News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 26-Oct-2026 05:16 ET (26-Oct-2026 09:16 GMT/UTC)

13-Apr-2021

 

Airborne laser scanning of gaps in Amazon rainforest helps explain tree mortality

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

The researchers concluded that water stress, soil fertility and human-induced forest degradation cause gaps in the world's largest tropical forest.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

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

7-Apr-2021

 

Study shows why crossing obstacles is difficult for patients with Parkinson's disease

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

The scientists detected incapacities related to gait timing and foot placement. Their discoveries serve as a basis for the development of an exercise protocol that mitigates the difficulty.

Journal

Gait & Posture

Funder

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

6-Apr-2021

 

COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse gains made on Sustainable Development Goal 1 and 2

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

Researchers studying the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on food production among smallholder bean farmers in 11 countries found multiple food security threats.

Journal

Global Food Security

5-Apr-2021

 

Researchers develop a technique to produce transplantable livers in the laboratory

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

An extracellular matrix obtained by controlled decellularization is used to reconstruct the liver with human-like characteristics

Journal

Materials Science and Engineering C

Funder

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

1-Apr-2021

   

Flowers!

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The asteroid that took out the dinosaurs left the planet in darkness. What did rainforests in South America look like before the impact, and how did they change as a result?

Journal

Science

Funder

STRI-Earl S. Tupper fellowship, Gregory D. and Jennifer Walston Johnson, 1923 Fund, Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Swiss Nation, National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Trop. Res. Inst., Geological Society of America grad research grant, Anders Foundation

31-Mar-2021

 

Urban growth creates distortions between providers and receivers of ecosystem services

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

Researchers analyzed socioeconomic and environmental indicators for the 180 municipalities in the mega-region around São Paulo state capital, detecting environmental inequity and dependency.

Journal

Journal of Cleaner Production

Funder

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

30-Mar-2021

 

High-fiber diet may play a role in controlling the inflammation associated with COVID-19

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

In vitro treatment of cells with these molecules reduced the expression of a gene that plays a key role in viral cell entry and a cytokine receptor.

Journal

Gut Microbes

Funder

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

30-Mar-2021

 

Gender discrimination threatens crop yield among smallholder farmers in Africa, researchers say

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

Studies conducted in Tanzania and drawing on case studies across East Africa show that policies giving women better access to resources and information must be prioritized to reverse the trend.

Journal

Sustainability

30-Mar-2021

   

Mysterious living monuments

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists think that climate change may have greater impact the largest trees in tropical forests, and the death of these giants has a major impact on the forest, but because these monumental trees are few and far between, almost nothing is known about what causes them to die.

Journal

Nature Plants

Funder

National Science Foundation, TreeMort grant from the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

29-Mar-2021

 

Brazilian researchers obtain more efficient red bioluminescence

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

Luciferin-luciferase system developed in collaboration with Japanese researchers produces brighter and longer-lasting far red light. The innovation can be used to image cells and tissues for diagnosis and biomedical research.

Journal

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Funder

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