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. Some lovers try positions that they can't handle—I'm referring to the bones of the wrist, of course. The phrase is a classic mnemonic used to remember the eight carpal (wrist) bones—scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate and hamate—whose initials form the memorable sentence. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-anatomy-naughtiest-mnemonics.html Education Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:00:07 EDT news695394160 Luminous fast blue optical transients (LFBOTs) are among the universe's brightest and fastest explosions but their origin is not completely understood. A new study takes a closer look at the galaxies they occur in, offering two important clues about their nature. A paper outlining these results was uploaded to the preprint server arXiv on March 24. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-blazing-blue-explosions-born-compact.html Astronomy Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:00:03 EDT news695304780 The Perseus Cluster is a massive galaxy cluster located in the constellation Perseus. It is one of the largest structures in the observable universe, comprising more than a thousand galaxies—equivalent to roughly a thousand trillion times the mass of the sun. Hot gases within the cluster, known as the intracluster medium (ICM), emit powerful X-rays detectable by telescopes. These gases are produced by billions of supernova explosions, and their chemical composition reveals how typical supernovae have exploded throughout cosmic history. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-theoretical-supernova-chemistry-overhauled-ray.html Astronomy Sun, 19 Apr 2026 12:00:05 EDT news695444262 The lakes, streams, and ponds you've visited for years are likely looking more brown than they used to. And people who are fishing those waters are likely catching different species and sizes of fish than in the past. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-local-fishing-hole-browner-fish.html Ecology Sun, 19 Apr 2026 12:00:01 EDT news695476449 French mathematician Frank Merle, who won a prestigious Breakthrough Prize on Saturday, told AFP that fundamental research must be supported because it is a "foundation stone" for the future. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-fundamental-prize-mathematician-urges.html Other Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:00:03 EDT news695812435 The world's appetite for propene (propylene) is growing faster than the chemical industry can keep up. This petrochemical product powers the production of acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, high-velocity fuels, and, most importantly, polypropylene plastic—used in everyday food packaging and textiles, as well as in essential medical equipment. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hollow-sphere-catalyst-enables-greener.html Polymers Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:00:01 EDT news695476121 Have you ever wished to drive microscopic matter along an arbitrarily tailored trajectory instead of just a circle? That's exactly what we set out to achieve. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-generalized-optical-meta-spanners-empower.html Optics & Photonics Sun, 19 Apr 2026 10:30:02 EDT news695642706 A paper published in the journal Science Advances is adding to the growing body of research showing that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is weakening. In this new study, instead of relying mainly on computer models, scientists used two decades of direct ocean measurements to confirm the decline. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-atlantic-current-decade-decline-deep.html Earth Sciences Sun, 19 Apr 2026 10:20:01 EDT news695645865 Big names from the worlds of film, technology, music and sports gathered on Saturday in Santa Monica, California, for the Breakthrough Prizes, popularly known as the "Oscars of Science." https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hollywood-silicon-valley-oscars-science.html Other Sun, 19 Apr 2026 10:13:08 EDT news695812354 Blue Origin, the U.S. space company of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, successfully reused and recovered a booster for its New Glenn rocket on Sunday, confirming its mastery of a technical feat that could boost its launch cadence and expand its rivalry with SpaceX. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-blue-reuses-glenn-booster-florida.html Space Exploration Sun, 19 Apr 2026 10:10:45 EDT news695812183 On contaminated land that is too dangerous for human life, the world's wildest horses roam free. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-chernobyl-radioactive-landscape-testament-nature.html Ecology Sun, 19 Apr 2026 10:06:09 EDT news695811929 A research team led by Lea Lorenz of the RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau and Sven Kachel of the University of Kassel conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis that examined how men react to situations in which their masculinity is called into question. To this end, the team systematically organized and analyzed 123 experiments, predominantly from Western countries, involving 19,448 men. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-men-dont.html Social Sciences Sun, 19 Apr 2026 10:00:03 EDT news695304062 Protein engineering is a field primed for artificial intelligence research. Each protein is made up of amino acids; to optimize a protein function, researchers modify proteins by switching out one of 20 different amino acids for another. For a protein that is just 50 amino acids in length, this leads to approximately 1.13x1065 potential combinations to test—that's 113 followed by 65 zeroes, or five times as many zeroes as a trillion has. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-protein-breakthrough-generates-10m-turbocharges.html Molecular & Computational biology Sun, 19 Apr 2026 10:00:01 EDT news695313682 Researchers in the UC Santa Barbara Materials Department have uncovered the elusive quantum mechanism by which energetic electrons break chemical bonds inside microelectronic devices—a detrimental process that slowly degrades performance over time. The discovery, published as an Editors' Suggestion in Physical Review B, explains decades-old experimental puzzles and moves scientists closer to engineering more reliable devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-quantum-electrons-silicon-chips.html Condensed Matter Sun, 19 Apr 2026 09:00:02 EDT news695402653 Coastal landscapes are constantly being reshaped by natural forces, and as climate change causes more frequent storms and sea level rise, that change will only intensify. Because these areas are densely populated with homes, tourist destinations, and industries, understanding how and where the coast will change is a pressing issue. However, reliable predictions that lead to actionable knowledge are rare. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-coasts-combining-ai-physics-real.html Environment Sun, 19 Apr 2026 08:30:01 EDT news695476687 Last year, tungsten diselenide (WSe2) had its magic moment. Two independent research groups discovered "magic angles" at which two atom-thin layers of the unique semiconductor, when twisted relative to one another into what's known as a moire pattern, can superconduct electricity. Cory Dean and his colleagues at Columbia documented superconductivity at a 5° twist angle; upstate at Cornell, Jie Shan and Kin Fai Mak's team saw it at around 3.5°. Until then, graphene was the only other moire material capable of the feat. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-range-magic-angles-superconductivity-2d.html Superconductivity Sun, 19 Apr 2026 08:00:04 EDT news695572951 Spatially distributed prediction of streamflow and nitrogen (N) export dynamics is essential for precision management of agricultural watersheds. While temporal deep learning models have shown strong basin-scale performance, their ability to generalize spatially is limited, particularly under data-scarce conditions. To address this gap, a team of researchers led by the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) propose HydroGraphNet, a knowledge-guided graph machine learning framework integrating process-based knowledge and explicit spatial learning into temporal modeling. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hydrographnet-boosts-watershed-daily-nitrogen.html Environment Sat, 18 Apr 2026 21:40:01 EDT news695712757 The outbreak of a mysterious and deadly disease in finches in British gardens in 2005 set alarm bells ringing for conservationists. A decade later, the extent of that disease in greenfinches and chaffinches was reported. And now, bird scientists are beginning to understand how feeding birds in our gardens might be linked to their health and survival. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-garden-birds-disease.html Ecology Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:30:01 EDT news695394017 When people consider what causes high blood pressure, they often think of lifestyle factors, such as eating salty foods, lack of exercise or smoking. However, an unexpected source of salt might also be raising blood pressure for millions of people: the water they drink. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-salty-blood-pressure-people-coastal.html Environment Sat, 18 Apr 2026 17:30:01 EDT news695476436 Every 25 minutes in the United States, a baby is diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a condition that occurs in newborns who have been exposed to opioids in the womb and develop withdrawal after birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Historically, research has focused on the impact of NAS—also known as neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome—on the health and development of young children, which has found that prenatal opioid exposure is associated with increased risk for adverse developmental, cognitive and behavioral outcomes in early childhood. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-prenatal-opioid-exposure-babies-doesnt.html Education Sat, 18 Apr 2026 17:00:04 EDT news695313246 The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has successfully completed the largest high-resolution 3D map of the universe ever made, a major milestone in understanding the force driving cosmic expansion. The milestone was reached when DESI's 5,000 fiber-optic sensors captured their final scheduled observations, targeting a region of sky near the Little Dipper. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-desi-3d-universe-exploring.html Astronomy Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:00:02 EDT news695563761 Over the last several decades, the oceans have become more crowded. Aquaculture, wind and wave energy, and oil and gas exploration are taking up more space. This growth threatens the health of ocean ecosystems and coastal communities' access to food and livelihoods that they have relied on for centuries. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-disputes-africa-ocean-resources.html Environment Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:30:01 EDT news695306710 Along the stark and shimmering coastline of the Dead Sea, where desert cliffs meet one of the world's most extreme environments, a quiet drama is unfolding in the skies above. Fan-tailed ravens, intelligent, adaptable, and ever-watchful, are making life-or-death decisions every day. And according to new research, those decisions may come down to personality. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-raven-personalities-survival-human-pressure.html Plants & Animals Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:00:01 EDT news695314948 Predicting material properties remains a major challenge in materials science, as it often requires complex and computationally intensive calculations. In particular, understanding how materials respond to electric fields is essential for the development of next-generation electronic devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-physics-based-ai-frontiers-dielectric.html Condensed Matter Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:30:01 EDT news695573511 People often solve simple arithmetic problems, such as basic addition, subtraction, multiplication or division, in their minds. The precise mental processes they rely on to solve these problems, however, are not entirely clear. Researchers at Université de Bordeaux and UCLouvain recently tried to better understand how humans tackle simple math mentally by tracking the size of their pupils. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-mental-math-shortcut-pupil-dilation.html Mathematics Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:50:01 EDT news695482943 From flash mobs to line-dancing to the Nutbush, experiencing rhythm and movement in a group context is known to boost mental and physical health in people of all ages. Now a University of the Sunshine Coast study published in Behavioral Sciences of more than 200 4-year-olds across South East Queensland has found and measured significant, specific benefits of the practice in preschool settings. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-rhythm-blues-boosts-class-behavior.html Social Sciences Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:30:01 EDT news695467974 Can you tell if you're working with a narcissist or a psychopath? A new study suggests that people's job choices may offer some clues, especially in fields built on leadership and persuasion such as business, politics, and law, where such darker traits are more common. Those in creative fields or nature-focused work may be more likely to encounter individuals with a Machiavellian way of thinking, according to findings published in Personality and Individual Differences. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-people-dark-personality-traits-naturally.html Social Sciences Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:10:01 EDT news695314226 Researchers from National Taiwan University break traditional frameworks by unveiling a new symmetry-transition mechanism in ZrO2 thin films, achieving ultra-stable antiferroelectric behavior for up to 108 cycles. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-zirconia-thin-reversible-nonpolar-polar.html Nanomaterials Sat, 18 Apr 2026 12:30:02 EDT news695565056 Poison frogs are small and brightly colored amphibians that originate from Central and South America. As suggested by their name, these frogs can release highly toxic chemicals from their skin, which deter and neutralize predators. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-poison-frogs-built-chemical-weapons.html Plants & Animals Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:50:01 EDT news695467298 Nicholas J. Marantz, associate professor of urban planning and public policy at UC Irvine, is investigating how effectively current data sources track changes in residential housing stock. His aim is to understand how policy changes, such as new zoning laws and broader housing market forces, influence the availability and creation of homes, particularly affordable homes. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-qa-aims-bad-housing.html Economics & Business Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:30:02 EDT news695313376