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Disaster tamers
The worst crises, the worst accidents, the worst natural and human disasters cause the most surprise. It seems that the more intense the event—from a devastating tsunami to a World War—the more...
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Under the Moon’s influence
A classic from 1968: The Earth seen by the Apollo 8 team, the first manned mission to orbit the Moon. The Moon, the largest celestial object near Earth, influences more than the level of the oceans....
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Storms in a vacuum
Vacuum is not synonymous with nothing, at least for physicists. They claim that even seemingly empty space still contains some form of energy that fluctuates constantly, like the small waves that...
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Thomas Maack: Memories of a year that never ended
Physiologist Thomas Maack’s first job was as an office boy in a São Paulo shop that sold dental products. Later he became a political activist, physician, researcher, and a reformer of medical...
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Running is good!
Mini-gym: on the adapted treadmill, several mice can run at the same time The relatively old warning to asthmatics to avoid participating in sports seems to be based on a misunderstanding, according...
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From Blue LED to the Brain’s GPS
American John O’Keefe… Researchers from the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway and France were awarded the world’s most important scientific prize. The announcement of the...
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Born to shine
Firefly: light-flashing requires less energy than flying Fireflies need a lot more energy to fly than to light up their abdomens. Researchers in Taiwan and Switzerland used X-ray microscopy and...
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Messenger flowers
A coloration produced by antibodies makes the communication between nerves and muscles—or neuromuscular junctions—appear like flowers in bloom. As seen through a swept-field laser confocal...
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From faucet to womb
Tiny doses of chemicals that affect hormonal function have been detected by multiple studies in the tap water of many cities. Experts know these substances as endocrine disruptors. They are...
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Coffee to fight diabetes
Drinking more than two cups of coffee per day may lower diabetes risk Drinking two or more cups of coffee every day can help prevent type 2 diabetes, according to an international team of...
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Lino Barañao: The challenge of generating both knowledge and wealth
The government of Argentina established its Ministry of Science, Technology, and Productive Innovation (Mincyt) in 2007, and throughout the past eight years the same individual has been at its helm:...
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Memory’s gatekeeper
OLM interneuron (green) links cells from the outermost layer of the hippocampus to those of the innermost layer It took almost a century to discover the function of a special type of brain cell...
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The subverted skull
After analyzing data on roughly 5,000 people from 94 modern population groups, a team of Ibero-American geneticists and physical anthropologists has gathered enough evidence to contest one of the...
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Why are the whales dying?
A specimen being analyzed on a beach in Abrolhos A joint effort by researchers from the states of São Paulo and Bahia has been looking into the lives — and deaths — of humpback whales (Megaptera...
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The cosmetic from the Caatinga scrubland
The umbu is one of 22 fruits studied for their chemical properties to determine a potential use in the cosmetics and food industries Typical of the Caatinga scrublands of northeastern Brazil, the...
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Movement for the brain
If you want to improve your children’s chances of being high achievers both intellectually and professionally, the worst thing you can do is radically cut their exercise time to make room for more...
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Suspended cell gardens
Biologist Alexandre Bruni-Cardoso, professor at the Chemistry Institute of the University of São Paulo (IQ-USP), tells how 3D cell cultures, associated to state-of-the-art microscopy techniques,...
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Energy for the heart
One of the possible consequences of a heart attack is a temporary resistance to insulin, a condition leading to higher concentrations of sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream. Doctors usually take a...
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