time. I followed the advice of Isabel Cabral, who I am friend, and went there to meet the educational establishment, its facilities, teachers, its curriculum, I realized it was a profisional output and would gain a lot from it. So was the opening of new avenues and horizons, met teachers who were able to guide me, show other potential jewelery, with the advantage that I can create own pieces in three-dimensional terms. I had already started to do some pieces on my own, but there they helped me to develop techniques, contact with metals, the materials themselves and realize their potential power, eg, from a wood to a gem.

So how would you define the jewels Gabriel Ribeiro?
GR: They are very personal, very own jewelry that has a message, or nearly all have a concept of art, where such an idea inherent in a career that comes from afar. I continue to work my imaginary city. In 2004 I launched a collection that defines me, people appreciate my pieces and identify them it quickly.

But you would define as being urban?
GR: Yes, it is definitely a jeweler with urban concerns.

It's a film by Francisco Campos and Henrique Bagulho.

I liked the premise of this short film that deals with death. Or at least that kind of unconscious hallucination that each of us has on this moment that life escapes us slowly and inexorably while at the same time we fought incessantly and with all the strength to recover. The audition is good example of this inner finakl battle. So, can we cheat death? The two actors, Mário Redondo and José Wallenstein, give life to the two characters of this little thriller, well written and superbly perform, that addresses this confrontation. The plans are very interesting and I appreciated above all, how they decided to light some of the passages of the short film. For a final course work is very mature in terms of writing, the texts highlight the cynicism and arrogance not just one individual, but of a society that hypocritically applaud rampant narcissism and selfishness, where the means justify the ends. But is it? See and think about it, death may be around the corner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2CNOoOWmuQ

Was the theme of the exhibition of the artist Karocha, which marked her return the arts, after an absence of over 15 years.

I noticed that the works are inspired by the interior.
Karocha: Always is. It's visible to some and invisible to many, but that's how I like to live. I did not make my work visible, because it was hidden.

So why only now an exhibition?
K: I've been painting. But, do not know why now, I've been working constantly. However, my "weaknesses", my indelible experiences had some reason, nothing happens by accident. Solemnly I believe that we are born with routes traced where neither bends, roundabouts, intersections, or counter hands distract us from the route.

The paintings mostly depict fabrics. Why?
K: Because I like to paint the interiors imaginary or not. In this case are draperies. It fascinates me how they fall, it's shading and volume. I painted over a year and a half. Were experiences that was doing, the paintings are in oil and mixed tecnique, most are drawings of beds, although there are some dresses.

However some robes appear in the corner of the wall.
K: I cannot say what they represent, because it is something very intimate. Are some recently lost loved ones.

Does your work reflects the unseen an island?
K: No. The invisible it is, because it was missing, I think my last exhibition was in 1998.

Are you already thinking of another series?
K: I do not know, nor do I think about it. I paint when I can, when I have time, I am teacher. They do not let us be an artist in this country. And if it had not been a mother, perhaps I would have been full-time artist. Every achievement is a triumph, I try to take life as I want, within the possible limits, where the great desire was to have no limits.