https://phys.org/science-news/sci-other/ en-us The latest news on chemistry, math, archaeology, biology, chemistry, mathematics and science technologies. The history of science and technology is marked by major breakthroughs—the theory of evolution, the splitting of the atom, the development of antibiotics—and a research team including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York, has developed a method to help pinpoint discoveries that reshaped the course of science. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-breakthroughs-science-large-scale-analysis.html Other Wed, 01 Apr 2026 14:00:06 EDT news694194001 Magicians often talk while performing their acts, using a type of speech called "patter." This can include scripted dialog, storytelling, and interactions, and is often used to entertain and manage audiences, with many people—including magicians—believing that it can even misdirect spectators and make sleight-of-hand tricks harder to spot. But does patter actually pull focus and make it difficult for viewers to see what's happening? A new study published in Scientific Reports tests that assumption directly—and the results are surprising. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-magicians-doesnt-eyes-card-monte.html Other Wed, 01 Apr 2026 08:40:01 EDT news694251354 To date, the main role of AI in scientific research has been to assist with narrow tasks such as discovering chemical structures, analyzing data or predicting protein shapes. But now, the technology has broken new ground with a fully AI-generated paper passing peer review at a major machine-learning conference workshop. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-ai-paper-peer.html Other Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:40:06 EDT news694094745 This week, we learned that across the animal kingdom, sperm cells have a short shelf life. A study implicated autoantibodies in the development of long COVID. And among its other drawbacks, the weedkiller glyphosate may foster the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-saturday-citations-birthday-cetaceans-quantifying.html Other Sat, 28 Mar 2026 09:00:02 EDT news693831274 This week, among a lot of other important findings, we learned that emperor cichlid fish have gaze sensitivity and dislike it if you look at them—or especially their children. England is looking for a solution to its 5-billion-liter water deficit. And a high-fiber diet isn't only healthy for you—it also benefits your parasitic tapeworms! https://phys.org/news/2026-03-saturday-citations-merging-brown-dwarfs.html Other Sat, 21 Mar 2026 08:30:01 EDT news693226847 Humans really do rule the world. We took over fast and far, more than any other wild vertebrates. We inhabit nearly every corner of the world, and can thrive in deserts, tropical rainforests and even extremely cold climates. But how? Scientists say we did it through not only biological evolution, but another system: cultural evolution. That is what makes us so special. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-humans-planet-role-cultural-evolution.html Other Tue, 17 Mar 2026 17:30:03 EDT news692981821 The More You Know: This week, researchers successfully reconstructed videos from the brain activity of mice. According to a new study, female birds are more likely to sing when their extended families help with childcare. And mathematicians have disproven a decades-old classical geometry rule by constructing two compact, self-contained torus objects that have the same metric and mean curvature but are structurally different on a global scale. So that's neat. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-saturday-citations-neurology-huge-croc.html Other Sat, 14 Mar 2026 09:00:02 EDT news692620799 What we learned this week: Left-handed people may have a psychological edge in competition. Humanoid robots can now do creepy parkour through the uncanny valley. And if you've ever cared for an elderly cat, a new study highlights a biological quirk that could explain why they're so prone to kidney disease. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-saturday-citations-bad-news-footballers.html Other Sat, 07 Mar 2026 08:30:01 EST news692017248 When scientists employ generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help with tasks such as editing and translation for their academic writing, many journals now ask them to disclose this assistance. The rules are intended to maintain transparency in scientific publishing. But many researchers are failing to acknowledge their reliance on these programs, according to a new report published in the journal PNAS. Yongyuan He and Yi Bu at the Department of Information Management, Peking University, analyzed more than 5.2 million papers published in 5,114 journals between 2021 and 2025. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-scientists-ai-disclose.html Other Fri, 06 Mar 2026 14:00:01 EST news692010988 This week, astronomers reported that one of the biggest observed stars in the universe could soon explode. A study compared long-term COVID-19 brain effects to the flu. And a new eco-friendly battery could theoretically last for centuries (or for several hours if you put it into a Steam Deck, haha). https://phys.org/news/2026-02-saturday-citations-rex-tiptoe-subduing.html Other Sat, 28 Feb 2026 08:30:01 EST news691413577 Will humanity extend into the far future? It's likely many of us think it should. The problem is that each of us, individually and collectively, act otherwise—we are destroying the environment and climate at every turn. Now a group of scientists is arguing that civilization needs to specifically and systematically study how our species can ensure its survival, even for millions of years, via a new interdisciplinary field they call "Future Dynamics." Their study is published in Habitable Planet. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-scientific-discipline-humanity-deep-future.html Other Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:00:01 EST news691407766 A comprehensive game plan and strategic tactics are critical to winning soccer, but how much does a team's unpredictability in moving the soccer ball around the pitch matter? In a new article published in PLOS One, an international team of researchers analyzed event data from top-tier association soccer competitions to provide insights into match analysis, player tactics and game strategy. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-sports-stats-unpredictable-play-winner.html Mathematics Fri, 27 Feb 2026 14:20:01 EST news691413601 Live music can engage more than just one sense, despite it being an auditory medium. Lighting and visual effects can enhance the listening experience, but it is unclear if they can also affect the impression of the sound. In a study appearing in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, researchers from Germany's Technical University of Berlin found that the color of a concert hall has an impact on the sound perception of a listener. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-theater-affects-perception.html Other Tue, 24 Feb 2026 11:00:01 EST news691071541 This week in the scientific process: researchers reported the first-ever shark sighted in Antarctic waters. Penguins beware! Biologists report that honey bees navigate more precisely than previously thought. And not all humans scare wildlife, it turns out. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-saturday-citations-virus-proteins-spinosaurus.html Other Sat, 21 Feb 2026 08:50:01 EST news690808584 This week, researchers reported on a juvenile great white shark caught by fishermen in Spanish Mediterranean waters. China's clean air initiatives have resulted in major public health gains, but may have one unintended consequence. And satellite data revealed that boreal forests expanded globally by 12% but have shifted north since 1985. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-saturday-citations-pig-boar-hybrids.html Other Sat, 14 Feb 2026 09:00:01 EST news690133301 First names in Western countries today are more diverse than they were before early modern states evolved. This difference started to emerge in the 17th century in response to a change that took place in the naming system in large parts of Europe and the English-speaking world. Societies moved away from attributive last names—based on occupation or appearance like John (the) Short—to inherited surnames. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-parallels-cultures-repercussions-asian.html Other Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:10:15 EST news689965801 This week in science news: Nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, may break down more rapidly in the atmosphere than previously thought due to climate change. A new, experimental pill dramatically reduces bad cholesterol. And physicists believe they detected an exploding black hole, representing scary new behavior from what we once thought was a more limited arsenal of gravity-based terror and awe. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-saturday-citations-bonobos-cannabis-brain.html Other Sat, 07 Feb 2026 08:30:11 EST news689601416 Keeping up with the latest research is vital for scientists, but given that millions of scientific papers are published every year, that can prove difficult. Artificial intelligence systems show promise for quickly synthesizing seas of information, but they still tend to make things up, or "hallucinate." https://phys.org/news/2026-02-ai-openscholar-scientific-cites-sources.html Other Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:00:13 EST news689420235 A new paper proposes a systems-level framework for evaluating the trustworthiness of research findings across methods and approaches. The paper, titled "A Framework for Assessing the Trustworthiness of Research Findings," is authored by a multidisciplinary group of research leaders with expertise in metascience, research integrity and assessment, and science communication. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-framework-pillars-trustworthiness.html Other Tue, 03 Feb 2026 17:40:01 EST news689355936 Research papers in peer-reviewed academic journals are at the heart of academic integrity. New ideas and discoveries are vetted and checked by experts in the field as the boundaries of scientific knowledge are pushed forward. However, in recent years, there has been a rise in predatory journals, publications that exploit this model but skip the rigorous peer-review process entirely. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-access-software-tool-fake-journals.html Other Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:20:05 EST news689335632 Signs of Sir Terry Pratchett's dementia may have been present in his writing a decade before his official diagnosis, new research has found. Researchers have examined the lexical diversity—a measure of how varied an author's word choices are—of 33 books from Pratchett's Discworld series, focusing specifically on his use of nouns and adjectives. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-sir-terry-pratchett-dementia-hidden.html Other Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:40:01 EST news688962792 This week, researchers identified the role of the brain's protein clean-up system in dementia. Fecal transplants show promising benefits in treating multiple cancer types. And biologists found that saltwater crocodiles traveled thousands of miles across the Indian Ocean. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-saturday-citations-procrastination-delicious-baby.html Other Sat, 31 Jan 2026 08:50:01 EST news688996118 It's Saturday! This week, in an eminently practical analysis of the Boltzmann brain conjecture, physicists put constraints on the idea that memories could arise from random fluctuations in entropy rather than reflecting the actual past of the universe—news you can use! Researchers managed to put thousands of sodium atoms in a "Schrödinger's cat" state. And an ancient mass grave revealed the impact of the earliest-known pandemic. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-saturday-citations-weird-extinct-life.html Other Sat, 24 Jan 2026 08:40:01 EST news688394114 This week, a new analysis of Jupiter's atmosphere estimated that the gas giant has 1.5 times more oxygen than the sun. Researchers in Brazil identified a protein that allows pancreatic cancer to infiltrate nerves and spread early in the course of the disease. And scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School discovered how exercise helps aging muscles regain their ability for self-repair. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-saturday-citations-super-earths-superagers.html Other Sat, 17 Jan 2026 08:50:01 EST news687787314 Happy new year! If you're a redhead, the pigments in your hair are protecting you from cellular damage. A post-stroke injection comprising regenerative nanomaterial can protect the brain. And researchers have developed a method to extract rare earth elements from coal tailings. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-saturday-citations-dinosaurs-quiescent-black.html Other Sat, 10 Jan 2026 08:30:01 EST news687184109 In the best possible news for people who like pizza, researchers report that high-fat cheese may protect brain health and reduce dementia risk. Ancient hunter-gatherer DNA could explain why some people live 100 years or more. And one philosopher believes that we may never be able to tell whether an AI has become conscious. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-saturday-citations-quantum-ai-carbon.html Other Sat, 20 Dec 2025 09:00:01 EST news685368991 One of the most common human gestures, the pointing finger, appears frequently in Old Master paintings as a guiding cue. However, its influence on viewers' gaze has never been systematically investigated. Researchers in experimental art history at the University of Vienna used eye‐tracking methods to analyze whether and how viewers' eyes follow pointing gestures in works by renowned artists such as Raphael, Giorgione, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-fingers-master.html Other Tue, 16 Dec 2025 12:10:02 EST news685108818 This week, researchers identified signaling pathways underpinning drug resistance in pancreatic cancer, a normally lethal diagnosis. A physicist proposed that conscious states in the brain may arise from the brain's ability to resonate with the quantum vacuum that permeates space. And in a ranking of species monogamy, humans came in between meerkats and beavers. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-saturday-citations-nice-people-happier.html Other Sat, 13 Dec 2025 09:00:01 EST news684763110 With science increasingly coming under attack, using humor as a way to get people interested in scientific research is more important than ever, the founder of the satirical Ig Nobel prizes said. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-science-important-ig-nobel-founder.html Other Fri, 12 Dec 2025 04:30:01 EST news684736183 This week, JPL scientists reported that glaciers speed up and slow down at predictable intervals. CERN's ATLAS experiment detected evidence for the decay of a Higgs boson into a muon-antimuon pair. And researchers discovered that exercise slows tumor growth by shifting glucose uptake to muscles. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-saturday-citations-cancer-therapy-breakthrough.html Other Sat, 06 Dec 2025 09:30:01 EST news684152960