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. For many children, the transition from learning to read to reading to learn is a crucial and sometimes nervewracking milestone. Reading aloud in class is intended to foster fluency and confidence, but for many students, it may spark anxiety that can hinder literacy development well into adulthood. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-robots-kids-conquer-anxiety.html Education Wed, 10 Sep 2025 14:00:14 EDT news676653241 Search and rescue dogs are heroes in fur coats, using their incredible sense of smell to find lost hikers, disaster victims, and missing people. But a new study suggests that these life-saving dogs may face an unexpected obstacle: frustration. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-highlights-frustration-failure-dogs.html Veterinary medicine Tue, 01 Apr 2025 09:45:04 EDT news662719502 It's never been easier to stay connected to work. Even when we're on leave, our phones and laptops keep us tethered. Many of us promise ourselves we won't check emails during our break. But we do. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-difficult-proper-good-health.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:30:02 EST news654168159 Equine scientists at Nottingham Trent University wanted to see how the level of arousal in horses—the extent to which they might be excited or stressed for instance—affected their performance in a cognitive task. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-horse-tasks.html Plants & Animals Tue, 16 Jan 2024 11:07:05 EST news624625620 With the growing human population placing enormous pressure on food resources, it is estimated that by 2030 there will be an additional half a billion people to feed. This, combined with the rising cost of living, has amassed worldwide concern for the future of food security. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-fitter-fish-people-midst-food.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:31:07 EST news620483463 Thermal imaging technology is poised to transform the study of the stress response in wild animals, according to Tufts researchers who have proven that the temperature shifts measured by the non-invasive technique correlate with other physiological changes in the animals. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-thermal-imaging-tool-stress-wild.html Plants & Animals Thu, 02 Nov 2023 13:04:04 EDT news618149041 New research suggests sleepiness during virtual meetings is caused by mental underload and boredom. Earlier studies suggested that fatigue from virtual meetings stems from mental overload, but new research from Aalto University shows that sleepiness during virtual meetings might actually be a result of mental underload and boredom. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-virtual-people-wrong.html Social Sciences Mon, 30 Oct 2023 16:01:37 EDT news617900495 Sharks have been populating the oceans for about 400 to 500 million years. While our planet and many of its inhabitants have undergone massive changes several times during this period, this basal group of vertebrates has remained somewhat constant. Their body shape and biology has hardly changed since then. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-genomic-stability-double-edged-sword-sharks.html Plants & Animals Mon, 23 Oct 2023 15:58:42 EDT news617295517 The rate at which the universe is expanding, known as the Hubble constant, is one of the fundamental parameters for understanding the evolution and ultimate fate of the cosmos. However, a persistent difference called the "Hubble Tension" is seen between the value of the constant measured with a wide range of independent distance indicators and its value predicted from the big bang afterglow. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-webb-accuracy-universe-expansion-deepens.html Astronomy Tue, 12 Sep 2023 12:22:45 EDT news613740158 Moderate stress can be beneficial for learning. Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum have investigated whether stress occurs to the same extent in online teaching as during in-person classes. They measured various physiological parameters in students who completed an anatomy course either digitally or in the classroom. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-online-triggers-response-body.html Education Wed, 17 Aug 2022 12:24:03 EDT news579957841 The reaction of narwhals to the loud noise from seismic air guns used in oil exploration involves a disruption of the normal physiological response to intense exercise as the animals try to escape the noise. The overall effect is a large increase in the energetic cost of diving while a paradoxically reduced heart rate alters the circulation of blood and oxygen. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-narwhals-physiological-disruption-response-seismic.html Plants & Animals Fri, 08 Jul 2022 03:50:31 EDT news576471011 The change of genetic information over time is a key factor for evolutionary adaptations with which living beings can adapt to changes in their environment. On the one hand, genetic variability arises in the course of reproduction, where genetic information is divided and recombined in the developing offspring. In addition, mutations are another important source of genetic variability. This genetic variability then provides the starting point for the action of natural selection, which results in the preferential inheritance of certain advantageous genetic variants and thus enables adaptation to changing environmental conditions. https://phys.org/news/2021-10-genes.html Evolution Thu, 07 Oct 2021 12:39:19 EDT news552829156 Vertical greenery 'planted' on the exterior of buildings may help to buffer people against stress, a Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) study has found. https://phys.org/news/2021-07-vertical-greenery-stress-buffer.html Environment Tue, 06 Jul 2021 09:24:19 EDT news544782254 Is it the difficulty of a task that determines whether or not students are stressed when working on it? Dr. Nina Minkley, a biologist working in biology didactics at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), set out to find out the answers in an interdisciplinary research team together with Dr. Moritz Krell (Freie Universität Berlin) and Dr. Kate Xu (Open Universiteit, Netherlands); to this end, the team used questionnaires and measured the heart rate in 209 test participants." This enables us to contrast the subjective perception of stress with an objective measurement method and compare the two," explains Nina Minkley. Contrary to expectations, it turned out that the effort invested in the task does not increase with its difficulty, nor does the stress level. The study was featured in the journal Frontiers in Education on 12. April 2021. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-analysis-stress-classroom.html Education Thu, 15 Apr 2021 11:07:50 EDT news537703668 After months of technology-based communication enforced by COVID-19, many of us are missing a "live" human voice. But we're not the only ones—a new study reveals that cows also prefer a face-to-face chat. The research, published in Frontiers in Psychology, discovers that cows are actually more relaxed when spoken to directly by a live human, rather than when listening to a recorded voice via a loudspeaker. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-cows-co-moo-nication-reveals.html Veterinary medicine Thu, 15 Oct 2020 03:01:10 EDT news521949623 Scientists from EPFL, UNIL and local startup be.care have developed a system that uses heart rate variability to detect fatigue and identify what kind it is. The system then uses the results to suggest lifestyle changes that can make a difference. An initial test has been carried out on university students under real-world conditions. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-combating-fatigue-smartwatch-application.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 26 Mar 2019 08:20:01 EDT news472806936 How many ways can you think of to stress out a horse? Trailering, bathing, clipping, vet visits, hoof trims, bridling, saddling—the possibilities are endless. Unfortunately, calming options are not. Thanks to research conducted at the University of Arizona, horsemen and horsewomen have a new tool to help manage equine stress, and it's as simple as a sniff. A sniff of lavender, that is. https://phys.org/news/2018-07-calmer-horse.html Plants & Animals Fri, 27 Jul 2018 10:40:03 EDT news451906212 New research has found the natural vibrations of cars make people sleepier, affecting concentration and alertness levels just 15 minutes after drivers get behind the wheel. https://phys.org/news/2018-07-snooze-mobiles-vibrations-cars-drivers.html Other Thu, 05 Jul 2018 11:09:20 EDT news450007752 Since January 2017 a sensor wristband that, according to the manufacturer, is capable of detecting a woman's fertile days in her cycle with 89 percent certainty has been on the market. Empa helped developing the sensor technology. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-fertility-app-parents-to-be.html Software Fri, 11 Aug 2017 09:50:02 EDT news421662283 A computer scientist has invented a unique desk light that automatically switches from green to red when you are 'in the zone' and shouldn't be disturbed by colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-red-green.html Social Sciences Fri, 05 May 2017 09:10:02 EDT news413190820 People used to say that exercising in New York City was like smoking a pack of cigarettes. Luckily, conditions have vastly improved, according to a recent NYC Health Department report, but some areas of the city continue to have high levels of pollution. Meanwhile, many more people are biking to and from work as the network of bike paths is expanded and the Citibike program continues to grow. How much pollution are bikers exposed to, and what effects might it be having on their health? https://phys.org/news/2015-06-city-biking-hazardous-health.html Environment Thu, 18 Jun 2015 08:50:02 EDT news353832266 The latest personal fitness gadgets will help you smash your personal record, break you out of your fitness rut and persuade you to get sweaty. https://phys.org/news/2014-11-gift-ideas.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 25 Nov 2014 15:10:01 EST news336145846 A team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is creating a smartphone app that will help older adults to understand their state of health and develop healthier habits. https://phys.org/news/2014-08-smartphones-health-tool-older-adults.html Software Fri, 01 Aug 2014 09:20:01 EDT news326099479 (Phys.org) —Increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are causing oceans to become more acidic. This situation poses a threat to marine organisms with shells made of calcium carbonate, because acid will corrode these shells. If they are to survive, these organisms will have to adapt to conditions of high acidity. In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Melissa Pepseni of Indiana University at Bloomington and her colleagues at Stanford University and University of California, Davis report that when exposed to high CO2 levels, purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) experience significant changes in genes that affect survival in an acidic environment. This indicates that the sea urchins can adapt to high CO2 levels caused by climate change. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-sea-urchins-cope-co2.html Plants & Animals Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:41:46 EDT news284730091 You don't need a crystal ball to tell you what is going to happen next in the economy. You need a statistical model. A new method from North Carolina State University can help researchers determine which economic variables they should focus on by identifying whether a variable can be predicted. https://phys.org/news/2009-07-crystal-ball-tool-ids-economic.html Mathematics Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:50:17 EDT news167381380