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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Dec-2025 17:11 ET (22-Dec-2025 22:11 GMT/UTC)

2015 World Cultural Council Awards

Consejo Cultural Mundial
Grant and Award Announcement

The World Cultural Council will present the 2015 Albert Einstein World Award of Science to Professor Dr. Ewine Fleur van Dishoeck and the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts to Professor Dr. Milton Masciadri. The prizes will be conferred during the 32nd Award Ceremony in conjunction with the Winter Graduation ceremonies of the University of Dundee, Scotland on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015.

Meeting: 32nd Award Ceremony World Cultural Council

New tropical tree species await discovery

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists raised the estimated number of tropical tree species to at least 40,000 to 53,000, the Smithsonian reports. Many tropical tree species risk extinction because of their rarity and restriction to small geographic areas, reaffirming the need for comprehensive, pan-tropical conservation efforts.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Delirium can lead to longer hospitalizations and shorten the life of ICU patients

D'Or Institute for Research and Education
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A major systematic review of published studies conducted by scientists from Brazil and USA indicates a robust association between delirium in ICU and adverse health outcomes. The research shows that delirium can shorten the life of patients, lead to longer stays at the hospital and cause post-discharge cognitive impairment.

Journal: The BMJ

A tale of two roads into protein unfolding

Publicase International
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have used physical and chemical strategies to force proteins into unfolding but only now a new study reveals how exactly they work, with potential implications for a number of age-related diseases including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Huntington's and even cancer.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: Ministry Of Health, Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support in the State of Rio de Janeiro, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development

Fossils inform marine conservation

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Fossils help predict which animals are likely to go extinct. Scientists combine information from the fossil record with information about hotspots of human impact to pinpoint animal groups and geographic areas of highest concern for marine conservation.

Journal: Science
Funder: National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, Panama's National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation, Australian Research Council and others, National Science Foundation, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Ancient connection between the Americas enhanced extreme biodiversity

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Species migrations across the Isthmus of Panama began about 20 million years ago, some six times earlier than commonly assumed, a new study by Smithsonian scientists and colleagues published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: Ricardo Perez, Autoridad del Canal de Panama, Mark Tupper Smithsonian Fellowship, Smithsonian Institution, Wenner-Gren and Carl Tryggers Foundations, National Science Foundation, European Research Council and others, Swedish Research Council, S.A.

To predict disease researchers ask if plant neighbors are relatives

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Disease shapes plant communities and determines the outcomes of environmental change, weed invasions and agriculture and forestry management strategies. Whether or not a disease devastates a plant community depends on how related the plant species are and on how many individual plants of each species are present.

Journal: Nature
Funder: National Science Foundation, US Department of Agriculture

Necessity at the roots of innovation: The scramble for nutrients intensifies as soils age

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Working among venomous snakes in Australia's Jurien Dunes, researchers ask how biodiverse plants survive in some of the world's worst soils. Their discoveries may help to develop agriculture on poor soils elsewhere.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Australian Research Council, UWA

Brazilian study suggests adjustments on the treatment of cancer patients with pneumonia

D'Or Institute for Research and Education
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Pneumonia is the most frequent type of infection in cancer patients and it is associated with high mortality rates. Brazilian researchers analyzed the factors associated with severe pneumonia in hospitalized cancer patients and suggest that personalized treatment protocols can reduce mortality in this population. Their work indicates that the standard broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment used by physicians worldwide may not be the better choice for this group.

Journal: PLOS One

Report on Bioenergy and Sustainability to be launched

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Book Announcement

More than 100 experts from around the world contributed to the report, which presents main findings and recommendations on current production and use of bioenergy, as well as growth potential, considering such aspects as land use, feedstocks, technologies, impacts and policies.

Funder: São PAulo Research Foundation, Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment