Notes

Archaeology

The new dimensions of Ur

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

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Paleontology

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

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Innovation

More agile drones

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

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Economy

Billion-dollar divorce

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

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Archaeology

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

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Preprints

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

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Geology

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.

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Biology

Why females live longer

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

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Genetics

America, the African mosaic

The transatlantic slave trade shaped the genetic makeup of populations across North and South America

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Environment

Beaches at risk of disappearing

Half of the planet's beaches could disappear by the end of the century due to rising sea levels and erosion caused by climate change

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Interview

Gene therapy on the horizon

American biochemist Jennifer Doudna, from the University of California, Berkeley, is one of the best-known names behind the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique

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Astrophysics

Mars in super-high resolution

In March, NASA presented the highest resolution panoramic image ever taken of the surface of Mars

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Nanotechnology

Perfectly ripe fruit

A partnership between the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation and Siena Company has resulted in the development of a sensor that monitors the ripeness of fruit

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Funding

Victories for science in Brazilian Congress

The scientific community earned two victories in Brazilian Congress in March

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Medicine

The risks of malaria during pregnancy

Malaria during pregnancy can lead to premature birth and low birth weight

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Sports

Sports and injuries

Athletes over the age of 30 should pay special attention to injury risk

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Environment

Smoke at the top of the world

Since the eighteenth century, global industry has been leaving its mark at one of the highest points in the world: the Himalayas mountain range

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Zoology

A smell and heat detector

A dog’s nose is also capable of measuring nearby heat, according to a new study

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Biodiversity

The diversity of the Caatinga

The Caatinga is home to a range of flowering plants proportionally more diverse than the Amazon rainforest

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Economy

Undeclared foreign funding

The US Department of Education is investigating Harvard and Yale universities for failing to declare funding received from foreign governments

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Geography

Human activity alters river mouths

Amazon River delta is shrinking by 1 km2 per year because of siltation

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Zoology

What’s for dinner?

The cuttlefish eats less at lunch when its favorite dish is served for dinner

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Biodiversity

Colorful but discreet

If you look very closely through a patch of bromeliads, searching leaf by leaf, you may be lucky enough to find a brightly colored leafhopper

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Fapesp

New member of the FAPESP Board of Trustees

Biomedical scientist Helena Bonciani Nader, from the Federal University of São Paulo, has joined the FAPESP Board of Trustees

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Public health

Keep an eye on your waist

Waist circumference indicates risk of heart and metabolic diseases

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Communication

A platform for sharing Brazilian science

Agência Bori, an online platform designed to help journalists access Brazilian science, began operating on February 12

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Virology

The Zika virus and astrocytes

First isolated in Africa in 1947, the Zika virus has a predilection for brain cells

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Physics

Physicists immobilize glass particle

A research group in Austria cooled the first solid state object—a nanometer fragment of glass a thousand times smaller than a grain of sand

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Genetics

Neanderthal genes in Africa

According to the research, Europeans and Asians have about three times as much Neanderthal DNA as Africans

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Astronomy

A giant, sleeping galaxy

An international group of astronomers has identified a rare galaxy, known only as XMM-2599, which formed very early in the history of the universe

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