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An article published in the journal Insects determines with precision the dispersal range of a type of wasp that neutralizes the brown stink bug, Euschistus heros, a major soybean pest in Brazil and one that is highly resistant to chemical insecticides. The solution discussed by the authors is Telenomus podisi, a parasitoid microwasp first described by American entomologist William Harris Ashmead in 1893. Parasitoids are small insects whose immature stages develop either within or attached [...]

The development of antibiotics to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria, especially those that infect the airways, has been increasingly tricky, and some scientists have opted to try to weaken the bacteria so that the available therapeutic substances are made more effective. This approach is promising, as shown by an article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), which concludes that photodynamic inactivation (PDI) showed a novel capacity to modify [...]

Electrical signals control a vast number of activities in the human body, from exchanges of messages between brain neurons and stimulation of the heart muscle to the impulses that enable hands and feet to move, among many other examples. To monitor or modulate these signals for medical purposes, a biocompatible and biodegradable optical fiber based on agar, a substance extracted from Gracilaria seaweed, has just been developed. The research was led by Eric Fujiwara, a professor at the State [...]

A study has found that regular resistance exercise can prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. In an experiment with transgenic mice, it was found that resistance training decreased beta-amyloid plaque formation and normalized levels of corticosterone, the stress hormone linked to Alzheimer’s. Researchers believe that resistance training’s anti-inflammatory effects could be a primary reason for its effectiveness in staving off Alzheimer’s. The study [...]

A group of researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), in São Paulo state, Brazil, has developed an algorithm that projects the future of vegetation in the Amazon, presenting scenarios for transformation of the forest driven by climate change. One of the results shows that a drier climate in the region, with a 50% drop in precipitation, could increase diversity but lower the level of carbon storage. Storage of carbon dioxide (CO 2) in roots would increase, but [...]

In the last decade, growing numbers of researchers have studied plastic pollution, one of the world’s most pressing environmental hazards. They have made progress but still face challenges, such as the comparability of results, especially with regard to microplastic particles. There is no standard sample collection and analysis methodology, for example. Most studies present conclusions based on numbers of particles as if they were environmentally equivalent regardless of size, volume, [...]