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. It is that time of the year again—Black Friday is almost upon us. What used to be just an American event has now taken over the calendar in many other countries as one of the key shopping events of the year. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-ways-resist-black-friday-bargains.html Economics & Business Fri, 28 Nov 2025 12:10:02 EST news683553589 Recently, Delta Air Lines announced it would expand its use of artificial intelligence to provide individualized prices to customers. This move sparked concern among flyers and politicians. But Delta isn't the only business interested in using AI this way. Personalized pricing has already spread across a range of industries, from finance to online gaming. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-personalized-pricing.html Social Sciences Thu, 31 Jul 2025 12:24:04 EDT news673183441 Growing concern about data theft and counterfeiting has inspired increasingly sophisticated security technologies, like hologram seals, that can help verify the authenticity of currency, passports and other important documents. However, as security technologies evolve, so do the techniques criminals use to get past them. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-anti-counterfeit-technique-reactive-images.html Polymers Thu, 30 May 2024 12:19:02 EDT news636290341 Benjamin Franklin may be best known as the creator of bifocals and the lightning rod, but a group of University of Notre Dame researchers suggest he should also be known for his innovative ways of making (literal) money. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-benjamins-decipher-secrets-benjamin-franklin.html Archaeology Mon, 17 Jul 2023 15:00:02 EDT news608821935 Why do Republicans have a problem with ESG? https://phys.org/news/2022-12-gop-esg-florida-gov-ron.html Economics & Business Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:20:04 EST news590772001 A team of researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, working with a colleague from the State University of New Jersey, has developed a gel-based code-hiding system that uses combinations of water, light and heat to hide and reveal hidden codes. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes how their gel is made and the possible uses for it. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-molecular-isomerization-polymer-gels-passcodes.html Polymers Fri, 04 Nov 2022 11:32:15 EDT news586780328 Heed the words of their profits—In uncertain times, uncertain things can happen. Writing in the International Journal of Business Performance Management, a team in the United Arab Emirates asks whether cryptocurrencies, of which Bitcoin is perhaps the most infamous, might ultimately overtake conventional currencies, the fiat money. https://phys.org/news/2020-03-cashing-cryptocurrencies.html Economics & Business Tue, 31 Mar 2020 09:55:08 EDT news504867305 Depending on who you ask, blockchain technology is poised to revolutionize the world—from creating a universal currency to building a free and truly private internet. Or, the new technology, built with a combination of encryption and transparency, is a solution in search of a problem. https://phys.org/news/2018-12-link-realism-blockchain.html Computer Sciences Fri, 28 Dec 2018 09:31:23 EST news465211874 From water marks to colored threads, governments are constantly adding new features to paper money to stay one step ahead of counterfeiters. Now a longhorn beetle has inspired yet another way to foil cash fraud, as well as to produce colorful, changing billboards and art displays. In the journal ACS Nano, researchers report a new kind of ink that mimics the beetle's color-shifting ability in a way that would be long-lasting and difficult to copy. https://phys.org/news/2014-11-longhorn-beetle-ink-counterfeiting.html Nanomaterials Wed, 05 Nov 2014 10:40:01 EST news334405771 In 1729, when he was 23 years old, Benjamin Franklin authored a pamphlet titled "A Modest Inquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency." The revolutionary idea he advocated? Paper money printed and controlled by the Colonies. As a printer by trade, Franklin himself created some of the earliest American currency and fittingly, today Franklin's face is emblazoned on the largest denomination of U.S. currency in circulation—the one hundred-dollar bill, aka "a Benjamin." https://phys.org/news/2014-07-probing-bitcoin.html Internet Thu, 10 Jul 2014 07:40:02 EDT news324195287 A dollar bill gets around, passing from hand to hand, falling on streets and sidewalks, eventually getting so grimy that a bank machine flags it and sends it to the shredder. Rather than destroying it, scientists have developed a new way to clean paper money to prolong its life. The research, which appears in the ACS journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, could save billions and minimize the environmental impact of banknote disposal. https://phys.org/news/2014-01-laundering-moneyliterallycould-billions-dollars.html Other Wed, 08 Jan 2014 11:00:51 EST news308401238 The cash register receipts that people place near paper money in billfolds, purses, and pockets has led to a worldwide contamination of paper money with bisphenol A (BPA) — a potentially toxic substance found in some plastics, thermal paper and other products. The amounts of BPA on dollars, Euros, rubles, yuans, and other currencies, are higher than in house dust, but human intake from currency is at least 10 times less than those from house dust. That's the conclusion of a new study in the ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. https://phys.org/news/2011-08-paper-money-worldwide-bisphenol.html Environment Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:50:01 EDT news232193872 When I think of paying with plastic, I think of credit or debit cards. However, my thought process is going to have to change. Canada will soon join a growing list of countries that use a polymer-based plastic instead of paper for its cash. The new plastic money will be rolled out in phases with the $100 bill scheduled for introduction in November. In March 2012, a $50 bill will be added to the mix and the rest of the smaller bills will be introduced by the end of 2013. https://phys.org/news/2011-04-canada-plastic-money.html Other Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:00:01 EDT news222440483 Kathy Williamson was over in the Pigeon Forge area in early December and stopped into a Harry & David store in Sevierville, Tenn., to buy candy. The change she received from the clerk was correct, but she noticed something odd about one of the singles given her. https://phys.org/news/2011-01-money-literally.html Internet Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:00:01 EST news215191289 In 1824, three years before he began to publish his famous "double elephant folio" The Birds of America, John James Audubon (1785-1851), the eminent artist of American birds and animals, created a drawing of a running grouse for use in the design for a New Jersey bank note. Although the artist mentions the drawing and the resulting engraved paper money in two separate diary entries, no one has ever been able to locate or identify such an illustration. https://phys.org/news/2010-07-audubon-engraving-bird.html Other Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:33:09 EDT news199625547 You probably have cocaine in your wallet, purse, or pocket. Sound unlikely or outrageous? Think again! In what researchers describe as the largest, most comprehensive analysis to date of cocaine contamination in banknotes, scientists are reporting that cocaine is present in up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, particularly in large cities such as Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit. The scientists found traces of cocaine in 95 percent of the banknotes analyzed from Washington, D.C., alone. https://phys.org/news/2009-08-percent-paper-money-cocaine.html Other Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:58:59 EDT news169703913