The researchers developed a model that projects the time taken for trees native to the Atlantic Rainforest to reach the ideal size to be harvested for the timber industry. The study analyzed data for 13 Atlantic Rainforest restoration areas involving ten species of native trees that could be commercially useful to the timber industry. Publication of the findings comes during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

The land crab Johngarthia lagostoma occurs only on four ocean islands, three of which are in Brazil, but little is known of its natural history. Brazilian researchers discovered that a hill and beach on Trindade Island play a key role in the species’ reproductive cycle and survival.

Traditional wet markets, the main source of fresh food for the citizens of Hanoi, Vietnam have been tricky to study because of a lack of traceability and sales registration system—but a new study shows how researchers used free Wi-fi to track the flow of over 600,000 people through the markets.

A study published in the journal Science shows for the first time the degree of threat to all tree species in the biome, classifying 65% as vulnerable or endangered to some extent. According to the authors, their findings are conservative – the actual situation could be even more alarming.

Even under the best-case scenario, mathematical models suggest 87% of mammals will be left without a habitat in the Caatinga within three and a half decades. The loss will be worst in the eastern portion of the biome, where its main cities are located.

This is the first description of the interaction between microRNAs and gibberellin, especially in as economically important a plant as the tomato. Research conducted at the University of São Paulo shows how interaction between plant hormone gibberellin and small RNA molecules enables development of ovaries, followed by fruit and seeds. A simultaneous rise in the activity of miR156 and gibberellin in the tomato’s floral meristem results in malformed ovaries and misshapen seedless fruit. This knowledge serves as a basis for ways to increase tomato yield.

The device is under preclinical trials; the sponge is made of soft, biodegradable material and releases medication slowly into the organism.The sponge is made of materials that are biocompatible with vaginal tract cells, and the gel produced by contact with fluid in the region dissolves, so that there is no need for removal after the treatment, in contrast with polyurethane devices.