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Global warming could lead to the extinction of up to 10% of frog and toad species endemic to Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest biome within about the next 50 years. The temperature and precipitation regimes predicted to occur between 2050 and 2070 will be lethal for species that are less well adapted to climate variation and inhabit certain areas of the Atlantic Rainforest. This is one of the findings of a study that analyzes the present and future distribution of anurans (tailless amphibians, [...]

Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961), one of the giants of contemporary science, considered "entanglement" the most interesting property in quantum mechanics. In his view, it was this phenomenon that truly distinguished the quantum world from the classical world. Entanglement occurs when groups of particles or waves are created or interact in such a way that the quantum state of each particle or wave cannot be described independently of the others, however far apart they [...]

The Brazilian stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula (jataí in Portuguese) deploys a different strategy for defending its nests from other social insect species. In addition to posting sentinels at the nest entrance, as do most social insects, colonies of this species also have guards that hover near the entrance all the time. A study by researchers in the Department of Entomology and Acarology of the University of São Paulo's Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP) in Brazil and [...]

Humans may have been cultivating plants on a narrow coastal strip in Brazil as far back as 4,800 years ago, according to a new study. An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of York, analysed the teeth and bones of ancient human remains found at the site in Southern Brazil. The results reveal that the individuals, who lived around 4,800 years ago, were eating a diet rich in carbohydrates, suggesting that they may have cultivated plants like yams and sweet [...]

A group of researchers affiliated to the University of São Paulo (USP) - campus Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, used big data tools such as data mining and network analysis to develop a method to help scientists and companies identify technological routes, trends and partnerships in any knowledge area. For this purpose, it collected information from patent databases around the world. In addition to mapping the patents in an area, this novel method identifies the technological routes used by [...]

Commercial antidepressants typically take two to four weeks to have a significant effect on a depressed patient. They are also inneffective in approximately 40% of the cases. Finding new drugs for depression that are fast-acting and have more lasting effects is the goal of research conducted by Brazilian scientists in São Paulo State in collaboration with Danish colleagues. Their study found that a single dose of cannabidiol in rats with symptoms of depression was highly effective, [...]

A new device that combines low-intensity laser light and therapeutic ultrasound considerably reduces the pain experienced by patients with fibromyalgia. A scientific study has shown that application to the palms instead of to tender points on different parts of the body has better analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. As a result of pain reduction, patients also sleep better and are able to perform daily tasks with less discomfort. Their overall quality of life also improves. In an article [...]

In an article published at journal Acta Oecologica, Brazilian biologist Luciano Palmieri Rocha has proposed a new phase of the development cycle of fig trees ( Ficus carica) and their specific pollinators, fig wasps from the species Blastophaga psenes - one of the most studied cases when analyzing the evolution of mutualism. According to Palmieri, the cycle's new (and sixth) phase doesn't relate directly to the development of the fig but rather to its role in the development of dozens of other [...]

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 whitewater (várzea) inundation forest, swamp (pântano), white sand savanna (campina), and mangrove (mangue) types. According to a new study, the region's wetlands are inhabited by 3,615 tree species--three times more than previously estimated, making [...]