News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 17-Aug-2025 21:11 ET (18-Aug-2025 01:11 GMT/UTC)

3-Oct-2019

Imprinting on mothers may drive new species formation in poison dart frogs

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By rearing frogs with parents -- or foster parents -- of different colors, a team from the University of Pittsburgh working at the Smithsonian in Panama discovered that behavior in response to color may be more important than genetics in the evolution of new species.

Journal

Nature

2-Oct-2019

Novel material with strong action against fungi and tumors was developed

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

Researchers have created a composite with antifungal properties that are 32 times greater than those of silver by irradiating a metallic tungstate with electrons and femtosecond laser.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

1-Oct-2019

New species of parasite is identified in fatal case of visceral leishmaniasis

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

Phylogenomic analysis shows that pathogen isolated in Brazilian hospital does not belong to the genus Leishmania. Researchers are investigating whether this species alone can cause severe disease or intensifies symptoms in co-infected patients.

Journal

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Funder

São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

30-Sep-2019

Underwater manatee chatter may aid in their conservation

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists propose a new method for calculating populations of the Antillean manatee, a marine mammal in danger of extinction, through underwater recordings.

Journal

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

Funder

Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, AES-Changuinola, S.R.L., Gas Natural Fenosa Panama (now Naturgy Panama), Tecnología e Innovación (SENACYT), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

30-Sep-2019

Microbes in warm soils released more carbon than those in cooler soils

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Simply by moving tropical soils down a mountainside into warmer environments, a team including Smithsonian scientists Andy Nottingham and Ben Turner discovered that much more CO2 may be released due to increased microbial activity as soils warm.

Journal

Ecology Letters

27-Sep-2019

Lipid produced by organism helps control blood sugar

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

Blood sugar levels in obese mice were controlled more efficiently when the mice were challenged with a glucose overload and treated with 12-HEPE, a lipid produced in response to cold by brown adipose tissue.

Journal

Cell Metabolism

Funder

São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

26-Sep-2019

Living coral cover will slow future reef dissolution

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The living tissue on corals protects their skeleton from dissolving as a result of ocean acidification according to an in situ experiment on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Journal

Nature Ecology & Evolution

Funder

Pacific Blue Foundation, Queensland Government's Smart State Premier's Fellowship, National Science Foundation, Australian Research Council, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners

24-Sep-2019

Bats use private and social information as they hunt

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

As some of the most savvy and sophisticated predators out there, bats eavesdrop on their prey and even on other bats to collect a wide variety of information as they hunt.

Journal

Functional Ecology

24-Sep-2019

Traditional fisherfolk help uncover ancient fish preservation methods

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Archaeologists have little insight into the methods used for the long-term processing and preservation of fish in the past. A study of traditional fish preparation employed by fisherfolk in Panama and Egypt, revealed patterns of modifications to the fishes' skeletons which are comparable to those found among fish remains recovered in archaeological sites

Funder

the Morris M. Polver Scholarship Funds, Smithsonian Institution, Weitzman Institute of Science: the Aharon Katzir Centre and the National Center for Collaboration between Natural Sciences and Archaeology, Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation

24-Sep-2019

New mechanisms that regulate pluripotency in embryonic stem cells are discovered

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

A study by researchers at the Center for Cell-Based Therapy, which is supported by FAPESP, identified microRNAs involved in pluripotency maintenance and cell differentiation.

Journal

Stem Cell Research & Therapy

Funder

São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab