LatinAmericanScience.org

ARGENTINA

Argentine researchers looking at the eating habits of Magellanic penguins discovered that each penguin can capture an astounding number of prey items per foraging trip. These include anchovy, hake, sardines, mackerel, octopus and squid in Argentine waters. Considering this level of consumption and the number of penguins that inhabit the Argentine coast (900,000 pairs), the scientists calculated that the penguins extract 1.5 million tons of fish per year (87% more than commercial fishermen). However, when the numbers of prey is low, the penguins decrease the amount they eat and thus maintain a balance in the marine ecosystem. The study was published in the journal PLoS ONE.

      The red-throated caracara bird of prey faces extinction in Central America. Credit: Sean McCann via EOL.

The number of southern right whales dying in Patagonia is rising. In 2012, there was a record number of calf deaths (a third of calves) off the Peninsula Valdes in southern Argentina. According to researchers, deaths have been on the rise in the last decade though toxicity has been ruled out.

CHILE

A Chilean engineer has created a personal electric car that should be on the streets by October. The automobile was developed based on touch-screen Android technology to control the electronics.

ECUADOR

Scientists at the 3rd World Summit on Evolution in the Galapagos have created an Iberoamerican Academy of Evolutionary Biology to promote education on the subject. Headquartered on San Cristobal island, the academy will use educational tools like the Internet to promote the theory of evolution. It’s fine to use a cell phone to listen to reggaeton or the music they feel like, but it can also be used to disseminate the theory of evolution in Spanish, said Antonio Lazcano, a biology professor at Mexico’s UNAM.

Researchers are trying to revive two species of Galapagos tortoises from Pinta and Floreana islands that went extinct 150 years ago. By breeding tortoises that are their closest genetic relatives (they share 80-90% of the genes), the project hopes to revive them in 120 years, as these animals reach sexual maturity at 20-25 years in females and 25-30 years in males.

HONDURAS

U.S. and Honduran researchers have located an endangered bird of prey species in the forests of Agalta after a 15 year search. The red-throated caracara (Ibycter americanus), commonly known as the cocoa, is disappearing in Central America. There are fewer than 100 left. Deforestation has destroyed much of the bird’s habitat.

LATIN AMERICA

An international consortium of scientists including Brazilian, Ecuadorian and Costa Rican researchers have sequenced the genome of Matina cacao, the most world’s most widely-grown cacao due its high yield and good flavor. Genetic analysis and comparison with other varieties detected a gene involved in the coloring of the sheath. Sequencing showed that a single nucleotide change intensifies the color and could be used as a marker for breeding programs.

MEXICO

The way matter behaves on the nano-scale is being explained to the public in central Mexico with a new book entitled “Tatanunio Kixiva’a Ndachuun.” The book, written by Noboru Takeuchi, a physicist and science advocate at Mexico’s UNAM, will be distributed initially in schools throughout Baja California and Oaxaca. The author is also looking at translating the book into indigenous languages​.

A new mathematical algorithm was developed at the UNAM and the Mexican Social Security Institute with the objective of automating insulin dosing in patients with type I diabetes, which affects children especially. So far tested in laboratory rats, the insulin pumps automatically adapt to the needs of the “patient” regardless of carbohydrate intake or physical activity.

PERU

A billboard in Lima that pulls water from humid air using electrical generators and reverse osmosis has won a publicity award from Adweek and Hewlett Packard.

Peru is set to build Dinopark, a paleontology museum-park in Lima. The park will host more than 1,200 fossils of dinosaurs dating back 600 million years.

ARGENTINA

Argentina has approved the use of a cancer vaccine that complements other treatments for lung cancer, which will be available for patients in July. The National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) has approved the work that took Argentine and Cuban scienctists 18 years to complete. The vaccine stimulates the patient’s immune system to attack the tumor without killing healthy cells.

      The Amazon was once home to giant tortoises that could have been the ancestors of the Galapagos tortoise. Credit: Marcelo Paz via Flickr.

A study of the abundance of amphibian species in the arid Chaco forest of Cordoba found that land degradation due to overgrazing, logging and fire misuse affects amphibian populations. It was found that in lakes where there were once 10 species, but there were only three.

Argentine scientists have created silicon plates with nano-holes that can characterize DNA and proteins quickly and cheaply. The goal of the CONICET and INTA researchers is to speed up and cheapen DNA sequencing. The new technique is applicable to clinical diagnosis, detection of pathogens and diseases.

BRAZIL

The Amazon was home to giant tortoises, according to Brazilian paleontologists that have reconstructed 8 million-year-old fossils in the Amazon. The tortoises measured one meter high by 1.65 meters long and 90 cm wide, twice the size (but could be the ancestor) of the ones currently living in the Galapagos Islands. Last weekend, scientists met in the Galapagos for the 3rd World Summit on Evolution.

A joint study conducted by Spanish and Brazilian scientists has identified as one of the causes of the downsizing of the seeds of a species of palm tree is the replacement of native forest by agricultural systems, specifically coffee and sugar cane plantations from the early nineteenth century. The change in vegetation caused major bird migration (like the toucan) who once ate and thus helped spread the seeds. The palm species evolved producing smaller seeds that could be dispersed by blackbirds or thrushes.

ECUADOR

Ecuador’s state-owned oil company PetroEcuador has started handing out water bottles to communities affected by a 10,000 barrel oil spill that started last Friday on the river Coca, a tributary of the Amazon river. Ecuador has warned Peru and Brazil that the oil is headed their way.

UNESCO has declared the Macizo de Cajas reserve in Ecuador a new UNESCO biosphere reserve. For such a designation, the area must fulfill three functions: to contribute to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation; foster sustainable economic and human development related to the socio-cultural and ecological and support demonstration projects education and training in the environment, research, conservation and sustainable development.

A Patagonian seagull was sighted in the Galapagos Islands far from its home. In 50 years of records of birds of the islands, the Patagonian gull had never been observed species. Being a single individual is speculated that the bird may have been lost during its migration.

MEXICO

Scientists at UNAM have created filters with bacteria capable of purifying the air containing foul odors. The filters have a “sponge” with nutrients required for bacterial growth. Air pollutants dissolve in that bacterial membrane; the innovation is designed for waste treatment plants for solids and liquids.

ARGENTINA

Argentina is expanding its agricultural frontier at the expense of native vegetation in semiarid regions like the Cuyo and the Northwest. A group of scientists from the National University of San Luis studied these changes and determined the rise of the water table (with the rising risk of increased salinity) and the appearance of new waterways. The next step is to enact remedial measures such as soil management and alternative production systems.

      Leatherback turtle numbers have rebounded ‘spectacularly’ on a beach in Trinidad. Credit: Florida USFWS via Flickr.

Biotech company MamaGrande has teamed up with the municipality of Totoras (in the province of Santa Fe) to transform sewage into nutrients and cultivating duckweed (Lemna minor), a species that accumulates starch and can be processed into fuels, plastics and food for livestock.

BRAZIL

Brazilian researchers discovered two new species of schizomids, small cave-dwelling arachnids. The results have been published in the journal PLoS ONE. The specimens belong to the genus Rowlandius, better known as short-tailed whip scorpions. Little of them is known.

Ornithologists in the Brazilian Amazon have made the greatest discovery of bird species in recent times. They found fifteen new species of the orders Piciformes and Passeriformes, which were first described by the University of Sao Paulo. A larger study will be released in a special edition of “Handbook of the Birds of the World” published by Lynx in July.

CHILE

Chile’s government has fined mining company Barrick Gold US$16 million, citing severe environmental violations. Barrick’s Pascua-Lama mine on the border of Argentina and Chile has faced a series of delays and pushback from politicians and environmentalists alike. The Diaguita indians are now talking about contamination stemming from preliminary construction of the mine which has released arsenic, aluminum and sulfates into upstream waters.

COLOMBIA

Colombian scientists examined the fungicidal properties of bacteria on the fungus Rhizoctonia solani that causes the potato disease known as black scab. The study found that the bacterium was capable of controlling the fungal disease and hopes to use it as a biological control.

MEXICO

Mexican scientists are working on developing a male contraceptive by inhibiting calcium and potassium ion channels required for sperm motility and fertilization.

TRINIDAD

The number of leatherback turtles have rebounded on a beach in Trinidad. Researchers consider that Grand Riviere beach is the world’s most densely nested site for leatherbacks. More than 500 female turtles nest there each night during the May and June high season.

ARGENTINA

Only 800 hooded grebes–a bird living in Santa Cruz Patagonia–are left in the world. A science writer flies to Argentina to take a look.

      Brazil has successfully cloned a calf from a fat cell. Credit: Eduardo Amorim via Flickr.

An Argentine researcher has published a study in PLoS ONE that explores empathy and its role in moral judgments. Read more on Eze’s blog here. Press release here.

A study across 19 countries, 41 different agricultural systems and more than 600 fields analyzed the effectiveness of combining the action of wild insect pollinators with managed honey bees. Led by Argentine researcher Lucas Garibaldi, the study found that wild pollinators were more effective at at enhancing yields. The results are published in the journal Science.

BRAZIL

The Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (EMBRAPA) successfully cloned a calf from adipose cells and is the first institution in the world to successfully use the technique. The animal’s oocyte nucleus was inserted into the adipose (fat) cell and subsequently stimulated to develop. The resulting embryo was placed in a surrogate, which gave birth to the calf that is now breastfeeding. EMBRAPA researchers believe that this technique can facilitate and bring down the costs of producing high-quality cattle.

CHILE

Chilean research is trying to find bacterial solutions to the treatment of industrial solutions to reduce impurities and improve the copper extraction process.

COLOMBIA

“Colombia is not prepared for the mining locomotive,” says Luis Jorge Garay, director of a new study from Colombia’s Government Accountability Office. Colombian newspaper El Espectador has a report.

MEXICO

Mexican researchers are looking at the population genetics of great white sharks in Baja California.

On the summit of Sierra Negra in Puebla, Mexico, the large millimeter telescope (GTM) has been debuted. The project aims to analyze the development of radiation-emitting material as well as look at the development and death of stars and galaxies. In this first stage of operation, the GTM research will include 11 projects from scientists across Mexico who will also be collaborating on with international projects.

PERU

Between 30 and 50 sea lions have been found washed ashore on Peru’s northern coast. Officials from Peru’s IMARPE say the numbers were below 20.

ARGENTINA

The Argentine company Bioceres has partnered with French biotech company Florimond Desprez to produce, initially for the Argentine and Latin America market, the first transgenic wheat crop. The product could be available for planting in 2016. The crop will use the Hahb-4 gene, involved in the synthesis of ethylene, a plant hormone responsible for senescence of plants. Crops subjected to water stress will increases the production of ethylene causing it to drop its leaves, thus preventing water loss through transpiration.

      Banana trees provide shade for Colombia’s caturra coffee plant. Credit: Aleszu Bajak.

BRAZIL

Scientists have found the 32,000-year-old remains of single-celled sea creatures more than three miles deep in the waters off the coast of Brazil. “We have been able to show that the deep sea is the largest long-time archive of DNA, and a major window to study past biodiversity,” wrote Pedro Martinez Arbizu, director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity Research in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, and author of a new study in the journal Biology Letters. The researchers say the ancient marine DNA could give clues to the history of the ocean.

COLOMBIA

Researchers are pointing to the ecological and economic benefits of shade-grown coffee. In addition to yielding higher quality coffee, planting shade-giving trees can control erosion, reduce the amount of herbicides needed, increase the amount of organic material in the soil, among other benefits, says Nicolas Frank Berguer of the Universidad de Chile’s Center for the Study of Arid Zones. Berguer visited the National University of Medellin.

LatinAmericanScience.org founder Aleszu Bajak recently explored the history and evolution of Colombian coffee and the effects of climate change on the crop. “Production has been falling since 2008 when rainy conditions set in, exacerbated by climate change. The humid environment helped the spread of a fungal disease called leaf rust currently laying waste to coffee plantations across Latin America. While Guatemala, Panama and Costa Rica are reporting more than 60 percent of production affected, Colombia was able to plan ahead, breeding a hybrid bean that was able to ward off rust for 30 years.”

COSTA RICA

Costa Rican scientists are looking for ways to defeat multidrug-resistant bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The researchers are developing chemical antibiotics and looking at viral phages to attack the drug-resistant bacteria.

MEXICO

A group of scientists including Luis Herrera Estrella of Mexico have discovered a carnivorous plant that seems to have removed junk DNA from its genome over the course of its evolution. While human genomes contain more than 95% junk (non-coding) DNA, the researchers discovered that the floating bladderwort Ultricularia gibba has only 3% non-coding elements.

NICARAGUA

The Nicaraguan government and UNESCO have joined forces to save the third largest biosphere reserve in the world, Bosawás, which has lost 32.5% of its forests due to human action. “Over the past five years, some 11,500 Nicaraguan settlers—including groups thought to have political ties to powerful timber-trafficking organizations—have pillaged Central America’s largest forest at the appalling rate of 200-280 acres per day,” reports TIME.

ARGENTINA

A new dinosaur has been discovered in southern Argentina. Comahuesaurus windhauseni, found in Neuquen, Argentina, is a sauropod, a large herbivore known for its long neck. The specimen, thought to be 15 meters long, was discovered by paleontologist Jose Luis Carballido. The findings were published in the journal Historical Biology.

      Researchers are developing hybrid rice to increase rice yields in Latin America. Credit: RS via Flickr.

A group of scientists in Cordoba and the Argentine government have launched a campaign to microbiologically test the food served in school cafeterias. The team will focus on the production and transport of meals and the hygiene of the dining areas.

Asthma is not adequately diagnosed, says Andres Echazarreta, president of the Argentine association of respiratory medicine, and in Argentina, 32% of asthmatics have not been diagnosed with spirometry, a test that measures how fast air moves through a person’s lungs.

BRAZIL

Brazilian and Japanese scientists have discovered traces of a continent in the Atlantic Ocean 1,500 km off the coast of Brazil. The researchers suggest that a land mass sank during the separation of Pangaea. The studies were conducted by a manned submersible at depths of 6,500 meters.

Scientists in Brazil have identified a genetic mutation in women that decreases their risk of having a child with Down Syndrome. The mutation BHMT 742G is a single nucleotide polymorphism they found associated with a decreased risk of having a child with Down Syndrome.

LATIN AMERICA

A partnership between researchers at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), producers and rice producers from 13 countries aims to develop rice hybrids adapted to Latin America. Hybrid rice yield up to 3 times more rice than traditional rice. The first crosses will be made at the Philippine Rice Research Institute and commercial varieties wiill then be distributed between the participating institutions for field testing in different countries. Hybrid rice is made by crossing distinct rice lines and does not typically involve laboratory genetic engineering. Over half of China’s rice comes from hybrids while less than 2% of Latin America’s rice is hybrid.

MEXICO

Mexican scientists have developed an alternative to chemotherapy for bone cancer patients. In in vitro lab studies, researchers managed to eliminate over 90% of bone tumor cells using a new technology that consists of injecting nanoparticles covered in a bioactive polymer. The polymer can chemically attach itself to the bone tissue.

ARGENTINA

A group of Argentine institutions are developing a vaccine to prevent the recurrence of melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. The researchers are currently in the final phase of clinical research for a vaccine that includes melanoma cells and an adjuvant to stimulate the immune system. The researchers hope to have the vaccine approved in two or three years.

One of every four indigenous languages in Brazil is at risk of being lost. Credit: Cartographie.

Argentina is planting castor oil plants (Ricinus communis) for biofuel. An agreement between farmers in Mendoza and South American Green Oil Company (SAGO) will convert 30 acres of marginal land into productive castor oil farmland. The project, which had an original investment of US$3 million, aims to cultivate 25,000 hectares in the first five years and produce over 110,000 tons of biodiesel.

BRAZIL

One of every four indigenous languages in Brazil is at risk of being lost, says a new anthropological study. Only 37% of indigenous people speak their mother tongue, as many have moved to areas where they must use Portuguese. The major problem identified by the researchers was not the decrease of speakers of these languages, but the loss of vocabulary and grammar.

CHILE

Researchers looking at cancer cases in northern Chile have identified arsenic in drinking water as a potential cause. The scientists say that people in Antofagasta were highly exposed to arsenic between 1958 and 1970, and that lung and bladder cancer risks were found to be very high even 40 years after exposure.

Humboldt penguin populations in Chile and Peru are dwindling. Human encroachment, rats and warming El Nino conditions have been pointed to as causes for the penguins’ demise. Fewer than 50,000 Humboldt penguins are left in Chile and Peru, says Alejandro Simeone from Andres Bello University in Chile.

Scientists interested in earthquake monitoring are looking at northern Chile for clues from past seismic activity. Up to 10 percent of the surface of South America overlies the subduction zone, where one tectonic plate dives under another, so researchers have been looking at the Iquique Gap in northern Chile for evidence of past quakes. They have gathered data from thousands of earthquakes that have left cracks in the surface.

ECUADOR

Ecuador has launched its first satellite from China’s JiuQuan space launch center. Pegasus, as the satellite has been dubbed, cost more than US$700,000 to build and launch and is primarily an educational tool meant to encourage a new generation of engineers and scientists in the space industry, says Ecuadorian astronaut Ronnie Nader.

HAITI

Haiti is planning on planting 1.2 million trees in a single day. In an effort to reverse environmental degredation and address poverty, a new reforestation drive hopes to plant 1.2 million saplings on May 1.

LATIN AMERICA

The journal the Lancet forecasts increasing concern over cancer in Latin America. The study has data from different countries, distinguishes between rural and urban communities, between indigenous and non-indigenous, provides data on the prevalence of genetic mutations, compares health systems in different countries, speaks of obesity and smoking, of specific risks, access to health, and more.

URUGUAY

The Pasteur Institute of Montevideo and the Institute of Animal Reproduction have created Latin America’s first genetically modified sheep. Able to shine under ultraviolet light, the animals carry a fluorescence gene isolated from jellyfish. The next step of the project will be to incorporate the same technique to introduce genes that will produce human proteins for applications such as drug manufacturing.

ARGENTINA

The Pan American Health Organization has approved a drug manufactured in Argentina against the parasitic disease Chagas. Benznidazol will be produced by two private laboratories with additional government funding. It’s the first line of treatment for Chagas disease and cures 80-90% of cases, according to the WHO.

Peru is opening an alpaca biotechnology center in Carabaya province to improve the genetics of the wool-producing animals. Credit: Guillen Perez via Flickr.

Argentina’s Leloir Institute recently discovered an enzyme, IDE-Met1, which prevents the accumulation of amyloid beta protein, implicated in Alzheimer’s disease for damaging the nerves and producing a loss in cognitive power. This enzyme fails in Alzheimer’s patients and the study elucidated the active and inactive genes in its synthesis. Alzheimer’s affects 24 million people around the world.

BOLIVIA

Between 10 and 12% of the Bolivian population is infected with Chagas, a disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. With the financial support of the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development (AECID), Bolivian scientists have been willing to investigate and treat patients despite the meager resources they have and have installed six platforms for integrated care.

BRAZIL

A series of studies of Brazil’s Mato Grosso region have revealed that intensive agriculture has altered the watershed and resulted in a greater incidence of fires, the loss of biodiversity, and “the potential for greater floods and lower water in rivers in cleared areas compared with intact forested areas,” says Christopher Neill, director of The Ecosystems Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA and author of one of the Mato Grosso studies published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. “We present some evidence that nutrient runoff may be less than from equivalent agriculture in many temperate zones, but we still don’t know what happens after intensive farming for decades instead of years,” Neill told LatinAmericanScience.org.

Brazilian biologists have documented the Rhinella proboscidea toad species, inhabitant of the Amazon, mating with dead females. Because the males are so heavy, they often crush and kill their mates during mating, though the eggs are released for fertilization despite her expiring. The scientists conclude that this is the only species that practices functional necrophilia (PDF).

COLOMBIA

Sediment could be to blame for the exacerbation of flooding in Latin American countries like Colombia. With flooding disasters worsening in recent years—over 180 per year—researchers are looking for reasons. Deforestation and subsequent sediment production could be a cause. Sediment production is higher in Colombia’s Magdalena river than any other South American river, according to researchers at EAFIT University in Medellin, Colombia.

MEXICO

Researchers say the Mexican population has a high genetic predisposition to diabetes because it owes 70% of its genetics to indigenous heritage. The study being done by Mexico City’s UNAM has detected a polymorphism—called HNF4A—that decreases insulin secretion by up to 40% among the indigenous people.

PERU

Peru is building a center for biotechnology to improve the genetics of alpacas and llamas, Andean camelids prized for their wool. The center, located in Carabaya province, will offer training and technical assistance for alpaca and llama farmers. The researchers have already managed to help out the Queracucho community and have implanted 20 alpaca embryos. PDF.

ARGENTINA

More than 320 million years ago, Patagonia was a separate continent that collided into Gondwana at the same time as Chilenia—present day Chile, according to scientists from the University of Buenos Aires. After conducting field tests in paleomagnetism, the researchers concluded that the deformations found along the southwestern margin of the Gondwana continent were evidence that Chilenia clashed from the west and Patagonia came from the south.

Endangered huemul deer in Patagonia have rebounded in recent years, according to researchers monitoring their numbers. Credit: Paolo Corti.

Scientists in Argentina are developing a bio-absorbable membrane called Biomatter for the treatment of patients with skin lesions caused by burns and other pathologies. Pre-clinical results from researchers at the Universidad de San Martin demonstrate rapid absorption and optimal epithelial assimilation.

BRAZIL

Brazil has allowed oil giant Chevron to resume offshore drilling operations in the Frade field where 3,000 barrels of crude were spilled by the company in November 2011. Chevron was fined US$17.5 million for the disaster that occurred 230 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro, though Brazil’s federal prosecutor initially sued Chevron for US$11 billion in environmental damages. Transocean Ltd. operated the rig that failed in Brazil’s Frade field, the same contractor responsible in the Gulf of Mexico’s Deepwater Horizon disaster.

CHILE

Numbers of endangered huemul deer have rebounded in recent years in Patagonia thanks to conservation efforts from an international group of scientists in Bernardo O’Higgins National Park. Cattle removal and poaching control have led to the recovery of the huemul, says Cristobal Briceno of Cambridge University. There are believed to be fewer than 2,500 deer in Patagonia. More reporting on threats to huemul populations available on LatinAmericanScience.org.

COLOMBIA

A group of Colombian scientists has developed an activated carbon filtration system from the seeds of the hanging vine Mucuna mutisiana. The system can filter agricultural waste from coffee husks, potato and cassava, among others. This highly-absorptive material is used to pull out zinc, nickel, mercury and lead from water. Once the contaminants are absorbed into the carbon, they are treated with bacteria that use them as an energy source.

CUBA

Cuba’s Plant Biotechnology Institute has developed a disease-free potato through in vitro cultivation. Four promising varieties were studied in the field with encouraging results in terms of performance and cost reduction, the latter because seeds won’t have to be imported.

LATIN AMERICA

The CropLife forum recently held in Mexico concluded that productivity and competitiveness of the agricultural sector must be increased to meet the demands of a growing population. It also emphasized that biotechnology, used for more than 30 years, has proven to be an effective tool to achieve these goals. Countries such as Argentina and Brazil have been pioneers in the research and adoption of agricultural biotechnology in order to produce more food and better quality at the same price and in a sustainable manner. One of the main challenges for 2050 is to increase agricultural production by 25% within the same land area currently being used.

ARGENTINA

A group of scientists from Argentina and the United States conducted GPS measurements to determine the new height of Mt. Aconcagua as 6960.8 meters above sea level. This research is part of an international study of the Central Andes whose main objective is to measure changes in the Earth’s crust.

A rare hermit crab species has been found alive in the Caribbean. Credit: Barry Brown/Substation Curacao.

Certain lipids present in the testicular cells of sheep and cattle are being studied by scientists at Argentina’s Universidad Nacional del Sur. These could be used to solve fertility problems in both species and are also expected to be associated with male infertility.

BRAZIL

An Amazonian community has threatened to go to war with the Brazilian government over the construction of hydropower dams on the Tapajos river—the fifth largest river in the Amazon basin. The Munduruku community has said the presence of construction teams is an act of military incursion. The development teams are accompanied by military personnel for protection.

Using stratospheric balloons, at a distance of 40 km from the earth, a group of scientists observed the terahertz frequency band to better understand the power generation of solar flares.

CARIBBEAN

The first live specimens of a hermit crab have been found in the Caribbean. Pylopagurus discoidalis had previously only been known through dry specimens collected more than a century ago. They were found off the coast of Curacao.

CHILE

Chile has halted the construction of the US$16.5 billion Pascua Lama gold mine, citing environmental concerns. Santiago’s Court of Appeals issued an order suspending construction on Wednesday. Canadian mining company Barrick Gold had already started construction of the open-pit mine at an elevation of 13,200 feet on the Chile-Argentina border. The indigenous Diaguita group filed the environmental complaint that led to Wednesday’s ruling.

LATIN AMERICA

By 2030 there will be 191 million obese in Latin America, says a new study from the World Bank. Brazil and Mexico will be the countries that will be most affected in the region. Experts say that the main causes of this increase are the displacement of people from the countryside to cities with more sedentary jobs, the routine use of transportation and the consumption of cheaper food with less nutritional value.

PANAMA

The whitefly can cause crop losses in tomatos by transmiting various viruses to the crop and Begomovirus severely affects tomato production in Central America. Scientists led by the Central Agricultural Research Institute in Panama are developing resistant varieties which may be available to producers in the short term. The team, which has collaborated with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, has conducted a series of field trials in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Panama with promising results.