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. Quantum information is notoriously fragile. Internet traffic is anything but. Yet Northwestern University scientists have demonstrated they can peacefully coexist inside the same fiber-optic cable. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-internet-lab-real-world.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:40:01 EDT news703948921 When a fruit fly catches a whiff of a ripe peach, it quickly heads toward it. Time after time, it finds the fruit—even from many feet away and even if the scent arrives only as a few drifting, disconnected puffs. How do they home in with such unerring accuracy? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fruit-flies-fleeting-scent-puffs.html Plants & Animals Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:00:29 EDT news703857961 A tapeworm fundamentally changes the lives of ants: Workers of the species Temnothorax nylanderi infected with the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis live several times longer than their uninfected nestmates. They are also less active, and their metabolism becomes more similar in some respects to that of queens. A new study by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), published in the journal BMC Genomics, reveals the molecular basis of this unusual effect. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tapeworm-hijacks-worker-ants-queen.html Ecology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:20:09 EDT news703862342 If you've driven down two-lane highways in rural parts of North Florida recently, you may have noticed a spate of new signs that designate the grassy knolls bordering the asphalt as wildflower areas. The signs likely feel redundant right about now as thousands of milkweeds produce thick umbels packed full of pentagonal buds and fully developed flowers. Many of these flowers and all the monarchs they attract have the same attention-grabbing orange color as the safety vests worn by workers who carefully planted each milkweed by hand months earlier. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-butterfly-experts-milkweed-florida-roadsides.html Plants & Animals Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:30:01 EDT news703499199 Social animals use a suite of preemptive behaviors in anticipation of conflict, including staying quiet, monitoring their surroundings, conducting raids and bonding through play. In a review published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution , researchers describe how environmental cues and memories of past events can trigger these behaviors. Over generations, these prewar preparations could affect sociocognitive evolution, population dynamics and community structures. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-animals-war.html Plants & Animals Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:00:03 EDT news703318203 An international team led by Dr. Gary Lewin, group leader of the Molecular Physiology of Somatosensory Perception lab at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin, has discovered that the queens of naked mole-rat colonies release a volatile compound called isopropyl myristate, which induces temporary infertility in all other females in the colony. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-naked-mole-rat-queens-odorous.html Ecology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:33 EDT news703229499 How do bees make group decisions without a leader? Math experts have determined that the best strategy is for a few to assume the risk of foraging under all conditions while the majority stay safely back and forage only when conditions are favorable. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-math-reveals-honeybee-hives-patient.html Ecology Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:20:06 EDT news702900976 Steep hillsides and mountainsides in many regions worldwide are often covered in characteristic step-like patterns, also known as terracettes. These repeating landforms have fascinated scientists for more than a century, yet the factors contributing to their formation had not been clearly confirmed until now. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-darwin-150yearold-hillside-mystery-virtual.html Plants & Animals Fri, 10 Jul 2026 07:30:01 EDT news702823350 Nature has invented countless types of pointy appendages, and scientists have long sought to explain what makes these structures so effective at puncturing other things. A new study models the key physical characteristics of puncturing tools to reflect their diversity in nature, finding that the shape of a biological tool is driven in part by trade-offs between its puncture efficiency and its ability to resist bending or buckling. The findings are described in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-nature-tools-reveal-offs-piercing.html Plants & Animals Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:00:13 EDT news702700982 Long before the dawn of modern parenting, animals laid eggs and moved on, leaving their progeny to fend for themselves. Now, a study published in Nature uncovers one of the elegant ways evolution transformed neglect into nurture. Working with clonal raider ants, a surprisingly parental insect, researchers found that rather than evolving entirely new brain circuits for caregiving, evolution repurposed ancient neural systems for regulating hunger into triggers for social behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tiny-neuron-ant-brains-reveal.html Evolution Wed, 08 Jul 2026 12:10:01 EDT news702729697 Patients in hospitals generally trust the nursing staff. After all, they have undergone training and, in some cases, have several years of professional experience. In the case of carpenter ants, it is not nursing expertise that determines who cares for the patients. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-colony-ant-wound-transitional-workers.html Plants & Animals Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:00:01 EDT news702205505 Researchers have identified "DNA switches" that become active as honeybee larvae grow into worker bees, offering new insight into the development of these important pollinators and the ecosystems they support. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-honeybee-metamorphosis-uncovers-dna-worker.html Ecology Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:20:07 EDT news701425717 New research from the University of St. Andrews has shown that higher extinction risk is associated with a higher frequency of decreasing local prevalence of species, in an analysis of one of the most comprehensive long-term databases ever created, BioTIME—a major tool to study biodiversity change also developed at the University of St. Andrews. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-local-species-trends-flag-global.html Plants & Animals Tue, 23 Jun 2026 05:00:08 EDT news701343121 An international team of researchers has discovered a remarkable new spider species in the rainforest of North Queensland that spins an ingenious and powerful spring-actuated snare to catch a single species of ant—one ant at a time—in what they describe as "the ultimate specialization." https://phys.org/news/2026-06-newly-australian-ballista-spider-snare.html Plants & Animals Mon, 22 Jun 2026 11:00:09 EDT news701094716 An international team of researchers have published a new review in Animal Behavior revealing how communication enables cooperation between different animal species. The review, titled "The ecology and evolution of cues and signals in animal interspecies cooperation," highlights how movements, visual displays, calls, and other behavioral cues and signals help partners coordinate interactions and align interests across species boundaries. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-animals-communicate-species-boundaries.html Plants & Animals Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:00:01 EDT news701079434 A James Cook University Ph.D. student's late-night solo survey has led to the first recorded sighting of a microwhip scorpion in the Daintree Rainforest. JCU entomologist and taxonomist Matthew Connors works at the university's Daintree Rainforest Observatory as a demonstrator and rainforest tour guide for visiting groups. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-student-sighting-microwhip-scorpion-daintree.html Plants & Animals Fri, 19 Jun 2026 09:00:03 EDT news701078041 Malaysian scientists have discovered a new species of parasitic fungus in Borneo's jungles that preys on "zombie fungi" known to infect insects before subjecting them to a gruesome death. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-hyperparasite-malaysia-borneo-jungle.html Ecology Fri, 19 Jun 2026 03:59:28 EDT news701060265 Many animals exhibit fascinating collective behaviors, which allow them to move, search for food, reproduce and avoid threats more effectively than they would alone. One of these behaviors is queuing migration, which essentially entails traveling as a group in an organized line or procession. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ancient-amber-fossil-captures-mites.html Evolution Wed, 17 Jun 2026 07:00:01 EDT news700735961 Many quantum effects can be observed only when a small number of particles is studied—individual atoms, molecules or photons, for example, carefully shielded from the rest of the world. But what about macroscopic objects, consisting of an unimaginably large number of particles? Can they, too, display effects that provide a direct glimpse into the quantum world? https://phys.org/news/2026-06-high-degree-quantum-entanglement-centimeter.html Condensed Matter Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:00:04 EDT news700831442 A tropical butterfly has evolved an ingenious anti-aging strategy by delaying the aging process, enabling it to live far longer than its closest relatives, according to a new University of Bristol-led study published in Nature Communications. Found throughout the tropical rainforests of South and Central America, butterflies of the Heliconius tribe are among the longest-lived species ever recorded and could provide a new model for studying the biology of longevity. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-geriatric-butterfly-species.html Evolution Tue, 16 Jun 2026 11:00:05 EDT news700821607 Chimpanzees are the only great apes, apart from humans, that have adapted to living on savannas as well as in forests. However, it is not yet well understood how the harsh ecological conditions of the savanna—compared with those of the forest—affect the foods chimpanzees eat and how they obtain them. Now, a study led by the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain (IJGE) reveals for the first time the strategies savanna chimpanzees use to make tools and extract aggressive army ants—also known as marabunta—from their underground nests and eat them in these dry, hot habitats. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-savanna-chimpanzees-tools-capturing-army.html Evolution Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:20:06 EDT news700221962 Dinosaurs are estimated to have roamed Earth for over 165 million years, gradually evolving over time to survive in changing environments. Among the many fascinating groups of dinosaurs known to have lived on our planet are alvarezsauroids. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tiny-armed-alvarezsauroid-dinosaurs-insect.html Evolution Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:40:06 EDT news699529068 Researchers in Spain have discovered that in collectives of moving fire ants, rippling "waves" of density and activity are likely triggered by local regions where ants collectively travel in the same direction as their neighbors. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ripples-ant-motions-driven-neighbor.html General Physics Thu, 28 May 2026 10:00:07 EDT news699098891 Insects are declining across Europe. Czech scientists have determined this decline can be mitigated by returning large ungulates—horses, aurochs cattle, and wisents—to landscapes. This has been shown by a recent study by a group of researchers from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences (BC CAS), who surveyed five insect groups across eleven sites rewilded by large ungulates in Czechia. Their results have just been published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-trophic-rewilding-large-herbivores-insect.html Plants & Animals Tue, 26 May 2026 12:00:06 EDT news699011561 It may sound too bizarre to be true, but the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa), a fish that inhabits rivers, lakes, and swamps in Mexico and Texas, exists over much of its range in populations that are 100% female. In 1932, the Amazon molly became the first known vertebrate to reproduce by cloning itself, producing all-female populations. A new genetic study published in Nature has given scientists insights into the longstanding mystery about how and why this happens. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-asexual-lizards-virgin-births-clones.html Plants & Animals Fri, 22 May 2026 09:40:02 EDT news698661362 Vibrant, tiny, and sporting a bright red grin on its back, the Happy-Face spider is one of the most famous and recognizable arachnids in the world. For over a century, this cheerful-looking creature was thought to be a unique resident of the Hawaiian Islands, a biological curiosity found nowhere else on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-happy-spider-species-indian-himalayas.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 09:20:06 EDT news698400543 Kenyan ant expert Dino Martins gushes over the red and black insects that have become the center of an international smuggling trade. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-kenya-poaching-problem-smuggling-giant.html Ecology Mon, 18 May 2026 04:51:32 EDT news698298661 In addition to serving as biochemical weapons for offense and defense, the venoms produced by ants in the subfamily Formicinae also fulfill additional roles. For example, the ants use it to protect their nests from pathogens. It has long been assumed that the primary constituent of these venoms, formic acid, was responsible for these functions. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-discovery-antimicrobial-peptides-ant-venom.html Biochemistry Thu, 14 May 2026 12:53:32 EDT news697981981 New research finds that higher temperatures can actually benefit some bumble bee species—particularly those that make subterranean nests. However, periods of extreme heat appear to offset those benefits, and may contribute to declining bumble bee populations in the southeastern United States. The paper, "Nesting biology shapes climate vulnerability of social bees (Bombus spp.)," is published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-higher-temperatures-benefit-devastate-bumble.html Plants & Animals Wed, 06 May 2026 18:20:07 EDT news697292916 Increases in global trade and travel are causing animal and plant species to be more frequently introduced to regions of the world where they do not naturally occur. In these new regions, these species are often referred to as "alien species." The process through which they are introduced is known as a "biological invasion." Much research has been carried out to identify the biodiversity impacts of biological invasions—these are impacts that affect the survival of native species. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-negative-impacts-biological-invasions-animal.html Ecology Tue, 05 May 2026 10:40:03 EDT news697193401