SciDev.Net

A Brazilian study indicates that waste produced by building construction, such as rubble, can help spread the dengue vector.

Just three out of Costa Rica's nine presidential candidates attended a national science and technology council debate on the country's science challenges.

Millions of children in Mexico are exposed to indoor air pollution and an assessment of health effects is urgently needed, says a study.

The country's budget for science will increase by 67 per cent in 2010, with an emphasis on supporting new PhD students.

Fleas may transmit leishmaniasis to dogs, maintaining a reservoir of disease that could then infect humans.

The Pan American Health Organization has proposed to reduce poverty in a bid to tackle chronic diseases.

Jamaica and four other Caribbean countries have been granted US$1.7 million to reduce the biodiversity threat of invasive alien species.

MRI scans could transform scientists' understanding of cerebral malaria but the technology is barely used, say researchers

A UN conference has made an urgent call for developed countries to transfer climate-friendly technologies to the developing world.

Uruguay has become the first country in the One Laptop per Child scheme to provide a computer for every child enrolled in a state primary school.

Scientists have used a 'gun' that delivers a vaccine and an electrical impulse to improve the effectiveness of a DNA vaccine for HIV.

Complementary medicine has saved the Peruvian government US$8 million in the last ten years, says a study.

The academy of sciences for the developing world unveiled ambitious funding hopes at its general meeting in South Africa.

The director of Chile's science council has been dismissed following irregularities in the allocation of scholarships granted by the state.

The Mexican government has given the green light to the experimental sowing of GM maize, causing protests across the country.

Scientists in Chile say that the science and technology budget for next year proposed by the government will not be enough to fund valuable projects.

Cases of infection with the Colombian variant of a US bacterium, USA300, have increased by eight per cent in six years.

Scientists and farmers from Peru and Ethiopia will defend agrobiodiversity through the exchange of scientific and traditional knowledge.

A new videogame about cellular biology aims to help Chilean secondary school teachers teach and motivate students.

In Suriname and Guyana malaria transmission persists in dry environmental conditions less favourable for the mosquito, say researchers.