The toco toucan bill works as a precision thermal radiator
The toco toucan controls its body temperature by opening and closing blood vessels in its huge bill, shedding up to sixty percent of resting heat without losing water.
Anne Silva
The Amazon Fungus That Eats Plastic and Turns Trash Into Fertilizer
Brazilian scientists have already cataloged 120 strains of fungi that digest synthetic polymers in the soil of Pará, turning river plastic into fertilizer and cementing the Amazon as the planet’s biggest biotech pharmacy.
The Amazon Snake That ‘Swims’ Through the Air
High in the Amazon canopy lives a snake that glides between treetops with an efficiency that stuns aerospace engineers. It does not fall: it navigates the air.
Amazon Tree Shrank Tumors 70% in Early Lab Tests
A single molecule from the bark of an Amazon tree shrank solid tumors by 70% in recent lab tests, as Brazilian science probes its potential against cancer.
The Dinosaur-Era Giant Turtle That Reclaimed the Amazon’s Beaches
An animal that has swum the oceans since the age of the dinosaurs chose the remote beaches of Amapá to breed, and this season delivered one of the highest nest counts recorded there in decades.
Spix’s Macaw Takes Flight Again in Brazil’s Backlands
The last wild Spix’s macaw vanished in 2000. Today, captive-bred birds are relearning how to survive in the wild in Curaçá, in Brazil’s Bahia state.
The Fish That Quietly Cleans the Amazon’s Rivers
A single school of filter-feeding fish processes truckloads of organic debris each low-water season. Meet the pacu-bosta, the invisible worker keeping Amazon rivers alive.
Brazil’s Pantanal Is Coming Back to Life as Rare Species Return
Animals once considered locally extinct are reappearing in Brazil’s Pantanal, where sightings of rare species have jumped 40% in just five years.
The Emerald Frog That Hid Ten Meters Above the Amazon Floor
A field expedition in the Alto Solimoes region found a small, vivid green frog that defies known classifications. Its metallic call gave away an unlikely home: bromeliads suspended high in the canopy.
The First Plant on Land: How Life Left the Ocean and Turned Earth Green
About 470 million years ago, the first plants left the water for a world of bare rock. In doing so they reshaped the atmosphere, built the soil and turned Earth green.