Issue # 148 _ June 2008

Cover

An essential protein: Brazilian team explains the functioning of the healthy form of prion; this is crucial for the protection of the nerve cells

S&T Policy

Justice

Freedom to advance

Historical decision handed down by the Brazilian Supreme Court officially supports the search for the first Brazilian strain of embryo stem cells

Sociology

The drunkenness of discovery

Why scientists derive so much satisfaction from their work

Dissemination

Pictures of preservation

Berlin exhibition shows the wealth of Brazilian biodiversity, as registered by FAPESP projects

Universities

Free zone in the desert

Arab Emirate of Dubai invests US$ 10 billion to become international center of higher education

Science

Physiology

More food and forests in the air

Plants insatiability for carbon dioxide paves the way to producing more food in less space, also easing global warming

Agriculture

Biological fertilizer

Bacteria replace nitrogen fertilizers as instigators of sugarcane growth

Climate change

Forest in a bind

Cleaner air in the Northern Hemisphere may lead to worse droughts in the Amazon Region from 2025 onwards

Physics

The musketeers of the atomic world

The motto of fast-growing e-Science is the same as that of the heroes of the Dumas novel: one for all and all for one

Zoology

A seductive dance

The behavior of the blue-backed manakin determines its genetic variability

Neurology

The waves of intelligence

The pace of the brain's function may indicate improved learning ability

Technology

Space

Space lens

A Brazilian-made camera that takes photographs of the earth to equip Chinese-Brazilian satellite Cbers-3

Information Technology

Open code

The use of open software grows within companies and among researchers

Engineering

Inside the packaging

Company from São Paulo develops X-ray equipment to detect metal, glass and stone particles in foods

Humanities

International Relations

An alliance without progress

Research shows the difficulties of US-Brazil relations

History

Osório never had to be a nerd

Biography of this military figure reveals memory failure