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Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have developed a virtual reality system or motor rehabilitation of the shoulder. The prototype, which includes a built-in movement sensor, allows the user to do controlled exercises as part of a football game. |
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Coral reefs of the Caribbean already faced warming waters, disease and human-induced degradation. Then the lionfish came along. First introduced into the U.S. Atlantic in the 1980s, the lionfish has spread throughout the Caribbean in what has been described as one of the worst marine invasions ever recorded. Lionfish were not a problem in their native ranges in the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, but in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico they out-breed, out-compete and out-live native fish species and are decimating coral reefs. It only takes a year for a lionfish to reach maturity and begin to reproduce. |
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Deep brain stimulation (DBS), already used in humans to treat symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, is being tested to aid post-stroke recovery from paralysis. |
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Among the extremophiles is Anisakis simplex a worm that can resist the radioactivity of Chernobyl (Ukraine); Chromohalobacter beijerinckii, a bacteria capable of enduring the high salt concentration of the Dead Sea and the tardigrades which survive in extremely dry environments in the Desert of Atacama, in Chile. |
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Before the introduction of the “European bee” (Apis mellifera), different melipona species – a group of native stingless bees-, were the main suppliers of honey for the native inhabitants of the American continent. Some communities that live in the yungas of Salta, maintain the habit of collecting the hives of these native bees and use their honey, pollen, wax and propolis for medicinal and food purposes. |
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A striking feature of tropical forests, woody vines or lianas compete with trees for light, slowing tree growth or even killing them. Lianas are taking over forests across the Americas, but little is known about their biology. A new field guide to these important plants, Lianas y Enredaderas de la Isla de Barro Colorado, Panamá,, published by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), is an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to learn more about them. |
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On its way from Africa to the Americas via Asia and the Pacific, the Zika virus (ZIKV) has adapted to the human organism by acquiring certain genetic characteristics that have made its replication in the cells of its new host increasingly efficient. |
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In order to find this tiny fern a Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNal) expedition headed by Natural Sciences Institute Professor Favio González along with two colleagues traveled the three Colombian mountain ranges with the purpose of finding Neuropterir, which in Latin means fog fern. |
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Research performed at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) in Brazil has shown that the immune systems of individuals who suffer from bipolar disorder tend to age prematurely. According to Elisa Brietzke, who led the study, the discovery paves the way for new therapeutic approaches. |
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Buenos Aires, 1907. Argentine naturalist and director of the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences (MACN-CONICET), Florentino Ameghino, received the fossil of a marine crocodile of the Jurassic period – approximately 190 and 145 millions of years ago– found in the mountain range area of the province of Neuquén. As he was not an expert on that field, he decided to contact his colleague Arthur Smith Woodward, who worked at the Natural History Museum of London. Ameghino asked him if he was interested in studying them, as it was the first time a reptile like that appeared in South America and Woodward had already described similar materials of crocodiles from the Northern Hemisphere. |
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Before Europeans arrived, indigenous peoples altered the Amazon forest--but primarily along major rivers. Their effects were almost imperceptible in rainforest areas more than a day's walk from a river, according to new research published in the Journal of Biogeography. |
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“One of the most common forms of prostate cancer treatment, if not in metastasis stage yet, is radiotherapy, which consists of taking a picture of the organs involved, outlining them and proposing a dosage,” said Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNal) Medellín and Université de Rennes 1 Energy System Engineering doctoral student Richard Ríos Patiño. |
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Human beings have groups of microorganisms in different parts of the body. Some of them live in the bowel, which houses a population of bacteria called gut microbiota. Humans acquire it after birth and later on its composition undergoes modifications after labour, during the baby’s diet and it is also modified by maternal microbiota. One of the microorganisms that form it are the bifidobacteria, a vital genus of bacteria that help digestion, which are beneficial for treatments for diarrhea and constipation, and they also modulate immune responses, among other benefits. Besides, they can be cultivated and used to produce functional food with probiotics. |
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Researchers at Brazil’s National Nanotechnology Laboratory (LNNano) and National Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS) and at the Chemistry Institutes of the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and the Catholic University of Campinas (PUCC) have developed a quick and simple method to measure the amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in different samples, such as fruit extracts and industrialized drinks. |
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A brand-new competition that gives young European innovators the chance to create or develop a contemporary app that will enhance privacy on mobile devices is underway. With a wide range of prizes awarded to the best proposals, including an amount of 20 000 EUR for the overall winner and the chance to deploy the winning app onto the market, this competition provides a great opportunity for talented individuals with inspiring ideas to get involved in online security. |
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Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) discovered the most tenuous molecular gas ever observed. They detected the absorption of radio waves by gas clouds in front of bright celestial objects. This radio shadow revealed the composition and the conditions of diffuse gas in the Milky Way galaxy. |
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Scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) compared the diets of two caterpillar species, expecting the one that exclusively consumed plants containing toxic chemicals would more easily incorporate toxins into its body than the one with a broad diet. They found the opposite. The new finding, published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology, flies in the face of a long-held theory that specialist insects are better adapted to use toxic plant chemicals than non-specialists. |
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A new analysis by a group of paleontologists offers a more detailed portrait of one of Brazil’s most interesting fossil species, Australerpeton cosgriffi, a giant relative of modern amphibians that lived during the Permian period 260 million years ago. Despite its link to today’s frogs and salamanders, A. cosgriffi was 2.5 m long and resembles a crocodile, with a long tapering snout and scaly body. |
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For four years and through a scientific tool based on the ecological role of frugivorous bats, researchers have been working on seed dispersion through guano, thus accelerating the ecological succession of ecosystems. According to Biological Sciences doctoral candidate and member of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNal) Neotropical Mammal Evolution and Ecology Research Group Diego Casallas–Pabón, Colombia is second only to Indonesia in the amount of bat species in the world, with 200 species of bats. |
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The Andes mountain range was formed 50 millions of years ago, as a result of the plate tectonic movements. This fact led to consequences that remain nowadays: during the process, great quantities of volcanic ash with high levels of (As) and fluoride. Currently, these materials are part of the loess or sediments of groundwater aquifer. The arsenic is the main natural pollutant of the groundwater, which is the only source for human consumption in a large area of our country. This problem, which produces a marked effect on the social health and economic sectors of the affected regions, involves more than eight millions of people. |
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