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In the past three decades, almost 4,000 planet-like objects have been discovered orbiting isolated stars outside the Solar System (exoplanets). Beginning in 2011, it was possible to use NASA's Kepler Space Telescope to observe the first exoplanets in orbit around young binary systems of two live stars with hydrogen still burning in their core. Brazilian astronomers have now found the first evidence of the existence of an exoplanet orbiting an older or more evolved binary in which one of the [...]

Brazilian scientists have discovered that the strong odor released by some amphibian species is produced by bacteria and that attracting a mate is one of its purposes. The bacteria in question are a noteworthy example of symbiosis as they assist in the animal's mating process. A paper recounting the discovery of this role of microorganisms isolated from the skin of frogs has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). "Frogs emit a pungent odor. [...]

Reconstitution of Amoebozoa's evolution shows significant Precambrian species diversity. This study changes the view of how life evolved in the very remote past and deepens the understanding of current climate change (a Thecamoebian protist of genus Cyclopixys) Brazilian researchers have reconstructed the evolutionary history of amoebae and demonstrated that at the end of the Precambrian period, at least 750 million years ago, life on Earth was much more diverse than suggested by classic [...]

Study by 72 researchers from eight countries concludes that the Lagoa Santa people are descendants of Clovis culture migrants from North America. Distinctly African features attributed to Luzia were wrong. The history of the peopling of the Americas has just been interpreted afresh. The largest and most comprehensive study ever conducted on the basis of fossil DNA extracted from ancient human remains found on the continent has confirmed the existence of a single ancestral population for all [...]

Compilation of data from forest inventories and botanical collections generates a list of 3,615 tree species in wetland areas of the Amazon Basin. The account makes up for 53 percent of all tree species thus far confirmed for the entire Amazon region. Throughout the alluvial plains of Amazonia, there are immense forests that are flooded for almost half the year. These Amazonian wetlands encompass a wide array of types of vegetation in or near stream gullies, including blackwater (igapó) and [...]

Brasilestes stardusti existed more than 70 million years ago in what is now São Paulo State. Its description is based on a fossilized tooth.

Critically endangered South American forests thought to be the result of climate change were actually spread by ancient communities, archaeologists have found. Huge swathes of land in Chile, Brazil and Argentina are covered with millions of Araucaria, or monkey puzzle trees, thanks to people planting or cultivating them more than a thousand years ago, a new study shows. Recent logging means the landscape is now one of the world's most at-risk environments. It had been thought the forests [...]

Jupiter's icy moon Europa is a major target of astrobiology research in light of the possibility that it offers a habitable environment in the Solar System. Under its ice crust, estimated to be 10 km thick, is an ocean of liquid water of over 100 km deep. A huge source of energy deriving from gravitational interaction with Jupiter keeps this water warm. Theoretical research to evaluate the microbial habitability of Europa using data collected from analogous environments on Earth has been [...]

Scientists from the Babraham Institute near Cambridge in collaboration with colleagues from Brazil (here and here) and Italy have discovered a way that good bacteria in the gut can control genes in our cells. The work, published today (9th January) in Nature Communications, shows that chemical messages from bacteria can change the location of key chemical markers throughout the human genome. By communicating in this way, the bacteria may help to fight infections and to prevent cancer. This [...]