Issue # 249 _ November 2016

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Cover

A more vulnerable Brazil in the 21st century: Projections point to increased risk of natural disasters such as floods, landslides and extreme drought in the coming decades
A risk map of the world: With the exception of Japan, poor and developing countries are most vulnerable to natural disasters

S&T Policy

Training

The branches and roots of science’s family tree

Projects set out to trace the academic genealogy of Brazilian researchers

RECOGNITION

Mission: To think about the future of science

Anthropologist who coordinates a project financed by FAPESP is appointed to the council that advises the U.S. government

INFRASTRUCTURE

Speed test

Brazil loses momentum in world supercomputer ranking

PATENTS

An unusual patent champion

Brazilian universities redouble their efforts to transfer knowledge to society and engage in activities that businesses perform in other countries

Science

ECOLOGY

The harmful effects of illegal hunting

Prohibited in Brazil since the 1960s, hunting has reduced the population of several animal species and increased the risk of environmental imbalance

Biochemistry

Before the first bite

Giant spider releases enzyme-rich juice on its prey to initiate digestion

NEUROSCIENCE

Constant song

Neural mechanisms explain the vocal stability of songbirds

GEOLOGY

The exposed depths of the Earth

Underwater mapping helps scientists tell the story of the unusual origin of the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago

PHYSICS

Patterns and transformations

Based on ideas recognized by the 2016 Nobel Prize for Physics, a Brazilian group proposes ways to alter the electrical and magnetic properties of materials

Technology

PISCICULTURE

Tilapia’s turn

Studies on Brazil’s most abundant fish have resulted in a new variety, a vaccine and probiotics, in addition to genetic selection

Ophthalmology

Eye on the smartphone

Handheld devices that perform eye exams may facilitate remote diagnosis

Humanities

HISTORY

Black intellectuality during the Brazilian Empire

Before Abolition, publishers and scholars who were the descendants of slaves played an important social role

Arts

The radio era

Research analyzes Brazilian music between the first generation of samba and bossa nova

Indigenous Policy

A strategy of enticement

Imperial government sought to push native peoples off their lands by establishing cleric-run settlements and tempting them with the perks of civilization