Artist’s impression of the Earth’s magnetosphere, buffeted by the solar wind (Image: NASA / Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)) Nasa’s HENA observes oxygen ions, expelled from the Earth’s atmosphere by the solar wind, as they return to the polar regions (Image: NASA / Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC))

AS WELL as safeguarding our atmosphere, the Earth’s protective shield may be stealing some of it on the sly.

The region in space that contains the Earth’s magnetic field, known as the magnetosphere, protects us from the charged particles that come streaming from the sun. By acting as a barrier to this …