News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 15-Jun-2025 17:09 ET (15-Jun-2025 21:09 GMT/UTC)

26-Oct-2020

The Darwinian diet: You are what you eat

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Ant farmers in tropical forests respond to the nutritional needs of their fungus gardens. And just as in human agriculture, the needs of each partner become more specialized as the relationship evolves.

Journal

Nature Ecology & Evolution

26-Oct-2020

Modern computational tools may open a new era for fossil pollen research

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By integrating machine-learning technology with high-resolution imaging, scientists are improving the taxonomic resolution of fossil pollen identifications and greatly enhancing the use of pollen data in ecological and evolutionary research.

Funder

National Science Foundation grants NSF-DBI-Advances in Bioinformatics and NSF-IIS-Information and Intelligent Systems

23-Oct-2020

Regenerated forests offset 12% of carbon emissions in Brazilian Amazon in 33 years

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

A study quantified the size and age of the forests that grow naturally in degraded and abandoned areas, creating 131 benchmark maps for Brazil. The Amazon has the most restored forests and the Atlantic Rainforest biome has the oldest.

Journal

Scientific Data

Funder

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

22-Oct-2020

Aerial images detect and track food security threats for millions of African farmers

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research shows how a combination of imagery from mobile phones, drones and satellites can be used to clamp down on banana threats. The images of varying resolutions are fed into a platform 'trained' through machine learning to identify banana crops and analyze threats with 97% overall accuracy.

Journal

ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

22-Oct-2020

DNA in fringe-lipped bat poop reveals unexpected eating habits

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By examining the poop of the fringe-lipped bat (Trachops cirrhosus), a team at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) encountered surprising results about its eating habits and foraging abilities.

Journal

Behavioral Ecology

Funder

P.E.O. Scholars Award, The Smithsonian Institution, the National Science Foundation DDIG #1210655

22-Oct-2020

The next generation of biodiversity conservation targets must aim higher than ever

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Writing this week in Science, 40 researchers argue for a set of holistic actions for new biodiversity goals that are unambiguously clear, sufficiently ambitious, and based on the best knowledge available. Most importantly, the goals need to aim higher if they are to be successful in the face of worsening trends for the climate and life on Earth.

Journal

Science

21-Oct-2020

Word graph analysis confirms that dream report structure varies according to sleep stage

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

Study by Brazilian and South African researchers is the first to prove, using a graph analysis tool, that REM dream narratives tend to be more complex and connected than reports of non-REM dreams.

Journal

PLOS One

Funder

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

19-Oct-2020

New evidence found of the ritual significance of a classic Maya sweat bath in Guatemala

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An unusual offering in an abandoned and unique-looking Maya sweat bath revealed new evidence of the role it played in the community

Journal

Cambridge Archaeological Journal

Funder

Boston University, the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

19-Oct-2020

Study identifies key enzyme for development of autoimmune diseases

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

An enzyme associated with energy production in cells also participates in the differentiation of immune cells involved in exacerbated inflammation. The discovery could lead to more effective treatment.

Journal

Journal of Experimental Medicine

Funder

São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

16-Oct-2020

Plastic film protects surfaces against novel coronavirus on contact

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

Laboratory tests showed film containing silver-silica nanoparticles to be capable of eliminating 99.84% of SARS-CoV-2 particles after exposure for two minutes.

Funder

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