south america

Latest in south america

Example of knotted khipu cords next to ruler for siz referenc

Human hair-based recordkeeping was widespread in Incan Empire

Children playing in polluted sand in front of AES Gener thermoelectric plant in Chile

For years, Chile exploited its environment to grow. Now it’s trying to save it.

How to survive a tsunami

How to survive a tsunami

By Kate Baggaley

An illustration of an asteroid, at right foreground, passing through Mercury's orbit, seen in the middle background, with the glare from the sun shining brightly on the left.

This speedy space rock is the fastest asteroid in our solar system

Male black jacobin hummingbird on a branch

Hummingbirds routinely hit 9Gs like it’s no big deal

pumpkin toadlet brachycelphalus rotenbergae with mouth open

This adorable new toadlet has glowing bones

By Sara Chodosh

An Alagoas Brazilian screech owl

Whose hoot? DNA and sound studies help define two new owl species in Brazil.

By Erin Fennessy

The fossilized skull of the newly discovered L. aliocranianus dinosaur.

This newly discovered dinosaur is called ‘the one who causes fear’ for a reason

The next pandemic could be lurking anywhere. Can this wildlife-tracking app help prevent it?

By Brian Barth, Flávia Milhorance

A pack of llamas on top of a canyon in Peru

Llamas are hotter than ever. Here’s why.

By Emily Wakild/The Conversation

How 25 chinchillas could save a mountain

By Ed Stoddard/Undark

A drone-photograph shows an illegal mine in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. The image shows two artisanal pools, where the miners separate gold from rocks using mercury.

A pandemic-created ‘gold rush’ in the Amazon is destroying Indigenous lands

By María Paula Rubiano A.

Aerial view of deforested area of the Amazon rainforest

The Amazon has shrunk by 24,000 square miles over the last decade

By Liberty Vittert/The Conversation

South America’s second-largest forest is burning, just like the Amazon

South America’s second-largest forest is burning, just like the Amazon

By Joel E. Correia/The Conversation

These Latin American teens refuse to be overlooked at global climate strikes

These Latin American teens refuse to be overlooked at global climate strikes

By Maria Paula Rubiano/Scienceline

Turns out there’s a shocking number of electric eels, and some could give off 1,000 volts

Turns out there’s a shocking number of electric eels, and some could give off 1,000 volts

Fires in the Amazon have given us a lot to worry about, but the Earth’s oxygen supply isn’t one of them

Fires in the Amazon have given us a lot to worry about, but the Earth’s oxygen supply isn’t one of them

By Scott Denning/The Conversation

Archaeologists unearth more evidence that when a civilization drinks together, it stays together

Archaeologists unearth more evidence that when a civilization drinks together, it stays together

By Alex Schwartz

Termites built themselves a landfill the size of Great Britain

Termites built themselves a landfill the size of Great Britain

By Charlie Wood

A snake with blue eyes

These snakes slurp snails, and that’s great for farmers