International issue | January 2018

S&T Policy

Litigation

Industrial policy in check

In response to a ruling by a WTO panel, the Brazilian government considers changes in laws and in the ways in which it encourages R&D

Innovation

A worrisome calm

The PINTEC survey found stability in the number of Brazilian companies that innovated between 2012 and 2014 and observed increasing difficulties for industry

INDICATORS

A map of scientific competencies

Study shows where researchers are concentrated and describes the impact of their production in the 15 administrative regions of the state of São Paulo

Gender

The search for balance

A study comparing scientific output by women in a range of countries highlights Brazil’s improvement

Science

Physiology

Weight across generations

Among rats, the effects of excessive or insufficient feeding can be transmitted to children and grandchildren

Neuroscience

Hunting circuits

Two neural pathways that originate in the brain’s amygdala control the aggressive behavior of predators

Paleontology

Shelter for giants

Extinct for 10,000 years, ground sloths and giant armadillos may have built the largest paleoburrows ever discovered on Earth

Physics

Quantum trickster

A Brazilian group controlled the heat generated by atomic nuclei

Electronics Engineering 

Chip for particle collisions

Brazilian researchers develop and test a device to be installed in the Large Hadron Collider at Cern

ASTRONOMY

Hard and lifeless

Even though they resemble Earth, the crusts of some rocky exoplanets may be too rigid to be habitable

Technology

Nanotechnology

Alternative uses for a plant fiber

Brazilian companies are investing in nanocellulose, a promising material for reinforcing plastic and cement, and the production of prostheses and sensors

Agriculture 

Biological control against citrus greening

Companies invest in small wasps produced in the lab to combat insects that spread diseases to orange groves

LIVESTOCK

Cattle genes

Knowledge of bovine genetics could help farmers select Nelore cattle with tender meat

Metallurgical engineering 

More efficient metals

Technological innovations enhance performance of steel used in electric motors and power transformers

Humanities

Archaeology

Settlers and farmers

Ancestors of the Jê group lived in pit houses and cultivated cassava and beans in the Santa Catarina highlands a thousand years ago

History

Seeking freedom and survival

Slave women used strategies to purchase their liberation and obtain employment