Notes

Zoology

The crows and the empty set

With training, carrion crow were able to understand the empty set as a null numerical quantity close to one

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diversity

The NIH’s plan to combat racism

Francis Collins, director of the NIH introduced UNITE, a program launched to combat structural racism and increase diversity, equity, and inclusion

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Paleontology

The near extinction of sharks

Ocean sediment fossil records suggest that today's sharks are descended from the few survivors of a mass extinction that wiped out nearly all the shark species that lived in the early Miocene Epoch

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Biology

Back to life after 24,000 years

Rotifers of the Bdelloidea class are multicellular invertebrate organisms so small that they are usually only seen under a microscope

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Innovation

Earth-controlled temperature

A technology developed at the São Carlos School of Engineering of the University of São Paulo uses heat exchange between the subsoil and the foundation piles to acclimatize a building's interior

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Astrophysics

The oldest spiral galaxy

Astrophysicists have identified the oldest spiral galaxy ever observed

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Zoology

A giant water and food vacuum

African elephants are able to fill their nostrils with 3.7 liters of water in just 1.5 seconds

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COVID-19

Risk of death is higher among the poor in Chile

People under 40 living in poorer municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile, are 3.1 times more likely to die from complications associated with COVID-19 than those who live in more affluent regions

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COVID-19

Lasting consequences

People who survive SARS-CoV-2, even those not hospitalized, can suffer the effects of the infection for months after the most intense symptoms subside

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COVID-19

The virus and the loss of smell

The loss of smell that affects up to two-thirds of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 is a consequence of both the direct action of the virus and the inflammation it triggers in the olfactory system, according to a team of researchers

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COVID-19

Dengue increases risk of COVID-19 symptoms

The risk of developing COVID-19 symptoms when infected with the novel coronavirus is twice as high among individuals who have had dengue in the past

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Covid-19

Mask effectiveness tests

Researchers compared the quality of 227 types of face masks sold in Brazil, measuring their ability to block the novel coronavirus

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Zoology

Toads in the mist

In well-preserved remnants of the Atlantic Forest, a team of zoologists identified a peculiar new species of toad

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Archaeology

78,000-year-old human burial

The oldest known burial by modern humans in Africa took place about 78,000 years ago

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Education

More inclusive universities

Access to university education has expanded and is less socially unbalanced in Brazil

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Education

New UNIFESP dean sworn in

On May 7, obstetrician Nelson Sass and sociologist Raiane Patrícia Severino Assumpção officially took over as dean and vice dean of the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) for 2021–2025

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Funding

Direct funding to Africa

In April, African health experts published an open letter in the journal Nature Medicine, addressed to international funders of studies on health problems in Africa

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Geology

In the depths of a geyser

For the first time, geoscientists from the University of Utah and Yellowstone National Park, USA, have mapped the interior of the world's most powerful geyser

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Tecnology

Writing with the mind

A brain-to-computer interface has allowed a 65-year-old man paralyzed from the neck down to quickly write text on a computer screen by imagining himself writing the letters by hand

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Engineering

Chinese rover on Mars

Without a fanfare, China’s National Space Administration successfully landed its first rover on Mars

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Zoology

A very informative gesture

Mountain gorillas may be communicating with other members of their troop when they rise up on their hind legs and beat their chests with their hands to produce a loud, hollow sound

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History

Population decline in pre-colonial Amazonia

In response to environmental changes, epidemics, or wars, the populational decline of the Amazon region may have started 300 to 600 years before contact with European settlers

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COVID-19

New clues about blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine

A step has been taken towards explaining why the vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca can very rarely lead to the formation of blood clots

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COVID-19

The months-long consequences of COVID-19

The long-term effects of COVID-19 are becoming clearer

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COVID-19

The importance of the cellular response against the coronavirus

Fighting a SARS-CoV-2 infection is not solely the responsibility of antibodies, the proteins that adhere to the virus’s surface to prevent it from entering cells or mark it for destruction

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COVID-19

Two vaccines prevent infection by Sars-CoV-2

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are 80% effective at preventing SARS-Cov-2 infections after the first dose and 90% after the second

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COVID-19

Superior immunity

Studies of blood and tissue samples taken before the COVID-19 pandemic may help explain why the disease is more common and more severe in adults than in children

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Ingenuity

Successful flight on mars

NASA's robotic helicopter Ingenuity became the first aircraft designed on Earth to make a controlled and self-propelled flight on another planet

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paleontology

The pterosaur of the trees

A 160-million-year-old fossil discovered in Liaoning, northeast China, belongs to a new species of pterosaur, which has been generating curiosity

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Energy

Energy generated by vibration

Spanish startup Vortex Bladeless plans to start testing its innovative technique of generating wind energy from the vibrations of a vertical carbon fiber rod later this year

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