News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-Oct-2026 15:16 ET (28-Oct-2026 19:16 GMT/UTC)

25-Jan-2023

 

Keep on flowing: the importance of freshwater corridors in the Amazon

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

Despite widespread knowledge about the Amazon rainforest's environmental importance, there are few studies monitoring freshwater corridors and their contributions to ecosystems services. A new study assesses the critical areas that need to be protected.

Journal

Conservation Science and Practice

24-Jan-2023

Leisure facilities are increasing in Brazil’s largest city but are still mainly in high-income areas

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

A study analyzed changes to the built environment to promote physical activity in São Paulo City between 2015 and 2020, using data from online public libraries as well as the city and state governments.

Journal

Cities & Health

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

23-Jan-2023

 

Researchers create a low-cost sensor that detects heavy metals in sweat

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

Flexible copper sensor made cheaply from ordinary materials: conductive copper adhesive tape, sheet of transparency film, paper label, nail varnish, circuit fabrication solution, and acetone. It can detect heavy metals such as lead and cadmium that are present in batteries, cosmetics, food and other things that are part of everyday life.

Journal

Chemosensors

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

23-Jan-2023

 

Microbes could be used by farmers as natural fertilizer for poor soil

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

The discovery could potentially be a basis for the development of biological substitutes for the chemical fertilizers used by farmers, especially those containing phosphorus.

Journal

The ISME Journal

20-Jan-2023

 

Exotic water ice contributes to understanding of magnetic anomalies on Neptune and Uranus

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

A key aspect of the study was the deployment of density functional theory (DFT), a method derived from quantum mechanics and used in solid-state physics to resolve complex crystalline structures.

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

20-Jan-2023

 

Brazilian research uncovers why congenitally blind people show activity in visual-processing areas of the brain

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

Recently published in the scientific journal Human Brain Mapping, a Brazilian study has identified for the first time the reorganization of anatomical structures in the brain of people with congenital blindness. The research was carried out by the D'Or Institute of Research and Education (IDOR), the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and the Center for Specialized Ophthalmology, Brazil.

Journal

Human Brain Mapping

19-Jan-2023

 

Study points to link between schizophrenia and vascular alterations in the brain

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

In the study, the researchers focused on the role of astrocytes in development of the Schizophrenia. Astrocytes derived from schizophrenic patients promote less vascularization when compared to control.

Journal

Molecular Psychiatry

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

18-Jan-2023

 

Increase in marine heatwaves expected to affect organisms at bottom of food chain, study suggests

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

Larvae of the Atlantic mangrove fiddler crab (Leptuca thayeri, left) survived less in warmer water and underwent physiological changes due to higher acidity.

Journal

Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

17-Jan-2023

Survey reveals physical and mental problems among health workers during pandemic

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

Stress, burnout, pain and poor sleep were some of the most frequent symptoms reported by nursing and other staff who care for patients in a study conducted by researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos in São Paulo state, Brazil.

Journal

Healthcare

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

16-Jan-2023

 

Toxins produced by Amazonian spider have potential for development of drugs and insecticides

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

Researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo and Butantan Institute used several advanced techniques to analyze the venom of the Orange banded tarantula Acanthoscurria juruenicola and tested its capacity to paralyze crickets. The findings could contribute to the development of biodiversity-based solutions

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo