Science News

Collaborations with various media allow us to create a bank of science news of relevance to the Puerto Rican and Hispanic communities and give a venue that our scientific members can use to keep their communities informed and engaged with science.

Also, the news archive can be used as a resource for students and educators

In this section you can find: news written by members of the CienciaPR team and written by other news media and which are reproduced with permission from the original source.

If you want to collaborate with CienciaPR in writing an article, please read this writing and editorial guide and then contact us.

Showing 51 - 60 of 74
To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.

Green area at risk

Submitted on 14 May 2007 - 11:16am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

Surrounded by 36 communities, 8 schools, 4 avenues and 7 residential projects Ander construction remain 7 acres of forest that provide oxygen, shadow and protection to residents of Cupey. There, neighbors are fighting to preserve the only green place left standing, known as mountain Monzón, to survive a housing project that, according to what they say, will destroy the mountain and a stream that flows into de Piedras River. The developer, Tens Development, wants to build a complex of four buildings with 312 apartments on the top of the mountain.

Lou Gehrig's disease in Puerto Rico

Submitted on 14 May 2007 - 11:04am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a disease of the motor neurons that control voluntary muscle movement, is gaining terrain in Puerto Rico. The causes for this debilitating disease are unknown. In Puerto Rico, 50 to 80 new cases are reported every year. The symptoms of this aggressive disease, which life’s expectancy after the diagnosis is three to five years, include loss of mobility, involuntary muscle contractions, cramps, difficulty swallowing and talking and respiratory problems. The risk of suffering ALS increases with age, in particular between 56 and 63 years of age. Although rare before the 20’s, some cases have been reported. According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, ALS –one of the 43 neuromuscular diseases the Association supports- is in fifth place in their registry of muscular diseases, with 189 cases. Between 1999 and 2007, 297 cases of ALS were registered, with 108 of the patients dying.

Recognition to our young talent

Submitted on 13 May 2007 - 10:58pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

A representative group of the thousands of talented students that go to public and private schools in Puerto Rico were recognized during the annual El Nuevo Dia Educador (ENDE) award ceremony. The students were recognized in the following categories: physical education, English, mathematics, fine arts, sciences, health and social studies. The winners in each category received a trophy, a medal, two round-trip tickets to any destiny in the United States and a $2,000 scholarship. Meanwhile the honorary mentions received a trophy, a medal, two tickets and a $1,000 scholarship.

In the race for an economic transformation

Submitted on 13 May 2007 - 10:47pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

To be successful in the knowledge-based economy we need to transform the Puerto Rican culture towards work and productivity, as well as a good dose of compromise, continuity and consensus, said economist Joaquín Villamil. According to Villamil, a knowledge-based society is based on how we learn, how that knowledge is transmitted and how that knowledge is translated into specific actions that generate economic impact. It is from that perspective that the economist emphasized Puerto Rico’s need to adopt a systemic focus where a reform of the educational system modifies and makes the institutional frame more flexible, and develops the ability to create partnerships and networks if we really want to compete it this crowded global scenario.

Tags: 

Human capital is key

Submitted on 13 May 2007 - 10:42pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

Improve the industrial incentives package and controlling costs is an important task for Puerto Rico to stay attractive as a business place for the pharmaceutical industry, but the vital task is to strengthen our local human capital. This is what Enrique Alejandro, director of Finances for Pfizer in Vega Baja, thinks. He explained that strengthening the work force, together with the need of being more proactive in the development of new technologies will be key elements for the Island to stay competitive as an important place for pharmaceutical production, especially now that a good part of the patents of products manufactured in Puerto Rico will expire in the upcoming years.

Large and very different the rats of the past

Submitted on 13 May 2007 - 10:38pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

We all know that you can find rodents pretty much anywhere in Puerto Rico, but, since when are they living in the Island? Currently there are three species of rats and mice that live in Puerto Rico: the grey rat (Rattus rattus), the Norwegian rat (Rattus novergicus) and the common mouse (Mus musculus). Before these world renowned rodents, even before Indians and Europeans, Puerto Rico was populated by four species of rodents, very different to the modern ones. We know about them through fossils’ studies. The Puerto Rican giant hutia (Elasmodontomys obliquus), the old Puerto Rican spiny rat (Puertoricomys corozalus), lesser Puerto Rican agouti (Heteropsomys insulans), and Antillian cave rat (Heteropsomys antillensis) fed and lived in Island’s forests about 7,000 years ago. One of the most notable characteristics of these endemic rodents is their large size; spiny rats could weigh 4.7 pounds (as much as an adult cat) and the giant hutia could weigh about 32 pounds.

Guardians of a city nest

Submitted on 13 May 2007 - 10:25pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

A marine turtle has caused a group of environmentalists to camp at Condado beach challenging sun and rain to protect the young leatherback turtle’s nest. Day and night these citizens take turns to watch the hundreds of leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) eggs in the sand of el Condado’s busy beach, near the Vending Street area. The leatherback turtle is an endangered species since 1970.

Millionaire Johnson & Johnson expansion

Submitted on 13 May 2007 - 10:19pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

As part of its expansion plan in Puerto Rico, pharmaceutical Johnson & Johnson started the construction of new installations in Gurabo, at a cost of $60 million, for the manufacture of the drug Concerta, used for the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder. The new construction of Janssen Ortho LLC, one of 11 J&J subsidiaries in the Island, is the second part of an expansion of about $150 million that the multinational is undergoing in Gurabo for the production of two drugs, the other one being Invega, one of its main products used to treat schizophrenia.

Puerto Rico advertised in World's biggest biotechnology meeting

Submitted on 12 May 2007 - 10:05am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

A Government delegation, presided by Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, and integrated by the Economic Development and Commerce Department secretary Ricardo Rivera-Cardona; the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRICO) executive director Boris Jaskille; the Science and Technology Trust executive director, Luis E. Rodríguez; the president of the University of Puerto Rico, Antonio García Padilla; the Economic Development Bank president, Annette Montoto and representatives of biosciences companies and the service sector, traveled to BIO 2007 in Boston to represent Puerto Rico as a competitive market and promote life sciences investment.

Tags: 

Biotechnologic connection

Submitted on 12 May 2007 - 10:00am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

In the next few months, Puerto Rico could make an alliance with one of the main research and development centers in the United States, through an agreement that would put forward the Island’s mission of becoming a knowledge-based economy. During BIO 2007, the largest international biotechnology meeting in the World, held in Boston, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, which had a multisectorial representation, had important conversations with key representatives of the Research Triangle Park Foundation in North Carolina. The Puerto Rico Science and Technology Trust is also in conversations with the New Jersey Technology Center, the Trust’s homologue in that state. On the other hand Luis Rodriguez, director of the Trust, said that after a meeting with representatives of an incubator known as CIMIT (Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology), in Boston, they are considering bringing a similar model to Puerto Rico. Unlike other incubators, CIMIT, Rodriguez explained, fosters team work and integrates academic research from universities like Harvrad, MIT and clinical centers like Beth Israel and Mass General, to mention a few. He said that CIMIT encourages mentoring, which is considered essential to turn scientific research findings into a business or company. Another important meeting for Puerto Rico was a lunch with Amgen’s global research and development vice-president, Joe Miletich. “ Ican imagine that if Miletich wants to have lunch with Puerto Rico is because he wants to learn about our research alternatives, and that opens a window of possibilities for the future we want in a knowledge based economy”, said governor Acevedo Vilá.

Tags: 

Pages

Subscribe to Noticias