News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 17-Aug-2025 10:11 ET (17-Aug-2025 14:11 GMT/UTC)

18-Jul-2019

Study reveals unusually high carbon stocks and tree diversity in Panama's Darien forest

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Through a participatory forest-carbon monitoring project in the Darien forest of Panama, scientists and a team of trained indigenous technicians found that, even in disturbed areas, it maintained the same tree species richness and a disproportionately high capacity to sequester carbon.

Journal

Conservation Science and Practice

Funder

McGill University's Department of Biology (NEO Program) and Dr. Catherine Potvin's Canada Research Chair in Climate Change Mitigation and Tropical Forests, Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

17-Jul-2019

Ants that defend plants receive sugar and protein

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

The aggressiveness of ants in arid environments with scarce food supply helps protect plants against herbivorous arthropods.

Journal

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

Funder

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

15-Jul-2019

Biocompound from Atlantic Rainforest combats leishmaniasis and Chagas disease

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

Researchers find that substances synthesized from plant species endemic to the biodiversity hotspot can kill the parasites that cause these neglected diseases.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

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

11-Jul-2019

Nanotechnology delivers hepatitis B vaccine

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

X-ray imaging shows that nanostructured silica acts as a protective vehicle to deliver intact antigen to the intestine so that it can trigger an immune response. The material can give rise to a polyvaccine against six diseases.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

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

10-Jul-2019

Study contributes to the production of flexible electronic devices

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

Research conducted by Brazilian and Italian scientists ordered the structure of polythiophene to enhance the optical and electronic properties of this organic conductive polymer.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

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

3-Jul-2019

New dairy cattle breeding method increases genetic selection efficiency

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

Inclusion of a parameter that measures an animal's capacity to transmit its genetic traits resulted in gains of up to 16% compared with a traditional method of selection.

Journal

Journal of Dairy Science

Funder

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

3-Jul-2019

A mechanism that makes infants more likely than adults to die from sepsis is discovered

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

Scientists at the Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases (CRID) show why pediatric patients with sepsis suffer from more inflammation and organ injury than adults. New treatment strategies may be tested.

Journal

Critical Care

Funder

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

1-Jul-2019

Yellow fever virus responsible for current epidemic in Brazil originated in Amazon in 1980

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

Researchers have retraced the pathogen's route as it spread from the state of Pará by analyzing tissue samples from dead monkeys. Their findings are published in Scientific Reports.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

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

28-Jun-2019

Amphibians infected by ranavirus found in Atlantic rain forest

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

Ranavirus is linked to amphibian decline or extinction in other parts of the world, but in Brazil, it has been reported only in captive animals.

Journal

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

Funder

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

27-Jun-2019

Experiment reverses the direction of heat flow

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

A study led by Brazilian scientists used quantum correlations to make heat flow from a colder to a hotter medium without adding external energy, affording a deeper understanding of the second law of thermodynamics.

Journal

Nature Communications