Issue # 203 _ January 2013

S&T Policy

Education

The New Scientists

Fair awards student projects in São Paulo and attracts public-school students to research

Dissemination

Biota goes to school

Conferences will take knowledge about biodiversity to high school students and teachers

OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

Pioneering voyage

Alpha-Crucis brings together researchers from three countries to gather data on heat variation in the South Atlantic

Development

Protecting science from bureaucracy

A growing number of universities and institutions are establishing offices that support researchers

Geosciences

The essence of rocks

USP starts using new electronic microprobe to analyze chemical elements in minerals

Science

GEOLOGY

Dance of the river basins

Over the past 1.3 million years, the São Francisco River Basin has lost area to the Doce River Basin, which, in turn, has lost area to the Paraíba do Sul River Basin

Astronomy

Stars that the wind blew out

Gas expelled by stellar explosions interrupted the growth of dwarf galaxies

ECOLOGY

More uniform forests

Proliferation of native species resistant to environmental disturbances reduces biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest

Zoology

Why are the whales dying?

Study identifies bone abnormalities commonly found in humpback whales on the Brazilian coast

Technology

Natural Resources

Açaí: From the Ground to the Snack Bar

An increase in consumption is intensifying competition, causing a price crisis, and exposing the difficulties of moving from extractivism to agribusiness

natural resources

Luzeia: The Superguaraná

Researchers plan to increase productivity with new varieties and adjustments in planting techniques

Biochemistry

Relief during pregnancy

Brazilian scientists develop a pioneer drug for treating hypertension, which affects up to 7% of pregnant women in Brazil

Business research

Global reference

Innovations in women’s health care products and sunscreens at Johnson & Johnson are exported to the rest of the world

Humanities

TERRITORIAL EXPANSION

Ingenuity and art in Colonial Brazil

Book traces the role of Portuguese military engineers in the territorial expansion process

PERSONALITY

Niemeyer in the academic spotlight

Studies analyze the work of Brasilia’s creator