An ichthyosaur cementery found in Chile, the aerodynamic ‘Brazuca’ World Cup ball, and Mexico’s huge new aquarium

Chile Paleontologists in southern Chile have discovered an ichthyosaur cemetery with at least 46 complete ichthyosaurs. Ichthyosaurs are marine reptiles that disappeared 99 million years ago. One of the fossils contained two embryos. Brazil Studies suggest that the World Cup ‘Brazuca’ ball’s aerodynamics will allow players to pass faster and kick the ball more accurately. … Continue reading An ichthyosaur cementery found in Chile, the aerodynamic ‘Brazuca’ World Cup ball, and Mexico’s huge new aquarium

Argentinosaurus walks, 1.5 million-year-old Antarctic climate data, and scientists find the first poisonous crustaceans.

ANTARCTICA Certain regions of Antarctica could be storing climate data dating back to more than 1.5 million years, according to recently published Swiss and German scientists. Ice cores have small air bubbles and thus function as an “archive ” of the composition of the atmosphere of the time they were formed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1OP-fKcjHc ARGENTINA Scientists at INTA … Continue reading Argentinosaurus walks, 1.5 million-year-old Antarctic climate data, and scientists find the first poisonous crustaceans.

Brazil successfully clones a cow from a fat cell, great white shark research in Mexico and Peru finds more dead animals on its coasts.

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. 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 … Continue reading Brazil successfully clones a cow from a fat cell, great white shark research in Mexico and Peru finds more dead animals on its coasts.

The benefits of shade-grown coffee in Colombia, tackling superbugs in Costa Rica, and deforestation in Nicaragua

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 … Continue reading The benefits of shade-grown coffee in Colombia, tackling superbugs in Costa Rica, and deforestation in Nicaragua

Developing probiotics in Argentina, using bees to pollinate coffee in Colombia, and the toxic effects of dispersants on coral in the Gulf of Mexico.

ARGENTINA Argentine researchers have developed a probiotic powder which includes bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus. This additive, which can be preserved up to a year with refrigeration, can be added to foods and liquids to “help with the nutritional deficiencies of the most vulnerable such as children and the elderly,” said the scientists from the … Continue reading Developing probiotics in Argentina, using bees to pollinate coffee in Colombia, and the toxic effects of dispersants on coral in the Gulf of Mexico.

Thursday November 29

Climate change is affecting Colombian coffee, Brazil struggles with biofuels, and how penguins forage in Tierra del Fuego. ARGENTINA Argentine scientists are studying foraging behavior of Magellanic penguins in the Beagle Channel off the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego. The birds seem to forage in three stages: for the first and third the penguins … Continue reading Thursday November 29

Thursday September 13

Chile’s ALMA telescope finds rare molecules surrounding a star, climate change has trees migrating in Peru, and Argentina’s guanacos are llama-non-grata. ARGENTINA Guanacos are now species-non-grata in Argentina following the announcement that the llama-like animal is a “harmful species” due to its population size, its biological characteristics, and the economic and social damage they bring … Continue reading Thursday September 13

Thursday August 30

Argentina deals with whale-hungry seagulls, work resumes at Brazil’s $13 billion Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, and a 1,200-year-old Mayan theater found in Mexico. ARGENTINA A booming gull population in Patagonia is causing strange foraging behavior in the birds. The gulls have been attacking and feeding on southern right whales off the coast of Chubut province … Continue reading Thursday August 30

Thursday August 23

Cropdusters found guilty of illegal spraying near Cordoba, Argentina, Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano spews lava and ash, and Chile to open up lithium mining. ARGENTINA UPDATE: In a landmark trial, a farmer and a pilot have been convicted of illegally cropdusting too close to a neighborhood in Cordoba, Argentina. This is the first time in Latin … Continue reading Thursday August 23

Thursday July 12

An avian flu epidemic in Mexico, the ongoing cholera outbreak in Cuba and genetically-modified mosquitos to be released in Brazil ARGENTINA Argentina is planning on building a 173 square mile wind farm in Chubut province, Patagonia. The China Development Bank Corp. has offered a $3 billion loan to Generadora Eolica Argentina del Sur (Geassa) for … Continue reading Thursday July 12

Friday June 22

Rio+20 Summit, cropdusting lawsuit and other environmental stories BRAZIL On the eve of Brazil hosting three days of environmental awareness and global strategizing, hundreds of demonstrators gathered along the Xingu river in the Amazonian north to protest the US$16 billion Belo Monte hydroelectric project, slated to open in 2015 and ramp up to full capacity … Continue reading Friday June 22