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 pair of exceptionally rare Cretaceous bird bones found at separate sites near Richmond, Queensland, reveal a previously unknown species—the second formally named Cretaceous bird from Australia. Cretaceous bird fossils are extremely scarce in Australia, with fewer than a dozen isolated bones reported, making these finds especially significant. The research is published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ancient-bird-australian-species-cretaceous.html Plants & Animals Tue, 29 Sep 2026 10:40:10 EDT news709891864 Sound travels through the ocean carrying clues about potential prey, predators and other animals, giving sharks an important way to detect what they cannot yet see. But exactly how far a free-swimming shark can hear a sound—and whether it can determine where that sound is coming from—has remained largely unknown. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-sharks-feet-source.html Plants & Animals Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:40:01 EDT news709463461 Tiny plantlike organisms called phytoplankton that form the base of marine food webs topped by orcas, whales and sharks usually get eaten or slowly sink to the seafloor, carrying carbon as they go. Across most of the ocean, the descent from sunlit surface layers takes weeks. But in the Arctic's Chukchi Sea, scientists have found that a convergence of currents pushes phytoplankton from under the ice to the seafloor at four times the usual speed. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-currents-arctic-sea-carbon-phytoplankton.html Earth Sciences Wed, 23 Sep 2026 09:00:07 EDT news709202328 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 While the Discovery Channel's annual Shark Week event has given the public greater familiarity with sharks, much about them—from their mysterious love lives to how their eating habits bring them into conflict with recreational anglers—remains a mystery to scientists. Now, two new studies led by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst peer into these important aspects of shark biology to help guide real-world conservation strategies. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-prey-nurse-shark-northeast-angler.html Plants & Animals Mon, 21 Sep 2026 19:00:01 EDT news709220523 Ichthyosaurs ruled the oceans for 150 million years during the Mesozoic Era. Their fish-shaped bodies were built for high speeds. In that context, it is normally an advantage to be as light as possible. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fossil-ribs-reveal-secrets-ichthyosaur.html Evolution Wed, 09 Sep 2026 16:20:01 EDT news708177575 A new way to imprint complex surfaces on low-cost, sustainable polymers could be used in a wide range of industries, including water-repellent coatings, optical devices and data storage disks. The complex nano- and microscale patterns on sulfur-derived polymers, unveiled this week in the ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces journal, build on a wide range of green chemistry solutions led by Flinders University. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-power-lasers-durable-nano-patterns.html Nanophysics Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:04 EDT news707393341 During the Late Cretaceous period, parts of Egypt were covered in water. A new study, published in the journal Cretaceous Research, describes new evidence that this tropical sea was home to a diverse community of sharks. The study adds five new species to the region's history, found in what the authors refer to as a "shark graveyard." https://phys.org/news/2026-08-egypt-home-diverse-shark-community.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 25 Aug 2026 11:30:02 EDT news706874558 When physicists at the ARC Centre for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) needed a key component for their terahertz experiments, they ran into a frustrating problem—they needed tiny optical devices, known as wire-grid polarizers, but these cost thousands of dollars each. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-laser-aluminum-foil-terahertz-polarizers.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:40:02 EDT news706536542 Age isn't just a number for one of the ocean's top apex predators. It's a mystery University of Georgia researchers are solving. A new UGA study has determined how to estimate the age of sharks by analyzing changes to individual animals' DNA. Known as epigenetic clocks, these scientific age estimators focus on chemical alterations known as DNA methylation to measure wear and tear on an animal's cells, providing a noninvasive, fast and accurate assessment of an animal's age. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-shark-dna-age.html Ecology Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:40:04 EDT news706527066 Understanding "who eats whom" is the key to keeping our oceans alive—and our dinner plates full. However, this invisible network that makes up the food chain can unravel with the pull of just one thread. Overfish one species, and its predators starve. Cut off a tiny prey species, and the entire food chain collapses—including us. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mathematical-tool-uncover-nature.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:50:01 EDT news706282261 How many sharks should a coral reef have? It sounds like a simple question, but almost nowhere on Earth is there a reef that has not at some time been fished or otherwise affected by humans, so there is no yardstick against which to measure what has been lost or what recovery would look like. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-oceans-country-sharks-prehistoric-pacific.html Ecology Thu, 13 Aug 2026 19:40:01 EDT news705856143 Named for the mythical valley where the god Dionysus was raised in secret by nymphs, the asteroid 44 Nysa inhabits the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Through observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have determined it to be the largest and brightest known member of a rare category of asteroids called "E-types," made of unusually bright, enstatite-rich material similar to some rare meteorites found on Earth. Separately, models built from how its brightness flickers as it spins hinted it might have an elongated, lopsided shape, often seen in large asteroid pairs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-asteroid-nysa-rare-lobed-formation.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 04 Aug 2026 08:00:03 EDT news704977595 Much like caviar, shark fins are a luxury product and delicacy in parts of the world. And like wild caviar, demand for shark fins has posed an incredible threat to species that can't reproduce quickly enough to keep up. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-shark-finning-significantly-global-analysis.html Plants & Animals Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:00:03 EDT news704718601 An ancient marine 'crime scene' discovered near Richmond captures the world first evidence of a flying reptile being eaten by a sea monster… before that predator became dinner itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bag-bones-rare-tier-prehistoric.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 28 Jul 2026 18:40:06 EDT news704476081 In August 2023, communities across Southern California braced for Tropical Storm Hilary—the first tropical storm to directly impact the region this century. Although the storm weakened from a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall, it still brought damaging winds, record rainfall and widespread flooding across the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-juvenile-great-white-sharks-fled.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Jul 2026 17:00:05 EDT news704469602 "Shark Week," which kicks off this week, has captivated audiences for decades with stories of these powerful ocean predators. But the secret behind their extraordinary swimming abilities lies far deeper than their impressive teeth or iconic tails—it's hidden inside their spines. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-sharks-spines-hidden-architecture-styles.html Plants & Animals Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:40:07 EDT news704368926 Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus)—the world's biggest fish—are one of the most charismatic marine species. They connect with the hearts of anyone lucky enough to encounter them, making people deeply curious about their lives and invested in their conservation. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cameras-whale-sharks-capture-krill.html Plants & Animals Sat, 25 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703863834 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 A new review in Limnology and Oceanography led by scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that the rapid loss of oxygen from the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems is pushing Earth toward an "unsafe space," with consequences that could be irreversible on human timescales. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-underwater-oxygen-loss-threatens-earth.html Earth Sciences Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:20:01 EDT news703501039 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 The evolutionary paths that created snatching forelimbs in insects multiple times moved in a similar direction but didn't end at a single solution. Kobe University research is pioneering a study of how organs with similar functions evolve, providing a new analytical approach to identify evolutionary dynamics quantitatively. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-raptorial-insect-forelegs-evolved-converged.html Evolution Tue, 07 Jul 2026 05:00:04 EDT news702538089 Costa Rican scientists may have discovered a new species of ghost shark in Pacific waters near Cabo Blanco and Cano Island. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-species-ghost-shark-costa-rica.html Plants & Animals Sat, 04 Jul 2026 03:50:20 EDT news702355799 An associated set of gigantic vertebrae belonging to the iconic extinct megalodon, or megatooth shark, that had been missing in action since the 1980s was discovered, providing new information about the shark's lifestyle. Two Museum of Southern Jutland staff members, Mette Elstrup and Trine Sørensen, and a researcher at Aarhus University, Henrik Lauridsen, teamed up with a scientist in the United States and another in Australia and took a renewed look at a once-lost vertebral specimen of Otodus megalodon, the fossil shark that lived nearly worldwide about 15 million to 3.6 million years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-lost-megalodon-vertebrae-resurface-foot.html Paleontology & Fossils Sun, 28 Jun 2026 20:10:01 EDT news701686081 A night dive to study wild sharks that can walk on land has surfaced with something even rarer—a species unknown to science. "New shark species don't come along that often, and it's most definitely the first one named after me," said a surprised Dr. Christine Dudgeon of the University of the Sunshine Coast about the meter-long specimen she caught by hand and carefully guided back to the study boat. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-shark-discovery-reveals-species-tiny.html Plants & Animals Tue, 16 Jun 2026 10:20:03 EDT news700822142 The first published live observations of the rare goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) in its natural deep-ocean habitat were reported in a new paper by a University of Hawai'i at Mānoa-led team of oceanographers. In the past, goblin sharks were filmed and reported alive only after being hooked on a fishing line and hauled to the surface, where divers could observe them and where they soon died. The new study, published in Journal of Fish Biology, documents two live observations of one of the most elusive yet iconic sharks on the planet—one at a seamount near Jarvis Island and another on the slope of the Tonga Trench. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-rare-deep-sea-goblin-sharks.html Plants & Animals Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:20:08 EDT news700396981 This week, researchers reported that GLP-1 medications may influence the biology of aging. Hidden meltwater in deep Antarctic coastal waters has a strong climate impact. And a novel prostate cancer treatment reduced risk of disease progression by half in a clinical trial. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-saturday-citations-greenland-sharks-quantum.html Other Sat, 06 Jun 2026 09:00:01 EDT news699879140 Endangered basking sharks aren't fasting during long-distance migrations. A new study led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows that they may be foraging along the way, and in much deeper areas of the ocean than previously thought. As filter feeders, this species is most often observed close to the surface, especially in waters off of New England, but data show markedly different behavior during their winter migrations to the Sargasso Sea and the Caribbean. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-endangered-basking-sharks-ocean-twilight.html Plants & Animals Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:20:05 EDT news699780901 The first comprehensive map of nearly the entire Greenland shark genome is beginning to reveal some of the genetic clues behind its incredibly long life. The work could one day help scientists develop new cures and treatments for cancer and other age-related diseases. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-greenland-shark-genome-reveals-clues.html Plants & Animals Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:40:06 EDT news699710028 The vulnerability of a shark population to losing even small numbers to fishing has been highlighted by researchers from the University of Chester and partners in the Philippines using a remote stereo camera system. The team has found that pelagic thresher sharks in the Central Visayan Sea would be vulnerable to a fishing mortality rate of 5.3% each year, and that the removal of 15 to 18 females would result in a potentially catastrophic decline in the population. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-fragility-high-shark-population.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 15:20:01 EDT news698500045