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. During a recent expedition aboard the research vessel David Packard, MBARI scientists encountered a rarely seen barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma). This sighting is MBARI's 11th observation of this unique deep-sea fish with a transparent head. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rarely-deep-sea-barreleye-fish.html Plants & Animals Wed, 28 Oct 2026 17:00:06 EDT news712419481 In a deep, dark part of the Gulf of Mexico, the number of marine animals plummeted by about 60% in the years following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, a new study found. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-marine-life-declined-gulf-mexico.html Ecology Tue, 20 Oct 2026 05:39:07 EDT news711693484 With about 30 visual pigments, compared to just three in humans, mantis shrimp possess a visual system that remains a mystery. Researchers from ULiège and Humboldt University in Berlin have, for the first time, analyzed these pigments one by one and discovered that some detect red light that very few animals can perceive. This finding, published in Science Advances, has potential applications in optogenetics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-red-sensitive-pigments-mantis-shrimp.html Plants & Animals Sat, 17 Oct 2026 09:00:01 EDT news711300101 Zavodovski, a volcanic island in Antarctica, is silently witnessing a shift in the local ecosystem. Known as home to the world's largest penguin colony, this island has long been under the watchful eye of scientists. One such study has now led to a bittersweet discovery. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-world-largest-penguin-colony-title.html Plants & Animals Tue, 13 Oct 2026 06:20:01 EDT news711014785 A new species of ancient crocodile relative that lived around 170 million years ago has been discovered by scientists at the University of Portsmouth and Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-jurassic-crocodile-species-unusually-slender.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 12 Oct 2026 14:00:06 EDT news711029785 A giant isopod from Puerto Rico, rediscovered in the depository of the University of Tübingen's Paleontological Collection, has turned out to be a previously unknown species. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-puerto-rico-specimen-reveals-giant.html Evolution Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:40:01 EDT news710677142 Coral reefs are renowned for their visual beauty, but for the marine life they support, their sounds may be just as enticing. Two new studies led by UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography reveal how underwater acoustic enrichment—the playback of sounds from healthy reefs—can help spur the recovery of degraded coral reefs and their fish communities. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-healthy-reef-boost-coral-fish.html Plants & Animals Thu, 08 Oct 2026 05:00:14 EDT news710587621 A team of marine scientists led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has developed a new approach to predicting harmful algal blooms (HABs), changing how oceanographers track these hazardous marine events. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ocean-predator-chemical-cues-early.html Ecology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 18:10:07 EDT news710006402 When designing a large underwater robot that could swim silently to avoid startling sea creatures, roboticist Rob Shepherd considered the unusual swimming system of oarfish, the meters-long fish whose ribbon-like dorsal fin moves in waves to propel its body. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-mysterious-oarfish-fins-large-underwater.html Biotechnology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:40:20 EDT news709997165 Plesiosaurs swam into river deltas to vomit up shells and other indigestible elements of their marine meals, suggests new research published by Cambridge University Press. The behavior resembles that of today's fur seals and marine crocodiles. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-queasy-plesiosaurs-swam-shore-vomit.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 22 Sep 2026 19:00:01 EDT news709201289 For more than 170 years, paleontologists have been trying to solve the mystery of what created the strangely uniform hexagonal tunnels found in fossils. In a new study published in Earth Science Reviews, a team of researchers pored over the evidence and concluded that the most likely culprit was a type of arthropod—probably a small crustacean. This challenges a long-standing idea that a worm-like creature may have created the tunnels. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-elusive-builders-hexagonal-tunnel-fossils.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:20:03 EDT news709210408 Stand on the damp sand on a California beach and chances are you're standing on top of an active earthworks site. Sand hoppers (Megalorchestia spp.), the tiny, shrimp-like creatures commonly found eating away at kelp on the shore, have been found to move massive amounts of sand, excavating up to 50 kg (110 pounds) of sand per meter (3.3 feet) of shoreline per day. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-beach-crustaceans-big-sand.html Earth Sciences Sun, 20 Sep 2026 16:20:01 EDT news708951869 Some types of marine life appear to have it easy. While exploring thousands of meters below the waves in the Chilean Margin in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, scientists observed tiny shrimp-like crustaceans known as amphipods (Mesopleustes abyssorum) clinging tightly to much larger giant sea spiders (Colossendeis colossea) that were scuttling on the ocean floor. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-deep-sea-crustaceans-caught-hitching.html Plants & Animals Thu, 17 Sep 2026 10:50:01 EDT news708859334 It's no secret that plastic and other human trash are a problem for marine life, but our understanding has long focused on the ocean's surface. As described in a study published in PLOS One, a more complete picture is coming into focus, revealing that even some of our planet's greatest depths have become home to our debris. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-deep-ocean-familiar-trash-plastic.html Environment Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:00:11 EDT news708680581 Our sense of taste is critical for survival, alerting us to substances that provide vital nutrients and those that might poison us. Now, a team led by researchers from the University of Osaka has discovered how one such taste receptor in pufferfish can detect a surprisingly wide range of flavors at once. Their study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-pufferfish-receptor-versatile-human-savory.html Plants & Animals Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:20:07 EDT news708767643 While most people are aware of how plastic, arsenic and various industrial chemicals can pollute bodies of water, the effects of caffeine on freshwater environments remain largely unknown. Nonetheless, traces of caffeine, the stimulant contained in coffee and tea, often pass through wastewater treatment systems, entering rivers and streams. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-caffeine-pollution-disrupt-crustacean-defenses.html Plants & Animals Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:00:01 EDT news708695725 At just an inch (2.5 centimeters) long, the sand hoppers skipping across California's Isla Vista Beach at dawn don't exactly look like a force of nature. But a new study reveals that these shrimp-like creatures might be doing more to shape the landscape in which they live than any other animal on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-beach-burrowing-beasties-shovel-sand.html Earth Sciences Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:00:10 EDT news708700861 Scientists at UMass Chan Medical School and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole have shown that the four core clock genes responsible for maintaining circadian rhythms in animals—Per, Cry2, Bmal1 and Clk—also regulate circatidal behavior in the crustacean P. hawaiensis. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-crustacean-scientists-genes-circatidal.html Plants & Animals Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:40:01 EDT news707646781 The formation of complex terrestrial ecosystems was a significant innovation in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. This event signified the expansion of life beyond marine environments and marked the beginning of a new phase in the diversification of terrestrial biota. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-texas-fossil-reveals-early-insects.html Evolution Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:20:05 EDT news707064181 A large-scale study of nearly 700 species reveals the evolutionary relationships and history of Neogastropoda, a diverse group of marine snails. The findings provide new evidence for their single origin, identify four new families and reveal a previously undetected burst of diversification in the early Cenozoic. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-shell-predators-early-cenozoic-boom.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Aug 2026 16:30:01 EDT news706806241 From a fishing trawler in the Adriatic, Italian scientists gently release thousands of tiny octopuses in the hope of fighting an invasive crab species that has devastated local fisheries. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-italian-scientists-octopus-crab-invasion.html Plants & Animals Wed, 19 Aug 2026 04:30:02 EDT news706332058 Researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, have made an advance by using a natural substance from fungi called chitin to create hydrogels that are significantly stronger and tougher. This new material could lead to safer medical devices, longer-lasting coatings and other innovations that improve everyday technology and health care. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fungal-chitin-route-tougher-hydrogels.html Biotechnology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:00:05 EDT news705670982 Inspired by naturally occurring mats and balls of seaweed, researchers have created highly porous, superadhesive meshes capable of capturing both large and small microplastic particles—a longstanding challenge in the field. The mesh can clean microplastics from both saltwater and freshwater and is made from sustainable, widely available biopolymers. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tangled-seaweed-size-cleaners-ocean.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:00:11 EDT news705069181 Permafrost in the Arctic stores large quantities of organic carbon. When frozen ground thaws or coastal sections erode, this carbon can enter the sea, where microorganisms can break it down and convert it into climate-damaging greenhouse gases. The extent to which this carbon actually enters the atmosphere, however, and how much remains in the ocean have hardly been quantified to date. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-arctic-ocean-permafrost-carbon-firmly.html Earth Sciences Fri, 31 Jul 2026 05:00:03 EDT news704553542 Ports rank among the most disturbed marine environments. Pollutants like trash, oil and toxins from antifouling paints tend to accumulate in enclosed harbors. Invasive species arriving in ballast water may displace native wildlife, while ship propellers, sonars and dredging cause noise pollution that can interfere with animal communication. There is thus a great need for effective ways to clean up harbors. One promising method is renaturalization, in which hardy species that can survive under these conditions are deliberately introduced to act as pioneers. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-chicken-kidney-sponge-outstanding-polluted.html Ecology Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:02 EDT news704470921 Hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor host a broad range of rare and unusual ecosystems. They can be spread far apart, yet there is often overlap among the creatures that inhabit them. Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, are answering a long-standing question in this field about how creatures migrate between hydrothermal vents. Their approach involves inspecting the chemical nature of limpet shells to reconstruct their likely journeys, yielding some surprising results. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-deep-sea-larvae-sunlight-hydrothermal.html Ecology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:09 EDT news703318177 Hyperiid amphipods are a small but anatomically diverse group of shrimp-like crustaceans with remarkable adaptations for life in the ocean's twilight zone. A team of researchers from MBARI, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, GEOMAR, the University of Western Australia and the Florida Museum of Natural History leveraged 30 years of video observations from MBARI's robotic submersibles to study the evolution of eye complexity in hyperiid amphipods. The team recently published its findings in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-evolution-remarkable-eyes-deepsea.html Evolution Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:00:01 EDT news703326587 A new Stanford-led study offers the clearest picture yet of how some ocean life survived our planet's biggest mass extinction while most animals did not. About 252 million years ago, 96% of marine species and 70% of land animals died off during the Permian–Triassic extinction event, known as the "Great Dying." Not all branches of the evolutionary tree were affected evenly, however. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-link-mass-extinction-dominant-marine.html Evolution Fri, 10 Jul 2026 07:42:09 EDT news702888087 Usually there's safety in numbers, but it doesn't always work that way. Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) filter-feed on immense shoals of krill, engulfing colossal mouthfuls of water containing up to 144 kg of the crustaceans. But then the mighty creatures expel the water by squeezing it out through the racks of baleen lining their mouths. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-krill-buildup-fin-whale-filter.html Plants & Animals Thu, 09 Jul 2026 18:00:01 EDT news702794203 Scientists from a handful of universities across the country have made innovative use of satellite images from NASA to determine the diet of Antarctic Adélie penguins across the continent by studying their icy feces with a fidelity and frequency that could be captured only by space technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-penguin-poo-satellites-reveal-global.html Ecology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:00:02 EDT news702807956