Amazonas
Three-quarters attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 in the Brazilian Amazon during a largely unmitigated epidemic
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) incidence peaked in Manaus, Brazil, in May 2020 with a devastating toll on the city's inhabitants, leaving its health services shattered and cemeteries overwhelmed. Buss et al. collected data from blood donors from Manaus and São Paulo, noted when transmission began to fall, and estimated the final attack rates in October 2020 (see the Perspective by Sridhar and Gurdasani). Heterogeneities in immune protection, population structure, poverty, modes of public transport, and uneven adoption of nonpharmaceutical interventions mean that despite a high attack rate, herd immunity may not have been achieved. This unfortunate city has become a sentinel for how natural population immunity could influence future transmission. Events in Manaus reveal what tragedy and harm to society can unfold if this virus is left to run its course. Science , this issue p. [288][1]; see also p. [230][2] Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread rapidly in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state in northern Brazil. The attack rate there is an estimate of the final size of the largely unmitigated epidemic that occurred in Manaus. We use a convenience sample of blood donors to show that by June 2020, 1 month after the epidemic peak in Manaus, 44% of the population had detectable immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. Correcting for cases without a detectable antibody response and for antibody waning, we estimate a 66% attack rate in June, rising to 76% in October. This is higher than in São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil, where the estimated attack rate in October was 29%. These results confirm that when poorly controlled, COVID-19 can infect a large proportion of the population, causing high mortality. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abe9728 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abf7921
Estimating Amazon Carbon Stock Using AI-based Remote Sensing
Forests are the major terrestrial ecosystem responsible for carbon sequestration and storage. The Amazon rainforest is the world's largest tropical rainforest encompassing up to 2,124,000 square miles, covering a large area in South America including nine countries. The majority of that area (69%) lies in Brazil. Thus, Amazonia holds about 20% of the total carbon contained in the world's terrestrial vegetation.1,5,7 But the rampant deforestation due to illegal logging, mining, cattle ranching, and soy plantation are examples of threats to the vast region.
Incredible drone footage shows isolated Amazon tribe
Very rare drone footage from Amazonas, Brazil shows members of a tribe walking through their jungle camp. Remarkable drone footage offers a rare glimpse of an isolated tribe in the Brazilian Amazon. In the 51-second clip released by FUNAI, the Brazilian government's Indian Affairs department, tribespeople are shown moving through a deforested area in the jungle and one tribe member appears to be carrying a bow and arrow. The agency said it captured the drone shots during an expedition last year to monitor isolated communities, but only released them on Tuesday to protect their study. FUNAI also released still images showing the tribespeople's existence in the remote region.
New drone shots show isolated Amazonian tribe in Brazil jungle
RIO DE JANEIRO – New aerial images give a rare glimpse of an isolated tribe in Brazil's Amazon, showing 16 people walking through jungle as well as a deforested area with a crop. In a clip released Tuesday night, one of the tribespeople appears to be carrying a bow and arrow. Brazil's agency for indigenous affairs, Funai, said it captured the drone shots during an expedition last year to monitor isolated communities, but only released them now to protect their study. Researchers monitored the tribe in Vale do Javari, an indigenous territory in the southwestern part of the state of Amazonas. There are 11 confirmed isolated groups in the area -- more than anywhere else in Brazil.
See Honda's Driverless Toy Cars Cross The World
Autonomous cars are a chance to reinvent the steering wheel. Because the vehicles themselves do all the driving, cars are no longer bound by such basic conventions as "keep a human facing forward at all times" and "don't try to climb over boulders like a spider." As a grand showcase for the new possibilities of autonomous cars, Honda plotted a seven-stage road trip roughly following that path of humanity's great migration from a species to the edge of the world. The auto company used miniature models for this conceptual video, but the hope is the same principles could be applied to human-sized autonomous vehicles of the future. Honda's route goes from Nairobi, Kenya to Manaus, Brazil, and new vehicles trace individual legs of that journey.