Nutrition Colombia  COLOMBIA 08/04/2016

New Golden Frog Species Discovered in Colombia Named for Legendary City of Gold

Its name, 'Pristimantis dorado', commemorates both its colorand El Dorado, a mythical city of gold eagerly sought for centuries by Spanish conquistadores in South America

A team of scientists including a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) research associate announced the discovery of a new species of pale-gold colored frog from the cloud forests of the high Andes in Colombia. Its name, Pristimantis dorado, commemorates both its color (dorado means “golden” in Spanish) and El Dorado, a mythical city of gold eagerly sought for centuries by Spanish conquistadores in South America.

 Rana dorada descubierta en Colombia. Foto: STRI.
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Space Chile  ATACAMA 05/04/2016

ALMA's Best Image of a Protoplanetary Disk

New images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveal never-before-seen details in the planet-forming disk around a nearby Sun-like star

The disks of dust and gas that surround young stars are the formation sites of planets. New images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveal never-before-seen details in the planet-forming disk around a nearby Sun-like star, including a tantalizing gap at the same distance from the star as the Earth is from the Sun. This structure may mean that an infant version of our home planet, or possibly a more massive super-Earth, is beginning to form there.

 Imagen obtenida con ALMA del disco alrededor de la joven estrella TW Hydrae. Imagen: S. Andrews (CfA); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF); ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO).
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Science Chile  ATACAMA 04/04/2016

Mysterious Infrared Light from Space Resolved Perfectly

A research team using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has detected the faintest millimeter-wave source ever observed

A research team using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has detected the faintest millimeter-wave source ever observed. By accumulating millimeter-waves from faint objects like this throughout the Universe, the team finally determined that such objects are 100% responsible for the enigmatic infrared background light filling the Universe. By comparing these to optical and infrared images, the team found that 60% of them are faint galaxies, whereas the rest have no corresponding objects in optical/infrared wavelengths and their nature is still unknown.

 Representación artística del fondo cósmico infrarrojo resuelto con ALMA. Imagen: ALMA.
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Social Sciences Chile  ATACAMA 31/03/2016

ALMA spots baby star’s growing blanket

This finding fills an important missing piece in our understanding of the early phases of stellar evolution

Researchers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have made the first direct observations delineating the gas disk around a baby star from the infalling gas envelope. This finding fills an important missing piece in our understanding of the early phases of stellar evolution.

 Representación artística de la joven estrella TMC-1A. Créditos: NAOJ
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Technology Argentina  ARGENTINA 30/03/2016

INDEFAR: a pilot plant for the production of national drugs

CONICET and INTI scientists explore the enhancement of fundamental drugs for public health

The Research and Development Platform for the Development of Pharmochemical and Pharmaceutical Processes (INDEFAR in Spanish) – constituted by the CONICET, the National Institute for Industrial Technology (INTI) and the Universidad de Quilmes– was designed to promote the national production of medicine, develop new drugs and train human resources. It also provides Research and Development (R+D) services to meet the requirements of different private and public companies.

 Lucía Gandolfi Donadío, Julieta Comin and Eleonora Elhalem. Photos: CONICET Photography.
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Nutrition Colombia  BOGOTÁ D.C. 29/03/2016

Biolarvicide helps combat elephantiasis vector

Using the cape gooseberry calyx Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNal) chemists produced a larvicide to help control the pest which causes elephantiasis, otherwise known as lymphatic filariasis

This is a Chemistry master’s project of Jenny Paola Ortega, which results is a biological component which attacks and kills Culex quinquefasciatus larvae, the causing agent of elephantiasis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are more than 1,100 million people in 55 countries threatened by lymphatic filariasis and although it is not very common in Colombia, there is still evidence of this insect in some areas of the Province of Cundinamarca.

Uchuva. FOTO: UN
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Health Brazil  BRASIL 28/03/2016

Study deepens understanding of molecular genetics in diabetes mellitus

Researchers find that microRNAs undermine the control of gene expression in T-lymphocytes, leading these defense cells to attack insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas

The human immune system can fail to recognize organs and tissues as belonging to the individual concerned and instead attack them, causing autoimmune diseases. A study performed by researchers at the University of São Paulo's Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine (FMRP-USP) in Brazil shows how this happens at the molecular level.

 Ataque autoimune das células beta pancreáticas causado por linfócitos T auto reativos/Divulgação.
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Social Sciences Chile  ATACAMA 18/03/2016

ALMA unveils details of planet formation around binary star

Researchers discovered a striking crescent-shape region of dust that is conspicuously devoid of gas

Using ALMA, astronomers have taken a new, detailed look at the very early stages of planet formation around a binary star. Embedded in the outer reaches of a double star's protoplanetary disk, the researchers discovered a striking crescent-shape region of dust that is conspicuously devoid of gas. This result, presented at the AAAS meeting in Washington, D.C., provides fresh insights into the planet-forming potential of a binary system.

 Imagen compuesta del sistema binario HD 142527 a partir de datos obtenidos por el Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, donde se aprecia un arco de polvo (en rojo) y un anillo de monóxido de carbono (azul y verde).
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Social Sciences Panama  PANAMÁ 17/03/2016

Tiny island deer in Panama was hunted to extinction thousands of years ago

Adult deer living on Pedro González island 6,000 years ago weighed less than 22 pounds, about as much as a beagle

As polar ice caps melted at the end of the last Ice Age about 8,500 years ago, the global sea level rose and Panama’s Pearl Islands were isolated from the mainland. A new archaeological study by a team including a Smithsonian scientist shows that several thousand years later pre-Columbian colonists hunted a dwarf deer to extinction on an island called Pedro González.

 Los investigadores han analizado alrededor de 2.500 fragmentos de huesos de venado correspondientes a 22 individuos. FOTO: STRI
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Nutrition Argentina  ARGENTINA 16/03/2016

Human hair and its evolution

CONICET researchers collaborate in the identification of genetic markers that determine characteristics of human hair

Curly hair, bushy beard, baldness, straight or blonde hair, etc; there are many options, shapes and quantities but, what is it that determines and makes our hair grow in one way and not in another? A group of scientists who are part of the Consortium for the Analysis of the Diversity and Evolution of Latin America (CANDELA) detected eighteen genetic variants statistically associated to pilosity craniofacial features. Of those new characteristics, ten were reported for the first time. The study was published in Nature Communications magazine.

 La investigación aporta conocimiento sobre los genes asociados a los rasgos de pilosidad. Ilustración: María Wright | CONICET.
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Nutrition Colombia  BOGOTÁ D.C. 15/03/2016

Felling is terminating the yolombó tree

This millenary tree, a great pollinating agent and characterized for creating soils rich in organic matter is threatened due to human and genetic aspects

Little was known about this tree of the Proteaceae family (Panopsis suaveolens), identified commonly as the yolombó tree until the 90’s when a Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNal) research project showed the lack of botanical records in the herbariums of the country.

Yolombó. FOTO: UN
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Health Brazil  SãO PAULO 11/03/2016

Researchers create method to detect zika virus in transfusion blood

The São Paulo blood bank will use a test developed with support from FAPESP to screen blood for use in pregnant women and intrauterine transfusions

A method of detecting the presence of zika virus in blood used for transfusions has been developed as part of a project supported by FAPESP and coordinated by José Eduardo Levi, head of the Department of Molecular Biology at São Paulo’s blood bank, Fundação Pró-Sangue, linked to the São Paulo State Department of Health and the University of São Paulo’s Medical School (FM-USP) in Brazil.

 Muestras de sangre.
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Health Spain  MADRID 10/03/2016

University students who do sports achieve better academic results

UC3M Study

University students who take part in sports activities during their academic careers earn grade point averages that are approximately 9 percent higher than those students who finish their degrees without having participated in such activities, according to a study carried out by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M).

 Partido de fútbol aficionado. Foto: Intef.
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Social Sciences Chile  ATACAMA 10/03/2016

The frigid flying saucer

By applying a novel technique to observations of an object nicknamed the Flying Saucer, astronomers that the dust grains in the outer parts of a planet-forming disc are much colder than expected: –266 degrees Celsius

Astronomers have used the ALMA and IRAM telescopes to make the first direct measurement of the temperature of the large dust grains in the outer parts of a planet-forming disc around a young star. By applying a novel technique to observations of an object nicknamed the Flying Saucer they find that the grains are much colder than expected: –266 degrees Celsius. This surprising result suggests that models of these discs may need to be revised.

 El disco protoplanetario �Platillo Volador� alrededor de 2MASS J16281370-2431391. Crédito: Digitized Sky Survey 2/NASA/ESA

 

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Nutrition Panama  PANAMÁ 09/03/2016

El Niño update: Central Panama's driest three-year span

Since May, 2015, Panama has been strongly influenced by one of the greatest El Niño events ever recorded, contributing to one of the country's most severe recorded droughts

Few weather phenomena dominate Panama’s weather for more than a few days or weeks. The exception is the El Niño/La Niña cycle, also known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Since May, 2015, Panama has been strongly influenced by one of the greatest El Niño events ever recorded, contributing to one of the country's most severe recorded droughts.

Sequía en Panamá Central. FOTO: STRI.
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Nutrition Argentina  TUCUMÁN 08/03/2016

Protecting water against salinization: a need for life

CONICET researchers at the Instituto de Biodiverdad Neotropical in Tucumán participated in an international study that analysed salt concentration in water and its impact on biodiversity

It is a well known fact that for most human activities water is a vital resource. The problem arises when these activities, such as agriculture or mining increase the total amount of dissolved inorganic salts (that is to say, secondary salinity) in fresh waters, the ones that are not marine. The salts acquisition process in one aquatic ecosystem is called “salinization.”

 Salinas Grandes, en la provincia de Jujuy. Foto: gentileza investigador.
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Technology Spain  MADRID 07/03/2016

Technology to analyze customer behavior in stores

A start-up has developed technology for creating a map of how we shop in the supermarket thanks to a chip that is built into shopping carts and baskets

Proximus, a start-up in the Vivero de Empresas del Parque Científico de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M Science Park Business Incubator), has developed technology for creating a map of how we shop in the supermarket thanks to a chip that is built into shopping carts and baskets.

 Sensor. Foto: UC3M.
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Nutrition Colombia  CALDAS 07/03/2016

Environmental changes impact plankton diversity

Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNal) researchers in Palmira discovered there is a high correlation between environmental variables (salinity, turbidity, depth, etc.) and the amount, presence or absence of plankton (diversity)

For Andrés Molina Marine Biology doctorate candidate and Codirector of the Ecology and Acoustic Pollution Research Group (Econacua, for its Spanish acronym) in Buenaventura, plankton is more abundant in the seasons with greater salinity. This suggests a marked seasonal dynamic.

Diatomea (Coscinodiscus radiatus), aumento 10X. FOTO: UN
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Technology Spain  ESPAÑA 04/03/2016

Winners of the Privacy via IT Security App Competition

Three winning applications have been selected by a jury of recognised European experts

The evaluation procedure of the proposals submitted by innovators across Europe for the Privacy via IT Security App Competition of the MAPPING Project has just finished. Three winning applications have been selected by a jury of recognised European experts.

 First event Mapping project.
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Health Brazil  BRASIL 03/03/2016

Anti-inflammatory drug may prevent death by scorpion

Experiments with mice show that prostaglandin inhibitors such as indomethacin and celecoxib minimize the occurrence of pulmonary complications caused by yellow scorpion's venom

The yellow scorpion (Tityus serrulatus) is a mere 7 cm long and does not look especially threatening, but actually it is the deadliest species of scorpion in South America. Every year, more than 1.2 million people worldwide are victims of its toxic venom. Some 3,000 of them eventually die.

 Escorpión amarillo. FOTO: Eliane Candiani A. Braga
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