https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Food scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign identified the optimal fermentation conditions for pulses ― the dried edible seeds of legumes ― that increased their antioxidant and antidiabetic properties and their soluble protein content. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-fermenting-legume-pulses-antioxidant-antidiabetic.html Agriculture Sat, 07 Jun 2025 06:18:38 EDT news668495911 By the time the world's leading climate scientists publish their next report in 2028–29, the world will already have possibly breached 1.5°C warmer than the pre-industrial era for a few years and the deadline for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals will be on the horizon. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-climate-science-solutions-agriculture-world.html Environment Thu, 16 Jan 2025 13:40:03 EST news656253633 Climate change is already here, and a diverse group of scientists have solutions for California. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-scientists-climate-solutions-sustainability-california.html Environment Wed, 07 Aug 2024 09:39:57 EDT news642242390 For many who grew up east of the Mississippi River, yellow twinkling lights punctuate magical childhood memories. New England natives call them fireflies, but they're known as lightning bugs from the Midwest to the South. No matter their regional name, they are a staple of warm summer evenings. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-climate-threatens-firefly-populations-midwest.html Plants & Animals Mon, 15 Jul 2024 09:30:02 EDT news640254274 A study conducted by the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment; Bucknell University; Penn State University; and the USDA has shed light on the precarious situation facing firefly populations across North America. The study's results identified multiple factors impacting their numbers, offering a deep dive into how shifting environmental and human factors influence these iconic insects. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-comprehensive-unveils-multiple-threats-north.html Plants & Animals Mon, 29 Apr 2024 11:32:29 EDT news633609144 Assessing wildlife populations, as well as understanding the dynamics of their numbers and distributions across various regions, is a critical measure known in science as abundance. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-biodiversity-requires-scientists-advocate.html Ecology Tue, 19 Mar 2024 16:45:13 EDT news630085510 NASA scientists are testing a technology that could more accurately measure water stored in snow as seen from a satellite in orbit. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-nasa-tech-scientists-trees.html Earth Sciences Thu, 21 Sep 2023 10:42:44 EDT news614511762 When an explosion breached the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine on June 6, 2023, much analysis focused on near-term impacts, including the flooding of the city of Kherson, threats to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and consequences for Ukrainian military forces' expected spring offensive against Russian troops. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-kakhovka-breach-ukraine-economic-agricultural.html Ecology Mon, 10 Jul 2023 14:19:04 EDT news608217541 South Australian scientists have documented the catastrophic decline of a stand of red stringybark in the Clare Valley, a tree species that has survived in the region for 40,000 years but is now at risk of extinction due to climate change. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-severe-droughts-devastate-eucalyptus-trees.html Environment Wed, 12 Apr 2023 13:22:03 EDT news600524522 Although more than half the world's countries have committed to protecting at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030 in support of biodiversity, various questions emerge: Where and what type of land should be protected? How will new land protections impact carbon emissions and climate change, or the land needed for energy and food production? https://phys.org/news/2023-02-biodiversity-require-tradeoffs.html Ecology Thu, 09 Feb 2023 12:06:37 EST news595166793 As COP27 unfolds in Egypt, we are hearing about a large array of climate change solutions, ranging from building with carbon-absorbing bamboo and using less plastic to growing more kelp in the oceans to retain its carbon stores and enhance biodiversity. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-climate-crisis-simple-solution-fossil.html Environment Tue, 15 Nov 2022 14:10:04 EST news587740701 As urban populations boom, urban agriculture is increasingly looked to as a local food source and a way to help combat inequitable food access. But little is known about how productive urban agriculture is compared to conventional, rural farming. A new study digs in, finding urban gardeners and hydroponics can meet and sometimes exceed the yields of rural farms. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-urban-crops-higher-yields-conventional.html Agriculture Tue, 23 Aug 2022 12:23:03 EDT news580476181 A majority of people—69%—around the world say that climate change is "a somewhat serious threat" or "a very serious threat," according an analysis I published in April 2022 in the journal Climatic Change. The analysis was based on the 2019 Lloyd's Register Foundation World Risk Poll. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-majority-people-world-climate-poll.html Environment Thu, 28 Jul 2022 09:16:31 EDT news578218587 Agricultural pollution comes from the prairie, but its economic impact on humans is a problem for cities. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-agriculture-emissions-pose-health-climate.html Environment Tue, 21 Jun 2022 11:15:19 EDT news575028913 The declining importance of manufacturing in rich societies is associated with deep concerns, but also with the hope of opening up new opportunities for economic development. As a result, predictions of a structural change from an industrial to a service society have repeatedly been the subject of political conflicts. To understand how social power structures and conflicts influence such future scenarios, it is important to look at the history of how and by whom post-industrial society has been framed in public debates. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-deindustrialization-fact-fiction.html Economics & Business Fri, 13 May 2022 13:03:04 EDT news571665780 From devastating floods to raging wildfires, climate variability on a global scale is apparent. These extreme weather events, and the world's climate system as a whole, are heavily influenced by the Tropical Pacific, an expanse that stretches from Australia to the Americas. https://phys.org/news/2021-10-decadal-climate-variability-tropical-pacific.html Environment Fri, 01 Oct 2021 09:45:40 EDT news552300335 Due to their complexity and microscopic scale, plant-microbe interactions can be quite elusive. Each researcher focuses on a piece of the interaction, and it is hard to find all the pieces let alone assemble them into a comprehensive map to find the hidden treasures within the plant microbiome. This is the purpose of review, to take all the pieces from all the different sources and put them together into something comprehensive that can guide researchers to hidden clues and new associations that unlock the secrets of a system. Like any good treasure map, there are still gaps in the knowledge and the searcher must be clever enough to fill in those gaps to find the 'X.' Without a map, there is only aimless wandering, but with a map, there is hope of finding the hidden treasures of the plant microbiome. https://phys.org/news/2021-05-citrus-microbiomes-plant-microbiome-treasures.html Biotechnology Mon, 10 May 2021 12:39:49 EDT news539869186 To minimize negative impacts of agriculture on biodiversity and related ecosystem services, 'biodiversity-friendly' management is needed. Why scientific results are rarely translated into agricultural practice could be explained by their different perceptions of agricultural biodiversity, according to the results of a recent survey of European scientists and farmers. The study was led by Bea Maas of the University of Vienna and published in the journal Biological Conservation. https://phys.org/news/2021-03-international-survey-perceptions-science.html Ecology Mon, 22 Mar 2021 11:59:02 EDT news535633139 Scientists say that any serious plan to address climate change should include carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies and policies, which makes the newly launched CDR Primer an especially vital resource, says Berkeley Lab scientist Margaret Torn, one of about three dozen scientists who contributed to this document. https://phys.org/news/2021-01-primer-carbon-dioxide-vital-resource.html Environment Fri, 15 Jan 2021 09:16:26 EST news529924582 Maryland scientists have been warning of a growing "dead zone" in the Chesapeake Bay. Now the numbers are in, confirming their dire warnings were correct. https://phys.org/news/2019-08-dead-zone-chesapeake-bay.html Environment Fri, 16 Aug 2019 09:12:19 EDT news485165528 Just off the coast of Louisiana, where the Mississippi River lets out into the Gulf of Mexico, an enormous algae bloom, fueled by fertilizer from Midwestern farm fields and urban sewage, creates an area so devoid of oxygen it's uninhabitable to most marine life every summer. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-giant-dead-zone-gulf-mexico.html Environment Wed, 19 Jun 2019 11:47:57 EDT news480163658 Suicide rates among Indian farmers remain high, accounting for more than 12,500 deaths in the country in 2015, according to a government report. While many have blamed climate change for farmers' distress, the issue is likely much more complex. https://phys.org/news/2019-02-choice-overload-indian-farmers-ill.html Ecology Mon, 25 Feb 2019 03:06:13 EST news470286364 In the context of rapidly evolving climate conditions, a new study by Bioversity International and partners addresses the challenge of climate adaptation in a way that is both scalable and targeted. The scientists have demonstrated a unique approach using crowdsourced citizen science that capitalizes on farmers' knowledge. https://phys.org/news/2019-02-citizen-scientists-farmers-important-contributions.html Environment Tue, 19 Feb 2019 06:14:16 EST news469779245 Civilization as it is known today could not have evolved, nor can it survive, without an adequate food supply. – Norman Borlaug https://phys.org/news/2015-07-pathogens-immune.html Biotechnology Thu, 09 Jul 2015 09:10:03 EDT news355648570 Technology developed at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane aims to help Australia reduce greenhouse gas emissions across its agricultural landscape. https://phys.org/news/2013-09-qut-software-greenhouse-gases.html Environment Wed, 25 Sep 2013 10:56:01 EDT news299325351 The brown, smog-filled skies that engulf Beijing have earned China a poor reputation for environmental stewardship. But despite China's dirty skies, a study led by Stanford environmental scientists has found that a government-run clean water program is providing substantial benefit to millions of people in the nation's capital. https://phys.org/news/2013-09-china-clean-water-benefits-people-environment.html Environment Thu, 05 Sep 2013 08:52:48 EDT news297589955 (Phys.org) —Will Australia's biodiversity benefit from the new carbon economy designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Or will bio-'perversities' win the day? https://phys.org/news/2013-05-carbon-economy-biodiversity-bio-perversity.html Environment Wed, 15 May 2013 07:40:01 EDT news287821616 The largest harmful algae bloom in Lake Erie's recorded history was likely caused by the confluence of changing farming practices and weather conditions that are expected to become more common in the future due to climate change. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-record-breaking-lake-erie-algae-bloom.html Environment Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:00:12 EDT news284032425 Detailed satellite imagery about Australian landscapes will soon be only a button push away for land managers in community and non-profit sectors thanks to a partnership between Australian scientists and Google, announced last night in Sydney. https://phys.org/news/2012-11-scientists-team-google.html Engineering Tue, 06 Nov 2012 07:05:06 EST news271407894 We live in a human-dominated world. For many of our fellow creatures, this means a fragmented world, as human conduits to friends, family, and resources sever corridors that link the natural world. Our expanding web of highways, cities, and intensive agriculture traps many animals and plants in islands and cul-de-sacs of habitat, held back by barriers of geography or architecture from reaching mates, food, and wider resources. https://phys.org/news/2012-10-scientists-greenbelts-wildlife-sanctuaries.html Ecology Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:15:21 EDT news269794961