Redação

Gene affects the height of Peruvians

Genetic alterations may partly explain why Peruvians are one of the shortest peoples in the world

Gelatin optical fiber

Researchers used agar, a type of gelatin extracted from algae, to develop a biodegradable and biocompatible optical fiber

The bigger the tusk, the better

Biologists measured the tusks of 245 males collected in Greenland from 1983 to 2018 and concluded that the organ may play a role in sexual selection

Governor extends FAPESP director’s mandate

The governor of São Paulo, João Doria, reappointed Fernando Menezes de Almeida as administrative director of FAPESP for a further three years

Reclusive and under threat

Deforestation is destroying the habitat of the timid and elusive short-eared dog, the only canid species endemic to the Amazon

At least 125 COVID-19 vaccines are in development, with 10 already undergoing clinical trials

Vaccines in the clinical trials phase worldwide and in development in Brazil (as of May 27, 2020)

University to pay US$3.7 million to settle allegations of fraud

Rice University has agreed to pay US$3.7 million to the United States government to settle a lawsuit that accused its directors of violating rules on the use of funding from the National Science Foundation

Publishers team up to identify altered images

Major publishers of scientific journals worldwide have created a working group to create new standards and promote technologies capable of detecting manipulated or duplicate images in papers

Graphene-coated microspheres

Light emitted by an optical fiber travels through the center of a glass microsphere and interacts with the graphene that coats its surface

How science helps environmental conservation

Biota-Fapesp program reaches its 20th anniversary lending scientific bases to the creation of nature preservation areas and the search for sustainable development in São Paulo state

In violin bow construction, each wood type is unique

Biologist Eduardo Longui, from the Forest Institute of São Paulo, and architect and bowmaker Daniel Lombardi search for alternatives to brazilwood for manufacturing bows for cellos and violins. | 10'03

Research during the quarantine

Science fights back

In just four months, 8,000 scientific articles have been published on Covid-19, more than 70 drugs tested against SARS-CoV-2, and the first vaccines trialed on humans

Banning travel alone will not stop the pandemic

Public health actions, such as early testing, washing hands, social distancing, and self-isolation are likely to be more effective in reducing the transmission rate of the SARS-CoV-2 virus than simply reducing national and international travel

Monkeys are the best animal model

Monkeys appear to be the best animals for testing SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and drugs

Thermal camera identifies fever from a distance

Researchers developed a drone equipped with a thermal camera capable of measuring a person’s temperature from a distance

The ideal fabric for homemade masks

A mixture of cotton and natural silk or chiffon is the best combination for making homemade masks capable of blocking the SARS-CoV-2 virus

Virus on the attack

Transmission electron microscope images provide a detailed look at how SARS-CoV-2 attacks, infects, and replicates in a culture of Vero cells

Paper and sponge made from pollen

Researchers transformed grains of sunflower pollen into a microgel with controllable properties and synthesized products with consistencies of gel, paper, and sponge

The new dimensions of Ur

Ur may have occupied an area up to eight times greater than previously estimated by archaeologists in the 1980s

A giant tortoise

The largest freshwater turtle that ever existed, possibly the largest of all turtles, lived between 13.8 million and 5.3 million years ago in South America, inhabiting a larger area than previously thought

More agile drones

Engineers have developed a system that allows drones to detect and quickly avoid moving objects in the air

Billion-dollar divorce

The joint venture announced two years ago between Embraer and Boeing has been canceled

Primitive gardens in the Amazon

Evidence of cassava and pumpkin cultivation, dated at 10,350 and 10,250 years ago respectively, helped an international team of researchers to identify 4,700 artificial forests in the Llanos de Moxos region in Bolivia

Preprints and published articles

A study led by researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro compared preliminary scientific manuscripts shared on preprint repositories with their final versions published in scientific journals after peer review

Rain awakens volcano in Hawaii

An abnormal volume of rainfall in early 2018 may have intensified the eruption of Kīlauea, a volcano in Hawaii, USA, in May of the same year.

Why females live longer

The difference in lifespan between the two sexes, the researchers noted, is not due to different aging rates

Scientific publications on artificial intelligence¹

The number of scientific articles on artificial intelligence (AI) published worldwide tripled

Mysterious and fraudulent authorship

The scientific journal Future Generation Computer Systems recently announced the retraction of a 2018 article

A keen eye for detecting manipulation

In an effort to improve the quality of the scientific articles it publishes, the Journal of Clinical Investigation began requiring that all authors provide the raw data produced by their experiments