Science

Psychiatry

Battling persistent depression

Studies suggest that low doses of psychedelic anesthetics may be beneficial to people who do not respond to conventional medication

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Health

Life-saving vaccines

Butantan produces 100 million doses of nine vaccines each year

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Health

Partnership for a dengue vaccine

A Butantan vaccine in final trials leads to a US$100 million agreement with a US pharma company

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Astronomy

Unusual Stars

Researchers puzzled by recent discoveries of stars with variable brightness

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Oceanography

The progressive destruction of Brazilian beaches

Loss or accumulation of sand and mud has altered 60% of the Brazilian coastline

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Biochemistry

Green, yellow, or red

Bioluminescence research sheds new light on the mechanisms behind firefly colors

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Ecology

The fragile DNA of sharks

Overfishing could further decrease the naturally low genetic diversity of some commercially valuable species

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Medicine

Searching for rare diseases

Number of Brazilians diagnosed with uncommon genetic pathologies increases 150% in four years

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Oncology

Doubling the effort against cancer

Hospitals such as ICESP and A.C.Camargo combine basic research with applied research in the search for better treatments for tumors

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Tropical diseases

A center for safeguarding health in the Amazon

Founded in 1936, the Evandro Chagas Institute produces world-leading research on infectious and parasitic diseases and environmental issues

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Interview

Francis Halzen: In pursuit of neutrinos and cosmic rays

Lead scientist at IceCube observatory comments on the recent discovery of high-energy particles

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Physics

International meeting point

Instituto Principia will bring together researchers from across Brazil and abroad through projects with a maximum duration of six months

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Collections

A foundation under threat

With scientific collections numbering 600,000 items, the Zoobotanical Foundation of Rio Grande do Sul is struggling for survival

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Heritage

First items salvaged

A rare meteorite and fragments of Brazil’s most ancient human fossil have been found in the rubble of the National Museum

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Philosophy of Science

New origins

Brazilian versions of the Charles Darwin classic puts into context the development of evolution theory

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Biology

Misleading similarities between species

Animals and plants that share a great likeness do not always have similar evolutionary histories

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Archaeogenetics

When indigenous people occupied Lagoa Santa

Ancient DNA reveals rapid human colonization of South America 14,000 years ago

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ARCHITECTURE

Paths of reconstruction

UNESCO specialists will help Brazil rebuild the São Cristóvão Palace using modern security techniques

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ARCHIVAL SCIENCE

In memoriam

The National Museum's Historical Archives, which were consumed by the fire, will be reconstituted based on records made over the years on a variety of media

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MUSEOLOGY

The hidden lives of museum collections

Preservation of museum collections involves complex work and multidisciplinary teams

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Amazonia

Brother in the North

Emílio Goeldi Museum of Pará reaches 152nd anniversary with 4.5 million items preserved, but few protected

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BOTANY

The roots of knowledge

Installed a decade ago in its own building at Quinta da Boa Vista, the herbarium survived intact

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ZOOLOGY

Saved fauna

The National Museum and USP Zoology Museum hold vast animal collections that can be difficult to preserve

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GEOSCIENCES

The ruins of rare stones

The geology and paleontology collection at the National Museum contained 70,000 pieces, such as meteorites, unique pterosaurs, and mineral specimens from the Portuguese royal family

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INTERVIEW

Niède Guidon: “I’m going to open the Museum of Nature and then I will rest”

After four decades in the Serra da Capivara, the archaeologist confirms that she will leave Piauí after the opening of the new exhibition space

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NATURAL HISTORY

A new window on the sertão

The foundation created by archaeologist Niède Guidon is set to inaugurate its Museum of Nature in December at Serra da Capivara National Park in Piauí

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Archaeology

Prehistory in pieces

The skull of Luzia and a 2,800-year-old Egyptian mummy were among the more than 100,000 items in the archaeology and biological anthropology collections

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SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Rebuilding heritage

Partnerships with indigenous peoples and community associations will be decisive to the restoration of ethnographic and linguistic collections

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GRADUATE STUDIES

Studies in jeopardy

Fire affects six of the institution’s graduate programs, of which two are world-class

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HISTORY

Memories indelible by fire

For 200 years, the National Museum contributed knowledge in the natural sciences and inspired the creation of several other science museums

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