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. When public health researchers want to know whether diseases such as COVID-19 or polio are circulating in a community, they can look for genetic evidence in wastewater. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-mosquito-toilet-west-nile-hedwig.html Ecology Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:20:01 EDT news708605701 Tasmanian devils are among Australia's most distinctive mammals. Stocky, powerful and famously noisy, wild populations are now restricted to Tasmania. But this was not always the case. In fact, thousands of years ago, devils could be found across mainland Australia. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tasmanian-devils-people-outback-western.html Archaeology Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:20:01 EDT news708338241 What makes birdsong beautiful? Answering this question could help us understand how soundscapes make the natural world relaxing for humans, opening the door to improving parks, upgrading the design of stressful places like waiting rooms and promoting conservation through birds with especially lovely songs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-scientists-key-ingredients-birdsong-pretty.html Plants & Animals Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:01 EDT news707389981 Northern spotted owl populations are approaching or have already crossed functional extinction across large areas of the Pacific Northwest, a new study, published in Ecological Applications found. Researchers used artificial intelligence and advanced monitoring methods to assess long-term trends at an unprecedented scale. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-extinction-areas-critical-northern-owls.html Plants & Animals Tue, 25 Aug 2026 11:40:02 EDT news706868664 When I first arrived in Peru's Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve in 2005, a local youth surprised me with an offer to sell me a live owl, despite the fact that we were in a protected area where commercial hunting was prohibited. We set the owl free together, but this turned out to be an early lesson about the vulnerability of tropical protected areas to exploitation, even when laws and policies had been put in place to protect them. At that time, Allpahuayo-Mishana was a newly designated protected area with no paid staff except for its director, who was stationed in the nearby city of Iquitos. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bird-eye-view-illegal-consequences.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Aug 2026 17:40:06 EDT news706783338 White barn owls are effective killing machines. They fly silently through the night air and swoop down on unsuspecting prey with their sharp talons. But they have something you would think goes against being a stealth predator: their white feathers. And perhaps this visual giveaway would be even worse when they glow in the moonlight. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-white-barn-owls-moonlight-startle.html Plants & Animals Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:20:30 EDT news701427418 A fossil bed in northwestern China is littered with the remains of hundreds of prehistoric birds—including some whose broken bones were crushed into pellets, similar to those coughed up by modern owls. For years, scientists guessed that a larger predatory animal must have hunted these ancient birds, but they never found direct fossil evidence of this predator. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-newfound-velociraptor-cousin-glided-wings.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:20:04 EDT news699792422 Azara's owl monkeys, a small primate species found in South America, are heavier today than those that lived a quarter-century ago, and evidence suggests that rising temperatures might have driven the weight gain, according to a Yale-led study of a wild population. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-climate-spurs-weight-gain-owl.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 14:03:45 EDT news698504595 Some birds sing to attract a mate. Others dance or display colorful feathers. But in the moonlit forests and shrublands of northern Argentina, one bird courts romance by snapping its wrists together, producing a sharp clapping sound scientists have puzzled over for decades. Now, researchers have captured the behavior in detail for the first time, revealing how scissor-tailed nightjars create one of the most curious sounds in the avian world. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-birds-dark-flirt-nightjars-reveal.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 19:40:03 EDT news698426881 As human-caused climate change continues to raise temperatures across the globe, understanding how birds regulate their temperature is vital for their conservation. But how much heat birds emit—an invisible spectrum of radiation known as mid-infrared—has never been studied, until now. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-birds-space-hidden-feathers.html Plants & Animals Sun, 22 Mar 2026 12:00:06 EDT news693044582 A comprehensive study has revealed substantial declines in many of South Africa's birds of prey (raptors) over the past 16 years, raising fresh concerns about the conservation status of several iconic and threatened species. Researchers assessed population trends for 18 raptor and eight large terrestrial bird species across central South Africa between 2009 and 2025. Half of the species experienced significant declines, many exceeding 50%, while only three showed clear increases. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-term-road-surveys-reveal-widespread.html Plants & Animals Fri, 20 Mar 2026 08:00:03 EDT news693133109 A recently published research article examines the microscopic remains of clothing and burial items dating back roughly 7,000 years. The study focused on the Skateholm I and II cemeteries in Scania, southern Sweden, with a total of 87 graves. In archaeological excavations carried out in the 1980s, objects made of stone as well as animal bones, antlers and teeth were recovered from the grounds. Skateholm is one of the most significant Mesolithic Stone Age burial sites in northern Europe. The findings are published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-stone-age-deceased-spectacular-feather.html Archaeology Tue, 24 Feb 2026 14:00:04 EST news691154161 At Rice University, a research lab's signature keepsake has helped perfect a method for growing patterned diamond surfaces that could help decrease operating temperatures in electronics by 23 degrees Celsius. The paper is published in the journal Applied Physics Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-diamond-owl-swoops-method-electronics.html Condensed Matter Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:10:01 EST news691084502 Up to 30% of bird diversity hotspots, places where large numbers of different bird species occur, in the western United States face threats from high-severity wildfires in the future that could eliminate critical forest habitats, according to research published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-western-bird-hotspots-severe-wildfire.html Plants & Animals Wed, 18 Feb 2026 17:21:56 EST news690657662 Jessica Allen crunched through fallen leaves among Manzanita trees hunting for something few have spotted before: the Manzanita butter clump—a rare and little-known yellow mushroom found, so far, only along North America's Western coastlines. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-aficionados-fungi-freaky-mystical-overlooked.html Ecology Tue, 17 Feb 2026 11:20:02 EST news690545648 Flinders University paleontology researchers—with local fossil experts—have discovered how prolific shorebirds, including the Plains-wanderer, once lived across South Australia's South-East during wetter times up to 60,000 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-fossil-shorebirds-reveal-australia-ancient.html Ecology Wed, 21 Jan 2026 09:58:29 EST news688211881 A mouse scurries up to six chestnuts. Three look healthy. Three have exit holes where moth larvae ate the insides before they left. What does the mouse do? https://phys.org/news/2026-01-foraging-strategy-wood-mice-healthy.html Plants & Animals Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:20:24 EST news687622801 About 20,000 years ago, a family of owls lived in a cave. Sometimes, they would cough up owl pellets containing the bones of their prey, which landed on the cave floor. And, researchers have just discovered, ancient bees would use the bones' empty tooth sockets as nests. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-owl-leftovers-home-ancient-baby.html Ecology Tue, 16 Dec 2025 19:10:01 EST news685099141 What could force a supermassive black hole (SMBH) out of its host galaxy? They can have hundreds of millions, even billions of solar masses. What's powerful enough to dislodge one of these behemoths? https://phys.org/news/2025-12-jwst-runaway-supermassive-black-hole.html Astronomy Mon, 15 Dec 2025 08:30:43 EST news685009574 A profound unraveling is underway in the American Southwest, happening across a thousand-mile arc from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the central Sierra. In an unprecedented calamity, the most widely distributed, most iconic tree of the region—the beautiful ponderosa pine—is disappearing. So significant is this loss, both visually and ecologically, that it's reasonably fair to say it may be triggering the first post-climate-change landscape in America. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-american-west-iconic-tree.html Plants & Animals Tue, 09 Dec 2025 06:50:10 EST news684485381 Chameleons' wandering eyes have fascinated and puzzled scientists since the days of ancient Greece. Now, after millennia of study, modern imaging has revealed the secret of their nearly 360-degree view and uncanny ability to look in two different directions at once. Behind their bulging eyes lie two long, coiled optic nerves—a structure not seen in any other lizard. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-scientists-chameleon-cord-optic-nerves.html Plants & Animals Mon, 10 Nov 2025 05:00:36 EST news681740701 The sound of tawny owls makes young European robins eat less during their southward migration. A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows how the threat from nocturnal predators affects the birds' behavior—and by extension, their survival. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-hostile-hoots-robins-night.html Plants & Animals Mon, 22 Sep 2025 11:55:15 EDT news677760912 Birds are some of the most striking creatures on Earth, coming in a rainbow of colors that serve several important functions, such as attracting a mate and communicating with other birds. These vibrant hues are produced by pigments, primarily melanin, but a major unknown until now was how much these pigments weigh. Since wings need to be as light as possible for flight, understanding pigmentation weight may tell us something about the trade-off between the evolutionary benefits of colored feathers and the physical cost of carrying that weight. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-reveals-pigments-affect-weight-bird.html Plants & Animals Tue, 26 Aug 2025 12:20:01 EDT news675428289 To succeed at university, Italian students need to pass interview-style oral exams. Now scientists have found that the time of the exam could be a critical factor influencing their success… or failure. Even when other factors were excluded, the chances of passing were highest around lunchtime, and lowest at the beginning or end of the day. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-oral-exams-peak-noon-dip.html Economics & Business Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:03 EDT news672478949 For a mouse, survival often boils down to one urgent question: Flee or freeze? https://phys.org/news/2025-07-evolution-deer-mice-scurrying-paths.html Plants & Animals Wed, 23 Jul 2025 11:00:05 EDT news672420440 A new study has uncovered evidence that a giant marine reptile from the Early Jurassic period used stealth to hunt its prey in deep or dark waters—much like owls on land today. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-fossil-discovery-reveals-ancient-giant.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:01:41 EDT news671889691 A Smithsonian-led team of researchers have discovered North America's oldest known pterosaur, the winged reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs and were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-north-america-oldest-pterosaur-unearthed.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 07 Jul 2025 15:00:01 EDT news671101022 Protected areas are crucial for wildlife conservation, but many are under unprecedented pressure associated with exponential human population growth in West Africa. In Togo, two national parks that previously hosted iconic African wildlife have been almost entirely destroyed by human activities related to domestic political conflicts. However, Togo's largest protected area, Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, had managed to escape this fate—until now. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-areas-birds-togo-west-africa.html Ecology Mon, 07 Jul 2025 09:46:20 EDT news671100374 For many New Zealanders, the Australian magpie is a familiar, if sometimes vexing, sight. Introduced from Australia in the 1860s, magpies are known for their territorial dive-bombing during the nesting season, which has cemented their reputation as an unwelcome import. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-magpies-pesky-australian-import-ancestors.html Ecology Thu, 26 Jun 2025 06:54:41 EDT news670139675 An international team of astronomers reports the detection of a peculiar merger of two similar ring galaxies that morphologically resemble an owl's face. The discovery of this galaxy merger, dubbed the "Cosmic Owl," is presented in a research paper published June 11 on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-cosmic-owl-astronomers-peculiar-galaxy.html Astronomy Thu, 19 Jun 2025 08:00:03 EDT news669528475