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The global warming process may be even more intense than originally forecast unless deforestation can be halted, especially in the tropical regions. This warning has been published in Nature Communications by an international group of scientists. “If we go on destroying forests at the current pace – some 7,000 km² per year in the case of Amazonia – in three to four decades, we’ll have a massive accumulated loss. This will intensify global warming regardless of all efforts to reduce [...]

Since the pioneering description made in 1758 by Swedish naturalist and father of taxonomy Carl Nilsson Linnaeus (1707-1778), there was officially one single silky anteater species. This short-snouted, pigmy-sized anteater would then be known for its scientific name, Cyclopes didactyla, after its inclusion on the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Linnaeus’ magnum opus responsible for describing more than 4,2 animal species. It is found in tropical forests in South and Central America, as well [...]

A group of Brazilian scientists achieved promising results using isolated compounds from the venom of the South American rattlesnake in combat of hepatitis C. The investigation was based on records in scientific literature in which animal venom have shown activity against some viruses, such as yellow fever, measles and dengue – the latter belongs to the same virus family as hepatitis’, the Flaviviridae family. There is a great need for new methods in the fight against hepatitis C. The [...]

A transistor that simulates some of the functions of neurons has been invented based on experiments and models developed by researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in São Paulo State, Brazil, Würzburg University in Germany, and the University of South Carolina in the United States. The device, which has micrometric as well as nanometric parts, can see light, count, and store information in its own structure, dispensing with the need for a complementary memory unit. It [...]

Like ants and termites, several species of stingless bees have specialized guards or soldiers to defend their colonies from attacks by natural enemies. The differentiation of these guardian bees, which are more robust, larger, and in some cases differently colored compared with the more numerous worker bees, evolved in the last 25 million years and coincided with the appearance of parasitic “robber” bees, which represent a major threat to many stingless bee species. These discoveries were [...]

A cosmic phenomenon on a colossal scale, resulting from the acceleration of a gas cloud by a black hole and its reacceleration by the shock waves from the merging of two galaxy clusters, has been observed, described and interpreted by an international collaboration of astronomers that included three Brazilians: Felipe Andrade-Santos, Vinicius Moris Placco, and Rafael Miloni Santucci. All three, together with colleagues from other countries, are co-authors of the article “The case for [...]