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Some fungi and bacteria live in close association, or symbiosis, with tree roots in forest soil to obtain mutual benefits. Some fungi and bacteria live in close association, or symbiosis, with tree roots in forest soil to obtain mutual benefits. The microorganisms help trees access water and nutrients from the atmosphere or soil, sequester carbon, and withstand the effects of climate change. In exchange, they receive carbohydrates, which are essential to their development and are produced by [...]

One of the main challenges of second-generation biofuel production is identifying enzymes produced by microorganisms for use in a “cocktail” of enzymes to catalyze biomass hydrolysis, in which the enzymes act together to break down the carbohydrates in sugarcane trash and bagasse, for example, and convert them into simple sugars for fermentation. A group of researchers at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), working in partnership with colleagues at the Brazilian Biorenewables [...]

A study by an international team of researchers, including Brazilian scientists, shows that urban pollution from Manaus, the capital of Amazonas State in Brazil, increases the formation of aerosols via the Amazon Rainforest far more than expected. A study by an international team of researchers, including Brazilian scientists, shows that urban pollution from Manaus, the capital of Amazonas State in Brazil, increases the formation of aerosols via the Amazon Rainforest far more than [...]

As well as causing significant harm to human health, air pollution also stunts the growth of trees, one of the very elements that can attenuate this typically urban environmental problem. Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have shown that atmospheric pollutants restrict tree growth and the ecosystem services provided by trees, such as filtering pollution by absorbing airborne metals in their bark, assimilating CO2, reducing the heat island effect by attenuating [...]

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. [...]

A set of technologies that is expected to have its first results four years from now is designed to resolve one of the world’s greatest oil and gas exploration challenges today: carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emission in the atmosphere. The innovation, the result of a patent deposited in 2018, consists of injecting the CO2 and CH4 that comes from wells during oil extraction into salt caverns as a way to reduce the amount of carbon gas in the emissions. The first “pilot [...]

While most developed countries have reduced the construction of large dams for the production of electricity in recent decades, developing countries, including Brazil, have embarked on even more massive hydropower developments. These countries have not accounted for the environmental impacts of large dams, which include deforestation and the loss of biodiversity, or the social consequences, such as the displacement of thousands of people and the economic damages they suffer. These effects [...]

Studies by Brazilian researchers could have applications in crude oil pumping and missions to Mars, among others. Crescent-shaped dunes called barchans are structures that appear in a wide variety of environments, including beaches and deserts, riverbeds and the seafloor, inside water pipes and oil pipelines, and on the surface of Mars and other sandy planets with an atmosphere. Despite differences in scale varying from ten-centimeter ripples for underwater dunes to kilometer-high mountains [...]

The State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) has announced a new US$63 million investment initiative for research on global climate change and its impact on Brazil. Over the next ten years, FAPESP will offer US$6—7 million every year to climate researchers. FAPESP will also look to bring in other institutions to add more funding to the programme. The two first proposal calls are for research on the development of a global climate model and on the causes, impacts and needs [...]