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. Just 48 short years ago, movie director George Lucas used the phrase "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" as the opening to the first "Star Wars" movie, later labeled "Episode IV: A New Hope." But at least four important aspects of the "Star Wars" saga are much closer—both in time and space—than Lucas was letting on. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-star-wars-stories-reality.html Other Thu, 01 May 2025 18:20:02 EDT news665325793 Getting seven experiments on the International Space Station requires a really good idea. Like a brand new way to attack tumors—one that you can only make in space. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-aboard-international-space-station-advancements.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 11 Mar 2025 09:46:05 EDT news660905161 What do the Earth's gravitational field and the trajectories of satellites and space debris have in common? The Earth's gravitational field influences the orbits of our companions in space, while the changes in the orbits in turn allow conclusions to be drawn about changes in the gravitational field and thus existing water masses. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-laser-track-space-debris-masses.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 30 Oct 2024 16:39:03 EDT news649525141 Imagine this: you're lounging on the beach, waves crashing in the background. A laptop sits on the table next to your iced coffee. In between meetings, you dip into the ocean or explore a hiking trail. This is the ideal vision of "workations"—a blend of work and vacation that is gaining popularity worldwide. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-holiday-workation.html Social Sciences Tue, 08 Oct 2024 09:53:17 EDT news647599991 SpaceX pushed one of its most-used boosters to its limits with a launch Tuesday evening from Cape Canaveral, Florida. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-spacex-booster-recovery-limits-satellite.html Space Exploration Wed, 18 Sep 2024 09:40:36 EDT news645871233 Future European Union housing policy must address the twin challenges of providing adequate housing for all while drastically reducing current levels of resource use. Voluntary reductions in living space could make a significant contribution to achieving these goals. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-tackling-climate-housing-crises-compact.html Environment Mon, 08 Jul 2024 13:13:03 EDT news639663181 "Oh, come on Daniel, space travel is so expensive, and pointless!" These were the words of my friend Max, during a Christmas party where I was discussing my thesis project: studying places on Earth where the living conditions are so extreme, they could hold lessons for future space missions. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-space-exploration-luxury-necessity.html Space Exploration Tue, 16 Apr 2024 11:51:04 EDT news632487061 Creating and fostering "shared spaces" can help to tackle the problems caused by gentrification and changing communities in Cornwall, a new study says. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-community-spaces-key-tackling-issues.html Social Sciences Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:16:03 EST news620327761 In a new study, participants tended to judge faces appearing against backgrounds featuring houseplants or bookcases as more trustworthy and competent than faces with a living space or a novelty image behind them. Gender and facial expression also appeared to influence judgments. The research led by Paddy Ross, Abi Cook and Meg Thompson at Durham University, UK has been published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-background.html Social Sciences Wed, 27 Sep 2023 14:00:01 EDT news615022445 Americans don't talk much about peace. But it turns out they care about it a lot—they just don't talk about it the way people who have experienced war or civil conflict do. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-americans-peace-people-countries.html Social Sciences Sun, 24 Sep 2023 12:10:01 EDT news614516990 The latest mission in India's ambitious space program blasted off Saturday on a voyage towards the center of the solar system, a week after the country's successful unmanned moon landing. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-moon-sun-india-space-mission.html Space Exploration Sat, 02 Sep 2023 06:03:58 EDT news612853432 They're found on Mount Everest, in the deep seas, aboard the International Space Station and thousands of them have even crash landed and been spilled onto the moon. The microscopic water bear has a nearly unfathomable ability to survive in the most hostile environments. New research from the University of Copenhagen demonstrates that a wide variety of them also live in Denmark. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-characterize-tardigrade-species-richness-denmark.html Ecology Mon, 14 Aug 2023 08:49:38 EDT news611221773 The world depends on the ocean to meet increasing demands for food, income, energy and minerals and transportation. However, marine ecosystems face serious challenges from over-exploitation, extraction, pollution, loss of biodiversity and climate change. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-locals-ocean-indonesia-blue-economy.html Economics & Business Wed, 05 Jul 2023 12:18:44 EDT news607778319 As centers of learning, universities have the potential to help whole communities learn about and address climate change. Education can lead us to change our attitudes and behavior. It can also help us deal with the anxiety or fear of doom that can stun us into inaction. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-universities-communities-tackle-climate.html Education Thu, 08 Jun 2023 12:59:45 EDT news605447982 A European spacecraft around Mars sent its first livestream from the red planet to Earth on Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of its launch, but rain in Spain interfered at times. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-first-of-its-kind-mars-livestream-esa-spacecraft.html Space Exploration Fri, 02 Jun 2023 15:06:07 EDT news604937158 Special permission is required to clear forest in Switzerland. Until now, the system has worked well. However, plans to increase wind and solar electricity generation could increase conflicts. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-woodland-turbine-drivers-forest-clearances.html Environment Thu, 04 May 2023 16:53:04 EDT news602437981 The Institute for Systems and Robotics and the Interactive Technologies Institute, both represented by the Laboratory of Robotics and Engineering Systems (LARSyS), are proud to announce their participation in the upcoming AMADEE-24 mission to Mars. The mission, organized by the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), aims to advance the development of space exploration through international collaboration and scientific research. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-remote-planetary-ground-robots-upcoming.html Space Exploration Fri, 24 Mar 2023 14:03:40 EDT news598885414 An uncrewed Russian Soyuz capsule docked early Sunday with the International Space Station and will eventually bring home three astronauts whose initial return vehicle was damaged by a tiny meteoroid. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-russian-ship-docks-iss-capsule.html Space Exploration Sun, 26 Feb 2023 06:43:19 EST news596616195 The first fully private mission reached the International Space Station early Saturday with a four-member crew from startup company Axiom Space. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-private-mission-international-space-station.html Space Exploration Sat, 09 Apr 2022 16:36:30 EDT news568740986 A group of scientists in Brazil and the United States has revealed the role played by certain structures in intermediating communication among individual fungi of the same species. The discovery, detailed in an article published in the journal mBio, could serve as the basis for development of more effective therapies to combat fungal infections. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-involved-pathogenic-fungi-treatments.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 30 Mar 2022 13:19:22 EDT news567865158 Three Russian cosmonauts blasted off to the International Space Station Friday, as Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine brought the Kremlin's relations with the West to their lowest point since the Soviet era. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-russian-trio-blast-iss-shadow.html Space Exploration Fri, 18 Mar 2022 13:38:38 EDT news566829515 The James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its tennis-court sized sunshield Tuesday, a critical milestone for the success of its mission to study every phase of cosmic history, NASA said. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-webb-telescope-fully-deploys-sunshield.html Space Exploration Tue, 04 Jan 2022 12:34:06 EST news560522043 A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the new Prichal docking module for the International Space Station blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the Roscosmos space agency said. https://phys.org/news/2021-11-russia-docking-module-iss.html Space Exploration Wed, 24 Nov 2021 08:45:19 EST news556965915 The first astronauts for China's new space station blasted off Thursday for the country's longest crewed mission to date, a landmark step in establishing Beijing as a major space power. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-rocket-blasts-chinese-crew-space.html Space Exploration Thu, 17 Jun 2021 04:29:01 EDT news543122938 Virgin Galactic on Saturday made its first rocket-powered flight from New Mexico to the fringe of space in a manned shuttle, as the company forges toward offering tourist flights to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2021-05-virgin-galactic-rocket-ship-ascends.html Space Exploration Sun, 23 May 2021 06:49:29 EDT news540971365 The launch of the first module of China's new space station—"Heavenly Palace"—on Thursday underlined how far the country has come in achieving its space dream. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-china-space-moon.html Space Exploration Thu, 29 Apr 2021 04:15:25 EDT news538888518 A team of scientists is preparing to dive deep into the depths of the Indian Ocean—into a "Midnight Zone" where light barely reaches but life still thrives. https://phys.org/news/2020-02-scientists-midnight-zone-dark-ocean.html Earth Sciences Wed, 05 Feb 2020 03:27:32 EST news500095648 Despite decades of relative peace and recent efforts to promote gender equality, women and girls in Mozambique continue to experience a disproportionate amount of insecurity. A new report released today by Associação Sócio-Cultural Horizonte Azul (ASCHA), a Mozambican feminist civil society organization, and the Women, Peace and Security Program at Columbia University reveals the importance of a broad understanding of "peace and security" to account for the insecurity faced by Mozambican women and girls in their everyday lives. https://phys.org/news/2019-11-gender-lens-essential-sustaining-peace.html Social Sciences Tue, 26 Nov 2019 09:01:36 EST news493981288 For Silvia González studying for a doctorate in urban planning at UCLA is about more than learning how cities and communities can be better designed. It's about promoting economic and environmental justice and housing equity, causes she is personally connected to. https://phys.org/news/2019-07-aspiring-urban-planners-mitigate-gentrification.html Social Sciences Wed, 17 Jul 2019 08:33:45 EDT news482571212 Over the past ten years, violence among young people involved in gangs has claimed hundreds of lives and dominated national debate in the UK. There have been many well-documented attempts to counter gang culture, ranging from early years intervention to zero tolerance policing. https://phys.org/news/2019-05-gang-culture-appeals-disenfranchised-young.html Social Sciences Wed, 22 May 2019 10:00:01 EDT news477737116