News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Oct-2026 10:17 ET (27-Oct-2026 14:17 GMT/UTC)

7-Dec-2018

 

Study highlights correlations between violent death and substance use

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

Consumption of alcohol or at least one drug was associated with over half the violent deaths that occurred in São Paulo City in the period analyzed.

Journal

Injury

Funder

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

6-Dec-2018

 

Simple steps to climate-proof farms have big potential upside for tropical farmers

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

Climate-smart agriculture boosts yields, mitigates extreme weather impact and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. A study by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Central America, Africa and Asia points to profitable opportunities for farmers and the environment.

Journal

PLOS One

Funder

International Fund for Agricultural Development

4-Dec-2018

Oral cancer prognostic signature identified

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

Discovery based on analysis of tissue and saliva samples from oral cancer patients shows a correlation between a signature comprising three peptides and the presence of lymph node metastasis.

Journal

Nature Communications

Funder

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

3-Dec-2018

 

Study puts the Neotropics on the map of the world's food production centers in antiquity

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

Sambaqui societies had sophisticated diet. Study suggests that hunter-gatherer communities living in coastal Atlantic Forest areas between 8,000 and 1,000 years ago consumed a range of plants and more carbohydrates than expected for the period and region.

Journal

Royal Society Open Science

Funder

Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

29-Nov-2018

   

Artificial magnetic field produces exotic behavior in graphene sheets

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

Theoretical physics discovery paves the way for future technological applications. Study led by young Brazilian researcher featured on cover of Physical Review Letters.

Journal

Physical Review Letters

Funder

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

28-Nov-2018

 

Ointment to counter the effects of brown recluse spider bites is tested on humans

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

Brazil reports more than 7,000 cases a year of poisoning as a result of the bite of the brown recluse spider; there are also reports of occurrences in North America and Europe.

Funder

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

Meeting

FAPESP WEEK NEW YORK

26-Nov-2018

 

Research helps in understanding the dynamics of dune formation

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

Studies by Brazilian researchers could have applications in crude oil pumping and missions to Mars, among others. New findings have been published in Physical Review Letters.

Journal

Physical Review Letters

Funder

About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

21-Nov-2018

 

Wild coffee plants, Christmas trees and chocolate's tree are surprisingly poorly protected

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

An indicator to measure plant conservation shows a wide range of wild plants used for food, medicine, shelter, fuel, livestock forage and other valuable purposes are at risk. These include wild populations of firs used for Christmas trees, the original types of kitchen-cupboard staples like vanilla, chamomile, cacao and cinnamon, wild relatives of crops like coffee, and non-cultivated plants used by bees to make honey.

Journal

Ecological Indicators

Funder

Biodiversity Indicators Partnership, UN Environment, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, European Commission

15-Nov-2018

   

Drop your weapons!

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

It takes energy to make weapons, but it may take even more energy to maintain them. Because leaf-footed bugs drop their legs, it is possible to measure how much energy they allocate to maintaining this appendage that males use to fight other males.

Funder

Society for the Study of Evolution Rosemary Grant Award, University of Florida Graduate Student Fellowship, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

14-Nov-2018

Defense against intestinal infection in organism is affected by prostaglandin E2

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

Experimental inhibition of this prostanoid led to increased migration of defense cells and production of antimicrobial peptides, resulting in decreased bacterial numbers in the colon.

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Funder

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