To better deal with climate stress, farmers in Colombia's maize-growing region of Córdoba needed information services that would help them decide what varieties to plant, when they should sow and how they should manage their crops. A consortium formed with the government, Colombia's National Cereals and Legumes Federation (FENALCE), and big-data scientists at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The researchers used big-data tools, based on the data farmers helped collect. Yields increased substantially.

Researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the University of Virginia School of Medicine, USA, identified for the first time the initial steps of alpha-synuclein protein aggregates related to early onsets of hereditary Parkinson cases. The results may help the understanding of the early stages of the disease and how it develops over time.

Many farmers across sub-Saharan Africa try to coax crops out of sandy soils that are not ideal for holding water and nutrients. Traditional approaches would have them apply more fertilizers and use irrigation, but both require access to resources and infrastructure that many do not have. A relatively new technology modeled for eight African countries, and currently being tested in Zimbabwe, shows potential for improving harvests through increased water retention and accumulation of organic material.

Compound inhibits key enzymes, interrupting the parasite's lifecycle in human organisms and preventing transmission to vector insects. This discovery published in Science involved researchers funded by FAPESP.

Oxide plays a key role in cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases as well as cancer. Experiments reveal a hitherto unknown mechanism underlying the formation of nitroso thiols.

By rearing frogs with parents -- or foster parents -- of different colors, a team from the University of Pittsburgh working at the Smithsonian in Panama discovered that behavior in response to color may be more important than genetics in the evolution of new species.

Researchers have created a composite with antifungal properties that are 32 times greater than those of silver by irradiating a metallic tungstate with electrons and femtosecond laser.

Phylogenomic analysis shows that pathogen isolated in Brazilian hospital does not belong to the genus Leishmania. Researchers are investigating whether this species alone can cause severe disease or intensifies symptoms in co-infected patients.

Simply by moving tropical soils down a mountainside into warmer environments, a team including Smithsonian scientists Andy Nottingham and Ben Turner discovered that much more CO2 may be released due to increased microbial activity as soils warm.