• Scientists have finally cracked the code on how the Mayan calendar works
• Women-led startups help family farmers feed Latin America
• Latin America's female scientists pack a big punch despite glass ceiling

• Organic farming cooperative practises Transcendental Meditation in large group
• Signs of rising coherence: Peru and Colombia new economic powerhouses in Latin America
• Latin America: Continent-wide effect of coherence, positivity seen unfolding as large groups of advanced meditators form

• Latin America, Asia, latest to get hit with omicron surge
• Protests across Latin America reflect a toxic cocktail of pandemic and recession
• Top scientists warn of an Amazon 'tipping point'

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Scientists have finally cracked the code on how the Mayan calendar works
24 April 2023 - There are many aspects about the Mayans that have kept scientists and archeologists busy throughout the years, from their architectural wonders to the complexity of their deities. Overall, one of the most elusive elements of this civilization was a 819-day calendar -- until now. The centuries-long enigma is now over thanks to two scholars from Tulane University, who have finally figured out how the Mayan calendar works. (more)

Women-led startups help family farmers feed Latin America
14 June 2022 - From Brazil to Ecuador's Amazon, women entrepreneurs are working to boost small-scale and organic farming. (more)

Latin America's female scientists pack a big punch despite glass ceiling
14 May 2021 - Latin America's female scientists and researchers are packing a big punch despite a hard-to-break glass ceiling for top roles in academia and business, reflecting how women are on the march in a region often seen as a bastion of macho male culture. A report by UNESCO and UN Women shows they account for 45 percent of female researchers in Latin America and the Caribbean, compared with around 29 percent globally, the highest anywhere in the world, although there are still gaps in some specialties. (more)

Fly without flapping? Andean condors surf air 99 percent of time
13 July 2020 - A new study sheds light on just how efficiently the world's largest soaring bird rides air currents to stay aloft for hours without flapping its wings. The Andean condor has a wingspan stretching to 10 feet and weighs up to 33 pounds, making it the heaviest soaring bird alive today. ... Incredibly, the birds spent just 1 percent of their time aloft flapping their wings, mostly during take-off. One bird flew more than five hours, covering more than 100 miles (160 km), without flapping its wings. (more)

Pedal on! Coronavirus lockdown spurs cycling momentum in South America
28 May 2020 - From Bogota to Buenos Aires, rising numbers of residents in some of South America's major capitals are getting on their bikes as the coronavirus pandemic drives city officials to expand bike lanes and promote cycling as a safe way to travel. (more)

Trees of Amazon rainforest are 'time capsule' of human history, absorbing details oft their surroundings over hundreds of years
10 February 2020 - The tropical forests of the world act as important 'time capsules' of human activity going back hundreds of years, according to a team of researchers. Some tree species in tropical forests have been shown to grow for up to a thousand years. And in this time, they absorb details about their surroundings into their wood, the researchers said. (more)

Indigenous groups rally to protect Latin America's threatened forests
13 December 2019 - Central American countries are teaming up to conserve the region's five great forests as part of a regional climate action plan released at U.N. climate talks in Madrid this week, the alliance behind the effort said. The coalition of governments, indigenous people, green groups and others announced a plan to protect 10 million hectares of forests and degraded land inside those forests -- an area roughly the size of Guatemala -- by 2030. (more)

Latin America pledges 70 percent renewable energy, surpassing EU: Colombia minister
25 September 2019 - Latin American countries have set a collective target of 70 percent renewable energy use by 2030, more than double what the European Union is planning, Colombia's energy minister said, ahead of her country's October renewables tender. (more)

Latin America grows fond of electric buses
4 December 2018 - Cities such as Santiago de Chile and Cali in Colombia have started using electric buses. Others like San Jose, Costa Rica, and Panama City are in the middle of pilot projects to make transportation cleaner. In Colombia, 125 electric buses were ordered for the city of Cali. In 2019, Costa Rica is to start a pilot project involving three electric buses that will commute between different cities. Argentina for its part is about to implement its own one-year pilot project involving eight electric buses. (more)

Private PPAs for solar are proliferating in Latin America
4 October 2018 - New deals or projects related to the sale of solar power to big energy consumers were announced in Brazil, Panama, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile over the past weeks. Auctions are not the only way for large-scale solar to gain shares in Latin America's energy mix. Indeed, an increasing number of recent deals closed for the sale of solar power to big energy consumers is showing that the private PPA [power purchase agreement] segment is gaining ground in most of the region's markets, and that projects under this regime are now becoming a viable option, although auctions for big renewable energy projects are still in place. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Organic farming cooperative practises Transcendental Meditation in large group
21 August 2012 - In the Caribbean and Central America, a new type of project involving Transcendental Meditation is developing. While these regions have seen school projects utilizing the technique, as well as business and rehabilitation programmes, this is one of the first times a large number of farmers have come together to learn Transcendental Meditation and to meditate in a group. The initiative has a two-fold purpose, both to create the basis for successful farming, and as a coherence-creating 'invincibility' group for their nation. (more)

Signs of rising coherence: Peru and Colombia new economic powerhouses in Latin America
21 August 2012 - An article recently published in The Wall Street Journal and picked up by local newspapers in Latin America noted that both Peru and Colombia are characterized by a young population, growing middle class, relatively low debt, and dynamic economic expansion. This rapid economic growth comes as no surprise to Transcendental Meditation teachers in the region. Growing prosperity and economic stability are among the outcomes predicted when large groups practise Transcendental Meditation and its advanced techniques together daily in any country. Such groups have been established in both Peru and Colombia in recent years, and continue to increase in size. (more)

Latin America: Continent-wide effect of coherence, positivity seen unfolding as large groups of advanced meditators form
19 June 2012 - Scientific research has shown that even the square root of 1% of a community or nation practising Transcendental Meditation and its advanced techniques is sufficient to create measurable positive changes in social trends for the whole population. In Latin America, increasing numbers of students and professionals have been learning these techniques; now in one city, large enough groups have begun practising together to create coherence not only for their own nation, but throughout the entire Latin American continent, teachers say. (more)

'New Paradigm' tour of North America inspires Indian communities in Latin America
8 June 2012 - News of the recent 'New Paradigm' tour of North America has spread to Latin America. A team of leading scientists, artists and business leaders toured 10 major cities in the US and Canada this spring, giving a series of cutting-edge presentations entitled 'A New Paradigm: Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana, and the Self'. The events drew large gatherings of the Indo-American and Indo-Canadian communities in many cities. The large Indian communities in Suriname, Guyana, and the Caribbean have been delighted to hear about the tour, which has inspired 'an awakening of pride' in their ancient heritage of Vedic wisdom. (more)

Latin America: Students, corporate employees enjoy Transcendental Meditation
8 May 2012 - A recent series of news updates from across Latin America included highlights of large numbers of people learning the Transcendental Meditation Programme in educational institutions, the corporate world, and other settings. (more)

Transcendental Meditation teachers busy in schools, universities across Latin America
8 May 2012 - Large numbers of students in different parts of Latin America have been learning Transcendental Meditation. In one country, 5,000 university students have started the advanced Transcendental Meditation Sidhi programme. Their educational experience will also be enhanced through Maharishi Vedic Science, which will be a subject taught in the university and available to all students. Maharishi Vedic Science is the science and technology of consciousness, brought to light from the ancient Vedic tradition of India by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Founder of the Transcendental Meditation programme. (more)

Boarding school in Latin America now uses Consciousness-Based Education
14 February 2012 - Around 900 students will learn the Transcendental Meditation technique at a boarding school in Peru. This school joins the many that have already implemented Consciousness-Based Education, but is unique in that it is the first boarding school, where students stay year-round, to do so. (more)

Latin America: Both military and schools implement Transcendental Meditation
13 December 2011 - The Transcendental Meditation Programme has been applied in a Latin American country in two very different settings, with equal success--one in the military, the other in the classroom. (more)

Latin America: More schools request Transcendental Meditation
13 December 2011 - Due to the well-established success of Transcendental Meditation at one school, more schools in a Latin American country are now interested in implementing the same programme. (more)

Dramatic decrease in poverty across Latin America
6 December 2011 - In the past few weeks, signs of positive political and economic trends have sprung up across Latin America. Perhaps the most remarkable is a recent UN report that in the past 20 years, poverty has decreased by 38% across the continent. The most dramatic decrease occurred this year, despite the deepening global financial crisis. Transcendental Meditation teachers in Latin America say these changes reflect the rapidly accelerating rise of coherence in collective consciousness, generated by large groups of people practising Transcendental Meditation and its advanced techniques. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Latin America, Asia, latest to get hit with omicron surge
21 January 2022 - In Costa Rica, officials are encouraging those infected with the coronavirus to skip voting in upcoming national elections. On the other side of the world, Beijing is locking down residential communities as the country anxiously awaits the start of the Winter Olympics on February 4. In Latin America and Asia, where the omicron variant is making its latest appearance, some countries are imposing such restrictions while others are loath to place new limits on populations already exhausted by previous constraints. (more)

Protests across Latin America reflect a toxic cocktail of pandemic and recession
20 August 2020 - he impact of Covid-19 in Latin America is igniting protests in several countries, as the economic fallout from the pandemic aggravates existing social tensions from the streets of Buenos Aires and Panama City to remote parts of Brazil and Bolivia. ... Much of the unrest across the region so far has been driven by economic hardship. ... Across much of Latin America, inequality is high and informal employment widespread -- key potential ingredients for possible unrest. (more)

Top scientists warn of an Amazon 'tipping point'
20 December 2019 - Deforestation and other fast-moving changes in the Amazon threaten to turn parts of the rainforest into savanna, devastate wildlife and release billions of tons carbon into the atmosphere, two renowned experts warned Friday [20 December]. ... The Amazon is 17 percent deforested, but for the large portion of it inside Brazil, the figure is closer to 20 percent. The fear is that soon there will be so little forest that the trees, which not only soak up enormous quantities of rainwater but also give off mist that aids agriculture and sustains innumerable species, won't be able to recycle enough rainfall. (more)

Amazon fires quickening glacier melting in Andes
12 December 2019 - The burning rainforest releases black carbon into the atmosphere, which, according to a growing number of scientific studies, directly contributes to the melting of glaciers. Fires occur in the rainforest every year, but the past 11 months saw the number of fires increase by more than 70 percent when compared with 2018, indicating a major acceleration in land clearing by the country's logging and farming industries. (more)

Amazon fires intensify Andes glacier melt
28 November 2019 - Smoke from burning forests in the Amazon can intensify glacier melt, researchers say, fueling concern about a water crisis in South America. Melting tropical glaciers provide water for millions of people in the region. Scientists modeled the movement and effect of smoke particles from fires on Andean glaciers, and checked their conclusions against satellite images. And they say the impact will be felt across the continent. (more)

South America forest fires could disrupt rainfall in region's farm belt - experts
9 October 2019 - Forest fires that swept across Bolivia and Brazil this year could disrupt rainfall distribution across South America's grains-and-beef producing regions in unpredictable ways for years to come, a scientist and meteorologist said. Recent rains in both countries have helped put out the wildfires, which were likely started by farmers and ranchers using slash-and-burn agricultural methods. They have, however, destroyed large swaths of forest that lock in precipitation in the region, threatening a system of clouds known as 'air rivers' in the Amazon that distributes 23 billion cubic meters of water across South America per year, said Leonardo Melgarejo, an agronomist with Brazil's Santa Catarina Federal University. (more)

Illegal mining in Amazon rainforest has become an 'epidemic'
10 December 2018 - An epidemic of illegal artisanal mining across the Amazon rainforest has been revealed in an unprecedented new map, pinpointing 2,312 sites in 245 areas across six Amazon countries. Called garimpo in Brazil, artisanal mining for gold and other minerals in Amazon forests and rivers has been a problem for decades and is usually illegal. It is also highly polluting: clearings are cut into forests, mining ponds carved into the earth, and mercury used in extraction is dumped in rivers, poisoning fish stocks and water supplies. (more)

Rise in rural poverty reverses gains in Latin America - U.N.
21 November 2018 - Rural poverty has risen for the first time in a decade in Latin America and the Caribbean, reversing earlier gains, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday, 21 November. Two million people joined the ranks of the region's rural poor between 2014 and 2016, taking the total to nearly half the rural population, many of them subsistence farmers and landless agricultural workers, according to a new FAO report. ... Eliminating rural poverty is key to combating drug and human trafficking, as well as illegal logging and mining, which have been gaining ground in rural areas, the FAO said. (more)

'Catastrophic' floods rising on Amazon River, say scientists
19 September 2018 - Researchers linked the increase in flooding to warmer temperatures over the Atlantic Ocean and cooler temperatures over the Pacific. Severe flooding on the Amazon has increased amid changing weather patterns, and is harming the health and incomes of people living along the world's biggest river, scientists said. Analyzing more than 100 years of records measuring Amazon River levels in the port of Manaus in Brazil, they found extreme floods that occurred roughly once every 20 years in the first part of last century are now happening about every four years. ... The paper also noted that deforestation and construction of hydro-power plants could play a role in water-level changes. (more)

Scientists find deadly scrub typhus bacteria in South America
7 September 2016 - Scrub typhus, a deadly disease common in southeast Asia and spread by microscopic biting mites known as chiggers, has now taken hold in a part of South America and may have become endemic there, scientists said on Wednesday, 7 September. The tropical disease, which kills at least 140,000 people a year in the Asia-Pacific region, has been confirmed in a cluster of cases on a large island off Chile, some 12,000 kilometres from its usual haunts on the other side of the Pacific. (more)