News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Dec-2025 14:11 ET (24-Dec-2025 19:11 GMT/UTC)

19-Jun-2020

A new social role for echolocation in bats that hunt together

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

To find prey in the dark, bats use echolocation. Some species, like Molossus molossus, may also search within hearing distance of their echolocating group members, sharing information about where food patches are located. Social information encoded in their echolocation calls may facilitate this foraging strategy that allows them to find food faster.

Journal

Behavioral Ecology

Funder

German Academic Exchange Service, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

18-Jun-2020

Scientists unlock secrets of Ethiopia's superfood in race to save it from warming climate

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

Teff, an ancient grain originally from Ethiopia, is a staple crop for 50 million people in the country. It is also increasingly popular worldwide, touted as a superfood for its gluten-free, high fiber and protein, and low-sugar properties. Yet dramatic temperature increases projected in Ethiopia by 2070, could force farmers to grow it only in mountainous areas at higher altitudes, driving down production.

Funder

Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute

17-Jun-2020

AI goes underground: root crop growth predicted with drone imagery

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

Root crops like cassava, carrots and potatoes are notoriously good at hiding disease, or deficiencies which might affect their growth. While leaves may look green and healthy, farmers can face nasty surprises when they go to harvest their crop. New research using machine learning and to help predict root growth and health with aboveground imagery was published June 14 in Plant Methods.

Journal

Plant Methods

Funder

NSF-BREAD program through Texas A&M University

11-Jun-2020

An essential sustainable farming practice faces one big limitation: Land to produce seeds

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

The growth in cover cropping in the United States may soon hit a ceiling: planting millions of acres of cover crops requires huge extensions of land to produce cover crop seed. Between 3 and 6 percent of the 92 million acres of cropping land currently used for corn (maize) in the U.S. may be required to produce cover crop seed for that land area.

Journal

Communications Biology

8-Jun-2020

Recycling old genes to get new traits -- How social behavior evolves in bees

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers learned from some unusual sweat bee species on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, how the sophisticated division of labor in highly complex insect societies can arise from humble beginnings.

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

4-Jun-2020

Study links malaria risk in deforestation hotspots to demand for agricultural commodities

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

The international trade in timber, tobacco, cocoa, coffee and cotton accounts for a high proportion of malaria risk in exporter countries, according to a collaborative study by scientists in Brazil and Australia published in Nature Communications.

Journal

Nature Communications

Funder

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

2-Jun-2020

Aluminum oxide crystal tested as a UV radiation sensor

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

Doped with carbon and magnesium, the material becomes thermoluminescent in response to UV radiation.

Journal

Journal of Luminescence

Funder

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

28-May-2020

Researchers in Brazil develop low-cost mechanical ventilators

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

Created at the University of São Paulo's Engineering School (POLI-USP), the machine costs approximately 7% as much as a conventional ventilator and can be freely manufactured by companies that obtain approval from the national health surveillance authority.

Funder

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

27-May-2020

Study investigates Atlantic Rainforest regeneration in the state of São Paulo

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

The same procedure will be extended to the entire Atlantic Rainforest biome, remnants of which are located on the coast of 17 Brazilian states.

Journal

PLOS One

Funder

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

25-May-2020

COVID-19 should be treated as a thrombotic disease, Brazilian pulmonologist argues

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

Dr. Elnara Negri, who works in São Paulo City at the largest hospital complex in Latin America, advocates the use of the anti-coagulant drug heparin to treat complications caused by novel coronavirus.

Journal

Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis

Funder

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