articles

Researchers have more evidence that males and females are different, this time in the fluid that helps protect the cartilage in their knee joints.

They have found in the synovial fluid of this joint, clear differences in the messages cells are sending and receiving via tiny pieces of RNA, called microRNA, in males and females with the common and debilitating condition osteoarthritis.

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.

One of the best-known impacts of climate change is the loss of sea ice in the Arctic, but also in parts of the Antarctic: the poles are increasingly turning from white to blue. However, in the shallow seas near continental landmasses, the colour green also enters the picture: with the ocean ice-free for longer periods, the growing period for algal blooms also grows longer. These algae, in turn, provide food for seafloor-dwelling organisms, who use the carbon from their food to grow their bodies and shells.

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.

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.