Issue # 242 _ April 2016

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Cover

Seeking to understand the origin of the forest
In a joint effort to explain the biological diversity of Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest, biologists and geologists have created the new field of geogenomics By

S&T Policy

Institution

Biodiversity in rural São Paulo

Institute of Biosciences at Rio Claro is a leader in research at Unesp

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INTERNATIONALIZATION

A Northern pole

The Theoretical Physics Institute in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte State, has new headquarters and will sponsor long-term events involving scientists from several countries

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LEGISLATION

Changing expectations

Biodiversity Law creates new rules for researchers and companies, but also leads to regulatory delays

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SCIENCE COMMUNICATION

A shortcut to finding papers

Tool assists users in finding open-access articles or free copies of papers published in commercial journals

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Science

Ecology

Impacts visible at sea

Pollutants have traveled 200 kilometers (km) north and south of the mouth of the Doce River, affecting conservation sites, changing the ecological equilibrium, and accumulating on the ocean floor

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HEALTH

The Zika connections

Teams of researchers in Brazil and abroad have found evidence that the Zika virus causes microcephaly

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NEUROSCIENCE

At the root of animal infanticide

Newborn odor activates cells in a nasal organ of adult mice associated with instinctive behavior

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PALEONTOLOGY

In the water with the spinosaurs

Study strengthens the hypothesis that the largest carnivorous dinosaur also lived in semiaquatic environments

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ASTRONOMY

Planets with tails

Gas giants located close to their stars can launch molecules essential to life into space

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PHYSICS

Quarks and their exotic combinations

Recently discovered particles reveal possible new arrangements for the principal components of matter

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Technology

BIOENGINEERING

Enhancing autonomy

Electronic canes, exoskeletons and Braille typewriters aim to improve the lives of people with disabilities

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Acoustics

Subaquatic sounds

Hydrophones reveal a world of sound from the bottom of the sea

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NEW MATERIALS

Green packaging

Fruits and vegetables are raw material for edible plastics that protect food

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Chemistry

Early cancer diagnosis

New biosensors should be able to detect pancreatic and ovarian tumors more quickly

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Humanities

History

The quilombo economy

Today’s black rural communities continue to sell their farm surplus to neighboring markets

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SOCIETY

Confronting the silence surrounding death

Health care professionals should talk about death among themselves and with patients’ families, specialists suggest

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History of Health

São Paulo as a Laboratory

The preventive approach held sway in medical practice in the state of São Paulo in the second half of the 20th century

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