Spain  MADRID 28/11/2023

A new study analyses how we choose friends at school

Similarity is not the key, according to this research which UC3M is taking part in

Researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and Loyola University have discovered that personality does not seem to have much influence when it comes to choosing social friendships at school, which are based more on the closeness of our contacts, according to a study recently published in the journal PNAS.

 
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Panama  PANAMÁ 24/05/2022

New interactive map of indigenous fishing practices around the pacific rim

Dedicated to “the Ancestors who stewarded the ocean” an interactive story map created by the Pacific Sea Garden Collective reawakens traditional ways of harvesting food from the sea from Panama to Australia to the Pacific Northwest

For thousands of years indigenous peoples have invented ingenious, often strikingly beautiful ways to harvest marine resources that, in combination with their belief systems, prevented overharvesting. But today, commercial fisheries and skyrocketing human populations are driving the future of resources from the sea toward a dangerous tipping point. Inspired by marine biologist Daniel Pauly, a group of indigenous knowledge holders and community members, scientists and artists led by Anne Salomon, a Simon Fraser University professor, formed the Pacific Sea Garden Collective and created an elegantly simple interactive map to share traditional ways that people interacted with the sea, hoping to inspire a more sustainable future.

 
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Spain  ESPAÑA 18/03/2022

An archaeological investigation analyses peasant life in Roman Spain

A research project delves into the life of peasant settlements based on the archaeological findings discovered in the Community of Madrid

The archaeology of the Roman period has traditionally been focused on monumental aspects, but very little is known about what the daily life of peasantry was like. An investigation by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) delves into the life of peasant settlements based on the archaeological findings discovered in the Community of Madrid, in the numerous rescue excavations that were carried out during the real estate bubble period.

 
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El Salvador  EL SALVADOR 15/02/2022

A genetic database to identify missing persons in El Salvador

The Central American country’s powerful database is essential to be able to identify victims and missing persons resulting from the civil war and also emigrants who lose their lives every year trying to cross the border between Mexico and the US

El Salvador, like other Central American countries, has suffered repression and human rights violations ever since colonial times. Indeed, social injustice in the country persisted and was a major trigger of the 1980-1992 armed conflict.

 

 
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Spain  MADRID 20/01/2022

A new digital gap in internet usage between rich and poor people has been detected

Social networks are used more often in poor neighbourhoods than in affluent neighbourhoods, while the latter tend to consume more information from traditional online media

Social networks are used more often in poor neighbourhoods than in affluent neighbourhoods, while the latter tend to consume more information from traditional online media. This is one of the conclusions of a scientific study undertaken by researchers at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), the IMDEA Networks Institute, and Orange Innovation which analyses the relationship between internet usage and variables such as education, income, or inequality in a specific area.

 

 
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Spain  ESPAÑA 23/07/2021

Expenses for university R&D&I increase moderately in Spain

According to the IUNE Observatory’s 2021 Report

Total public spending on university R&D&I gradually increased by 6% between 2016 and 2019, increasing from 8,989 to 9,554 million Euros, although it has still not reached 2008 pre-recession levels, when 10,628 million Euros were invested. This data comes from the most recent edition of the IUNE Observatory’s Report, which analysed university R&D&I over the last decade (2009-2018) and which allows its figures dating back to its first edition in 2003 to be consulted. The observatory belongs to the 4 Universities Alliance (A4U, in its Spanish acronym), formed by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB, in its Spanish acronym), the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM, in its Spanish acronym), the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M, in its Spanish acronym), and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF, in its Spanish acronym).

 
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Panama  PANAMÁ 27/05/2021

Microscopic wood analyses reveal source of cathedral altarpiece

Timber anatomy studies help inform conservation and restoration decisions for historical monuments, and may provide previously unknown information about the artistic techniques or materials used in the past

The Metropolitan Basilica Cathedral Santa María La Antigua in Panama is a national monument. Possibly dating back to the late 18th century, it has survived fires and termite damage. To understand the origin and history of the cathedral’s wooden structures and contribute scientific knowledge for conservation and restoration decisions, a team that included the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and collaborating institutions analysed its wood and identified its sources.

 

 
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Spain  MADRID 11/05/2021

A research study analyzes the mingling of documentary and fiction in movies and series

Systematically resorting to “facts” and “true stories” generates a false sensation of transparency and diminishes fiction’s artistic, political and reflexive potential

The hybridization of documentary and fictional discourses has recently adopted very specific forms with clear political and cultural implications. Continuously invoking “actual facts” in fictional audiovisual production goes beyond a mere strategy to endow the narrated story with greater authenticity. Systematically resorting to “facts” and “true stories” generates a false sensation of transparency and diminishes fiction’s artistic, political and reflexive potential, by turning it into merely “relating” some de-problematized facts and which are taken as a given (obviously, these supposed “facts” conceal very concrete discourses and which are heavily biased). This dogmatic turn in fiction is related to a progressive restriction and depletion of ways to narrate and telling, in the guise of audiovisual diversity that supposedly characterizes the digital multiplatform environment. These are some of the conclusions from a study by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) professor, Pilar Carrera, who analyzes the proliferation of para-documentary resources in audiovisual fiction.

 
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Spain  MADRID 28/04/2021

The factors that improve job resiliency in North American cities have been identified

“Job connectivity” is a key factor for the recovery of local economies

“Job connectivity” (the possibility of finding a similar job) is a key factor for the recovery of local economies in the face of crises, according to a study published recently in Nature Communications by researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Max Planck Society and the University of Pittsburgh. The researchers in this study reached this conclusion by drawing on network modelling research and mapped the job landscapes in cities across the United States during economic crises.

 
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Panama  PANAMÁ 12/04/2021

Archaeologists search for the origin of dental modification in Panama

A new study asks when and how the Ngäbe indigenous group began to practice dental modification

Most modern cultures practice some form of dental modification, for health, therapeutic or aesthetic purposes: whether it’s filling a cavity, removing wisdom teeth, adding veneers or braces or whitening teeth.

 

 
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Brazil  ACRE 04/12/2020

Early human landscape modifications discovered in Amazonia

No evidence of extensive savannah formations during the current Holocene period

In 2002 Professor Alceu Ranzi (Federal University of Acre) and Prof. Martti Parssinen (University of Helsinki) decided to form an international research team to study large geometric earthworks, called geoglyphs, at the Brazilian state of Acre in South-western Amazonia. Soon it appeared that a pre-colonial civilization unknown to international scholars built there geometric ceremonial centers and sophisticated road systems. This civilization flourished in the rainforest 2,000 years ago. The discovery supported Prof. William Balee´s (Tulane University) theory of early human impacts on the current Amazonian tropical forest composition that radically altered the notion of the pristine Amazon rainforest.

 
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Guatemala  GUATEMALA 23/11/2020

The ritual significance of a classic Maya sweat bath in Guatemala

An unusual offering in an abandoned and unique-looking structure revealed new evidence of the role it played in the community

Sweat baths have a long history of use in Mesoamerica. Commonly used by midwives in postpartum and perinatal care in contemporary Maya communities, these structures are viewed as grandmother figures, a pattern that can also be traced to earlier periods of history. At the site of Xultun, Guatemala, a Classic Maya sweat bath with an unusual collection of artifacts led archaeologists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Archaeology Program at Boston University and other collaborating institutions to gather new evidence of these beliefs and an early example of the related ritual practices.

 
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Panama  PANAMÁ 21/10/2020

Unequal migration across the land-bridge millions of years ago

The disproportionate extinction of South American mammals when the Americas collided is still evident today

 

When the Isthmus of Panama rose from the sea to connect North and South America millions of years ago, mammals could cross the bridge in both directions. But the result of this massive migration—a large proportion of mammals with North American origins in South America, but not the other way around—has long puzzled paleontologists. To explore the origins of this drastic asymmetry, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre and collaborating institutions analyzed fossil data from the two continents.

 
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Perú  CUSCO 08/09/2020

Fossil trees on Peru’s Central Andean Plateau tell a tale of dramatic environmental change

The anatomy of fossil plants growing in the Andean Altiplano region 10 million years ago calls current paleoclimate models into question, suggesting that the area was more humid than models predict

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Spain  GRANADA 04/08/2020

The first European populations were capable of adapting to climate change and new habitats 1.4 million years ago

The research is based on the study of amphibians and reptiles revealed from recent excavation campaigns in the Orce Archeological Zone

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Cuba  CUBA 22/07/2020

Unprecedented 3D reconstruction of pre-Columbian crania from the Caribbean and South America

Exceptional collection from the Anthropological Museum Montané in Cuba has been used to promote cultural heritage research and socialization

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. In eu dui non est venenatis lobortis. Donec iaculis iaculis turpis. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam vitae arcu. Maecenas justo tortor, eleifend sed, fermentum vitae, condimentum vitae, diam. Vivamus mattis, ligula vitae commodo vulputate, lorem tellus semper nulla, vitae cursus nunc eros ut massa. Curabitur velit pede, lobortis a, ultrices sit amet, suscipit non, erat.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. In eu dui non est venenatis lobortis. Donec iaculis iaculis turpis. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam vitae arcu. Maecenas justo tortor, eleifend sed, fermentum vitae, condimentum vitae, diam. Vivamus mattis, ligula vitae commodo vulputate, lorem tellus semper nulla, vitae cursus nunc eros ut massa. Curabitur velit pede, lobortis a, ultrices sit amet, suscipit non, erat.

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Panama  PANAMÁ 16/07/2020

The trace of suffering, in the bones

Human remains used to be considered a nuisance in archaeological excavations. Today they are considered a valuable source of information to understand the ways of life of prehistoric populations and their conditions

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. In eu dui non est venenatis lobortis. Donec iaculis iaculis turpis. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam vitae arcu. Maecenas justo tortor, eleifend sed, fermentum vitae, condimentum vitae, diam. Vivamus mattis, ligula vitae commodo vulputate, lorem tellus semper nulla, vitae cursus nunc eros ut massa. Curabitur velit pede, lobortis a, ultrices sit amet, suscipit non, erat.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. In eu dui non est venenatis lobortis. Donec iaculis iaculis turpis. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam vitae arcu. Maecenas justo tortor, eleifend sed, fermentum vitae, condimentum vitae, diam. Vivamus mattis, ligula vitae commodo vulputate, lorem tellus semper nulla, vitae cursus nunc eros ut massa. Curabitur velit pede, lobortis a, ultrices sit amet, suscipit non, erat.

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Spain  MADRID 14/07/2020

Research at Spanish universities improves in competitiveness

Report about university research, development, and innovation (R&D&I) from the IUNE Observatory 2020

Scientific publications by university lecturers have increased by almost 7% in the past year and there is improved competitiveness for obtaining European scientific projects, since their number has increased almost 5% while projects from the Spanish national R & D + i plan decreased 1.4% during the same period. These are some of the conclusions drawn from the IUNE Observatory’s most recent annual report, produced by the 4U Alliance (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, and Universidad Pompeu Fabra).

 
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Spain  MADRID 19/06/2020

A research study examines the image of Madrid as a film location

Carried out by the UC3M Geocine Group

A Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) research project has analyzed aspects of the relation between the geographic and cinematographic space in audiovisual productions filmed in the Madrid Regional Community, aimed at drawing attention to how it has changed over time and highlighting the capital´s image as a setting in film productions.

 
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Cuba  CUBA 05/06/2020

Ancient genomic insights into the early peopling of the Caribbean

New study reveals multiple waves of settlement and connections to the American mainland

The Caribbean was one of the last regions of the Americas to be settled by humans. Now, a new study published in the journal Science sheds new light on how the islands were settled thousands of years ago.

 
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