Social Sciences Chile  ATACAMA 28/03/2014

ALMA Helps to Explain Massive Stars Mysterious Formation

The formation process of a massive star has been a long-standing problem

A research team led by Tomoya Hirota (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan: NAOJ) discovered a hot circumstellar disk around a massive protostar by using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA). The formation process of a massive star has been a long-standing problem. The research results favor disk accretion for the formation of massive stars, similar to the formation of low to intermediate mass stars such as the Sun.

Ilustración de la Fuente I de Orión KL.Crédito: NAOJ.
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Technology Colombia  BOGOTÁ D.C. 27/03/2014

Besides from providing light, LED lights would also be used for data transmittal

As his UNal Telecommunications Engineering master’s thesis project, Germán Alfredo Chávarro proposed developing a basic Visible Light Communication (VLC) transmission system

Just as Wi-Fi routers replaced wires, LED light bulbs could replace wireless networks. UNal engineers are working on the possibility of transmitting data through visible light. As his UNal Telecommunications Engineering master’s thesis project, Germán Alfredo Chávarro proposed developing a basic Visible Light Communication (VLC) transmission system. This system would allow transmitting audio information using visible light communication.

Las bombillas LED podrían reemplazar a las redes inalámbricas. FOTO: UN.
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Technology Spain  MADRID 25/03/2014

A mathematical equation that explains the behavior of nanofoams

Nanometric-size foam structures follow the same universal laws as does soap lather

A research study, participated in by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), has discovered that nanometric-size foam structures follow the same universal laws as does soap lather: small bubbles disappear in favor of the larger ones.

Nanoespumas. Imagen: UC3M.
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Nutrition Spain  MADRID 25/03/2014

New magnetic materials for extracting energy from tides

A new type of tidal energy generator that will be cheaper and more efficient

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Nutrition Colombia  CALDAS 24/03/2014

Fowl behavior varies according to stimuli

Research carried out at the UNal- Bogotá Animal Learning and Behavior laboratory

Analysis performed on sexual behavior of quails showed that eliminating the stimuli, contrary of what was expected, increased the behavior. The research analyzed conduct learning using exercises which link stimuli to responses (just as human beings understand that turning a key opens a door), and emphasizing of the effects produced when stimuli are suspended.

Codorniz. FOTO: UN.
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Health Mexico  MÉXICO 21/03/2014

Wastewater to be treated with bio additives

Researchers at the Tecnológico de Monterrey's Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean have received a CONACYT grant to conduct research on optimizing wastewater treatment processes by using enzymes and fungi

In mainstream wastewater treatment, separating the sludge and the treated water is done by withdrawing less dense liquid from a solid or dense liquid, in a process known as decantation. However, very frequently the sludge does not have the necessary conditions to allow decanting, severely handicapping the effectiveness of a treatment plant's treatment process.

Investigadores del Centro del Agua para América Latina y el Caribe presentaron ante CONACYT la propuesta �Evaluación de la acción de bio-aditivos (hongos y enzimas) sobre la decantación y deshidratación de lodos�.
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Technology Colombia  BOGOTÁ D.C. 19/03/2014

Adhesive bands will now be biodegradable and more effective against pain

Water helps the biofilm stick to the skin and at the same time degrade until it slowly disappears and the patient doesn’t need to take it off

Each time someone has a small injury they appeal to adhesive bands to protect the wound. Now researchers are raising the possibility of making an adhesive film which will speed up scar formation, reduce pain and bleeding. Furthermore this film was also conceived for protecting the environment after being used as it degradation is complete after use given its biodegradable components. Each time someone has a small injury they appeal to adhesive bands to protect the wound. Now researchers are raising the possibility of making an adhesive film which will speed up scar formation, reduce pain and bleeding. Furthermore this film was also conceived for protecting the environment after being used as it degradation is complete after use given its biodegradable components.

Desarrollan tiritas biodegradables y efectivas contra el dolor. FOTO: UN.
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Health Colombia  BOGOTÁ D.C. 18/03/2014

Enzymes seem to be essential in latent bacteria which produce tuberculosis

Tuberculosis sky-rocketed with HIV and currently is the most lethal infectious disease which produces more bacterial sourced deaths in the world.

The UNal Microbacteria Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research Group (BBMM, for its Spanish acronym) was the first to research ATPase enzymes of the tuberculosis bacillus when nobody thought they were important. After the work of the BBMM group several United States and French research groups, such as the Pasteur Institute have become interested in these enzymes.

Mycobacterium colombiense. FOTO: UN.
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Nutrition Argentina  ARGENTINA 14/03/2014

Tracing the steps of a giant

Argentine and British researchers digitally recreated the gait of the Argentinosaurus huinculensis, a forty metres long and eighty tonnes dinosaur

How could these animals move around in spite of their size? This is the question that a group of scientists of different countries tried to answer. Among them was Rodolfo Coria, Independent researcher of CONICET at theInstituteofPaleobiologyand Geology (IIPByG, UNRN).

Reconstrucción digital del movimiento del Argentinosaurus. Foto: Bill Sellers, The University of Manchester.
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Technology Chile  ATACAMA 13/03/2014

Experts from around the world review more than 1,300 observation proposals for ALMA

78 world-leading experts in their area of astronomical research are meeting near Toronto, Canada

This week, 78 world-leading experts in their area of astronomical research are meeting near Toronto, Canada, to scientifically evaluate the 1,381 proposals received for Cycle 2 Early Science observations with the radio telescope, which represent a demand of more than 7.000 hours of observation. In this cycle, about 1,700 hours of observation are to be distributed among the selected proposals.

Proyecto ALMA. Crédito fotografía: "a.l.m.a.", © Michael Najjar, 2014, 132 x 202 cm, courtesy by the artist.
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Social Sciences Chile  ATACAMA 12/03/2014

‘Death Stars’ in Orion Blast Planets before They Even Form

A team of astronomers from Canada and the United States has used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the often deadly relationship between highly luminous O-type stars and nearby protostars in the Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula is home to hundreds of young stars and even younger protostars known as proplyds. Many of these nascent systems will go on to develop planets, while others will have their planet-forming dust and gas blasted away by the fierce ultraviolet radiation emitted by massive O-type stars that lurk nearby.

Ilustración de dos discos protoplanetarios, o protoestrellas, alrededor de una estrella masiva de tipo O. Créditos: NRAO/AUI/NSF; B. Saxton.
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Technology Spain  MADRID 11/03/2014

Searching for faster, more efficient and sustainable parallel computing

An European research project is studying how to improve parallel computing applications

An European research project, named REPARA and coordinated by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), is studying how to improve parallel computing applications to increase their performance and energy efficiency, as well as easing programming and source code maintenance.

Programación web. Imagen: UC3M.
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Nutrition Colombia  BOGOTÁ D.C. 11/03/2014

Worn out paper money could be used for decontamination

In Colombia high-denomination bills have a useful life which ranges from one to two years and four months

Worn out bills will now have a second useful life. They may be turned into material which would help decontaminate wastewater and remove pollutants from the environment. When a bill deteriorates it is destroyed in high speed machines which chop it into small confetti-size pieces. This waste is handled differently in each country; although common practice is to dispose it in sanitary landfills or incineration.

Billetes. FOTO: UN.
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Social Sciences Chile  CHILE 07/03/2014

ALMA sees wreckage of comet collisions in nearby solar system

The new results are published today in the journal 'Science'

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in northern Chile have today announced the discovery of an unexpected clump of carbon monoxide gas in the dusty disc around the star Beta Pictoris. This is a surprise, as such gas is expected to be rapidly destroyed by the star’s UV radiation. Something — probably frequent collisions between small, icy objects such as comets — must be causing the gas to be continuously replenished. The new results are published today in the journal Science.

Recreación del choque de cometas. FOTO: ALMA.
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Nutrition Colombia  ANTIOQUIA 06/03/2014

New study suggests that people of African descent are more resistant to DHF

Researchers from the University of Antioquia have revealed a putative role for the genetic ancestry in the development of dengue hemorrhagic fever. The study suggests that people of predominantly African ancestry are more resistant to DHF infection

Juan Camilo Chacón, 25, who has a MA in Biology from the University of Antioquia, is the co-author of this groundbreaking study. Chacón's brothers died from cystic fibrosis, an incurable hereditary disorder, which caused him to become interested in genetics. Chacón has a master’s degree in biology and is currently pursuing a PhD in Evolutionary Genetics at University College London (UCL). He is also a member of the Molecular Genetics Research Group (GENMOL) at the University of Antioquia. In addition, Chacón received honorable mention from the National Academy of Medicine in 2013 for his research proposal The relationship between ancestral genetic composition and dengue fever in Colombian population samples, which he wrote as part of his master’s thesis while finishing his MSc in Biology at the University of Antioquia.

Juan Camilo Chacón Duque tiene 25 años y cursa un doctorado en Génética Evolutiva en la Universidad College London, en Inglaterra. FOTO: UDEA.
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Nutrition Panama  PANAMÁ 04/03/2014

Risky ripples: Frog´s love song may summon kiss of death

This project, published in Science, was made possible with funds from STRI, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

Male Túngara frogs call from puddles to attract females. The production of the call incidentally creates ripples that spread across the water. Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama revealed that these ripples are used by other male frogs to assess the level of competition in the puddle. Unfortunately for the frogs, their main predator, the frog-eating bat, senses the ripples too, making the frogs easier targets.

El murciélago que se alimenta de ranas, el Trachops cirrhosus, utiliza varios sentidos distintos para localizar a su presa, la rana Túngara, Physalemus pustulosus. Crédito de imagen: Christian Ziegler
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Culture Spain  MADRID 03/03/2014

Journalists use social networks, but they don’t trust them

The ones that are most used are Facebook and Twitter, mainly to publish information about the media outlet where they work

The majority of Spanish journalists use social networks in their daily work although they do not trust them. This is one of the main conclusions drawn from research done at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid (UC3M) that analyzes how communication professionals make use of these platforms.

Redes sociales. Imagen: UC3M.
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Technology Spain  MADRID 27/02/2014

Robotic technology in the service of fashion

Two companies receiving support from the Business Incubator in Universidad Carlos III in Madrid’s (UC3M) Science Park are innovating the field of fashion

Two companies receiving support from the Business Incubator in Universidad Carlos III in Madrid’s (UC3M) Science Park are innovating the field of fashion by using technology based in robotics. Samsamia is launching a mobile application – Dresscovery – that identifies a bag just by taking a photo of it, while beMee is creating a system, called Proximus, that locates people visiting a shopping mall in order to better serve them.

Aplicación para moda. Foto: UC3M.
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Health Argentina  ARGENTINA 26/02/2014

Pioneers in the implementation of superselective intraocular chemotherapy

They improved a technique that increases the chances of sight preservation in retinoblastoma, which represents 15% of cancer cases in children under one year

An interdisciplinary team of scientists from different institutions and specializations managed to develop and apply in Argentina a superselective infusion technique of intraocular chemotherapy for treatment of advanced retinoblastoma. The availability of this therapy at the J.P. Garrahan Pediatric Hospital makes it the third institute worldwide in terms of the number of treated patients and a pioneer in the implementation of this technique in Latin America.

Schaiquevich y Chantada en su laboratorio. Foto: CONICET fotografía.
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Nutrition Panama  PANAMÁ 25/02/2014

Introduction through Panama Canal? Pacific jingle shell found in caribbean

The 50-mile (80-kilometer) Panama Canal has been transited more than one million times since its inauguration almost 100 years ago, potentially providing organisms with endless opportunities to stow away on the vessels of international trade

In 2009 a team of STRI researchers raised sea-critter covered PVC plates from a marina in Limón Bay on Panama’s Caribbean coast and found something unexpected: Peruvian jingle shells, bivalves native to the Pacific. In subsequent years the small creature, known for its thin and iridescent shells, appeared on settlement plates in other locations around the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal.

Bivalvos del Pacífico se han introducido a través del Canal de Panamá. FOTO: STRI.
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