South American Science
Like the night sky, the overall sweep of science in South America can look pretty dark. Brazil is the only country on the continent that spends more than 1% of its gross domestic product on research and development, and even its investment sits far below what other countries of similar means are ploughing into science. But take a closer look at the continent’s scientific enterprise, and bright spots emerge. At the start of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, with billions of people focusing on South America, Nature examines a part of the world that has spent too long on the sidelines of science.
