News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Oct-2026 15:17 ET (29-Oct-2026 19:17 GMT/UTC)

16-Jul-2020

 

A population of asteroids of interstellar origin inhabits the Solar System

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

Discovery by Brazilian researcher reported in Royal Astronomical Society's Monthly Notices provides clues for understanding the star nursery from which the Sun emerged.

Journal

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Funder

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

13-Jul-2020

 

Examine narratives to end policy deadlock, boost agricultural development in Africa, economists say

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

Impasse over dominant and counter approaches-- state-led or market-led policy-- to promote agricultural development in Africa could be solved by analyzing the one-sided narratives that shape this dichotomy.

Journal

World Development

Funder

multi-country project ''Promoting Participatory and Evidence-Based Agricultural Policy Processes in Africa', International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington D.C

8-Jul-2020

 

Protein involved in corn's water stress response discovered

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

The protein could help develop drought-resistant plant varieties and products that reduce losses related to climate change.

Journal

BMC Plant Biology

Funder

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

7-Jul-2020

 

New bird checklists from Coiba National Park, Panama

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A trip to Jicarón Island during the Coiba Bioblitz led to a published bird checklist.

Journal

Tecnociencia

7-Jul-2020

 

The complex relationship between deforestation and diet diversity in the Amazon

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

As increasing areas of the Amazonian rainforest are converted into agricultural land, scientists are examining how this is linked with local communities' food access. Newly published research shows that over the period of 15 years, deforestation and reduction of agricultural diversity are associated with reduced diversity in human diets.

Journal

Food Security

Funder

CGIAR Research Programme on Water, ASSETS: Attaining Sustainable Services from Ecosystems through Trade-off Scenarios Initiative, Land and Ecosystems (WLE)

3-Jul-2020

 

Long-term consequences of river damming in the Panama Canal

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Humans have manipulated and managed rivers with dams for millennia. The number of river dam projects is predicted to rise sharply in the future, especially in the tropics where demand for hydroelectricity and water is accelerating. What are the long-term impacts of dams on highly biodiverse tropical forests? Scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and collaborating institutions turned to The Panama Canal for answers.

Journal

The Science of The Total Environment

Funder

Universidad de los Andes, Universidad Católica de Colombia and the Ministerio de Ciencias, Tecnología e Innovaci&oa, Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

29-Jun-2020

Protein derived from tick saliva proves effective in the treatment of equine skin cancer

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

Experiments were conducted by scientists affiliated with the Center of Excellence in New Target Discovery, a research center supported by FAPESP, involving five animals with spontaneous skin tumors.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

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

26-Jun-2020

 

Brazilian startup seeks to develop a wholly indigenous COVID-19 diagnostic test

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

The project is supported by FAPESP's Innovative Research in Small Business Program. The firm plans to produce ELISA kits that will detect antibodies against the novel coronavirus in blood serum.

Funder

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

25-Jun-2020

 

Papers concludes that incentives to afforestation can be harmful to the environment

Universidad de Concepción
Peer-Reviewed Publication

'Through a counterfactual analysis, we showed that between 1986 and 2011 the incentives to afforestation in Chile caused an increase in forest plantations, but reduced the extent of native forests', explains the main conclusions of the paper Impacts of Chilean forest subsidies on forest cover, carbon and biodiversity, published by the journal Nature Sustainability.

Journal

Nature Sustainability

24-Jun-2020

 

'Stay at home but don't stay still,' researchers recommend

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

In a review article published in the American Journal of Physiology, Brazilian researchers present scientific evidence on the impact of short periods of inactivity on the cardiovascular system and recommend exercise to stay fit at home during the pandemic.

Journal

The Journal of Physiology

Funder

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