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News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 17-May-2026 11:15 ET (17-May-2026 15:15 GMT/UTC)

Method calculates more efficient route between Earth and Moon than any previously described

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

FAPESP-supported research simulated 30 million different routes and mapped out an itinerary requiring 58.80 meters per second less fuel consumption than the most economical one.

Journal: Astrodynamics
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Biodegradable sensors attached to plants detect pesticides in three minutes

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Made from non-toxic plant-based material, the devices can also monitor biomarkers, diseases, and nutrient levels in plants.

Journal: Biosensors and Bioelectronics
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Ocelots, monkeys, and anteaters captured by camera traps at the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute in Panama inspire a new generation of tropical scientists

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

The long-term mammal monitoring project on Smithsonian’s Barro Colorado Island (BCI) is one of the most unique camera trap systems in the tropics and the first one of its kind.

Even at low concentrations in the air, particulate matter increases hospitalizations for kidney disease

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In ten years, levels of this type of pollution in São Paulo, Brazil, reached more than four times the limit recommended by the World Health Organization.

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Sustainable electrosynthesis enables production of amines directly from airborne nitrogen

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Research conducted by a FAPESP-supported center paves the way for producing chemical inputs widely used in industry, such as in medicines and cosmetics, where they act as active ingredients or stabilizers.

Journal: ACS Electrochemistry
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Brazilian technology helps NASA assess health risks for astronauts on mission to the Moon

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

The U.S. space agency used a device developed by a startup supported by FAPESP to monitor the sleep patterns, physical activity, and interactions of astronauts on the Artemis 2 mission.

Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Genes linked to neuronal communication appear altered in immune cells of patients with depression

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Genetic mapping reinforces the systemic nature of the disease and paves the way for developing blood tests that can detect it.

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Microfossils interpreted as animal traces were actually algae and bactéria

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New evidence and a reanalysis of 540-million-year-old material using advanced imaging techniques rule out the idea they were from worms or small oceanic animals.

Journal: Gondwana Research
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Brewer’s spent grain transformed into biodegradable paper: A circular economy solution developed in Ecuador

Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The growing global demand for paper continues to exert pressure on forest resources, while numerous industries generate large volumes of waste with high potential for valorization.

In this context, researchers from Ecuador conducted a study demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of producing biodegradable paper from brewer's spent grain, an abundant byproduct of both traditional and craft beer industries.

Journal: Green Technologies and Sustainability

New long-necked dinosaur found in Northeast Brazil was a close relative of a European species

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Dasosaurus tocantinensis was about 20 meters long and lived approximately 120 million years ago. Its closest relative lived in present-day Spain.

Journal: Journal of Systematic Palaeontology
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

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