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 dogs with heart disease, a fraction of a centimeter can make a life-changing difference. Veterinarians often rely on chest radiographs to monitor subtle changes in heart size that help determine when treatment should begin. But those measurements can vary from one doctor to the next, making it difficult to know whether a dog's condition is truly changing or whether the difference is simply the result of human interpretation. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-tool-veterinarians-track-heart.html Veterinary medicine Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:30:01 EDT news705765121 A new study from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management found that research proposals showing stronger signs of AI-assisted writing were four percentage points more likely to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-grant-narrowing-ideas.html Economics & Business Tue, 11 Aug 2026 19:20:03 EDT news705679801 After a heavy rain, rivers often turn brown with sediment, sand, silt and soil washed from the landscape that play a vital role in shaping rivers. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-rivers-sediment-intense-worrisome-pattern.html Earth Sciences Tue, 11 Aug 2026 19:00:01 EDT news705679501 In his 1927 paper, "A law of comparative judgment," the American psychologist L. L. Thurstone proposed that when people select one option among multiple alternatives, they are picking the one that has the highest value to them, even though they cannot assign a particular number to that choice. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-people-pays-power.html Mathematics Mon, 10 Aug 2026 18:00:02 EDT news705595141 Tropical cyclones are among the most destructive natural forces on the planet, but predicting where they will go and how strong they will become is beset by challenges. Current methods are often good at tracking storm paths but struggle to anticipate changes in intensity. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-cyclone-hours.html Environment Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:10:01 EDT news705585039 In a world first, scientists led by a team from Stanford University have created 16 viable viruses that do not exist in nature and were designed by AI. Their experiment, which is published in Science, could help in the fight against superbugs by allowing researchers to design customized viruses to kill drug-resistant bacteria. Thomas Inglesby and Moritz S. Hanke have published a Perspective piece on the work and its implications in the same edition of the journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-sixteen-ai-viruses-route-drug.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 10 Aug 2026 07:00:01 EDT news705314814 How much ice is stored in the world's glaciers? And where exactly is it located? A new study led by Ca' Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISP), provides an updated global map of glacier ice volume. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-reveals-volume-world-glaciers.html Earth Sciences Fri, 07 Aug 2026 18:40:01 EDT news705329281 Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a platform that pinpoints genetic triggers that turn microbes into efficient factories for new chemicals and materials. The method enables rapid, precise reprogramming of bacteria as biotechnology tools, supporting domestic production of valuable products and recovery of critical minerals and materials to enhance the nation's supply chains and global competitiveness. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-platform-bacterial-gene-biotech.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:00:01 EDT news705323281 Many parents have mixed feelings about the unrestricted use of artificial intelligence (AI) for schoolwork. They are concerned about the potential impact on their child's ability to learn but also don't want them to be left behind if other young people are using AI. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-homework-parents-pay-subscriptions.html Social Sciences Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:40:01 EDT news705254582 Fluorescent dyes have long been used in biological research to identify and visualize structures within living cells. Although effective, they have several drawbacks, including altering the cells under study, limiting the number of structures that can be examined at once and reducing measurement accuracy. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-ramanomics-major-obstacle-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:40:01 EDT news705240841 Typhoons pose significant threats, with sudden, dangerous waves that endanger ships, offshore platforms and coastal infrastructure in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Current typhoon forecasting methods sometimes underestimate the largest waves during typhoons, but researchers in China have designed a new model that may offer improvements. Their new study, published in Ocean Engineering, describes how the model combines physics guidance with data-driven learning to improve typhoon forecasting. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-coupled-ai-physics-typhoon-height.html Earth Sciences Thu, 06 Aug 2026 09:40:08 EDT news705148156 Collecting rainwater from rooftops and using it to spray buildings during hot weather could help cities cut air conditioning use, lower urban temperatures and lessen the impact of heat waves, according to new research from The University of Manchester. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-harvesting-rainwater-rooftops-cities-stay.html Environment Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:50:01 EDT news705163201 To turn abundant carbon dioxide into valuable fuel, we need a fast and efficient way to determine which catalysts work best over the longest time. AI models have the potential to help guide catalyst selection, but as with internet chatbots, AI models are only as good as the data you put into them. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-labs-experimental-differences-undermine-ai.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 03 Aug 2026 19:20:01 EDT news704992501 A research team at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has successfully demonstrated an AI modeling approach that accurately and rapidly predicts how reactions between solid materials unfold over time. It is the first predictive model that accounts for how atoms travel through materials during solid-state reactions. Importantly, its predictions provide practical insights into the best recipes for making advanced materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-atom-movement-solid-state.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 03 Aug 2026 18:00:06 EDT news704987485 Ants live in highly organized colonies and cooperate daily to tackle a wide range of problems. Their striking group behaviors have fascinated biologists for centuries and even inspired the development of various artificial intelligence (AI) systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ant-teams-gravity-based-puzzle.html Plants & Animals Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:20:10 EDT news704987373 How do students actually use AI learning assistants? A new research paper by IU International University of Applied Sciences provides the first robust answers to this question. For the study "Using AI-based Learning Assistants in Higher Education: A Large-Scale Descriptive Analysis," the research team led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kristina Schaaff, Dr. Valerie Hekkel and Quintus Stierstorfer analyzed anonymized usage data from approximately 77,000 IU online students who were using the Learning Companion Syntea at the time of the study. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-mirrors-student-online-learners.html Education Sun, 02 Aug 2026 10:20:01 EDT news704721316 Scientists created an AI system that uses facial recognition and real-time touchscreen testing to automate cognitive studies of capuchin monkeys in the wild. The American Journal of Primatology published a proof-of-concept for the novel method—dubbed CapuchinAI—developed by researchers at Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-era-cognitive-wild-primates.html Plants & Animals Sat, 01 Aug 2026 16:00:02 EDT news704556415 Information and communication technologies (ICTs) driven by artificial intelligence (AI) are generating data at an unprecedented rate. Every internet search, AI-generated image, recommendation, scientific simulation and large language model creates and processes enormous amounts of information that must be stored, transferred and analyzed. As AI continues to expand across every sector of society, global demand for data storage and computing is rising dramatically. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-optimized-magnetic-pulses-memory-energy.html Condensed Matter Fri, 31 Jul 2026 16:00:01 EDT news704720412 The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted severe consequences of unchecked respiratory disease, including cytokine storms. This phenomenon affected many COVID-19 patients and is a potential side effect of many other diseases involving significant inflammation, but approaches to treating these symptoms remain unclear. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cell-vesicles-trigger-lipid-counterstorm.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:00:04 EDT news704554321 Poxviruses have a long history in human disease as well as medicine: The first-ever vaccine was developed to protect against smallpox, which has since been eradicated. Despite this, scientists still don't fully understand how poxviruses infect and replicate inside our cells. Recent outbreaks of mpox highlight an urgent need to better understand poxvirus biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-uncovering-poxvirus-portal-complex.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 30 Jul 2026 18:00:01 EDT news704643481 Ancient plant seeds provide important archaeological evidence for studying the evolution of human civilization. Lingnan University and Shandong University have jointly developed the world's first artificial intelligence (AI) archaeological system dedicated to identifying ancient Chinese plant seeds. The system emulates the identification process of archaeobotanical experts and achieves a classification accuracy of more than 90%. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancient-chinese-seeds-spanning-years.html Archaeology Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:00:09 EDT news704640122 How does the brain learn? Does it acquire new knowledge by creating new neural pathways or by strengthening existing connections? A new study from Bar-Ilan University offers evidence in favor of the latter, suggesting that learning is driven primarily by changes in the strength of existing neural connections rather than by expanding the brain's underlying architecture. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-stronger-neural-networks.html General Physics Thu, 30 Jul 2026 15:20:02 EDT news704633900 Entering and manipulating dreams may sound like science fiction, but for Freeman Hrabowski Scholar Walter Gonzalez, these scenarios aren't confined to the big screen. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-songbird-clues-brains.html Plants & Animals Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:20:02 EDT news704623849 Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine have developed an artificial intelligence framework that can redesign proteins on a scale previously seen only in natural evolution. The tool can create shorter, longer and highly modified versions of proteins while preserving their structure and function. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-molecular-ray-ai-tool-redesigns.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:00:07 EDT news704447701 Ants are known allies in the fight against coffee pests known as coffee berry borers. Now, a discovery made by Jonathan "Jonno" Morris while he was a University of Michigan graduate student has revealed there may be a new dimension to this protection. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-small-ants-evict-coffee-pests.html Ecology Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:20:02 EDT news704458620 While headlines warn that AI could unleash future biological threats, the technology also offers our best defense: a way to anticipate viral evolution and stress-test treatments. Rather than waiting for SARS-CoV-2 to mutate and outrun our immune system, my colleagues and I at École Normale Supérieure and Institut Pasteur built EscapeMap. Published in Cell Systems, our framework generates highly mutated, functional viral proteins to evaluate therapeutics against future evolutionary trajectories long before those mutations surface in the real world. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-sars-cov-variants-prevalent.html Biotechnology Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:00:02 EDT news704454474 To explain the stock market's reaction to earnings results, investors and other market participants have used a standard tool for decades: the earnings surprise. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-day-stock.html Economics & Business Tue, 28 Jul 2026 07:20:03 EDT news704441797 Researchers have developed a low-cost, semi-automated, AI-driven method that uses remote cameras to survey bumblebees and potentially other insects. The new tool could have important implications for efforts to conserve declining insect populations. Several bumblebee species have been petitioned to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-powered-camera-bumblebees-potentially.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Jul 2026 06:00:01 EDT news704358062 Quasars, distant cores of galaxies powered by supermassive black holes, are among the most luminous objects in the universe. While not uncommon, their brightness can make it difficult to accurately measure the galaxies they reside in. This means scientists must use gravitational lensing to assist in analyzing these bright objects, a method that relies on studying how an object's strong gravity bends light around its host galaxy. Yet despite their own powerful gravity, quasars that can act as lenses are rare. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quasar-lenses-emerge-ai-scan.html Astronomy Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:20:07 EDT news704377501 A team of astronomers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has observed an extremely rare "wandering" black hole located tens of thousands of light-years from the center of its galaxy. This finding could reshape scientists' understanding of how massive black holes move through the universe after galaxies collide. The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-astronomers-universe-rarest-black-hole.html Astronomy Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:20:04 EDT news704376481