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. A key step in the origin of many pandemics occurs when an animal-borne virus infects humans and then evolves to spread more efficiently from person to person. That is why scientists and physicians keep a close watch on viruses that could jump from animals to humans, such as emerging strains of avian flu and bat coronaviruses, as well as viruses that have already crossed into humans but, for now, spread poorly among people, such as hantavirus and Ebola. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-lab-evolution-recreates-covid-path.html Evolution Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:40:02 EDT news699619681 Falcons are lauded for their speed and agility. The Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo), skilled at snagging birds and insects out of the air, is no exception. However, during twilight on one day in October, researcher Apostolos Christopoulos observed several hobbies feeding on something else in a protected wetland in Greece—bats from the genus Pipistrellus. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-twilight-reveals-falcon-feasting-unusual.html Plants & Animals Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:40:05 EDT news699616621 A team of scientists have discovered and named three new "leaf-planking" praying mantis species and recorded another mantis species turning up far from its assumed habitat. JCU Ph.D. candidate Matthew Connors recently discovered and named three new Snake Mantis species from the Kongobatha genus (K.serpens, K.spinosistyla and K.rufilinea), publishing his detailed observations of each species in the journal Zootaxa. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-mantises-planking-urban-dominance.html Plants & Animals Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:20:01 EDT news699601681 New research has unearthed new insights into the disruptive and detrimental effects that human-produced electromagnetic noise can have on the ability of bats to migrate effectively. The study, published in the journal Science, and led by researchers at Bangor University, the University of Latvia and the University of Oldenburg, in Germany, has revealed unexpected effects of exposure to electromagnetic noise that is an ever-present feature of urban environments. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-electromagnetic-noise-migrating-effects-hours.html Plants & Animals Thu, 28 May 2026 14:00:08 EDT news699182761 Bats are the only mammals that can actively fly, enabling many species to perform seasonal migrations. In migratory birds, remaining airborne for many hours is supported by burning fatty acids, something most mammals are incapable of. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-distance-migration-fatty-acids-limits.html Plants & Animals Wed, 27 May 2026 16:00:06 EDT news699112022 Sound plays an important role for many animals, helping them navigate and hunt. Echolocation is the ability of animals like bats and dolphins to locate objects by emitting sound waves and interpreting the returning echoes. But detecting meaningful information in a noisy environment poses a major challenge for them. Bats operate by identifying weak prey echoes among complex background sounds generated by surrounding objects and their own movement during flight. To overcome this issue, these bats have evolved a highly sophisticated echo detection system that uses ultrasonic voices to perceive their surroundings with remarkable precision. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-silent-frequency-zones-prey-noisy.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 05:00:04 EDT news698344021 In the spring of 2025, baseball fans were treated to a surprise when the New York Yankees began the season with a unique style of bat. Termed "torpedo bats," these new designs tapered slightly toward the end, so the widest points of the bats were closer to the "sweet spot"—the optimal place to hit to send the ball flying. In theory, this shape was more ergonomic, giving the Yankees an advantage at the plate. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-torpedo-shift-baseball-sweet-acoustic.html General Physics Wed, 13 May 2026 11:30:02 EDT news697794026 Firework shows are controversial in this day and age. While beautiful, fireworks are loud, bright, and smoky, and they can be dangerous to the surrounding environment, releasing contaminants into the air and frightening both pets and wildlife alike. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-brown-fireworks.html Plants & Animals Tue, 12 May 2026 10:20:09 EDT news697707301 We are all born completely helpless, with little of the knowledge and skills we will need to survive as adults. Even our ability to communicate is almost entirely learned from our parents or caregivers. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-birds-babies-humans-zebra-finches.html Plants & Animals Mon, 11 May 2026 13:00:05 EDT news697718342 Moonlight determines when the red-necked nightjar feeds, migrates and raises its young. A groundbreaking long-term study from Lund University shows how the migratory bird's entire annual cycle follows the moon's rhythm. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-nocturnal-migratory-birds-rhythm-moon.html Plants & Animals Mon, 04 May 2026 07:40:01 EDT news697098182 Each animal species has an optimal temperature at which it can metabolize food and its immune system can best fight off pathogens. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-cold-animals-disease-climate-knowledge.html Plants & Animals Thu, 30 Apr 2026 19:00:01 EDT news696774187 Palmyra Atoll, a remote, uninhabited speck of land, coral and sea halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa, is one of the healthiest, intact atolls on the planet—so ecologically sensitive that visiting researchers freeze their clothes at night to kill invasive species. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-earth-remote-atoll-soil-fungi.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:00:17 EDT news696500581 When humans are moving as a crowd, their movements tend to be highly coordinated, similarly to the collective motions of bird flocks or other groups of animals. These group behaviors can limit collisions in dynamic environments, allowing individuals to reach their destinations safely. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-emergence-leaders-crowds-pedestrians.html Other Sat, 25 Apr 2026 11:00:02 EDT news695898442 Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic disease in humans caused by the Marburg virus. It is carried by Egyptian fruit bats and can spread to people after exposure in caves or mines where they live. So imagine the surprise of researchers when they monitored Python Cave in Uganda, a known Marburg virus reservoir, and found that, despite the danger, dozens of people were entering the site. Most of these visitors were unprotected and ignored safety rules, creating a golden opportunity for the virus to jump from bats to the local community. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-uganda-python-cave-reveals-marburg.html Plants & Animals Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:20:15 EDT news695985560 What do bats do at night when they're not hunting? Using tiny GPS trackers, Leiden researchers discovered that pond bats spend a substantial portion of the night resting—often outdoors. This surprising insight could change the way we protect them. "To rest or to roam: Functional habitat use of an insectivorous bat species during active and resting behavior" is published in Biological Conservation. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tracking-secret-life-pond.html Plants & Animals Tue, 14 Apr 2026 09:20:04 EDT news695374561 Tropical rainforests are home to almost two-thirds of all vertebrate species and three-quarters of all tree species: they are the most species-rich terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. However, over half of these diverse rainforests have already been cleared, and their area continues to decline drastically, primarily for agricultural purposes. Is there a chance of regeneration, and can not only trees but also the unique diversity of thousands of animal species return to cleared areas? https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ecuador-tropical-rainforest-biodiversity-rebounds.html Plants & Animals Wed, 08 Apr 2026 19:20:01 EDT news694880641 Humans are creatures of rhythms. As far as we know, humans have always sung and always danced. We can recognize a song by its rhythm alone, regardless of whether it is played fast or slow. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-bumblebees-rhythm-brains-size-sesame.html Plants & Animals Fri, 03 Apr 2026 09:00:03 EDT news694424281 Accents are usually thought of as a human trait, indicating where a person has grown up or the communities they belong—and new research shows the same dialects can also occur in Australia's largest carnivorous bat. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ghost-dialects-emerge-colonies.html Plants & Animals Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:50:01 EDT news694273082 Britain's hazel dormice are getting lighter in spring but fatter in autumn as our climate changes, suggests new research in Scientific Reports. The study, titled "The effects of climate and land cover on hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) body mass over space and time," used 30 years of data on the weight of dormice at different times of year. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-britain-hibernating-hazel-dormice-lighter.html Plants & Animals Wed, 25 Mar 2026 05:00:06 EDT news693584761 A research team led by the Museum für Naturkunde presents the first evidence that several bat species produce courtship songs in the immediate rotor-swept zone of wind turbines while circling around the nacelle. Data from over 80,000 audio recordings at nacelle height from six German sites, together with stereo-thermal 3D reconstructions of bat flight trajectories, document both bat song and elevated bat density in the rotor-swept zone. Both lines of evidence suggest that, under certain circumstances, bats actively approach wind turbines and provide an explanation for why collision risk may increase during the mating season. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-male-rotor-swept-zone-turbines.html Plants & Animals Mon, 23 Mar 2026 19:20:03 EDT news693491101 The bright colors of butterfly wings, the sweet aromas of flowers, and the euphonious melodies of songbirds all evolved as signals that help individuals propagate, yet humans also find these very same signals pleasing to their own senses. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-humans-animals-citizen-science.html Evolution Thu, 19 Mar 2026 14:00:08 EDT news693129661 Scientists have discovered mosquitoes can act like tiny "flying wildlife surveyors," helping researchers detect elusive and endangered animals in Australia's national parks. A team from Macquarie University and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water used DNA found in mosquito blood meals to identify about 70 species of birds and mammals living in Kakadu National Park, including several animals that are rarely seen or difficult to monitor. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-mosquitoes-key-endangered-australian-wildlife.html Ecology Thu, 19 Mar 2026 11:00:06 EDT news693133153 Dr. Amy Baird, Professor of Biology at the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD), and her colleagues are seeking to change the attitude of biologists toward the meaning of taxonomic categories above the species level with their paper "The 2 Sigma Genus Concept in mammalogy: Lessons from Lasiurus," recently published in the journal PLOS One. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-genus-real-scientists-tree-testable.html Plants & Animals Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:20:03 EDT news693058130 A humpback whale alters the pitch of its song when joined by a neighboring singer, a finding that opens a new chapter in the ongoing effort to understand whale song, some of the most structurally and acoustically complex vocal patterns produced by mammals. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-whale-song-remix-humpbacks-shift.html Plants & Animals Mon, 16 Mar 2026 13:40:01 EDT news692883002 Bats are reservoirs for several zoonotic viruses, such as Ebola and coronaviruses. These pathogens can spread to humans through direct contact with the flying mammals or their bodily fluids, or indirectly through contaminated food and water or through intermediate animal hosts. Efforts to reduce these risks have included culling and experimental attempts to vaccinate individual animals. However, these methods are often ineffective, as well as being impractical and potentially harmful to ecosystems. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-mosquitoes-flying-vaccine-carriers-borne.html Ecology Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:20:01 EDT news692876963 Finding bats in the attic or under roof tiles is no homeowner's idea of fun. But Florida's endangered bonneted bats have few natural options left. With a dwindling number of large, old trees with cavities—their preferred habitat—and exotic species competing for what's left, many bonneted bats have moved into homes, leading to panicked humans and calls to professionals who can oust the squatters. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-florida-safer-artificial-roosts.html Plants & Animals Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:50:02 EDT news692465161 Researchers at the University of Oxford have suggested that ultrasound-repellers could help reduce hedgehog deaths caused by cars. The proposal is based on new findings, published in Biology Letters, which demonstrate for the first time that hedgehogs can hear high-frequency ultrasound. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-ultrasound-hedgehogs.html Plants & Animals Tue, 10 Mar 2026 20:10:01 EDT news692350321 A thin band of light from Cristian Lucanas's headlamp pierces the blackness of a Philippine rainforest as he digs through the underbrush before gently scooping up a cockroach with his bare hands. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-philippines-cockroach-lord-misunderstood-bugs.html Plants & Animals Sun, 08 Mar 2026 10:22:38 EDT news692184101 At newly colonized high-elevation sites in the central Italian Apennines, female Daubenton's bats take turns using the same hunting spots instead of feeding side by side. A study published by a research team from the University of Naples Federico II, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and several international partner institutions in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation shows that this fine-scale temporal partitioning helps the bats avoid competition and may be crucial for surviving at the cold edge of a climate-driven range expansion. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-female-daubenton-scarce-grounds-edge.html Plants & Animals Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:20:01 EST news691418221 What makes one bat take risks and venture far from its roost in search of food, while another stays close to familiar, safer areas? A new study from Tel Aviv University's School of Zoology reveals that the environment in which a bat is raised during the first months of its life largely determines how it will behave in the wild, sometimes even more than its innate personality. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-early-life-boldly-adults.html Plants & Animals Mon, 23 Feb 2026 18:10:01 EST news691086122