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More than 30 years after Voyager 2 sped past Uranus, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers are using the spacecraft’s data to learn more about the icy planet. Their new study suggests that Uranus’ magnetosphere, the region defined by the planet’s magnetic field and the material trapped inside it, gets flipped on and off like a light switch every day as it rotates along with the planet. It’s “open” in one orientation, allowing solar wind to flow into the magnetosphere; it later closes, forming a shield against the solar wind and deflecting it away from the planet.

The ongoing deforestation around the fringes of the Amazon may have serious consequences for the untouched deeper parts of the rainforest. A new research study shows that it is not only the climate that is adversely affected by deforestation. In fact, the very stability of the ecosystem in the entire Amazon region is altered when deforestation takes place in the outermost regions.

It was previously known that, in the long term, the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has a negative impact on the global climate due to greater carbon dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere. However, researchers from Lund University in Sweden and other institutions have now shown that deforestation could also disrupt the entire rainforest’s resilience, that is, its long-term ability to recover from environmental changes, and the ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

A new study from North Carolina State University finds that common wild bee species decline as urban temperatures increase.

“We looked at 15 of the most common bee species in southeastern cities and – through fieldwork and labwork – found that increasing temperatures in urban heat islands will have a negative effect on almost all of them,” says Steve Frank, an associate professor of entomology at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the work.

A research team led by The Australian National University (ANU) has found a new way to help plants better survive drought by enhancing their natural ability to preserve water.

The findings have helped some plants survive 50 per cent longer in drought conditions, and could eventually benefit major crops such as barley, rice and wheat, which are crucial to world food supplies.

Hay una alta probabilidad de que haya verduras frescas en su refrigerador que terminarán en la basura en lugar de en su plato de la cena. No es que alguien vaya a la tienda de comestibles con la intención de tirar más tarde la comida en la basura, pero todos lo hacemos más a menudo de lo que probablemente nos damos cuenta. Ruth Litchfield, profesora de ciencias alimentarias y nutrición humana en la Universidad Estatal de Iowa, dice que desperdiciamos alrededor de 20 libras de comida cada mes. Y eso es por persona.