EurekAlert! Latin America News - English News Releases

News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 9-May-2025 18:09 ET (9-May-2025 22:09 GMT/UTC)

Parasitoid wasps may turn spiders into zombies by hacking their internal code

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A hijacked hormone may zombify spiders, altering their web-spinning behavior to favor wasp parasites.

Journal: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

The Tietê, São Paulo State's main river, is filtered by dam reservoirs

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

Reservoir cascade steadily improves water transparency by retaining matter in suspension that affects light absorption, as measured by a study conducted in Brazil.

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

Bactericidal action of violacein revealed

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

Violet pigment is produced by microorganisms found in the environment, such as Chromobacterium violaceum and its various biological activities include the capacity to kill even bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.

Journal: ACS Infectious Diseases
Funder: São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

Fossil crab reveals a new branch in the tree of life

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Taking on characteristics from another, younger stage in its life-cycle, a newly named fossil crab species was able to adapt to new conditions.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: Paleoclimatology and Energy Student Travel Award Grant, Environment, American Museum of Natural History Lerner Gray grant, Sedimentary Geology, Time

Study shows the potential of carbon nanotubes to cool electronic circuits

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

Mechanically stretched carbon nanotubes extract heat efficiently and could be used to cool flexible electronic devices, for example.

Journal: Annalen der Physik
Funder: São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

Study highlights anti-tumor activity of curcumin on stomach cancer

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

A review article authored by Brazilian researchers evaluated several compounds with therapeutic potential against gastric tumors.

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

The Cerrado once connected the Andes with the Atlantic Rainforest

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

A genetic and computational analysis of birds suggests that the Andean and Atlantic tropical forests, which are now almost a thousand kilometers apart, were connected via the Cerrado in the distant past.

Journal: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Funder: São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

Train your brain, change your brain

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

Less than one hour of brain training with neurofeedback leads to a strengthening of neural connections and communication among brain areas. This is the main finding of a new study conducted at D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), published today in Neuroimage. According to the authors, the study may pave the way for the optimization and development of therapeutic approaches against stroke and Parkinson's, for example.

Journal: NeuroImage
Funder: Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro, D'Or Institute for Research and Education, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development

Growth hormone acts to prevent weight loss

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

A Brazilian study shows that, like leptin, growth hormone contributes directly to energy conservation when the body loses weight.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

Biophotonic therapy eliminates bacteria and viruses from organs before transplantation

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

Method developed by scientists in Brazil and Canada can prevent transmission of diseases to organ recipients. The number of transplants could be higher if organs could be decontaminated.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab