Highlights

biodiversity

Wildlife shrinks by 68% in five decades

The global populations of about 4,400 mammal, bird, reptile, fish, and amphibian species shrank by 68% between the years 1970 and 2016

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Pharmacology

Schistosomiasis medicine

The US FDA has granted orphan drug status to the immunomodulator P-MAPA for use against schistosomiasis

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Genetics

Where Vikings went

Researchers analyzed the remains of 442 humans found in Viking cemeteries in Scotland, concluding that the Viking identity was not limited to people with Scandinavian genetic ancestry

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Nanotechnology

A water-cooled chip

A group has proposed and manufactured a semiconductor chip equipped with an internal cooling system that works by pumping water through a three-dimensional network of microchannels

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Chemistry

Life on Venus?

An international group of researchers identified the presence of phosphine, a possible sign of life, in the atmosphere of Venus

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Biochemistry

The trigger for muscular strength

An international group of researchers has identified a chemical compound that functions as a molecular trigger for the strength gains caused by physical exercise

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Award

Helena Nader wins national award

On September 23, biochemist Helena Nader, a professor from the Federal University of São Paulo, received the Almirante Álvaro Alberto Award in Life Sciences

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Energy

Electric cars, the economy, and health

Replacing 25% of American cars with electric vehicles would save the country US$17 billion per year

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Environment

Record fires in the Pantanal in 2020

There were 2,534 wildfires in the Pantanal in the first half of 2020

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Data

Brazil climbs four places in the Global Innovation Index1

Between 2019 and 2020, Brazil climbed from 66th to 62nd in the list of 100 countries ranked by the Global Innovation Index

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Good practices

Fraud in conference proceedings

IOP Publishing, based in the United Kingdom, has retracted 25 physics and materials sciences/engineering conference proceedings papers

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Good practices

The Lancet acknowledges weaknesses in its review process

The scientific journal has announced plans to change its article-review process in order to prevent the publication of papers based on interpretations of large data sets that cannot be audited

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Good practices

Punishment for paper mills

Chinese government proposes sanctions for companies selling scientific papers on demand, which are most often fraudulent

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Photolab

Pond life

Tadpoles are as easy to find as they are difficult to identify

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Funding

Scientific entrepreneurship

São Paulo-based venture capital fund announces new investment cycle in radical innovation

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