The great Amazon land grab

+ ‘Chinese Taipei’ at the Beijing Olympics US Edition - Today's top story: The great Amazon land grab – how Brazil's government is turning public land private, clearing the way for deforestation [View in browser]( US Edition | 2 February 2022 [The Conversation]( For years, satellite images have shown increasingly larger chunks of the Amazon rainforest disappearing, often replaced by open fields for crops and livestock. But the desforestation we see is only part of the story. Far more of the Amazon is shifting from public to private hands through land grabs, putting it at risk for future deforestation. And the national government has been legitimizing it. University of Florida researchers Gabriel Cardoso Carrero, Robert Walker and Cynthia Simmons track land grabs in the Amazon. In a new article, [they explain how wealthy interests and often organized crime are seizing land](, including conservation areas that were once off-limits — and how the government is helping. Also today: - [AI’s dead cell technique may aid in Alzheimer’s cure]( - [How our muscles change with age]( - [Why legal pot may lead to economic highs]( Stacy Morford Environment + Climate Editor A satellite captured large and small deforestation patches in Amazonas State in 2015. The forest loss has escalated since then. USGS/NASA Landsat data/Orbital Horizon/Gallo Images/Getty Images [The great Amazon land grab – how Brazil’s government is turning public land private, clearing the way for deforestation]( Gabriel Cardoso Carrero, University of Florida; Cynthia S. Simmons, University of Florida; Robert T. Walker, University of Florida Land grabs spearheaded by wealthy interests are accelerating deforestation, and Brazil’s National Congress is working to legitimize them. Ethics + Religion - [How 18th-century Quakers led a boycott of sugar to protest against slavery]( Julie L. Holcomb, Baylor University Eighteenth-century Quakers attempted to align their religious beliefs with what they purchased. These Quakers led some of the early campaigns against sugar being produced by enslaved people. Health + Medicine - [Some cancers are preventable with a vaccine – a virologist explains]( Ronald C. Desrosiers, University of Miami Some cancers are actually caused by viruses that linger for long periods in the body, or cause physical damage that later turns cancerous. Science + Technology - [50-year-old muscles just can’t grow big like they used to – the biology of how muscles change with age]( Roger Fielding, Tufts University As people age, the chemical signaling pathways in muscles become less potent, and it gets harder to build muscle and maintain strength. But the health benefits of strength training only increase with age. - [New AI technique identifies dead cells under the microscope 100 times faster than people can – potentially accelerating research on neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s]( Jeremy Linsley, University of California, San Francisco Understanding when and how neurons die is an important part of research on neurodegenerative diseases like Lou Gehrig’s, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's. Arts + Culture - [Why is Taiwan competing in the Olympics under ‘Chinese Taipei’?]( Meredith Oyen, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Taiwanese authorities are allowing its tiny contingent to attend the opening ceremony in Beijing despite a long-running dispute over its name in the Olympics. Environment + Energy - [What does climate change have to do with snowstorms?]( Michael A. Rawlins, UMass Amherst Winters are getting warmer, yet Bostonians were digging out from nearly 2 feet of snow from a historic blizzard in late January. Why is the Northeast seeing more big snowstorms like this? Education - [Why community college students quit despite being almost finished]( Benjamin Skinner, University of Florida; Justin Ortagus, University of Florida; Melvin Tanner, University of Florida Community college students reveal some of the top reasons why they leave school without a degree. Economy + Business - [Legalizing recreational pot may have spurred economic activity in first 4 states to do so]( Roberto Pedace, Scripps College; Amanda Marino, San Diego State University; Curtis Hall, Drexel University; James D. Brushwood, University of Arizona Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon all experienced big increases in both deposits and lending shortly after legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Trending on site - [How Brad Pitt’s green housing dream for Hurricane Katrina survivors turned into a nightmare]( - [How many stars are there in space?]( - [The IRS already has all your income tax data – so why do Americans still have to file their taxes?]( Today's graphic [A map of the United States color-coded according to each county's data on the average annual loss due to flood damage.]( From the story, [New flood maps show US damage rising 26% in next 30 years due to climate change alone, and the inequity is stark]( Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our weekly emails: [Politics Weekly]( • [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Weekly Highlights]( Enjoy reading The Conversation? 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