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. Some microorganisms that hold great promise for research have long lain dormant in historical collections. But only through new methods are their diversity and potential becoming apparent. The team led by Professor Christian Jogler at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena examined one such collection: bacterial strains isolated between the 1980s and the early 2000s by Heinz Schlesner from various bodies of water in northern Germany, including the Schlei, a Baltic Sea fjord, as well as ponds and a wastewater lagoon. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-decades-strains-reveal-brakhagea-budding.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:10:01 EDT news703867381 A new study from Edith Cowan University (ECU) confirms that the presence of fungal food resources is important for supporting the reintroduction of two threatened marsupials to the Shark Bay World Heritage area, which could simultaneously advance species conservation and ecosystem restoration. This study, led by Edith Cowan University Ph.D. candidate Rebecca Quah, took place at six sites across Western Australia and the Northern Territory, including Dirk Hartog Island in Shark Bay. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-truffles-menu-threatened-marsupials-world.html Plants & Animals Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:00:09 EDT news703862221 New research has uncovered the complex biological history preserved within DNA traces found on the Shroud of Turin, offering fresh insights into one of the world's most studied and debated historical artifacts. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-shroud-turin-dna-biological-history.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:00:06 EDT news703770901 They are the cell's "gatekeepers": specialized proteins, known as transporters, selectively control which substances enter a cell and which do not. Researchers at the University of Münster and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens have investigated these transporters in a specific case: the UapA transporter of the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans. The findings are not only relevant to cell biology but could also offer new approaches to treating fungal infections. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cellular-protein-essential-nutrient-absorption.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:40:04 EDT news703410519 Paleontologists in China have discovered the oldest chemically verified amber ever found, dating to 385 million years ago. That's approximately 140 million years before dinosaurs roamed Earth. The previous record holder was an amber sample from the Late Carboniferous period, dating to about 320 million years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-holder-world-oldest-amber-china.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Jul 2026 10:49:37 EDT news703417753 Another last-resort antibiotic has fallen victim to the rapid evolution of drug-resistant superbugs. The powerful antibiotic combination ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA), widely used to treat severe hospital-acquired infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa—particularly in critically ill and immunocompromised patients—can no longer eliminate some of these infections. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-rare-mutations-dangerous-hospital-bacteria.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:40:10 EDT news703402921 The mystery of why some amphibian populations recover following outbreaks of a deadly fungus has been solved in a new study led by University College London (UCL), ZSL and Imperial College London. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-mystery-toads-survive-deadly-fungus.html Plants & Animals Tue, 14 Jul 2026 20:00:06 EDT news703173454 A new study tracking soil microbial communities across six years of experimental drought in a tallgrass prairie finds that prolonged water stress diminishes biodiversity, pushing communities toward less predictable, harder-to-reverse configurations. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-years-drought-reshape-soil-microbiomes.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 10:20:01 EDT news703233013 For over a century, the accepted value for a firefly's brightness has mostly stood, tracing its origins to experiments carried out in 1912. Through rigorous new analysis published in the American Journal of Physics, David Silver of Remiza AI in New York has discovered that this value has likely been vastly overestimated. His results provide a stark reminder of what can happen when widely accepted older measurements are converted into modern standard units. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-firefly-brightness-cautionary-tale-older.html General Physics Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:20:09 EDT news703147806 Long before scientists began studying them in the lab, mind-altering substances were already being gathered from plants, fungi and even animals for use in rituals, healing practices and mental health treatment. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now managed to bring together in a single organism five psychedelic substances that in nature are scattered across the tree of life. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-scientists-decipher-psychedelic-substance.html Biotechnology Sun, 12 Jul 2026 13:00:02 EDT news702724320 Tiny particles made from the membranes of human immune cells could offer a promising new way to fight fungal infections that are becoming harder to treat. Engineers at the University of California San Diego created antifungal nanoparticles that target Candida albicans, a fungus responsible for oral and vaginal yeast infections as well as life-threatening bloodstream infections. In mice with severe Candida infections, the nanoparticles greatly reduced the amount of fungus in major organs and significantly improved survival. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-immune-cells-fungus-nanoparticles.html Bio & Medicine Sat, 11 Jul 2026 16:00:04 EDT news702808902 Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), together with Wismut GmbH and scientists from the University of Granada in Spain, have demonstrated for the first time that bacteria can convert uranium dissolved in water into a stable chemical compound when they have access to glycerol as a food source. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bacteria-dissolved-uranium-stable-compound.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:20:10 EDT news702888774 Decaying matter shapes life in soil, but it can also create hostile zones for growing roots. Professor Jiří Friml of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and international collaborators have now identified "saprotropism," a root response that guides plants away from decaying plant-derived matter—but not animal-derived decay. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-newly-saprotropism-roots-decaying-animal.html Ecology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:00:09 EDT news702793687 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 In Europe, trees are increasingly dying prematurely. A new study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) on French forests now shows that it is not only drought but also unusually warm or wet springs that increase the risk—even ideal growing conditions can prove fatal later on. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-europe-trees-dying.html Ecology Tue, 07 Jul 2026 10:40:06 EDT news702638796 Scientists at Leiden University have discovered that plants are strongly influenced by their neighbors, not just above ground but also through hidden networks in the soil. Their findings challenge long-held ideas about how plants shape their environment and could help improve sustainable farming. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-neighbors-life-scientists.html Ecology Mon, 06 Jul 2026 14:40:03 EDT news702562701 Researchers have spent decades—and billions of dollars—sequencing animal and crop genomes, but fungi have historically been the forgotten middle child of genomics, only noticed when they're ruining bread or colonizing toes. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fungal-genome-tool-fresh-paths.html Biotechnology Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:40:03 EDT news702287408 Many fungi lead triple lives—acting as deadly insect pathogens, decomposers in the soil, and helpful partners living inside and transferring insect-derived nitrogen to plant roots. Scientists have long wondered what allows a single species to pull off these very different roles. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-broader-fungus-diet-insects.html Ecology Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news702216721 Millions of women worldwide suffer from vaginal yeast infections. These infections are most commonly caused by the fungus Candida albicans and can lead to symptoms ranging from itching and burning to recurrent inflammation. An international research team has now shown that an unlikely ally—a member of the yeast species known from the worlds of baking and brewing—could help combat these infections: the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-baker-yeast-potential-treatment-persistent.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:40:05 EDT news702126661 The reefs scattered throughout the tropics arose only after algae took up full-time residence in coral cells, supplying corals with abundant food and enabling them to build extensive shallow-water communities. But with warming oceans, algae are often abandoning coral—causing what's known as bleaching—and turning reefs that were once teeming with life into ghost towns. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-algae-coral-reefs-hijacking-cells.html Ecology Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:00:01 EDT news702115922 A University of Alberta research team has designed a promising alternative for treating antimicrobial-resistant infections, a pressing global health issue. In a paper recently published in Cell Biomaterials, the team describes preclinical testing results for its human-derived peptide treatment, D-GK17. The peptide is stable and nontoxic to humans and is synthesized to attack the surfaces of bacterial or fungal cells that create biofilms, a sticky matrix that is often impenetrable to antibiotic treatments. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-peptide-alternative-antibiotics-combat-antimicrobial.html Cell & Microbiology Sat, 27 Jun 2026 17:00:03 EDT news701446095 Research has revealed how bacteria rely on circadian clocks to control the spread of their multicellular colonies. The findings provide important clues as to how we might improve soil health and plant growth. They may also help explain how some bacteria spread hospital-acquired infections. Researchers at the John Innes Center, University of Munich and Leiden University made the discovery while studying the widespread soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-bacteria-circadian-clocks-colonize-world.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:00:09 EDT news701682753 Scientists have discovered that two common human pathogens can work together by managing copper in their shared environment—a finding that could open new ways to break down stubborn mixed biofilms. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-copper-economy-fungi-bacteria-stubborn.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 26 Jun 2026 05:00:06 EDT news701590681 Natural hallucinogens, such as psilocybin, mescaline, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and related compounds, have generally received attention for their effects on human perception, emotion and cognition. Recently, interest in these compounds has expanded to include their potential roles in psychiatric treatment, neuroplasticity research and the study of consciousness. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-natural-hallucinogens-evolved-ecological-tools.html Evolution Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:40:06 EDT news701605392 Historic wooden structures across Svalbard are crumbling under the combined weight of climate change and human activity. Longer, warmer, and wetter seasons fuel wood-decaying fungi, while tourism adds physical wear to sites never built to last. The ArcticAlpineDecay project has provided a crucial baseline of knowledge—revealing how vulnerable these cultural landmarks are and why continued monitoring will be essential in the years ahead. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-wooden-heritage-arctic-tourism-converge.html Archaeology Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:00:07 EDT news701525733 Fungi are key constituents of the soil microbial community, playing a major role in moving carbon and energy through the soil food web. A recent analysis carried out by Professor Matthias C. Rillig from Freie Universität Berlin highlights the importance of soil fungal communities for ecosystem stability, agricultural productivity and carbon storage. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-hidden-underground-fungi-carbon-storage.html Ecology Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:40:02 EDT news701089269 In biology, cytokinins were long considered regulators exclusive to the plant kingdom, where they control, among other things, growth and responses to stress. Until now, little research has been conducted into whether these substances might also play a significant role in the human body. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-hormones-mammals-view-cytokinins-purely.html Plants & Animals Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:00:07 EDT news701086915 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 Probiotic supplements found in drugstores nationwide contain an assortment of microbes sold for specific health purposes despite limited understanding of the microbes' connections to their marketed use, new University of Virginia School of Medicine research reveals. But the scientists have assembled sophisticated computer models that could lead to more effective products to shape our microbiomes to improve health. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-analysis-probiotic-supplements-mismatched-microbes.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 18 Jun 2026 19:40:01 EDT news701016422 Mosses are survivors. They can dry into what looks like green dust, only to spring back to life minutes after rain. They can grow on rocks, in deserts, and there's talk of using them to terraform Mars someday. According to new research, mosses have also been hiding something. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-hidden-fungus-moss-rewrite-million.html Evolution Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:40:03 EDT news701012881