Peru
A group of Polish, Peruvian and Colombian archaeologists have discovered in the Atacama desert a previously unknown agricultural culture dating back to the fourth century AD. Objects like camelid headdresses, bows and arrows were found.
Nicaragua
The Chinese company KHND has unveiled the route for its proposed 278-km canal in Nicaragua. Three times longer than the Panama canal, the $50 billion project hopes to stimulate jobs and development.
Colombia
The director of Colombia’s state science entity Colciencias has stepped down amid a controversy about budget cuts.
Brazil
A natural shift to wetter climatic conditions could have converted Amazon grasslands into rainforest around 2,000 years ago, says a new PNAS study.
Mexico
Mexican scientists have found that the genes MAML3 and PAX3 are associated with a type of cancer that deforms the nose and face. It is a rare type of cancer that is generally diagnosed as something else.
Mexican researchers published an atlas with short RNA sequences of 31 species of plants and two seaweeds. The work contributes to the understanding of how to preserve and modify plant genes. It also provides insights into the mechanisms of cellular regulation that have great implications in plant breeding.
Argentina
The biologist Sandra Diaz was the only Argentine named on a list of the most influential scientists in the world published by Reuters that includes 3,100 researchers from 21 fields. The researcher is coordinator of the DiverSus network, an international network studying biodiversity.