Tag:  Colombia science

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Colombia wants to repatriate scientists, dengue mosquito-eating bats in Nicaragua, and ecological conflicts in Latin America.

Colombia Colombia’s science agency Colciencias has launched the “Time to Return ” program with the intention of repatriating Colombian scientists to promote high-level projects in science and technology in the country. LatinAmericanScience.org has covered this repatriation program. Nicaragua Nicaragua’s Bat Conservation Program has conducted research in a colony of bats inhabiting its Masaya volcano, finding … Continue reading Colombia wants to repatriate scientists, dengue mosquito-eating bats in Nicaragua, and ecological conflicts in Latin America.

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Engineering technology for health in Mexico, developing new food flours in the Dominican Republic, and biodiversity in Costa Rica

ANTARCTICA Brazil will rebuild the scientific base that burned down last year on King George Island in Antarctica. It will cover 4,500 square meters and include 17 laboratories for 64 people. ARGENTINA Researchers at the National University of Salta have developed low-cost solar water heaters for use by indigenous communities in the region. In addition, … Continue reading Engineering technology for health in Mexico, developing new food flours in the Dominican Republic, and biodiversity in Costa Rica

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Fighting dengue in Paraguay, climate change in the Brazilian Amazon, and ancient microorganisms in Antarctica.

ANTARCTICA

A team of scientists has determined that a major cause of melting corresponds to the bottom of submerging ice shelves.

Climate change could raise the temperature in the Brazilian Amazon by six degrees and convert 45% of rain forest areas into savannah. Credit: WikiCommons.

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.

Continue reading “Fighting dengue in Paraguay, climate change in the Brazilian Amazon, and ancient microorganisms in Antarctica.”

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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

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Thursday January 10

Ending hunger in Latin America, Colombia declares a new natural park, and Chile studies pollution and commuters ARGENTINA An individual from a rare species of armadillo was found by scientists outside Bahia Blanca, Argentina, though it died soon after discovery. The pink fairy armadillo is the smallest species of armadillo and is seldom found in … Continue reading Thursday January 10

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Thursday July 26

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

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Thursday July 19

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

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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

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Thursday July 5

Argentina upholds glacier protection law, a Colombian volcano is still rumbling and a scientist says northern Chile is due for a large earthquake. ARGENTINA Argentina’s “glacier law,” designed to protect water reserves and limit mining activity on and near glaciers in the country’s Andean west, was upheld by the Argentine Supreme Court this week. In … Continue reading Thursday July 5

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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