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A young managed forest of pine and eucalyptus trees in central Portugal, slender trunks and green undergrowth typical of the country's fire-prone woodland

A New Free Platform Tracks the Iberian Peninsula's Living Forest Moisture to Sharpen Wildfire Warnings

A free new platform, ForestDrought, maps the live moisture of forests across the Iberian Peninsula every day — bringing the water in living plants, not just dead tinder, into wildfire-risk models as Portugal endures its worst fire year since 2017.

The Portugal Brief 19 Jul 2026

A researcher examines a sample under a microscope in a biomedical laboratory

Porto Researchers Pinpoint Two Proteins Behind the Ageing of the Immune System

Researchers at Porto's i3S have identified two proteins essential to keeping the thymus - the organ that matures immune T cells - working, and shown their levels fall with age, pointing to a possible way to slow immune ageing.

The Portugal Brief 19 Jul 2026

A Palaeolithic cave painting of a large animal figure on a rock wall

Scientists Recover 2,000-Year-Old Human DNA From the Painted Walls of the Alentejo's Escoural Cave

A study in Nature Communications reports the first recovery of ancient human DNA from prehistoric cave-art walls — and three of the five positive samples came from the Gruta do Escoural in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal's only cave with Palaeolithic art. The DNA is at least 2,000 years old.

The Portugal Brief 06 Jul 2026

Technicians in blue scrubs working with analysis machines in a modern clinical laboratory

Porto's i3S Maps a Path to Personalised Vaccines Against Colorectal Cancer

Researchers at Porto's i3S institute have validated a strategy for personalised therapeutic vaccines against colorectal cancer, identifying tumour neoantigens that could train a patient's immune system to attack the disease.

The Portugal Brief 03 Jul 2026

Close-up of a golden-brown Chilean recluse spider, Loxosceles laeta, on a white background

A Venomous Chilean Recluse Spider Turns Up in Porto, a First for the Iberian Peninsula

The Chilean recluse (Loxosceles laeta), whose bite can cause necrotic skin lesions, has been recorded in Porto — the first for Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula. Researchers stress the shy spider poses a low risk to the public.

The Portugal Brief 02 Jul 2026

A row of European Union flags flying outside the European Commission building in Brussels

Portuguese Science Captures About €10 Million in European Research Council Advanced Grants

Researchers tied to Portugal won roughly €10 million in the European Research Council's latest Advanced Grants, the EU's most prestigious funding for established scientists.

The Portugal Brief 25 Jun 2026

Interior of a modern private medical clinic in Portugal

Ordem dos Médicos Presses for a Health-Advertising Law Rewrite to Curb 'Integrative Medicine' Clinics — 54 Centres Market Unrecognised Specialties After a Lone €4,000 ERS Fine and Over €1 Million in EU Funds

The Portuguese Medical Association wants the health-advertising law rewritten after an investigation found 54 clinics marketing unrecognised 'integrative' and 'functional' medicine, drawing over EUR1 million in EU funds.

The Portugal Brief 22 Jun 2026

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