South America

New Zealand's science and technology contacts with South America

Auckland University's Centre for Latin American Studies

News

26 August 2010: A 400 year-old document shows how Peruvian natives used number. Read more

13 July 2010: A tiny, charismatic Colombian primate known for its distinctive punk-rock hairstyle, is in imminent danger of extinction, according to new population figures. Read more

12 July 2010: In a fascinating example of vocal mimicry, researchers have documented a wild cat species imitating the call of its intended victim: a small, squirrel-sized monkey known as a pied tamarin. This is the first recorded instance of a wild cat species in the Americas mimicking the calls of its prey. Read more

1 June 2010: A study of undergraduates in a five-year Brazilian forestry program finds that what students perceive as important change as they progress through the program. Read more

19 May 2010: Archaeologists in southern Mexico have discovered a 2,700-year-old tomb of a dignitary inside a pyramid that may be the oldest such burial documented in Mesoamerica. Read more

27 October 2009: A team at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina has shown sperm, and not just the fluid it bathes in, can transmit HIV. Read more

18 September 2009: A team of microbiologists at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET-PROIMI) in Tucumán, Argentina found living stromatolites in the Andes. Read more

3 September 2009: A scientist from the University of Chile, has re-examined Kammerer's experiments finding remarkable resemblances to newly discovered aspects of epigenetics, a flourishing new field of science which studies influences in inheritance beyond the DNA sequence. Read more

29 June 2009: Major study establishes a strong correlation between the extent of forest destruction and the incidence of the Amazon's most dangerous malaria vector, the mosquito Anopheles darlingi. Read more

29 June 2009: Combating high blood pressure is a global challenge. High blood pressure is on the increase in many Latin American countries, a situation set to worsen unless immediate action is taken. Read more

17 June 2009: Contrary to common belief, Brazil's policy of protecting portions of the Amazonian forest from development is capable of buffering the Amazon from climate change. Read more

16 June 2009: Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier is one of only a few ice fields worldwide that have withstood rising global temperatures. It advances. Read more

12 June 2009: Deforestation causes 'boom-and-bust' development in the Amazon. Read more

8 June 2009: An archeological site in northern Peru has an unusually large discovery of nearly 3 dozen people sacrificed some 600 years ago by the Incan civilization. Read more

5 June 2009: New research documents a surprising chemical weapon used by some Amazonian poison frogs. The study identified for the first time a family of poisons never before known to exist in these brightly colored creatures, the N-methyldecahydroquinolines. Read more

27 May 2009: The nearly intact fossil of an ancient sloth that lived 5 million years ago has been unearthed in Peru, a find about 4 million years older than similar ones discovered in the Americas. Read more

25 May 2009: A new species of yeast has been discovered deep in the Amazon jungle. Read more

25 May 2009: A Brazilian study found that people are subconsciously more likely to choose a partner whose genetic make-up is different to their own. Read more

19 May 2009: The first evidence of pre-industrial mercury pollution in the Andes. Read more

18 May 2009: Andes Mountains are older than previously believed. Read more

18 May 2009: By analyzing stalagmites from Amazon tributaries in Peru, scientist hope to find clues to reconstruct climate changes in the past. Read more

11 May 2009: The ongoing degradation of the Amazon rainforest has obscured the plight of its smaller sibling: the Atlantic forest in Brazil, which is a biodiversity hotspot. Once covering about 1.5 million square kilometres, the rainforest has been reduced to about one-tenth of its original area. Read more

20 April 2009: A magnitude 8.0. earthquake destroyed 90 percent of the city of Pisco, Peru on August 16, 2007. Scientists have analyzed data on this earthquake and its impact on regional topography. Using InSAR-based geodetic data and teleseismic data. Read more

15 April 2009: Honey bees change their brains before transitioning to a new job. A research provides valuable insight into the biochemistry behind the behavior, feats of navigation, and social organization in these animals. Read more

7 April 2009: Rates of colorectal cancer may have increased in Chile since introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification. Read more

7 April 2009: Dwarf in the elfin forests: tiniest frog in South America’s Andes Mountains. Read more

1 April 2009: The spread of malaria in Amazon, one of the world's most prevalent insect-borne diseases and a leading killer of children, may have more to do with landscape than precipitation as the world warms. Read more

25 March 2009: Scientist warns that palm oil development may threaten Amazon. Oil palm cultivation is a significant driver of tropical forest destruction across Southeast Asia. Read more

6 March 2009: The Mato Grosso, the most scarred region of the Amazon, is teetering on a deforestation “tipping point”, and may soon be on a one-way route to becoming a dry and relatively barren savannah. Read more

4 March 2009: Volcanic gases rising from deep within the Earth are fueling the world's highest-known microbial ecosystems, which have been detected near the rim of the 19,850-foot-high Socompa volcano in the Andes. Read more

2 March 2009: Bolivia pins hopes on lithium, electric vehicles. Read more

2 March 2009: The unusually intact fossilized skull of a giant, bony-toothed seabird that lived up to 10 million years ago was found on Peru's arid southern coast. Read more

19 February 2009: Global climate change threatens the complete disappearance of the Andes' tropical glaciers within the next 20 years, putting precious water, energy and food sources at risk, according to a World Bank report. Read more

3 February 2009: Ten new amphibian species discovered in Colombia, including three transparent "glass" frogs. Read more

3 February 2009: Nanotechnologist Chris Lodewijk has succeeded in significantly increasing the sensitivity of the new supertelescopes in Chile. Read more

28 January 2009: The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) released photos today from the first large-scale census of jaguars in the Amazon region of Ecuador—one of the most biologically rich regions on the planet. Read more

13 January 2009: Large Earthquakes Trigger A Surge In Volcanic Eruptions. An analysis of records in southern Chile has shown that up to four times as many volcanic eruptions occur. Read more

12 January 2009: Andes' Formation Was A 'Species Pump' For South America. The continent is the world’s most species-rich area. Read more

7 January 2009: Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon forests has flipped from a decreasing to an increasing trend, according to new annual figures recently released by the country's space agency INPE. Read more

6 January 2009: Ethanol sales top gasoline sales in a first in Brazil. Read more

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