Science news out of Latin America
Originally published in Spanish in July 2012. Colombia has lost 50 percent of its glaciers in the last fifty years. Today, six glaciers remain nestled among the highest peaks of the three mountain ranges that traverse the country. Scientists are scrambling to monitor and explain the rising atmospheric temperatures and changing weather patterns that have … Continue reading Colombia’s disappearing glaciers
ANTARCTICA
A team of scientists has determined that a major cause of melting corresponds to the bottom of submerging ice shelves.
Researchers drilling to the bottom of Lake Hodgson of Antarctica have found microorganisms that date back 100,000 years. DNA studies will soon determine whether these findings are an unknown species.
ARGENTINA
A University of Mendoza study has demonstrated the neuroprotective effects of progesterone and their possible application as treatment for Parkinson’s disease. This research was commended by the Society of Biology of the Cuyo.
A team of researchers from the Universidad Nacional del Litoral has isolated bacteria from infant feces and breast milk for use in probiotics. The team’s intention is to grow up these microorganisms to commercial quantities so they can be incorporated into the daily glass of milk in low-income schools.
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. Argentina’s Leloir Institute recently discovered an enzyme, … Continue reading An alpaca biotechnology center in Peru, combating Chagas disease in Latin America, and the effects of intensive agriculture in Brazil.
Bolivia passes law to save pink freshwater dolphins, scientists want an ecological corridor to protect jaguars in Mexico, and more evidence that Patagonia was a landmass adrift 500 million years ago. ARGENTINA Argentine scientists have found more evidence that Patagonia was once a separate landmass from South America. The discovery of 500 million-year-old Archaeocyatha, small reef-building animals … Continue reading Thursday September 20
Argentines are protesting a new Monsanto factory in Cordoba, Peruvians are reviving ancient farming practices and almost 5 million chickens have been slaughtered in Mexico to contain the H7N3 avian flu. ARGENTINA A cropdusting lawsuit in Córdoba, Argentina resumed this week. Two soybean farmers and a pilot stand accused of cropdusting too close to urban … Continue reading Thursday July 26
Patagonian penguins wash up dead on Brazil’s shores, climate change affects citrus farmers in Argentina and extreme microbes found in the Atacama desert’s highest volcanoes. ARGENTINA Argentine citrus farmers are seeing production plummet 50 to 70 percent following alternating periods of intense heat and freezing temperatures. The producers are salvaging what they can, but the … Continue reading Thursday July 19
