As thousands of soldiers and government employees struggle to restore normalcy to Puerto Rico, a small group of scientists work against the clock to save more than 1,000 monkeys that could hold clues to some of the biggest mysteries about the human mind.

One of the first places hit by Hurricane Maria was Cayo Santiago, known as Isla de los Monos (Island of Monkeys), in Humacao, an outcropping of 40 acres off the east coast of Puerto Rico which is one of the  most important places in the world for research on how monkeys think, socialize and evolve.

In the past three years, the Nanotechnology Center from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez has impacted 1,512 students from 23 public schools where 73% of students are under the poverty level. Statistics show that in the past two years, students that participate in the Center are more likely to pursue careers related to STEM (science, technology, engineer and math) fields.

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San Juan - It has happened to us more than once that we find ourselves in a hurry and the elevator we are waiting for takes too long to arrive. Immediately, we proceed to press the up or down key repeatedly, until we give up and decide to take the stairs. From a research perspective, the explanation for this fenomena of frustation was unknown until today. Guided by Drs. Fabricio Do Monte and Gregory Quirk, a team of neuroscientists in the School of Medicine at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR-RCM), discovered how the brain reacts to a frustrating event.