Author:  Belinda Ongaro

With the FIFA World Cup now in full swing, Brazil’s government has allocated extra funding to scientific studies in physics. Years of preparatory investment stand behind the FIFA World Cup, and Brazil is funneling its ensuing economic boost into bringing the nation’s top game in both the soccer field and scientific fields. Due to a history of limited funding, emphasis was traditionally placed on theoretical studies instead of more costly experimental research. Not until recently did Brazil achieve a near even split between the two domains. In preparation for the World Cup, the government implemented a four-fold increase in science funding through deliberate monetary investment over the last ten years.

Author:  Maria Zagorulya

Like preschoolers looking for minute differences between two similar pictures on a worksheet, scientists have been working on differentiating between active and inactive neutrophils involved in the immune response. Only recently, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have created anti-inflammatory drugs targeted specifically at active neutrophilic cells that have gone out of control.