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. Venus appears pale yellow in visible light, but ultraviolet images reveal dramatic dark and bright patterns moving with the planet's upper sulfuric acid clouds. Scientists have known about these markings for roughly a century, yet the chemical identity of the material responsible—the "unknown absorber"—remains unresolved. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-venus-mysterious-clouds-exceptionally-strong.html Astrobiology Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:00:05 EDT news707039401 Stanford researchers have offered an explanation for why some sizzling, lava-covered worlds nestled tightly around their stars can retain their atmospheres. At such close quarters, intense stellar radiation should strip away a planet's air. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-lava-exoplanets-retain-atmospheres-billions.html Astrobiology Wed, 26 Aug 2026 11:40:04 EDT news706957007 Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars' moons to retrieve samples that may unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth, although a rival Chinese mission aims to make it back first. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-japan-aims-moons-mars.html Planetary Sciences Sun, 16 Aug 2026 15:05:17 EDT news706111469 Hundreds of Venus-like planets could soon help determine why some worlds become sweltering greenhouse hellscapes while others remain capable of supporting life. But before answering that question, scientists first need to know how fast those planets are spinning. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-planets-hellish.html Astronomy Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:00:01 EDT news705573181 Venus may be overwhelmingly inhospitable today, but many planetary scientists believe that it wasn't always this way. Billions of years ago, some observational evidence suggested that our planetary neighbor may have looked far more like Earth, complete with oceans potentially capable of harboring life. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-venus-polygonal-plains-watery.html Astrobiology Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:00:09 EDT news705070220 Excavations at Hohle Fels Cave in the UNESCO World Heritage area of the Swabian Jura in southwestern Germany have again yielded two spectacular 40,000-year-old depictions of birds carved from mammoth ivory. The two figurines are the smallest discovered so far and are the size of a thumbnail, while still including many details. These remarkable finds come from the rich Aurignacian layers at Hohle Fels, which have produced some of the oldest figurative art known and date to the initial arrival of modern humans in the Upper Danube region. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ice-age-artists-thumbnail-size.html Archaeology Wed, 29 Jul 2026 17:40:01 EDT news704550903 In 2010, scientists waiting to use the William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands captured a brief 36 minutes of images of Venus. They were waiting for the sun to set so they could look at distant stars and dust disks around young stars. Consequently, little attention was paid to the data, which was filed away in the archives. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-evidence-giant-venus-atmosphere-uncovered.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:40:03 EDT news704452588 Venus is an inhospitable place, with temperatures soaring to several hundred degrees Celsius (hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit) and no oceans like those on Earth. Planetary scientists long believed Venus was geologically dormant. However, recent research indicates that Venus remains geologically "alive" and even hosts active volcanoes. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-young-rift-flanks-venus-tectonically.html Astronomy Fri, 24 Jul 2026 05:00:05 EDT news704016001 Scientists have painted the most detailed portrait yet of the planetary system orbiting Barnard's Star—the sun's closest neighbor after Alpha Centauri, just under six light-years from Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-astronomers-nearby-planets-small-strange.html Astrobiology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:20:01 EDT news703340046 Researchers have reconstructed and transcribed a mathematical formula from the site of Xultun, Guatemala, revealing the name of a Maya astronomer for the first time. During the Classic period (250–900 CE), mathematics and astronomy were a key part of Maya society, with complex calculations based on calendar dates and astronomical observations influencing everything from the erection of monuments to the inauguration of kings and queens. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hidden-maya-wall-astronomer-emerges.html Archaeology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:00:01 EDT news702638642 A new European Southern Observatory (ESO) study has found that current proposals to launch more than 1.7 million satellites into orbit, including extremely bright ones, would have "devastating consequences for astronomy." According to the study, no more than 100,000 faint satellites, below naked-eye visibility, should orbit Earth to safeguard our ability to observe the night sky with modern telescopes. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-orbit-overload-devastate-astronomy-million.html Astronomy Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:20:01 EDT news702120001 When astronomers discovered a giant planet orbiting a dead star in 2020, they wondered how it survived its star's violent demise. Now, observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may finally explain the planet's unlikely escape from destruction. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-giant-planet-survived-star-death.html Astronomy Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:00:14 EDT news701945786 Need some good news on a Friday after a long week? The Earth may not be engulfed by the expanding fireball of the dying sun, which has long been assumed to be our home planet's ultimate fate, according to scientists. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-sun-engulf-earth-scientists.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 19 Jun 2026 15:40:02 EDT news701085030 Finding life beyond our solar system is a major goal of modern astronomy. NASA's planned Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) aims to take direct images of Earth-sized planets around stars other than our sun. This task, however, is extraordinarily difficult, given that these planets are roughly 10 billion times fainter than their host stars. To detect them, scientists must find ways to suppress nearly all of the nearby starlight, which would otherwise overwhelm the faint planetary signal. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-telescope-mirror-stability-exoplanet.html Astronomy Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:20:01 EDT news701011867 A paper on new research into the cause of death of Simonetta Vespucci, model for the world-renowned Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, has been published by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, Universita Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and the University of California in the journal Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-explanation-mystery-death-botticelli-birth.html Other Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:30:01 EDT news700844162 A team of astronomers, led by Brooke Kotten of the University of Michigan, has shown that TOI-5882—a sunlike star located some 1,300 light-years away—has likely eaten one of its planets. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-lithium-spike-reveals-sun-star.html Astronomy Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:40:02 EDT news700746421 The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is a marvel of nature, a highly effective killer that doesn't have to move an inch to capture and kill its prey. It releases a fruity nectar scent to attract flies and other insects. After they land in the trap, tiny hairs are triggered and the leaves shut with impressive speed. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-venus-flytrap-snap-rapid-cell.html Plants & Animals Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:11:47 EDT news700477872 Researchers have developed the Smaller Than Earth Habitability Model (STEHM) to assess which planets can maintain life-supporting atmospheres, focusing on size and atmospheric dynamics. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-atmosphere-survival-refines-habitable-planets.html Astrobiology Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:40:04 EDT news699795001 The mysterious origin of an impressive cloud disturbance on Venus has now been revealed by a team including the University of Tokyo. Researchers used numerical models to show that an enormous 6,000-kilometer-wide atmospheric wave front, which circumnavigates the planet for days at a time, is caused by a large "hydraulic jump." This is when a fluid abruptly slows down, changing from shallow and fast to deep and slow. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-vast-atmospheric-venus-largest-hydraulic.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 08 May 2026 13:20:01 EDT news697462381 When Mauna Loa erupted in 2022, the largest lava flow headed on a path headed directly toward Daniel K. Inouye State Highway 200, also known as Saddle Road, a critical route that carries many residents from their homes on one side to their jobs on the other. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-volcano-eruption-earth-venus-mauna.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:20:08 EDT news696508381 On a calm day, a light breeze might barely ripple the surface of a lake on Earth. But on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, a similar mild wind would kick up 10-foot-tall waves. This otherworldly behavior is one prediction from a new wave model developed by scientists at MIT. The model is the first to capture the full dynamics of waves and what it takes to whip them up under different planetary conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-titan-lakes-spawn-foot-gentle.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:00:06 EDT news695550271 Unfortunately for science fiction fans, desert worlds outside our solar system are unlikely to host life, according to new research from the University of Washington. Scientists show that an Earth-sized planet needs at least 20 to 50% of the water in Earth's oceans to maintain a critical natural cycle that keeps water on the surface. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-planets-life-scientists-previously-thought.html Astrobiology Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:40:03 EDT news695485502 Venus, often called Earth's twin, is in fact a planet of extremes. Beneath its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere are crushing surface temperatures and dense clouds of sulfuric acid. While the planet's main cloud layer sits between 47 and 70 kilometers above the surface, scientists have long been puzzled by a mysterious layer of particles below 47 kilometers, known as the "lower haze." First detected by spacecraft in the 1970s, the origin of this haze remained unexplained for more than half a century. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-cosmic-source-venus-enigmatic-haze.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 14 Apr 2026 09:40:02 EDT news695374801 Planetary scientists have long debated where the material that formed Earth comes from. Despite its location in the inner solar system, they consider it likely that 6–40% of this material must have come from the outer solar system, i.e., beyond Jupiter. For a long time, material from the outer solar system was considered necessary to bring volatile components such as water to Earth. Accordingly, there must also have been an exchange of material between the outer and inner solar systems during the formation of Earth. But is that really true? https://phys.org/news/2026-03-earth-material-exclusively-solar-planetary.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:00:03 EDT news694087382 If we're to find extraterrestrial life in the universe, astronomers have pinpointed the best places to look for it. They have identified just under 50 rocky worlds most likely to be habitable out of the more than 6,000 exoplanets discovered so far. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-alien-life-scientists-earth-worlds.html Astrobiology Thu, 19 Mar 2026 10:31:24 EDT news693134878 Volcanic activity is not unique to Earth: traces of volcanic activity, such as lava tubes, have been found on Mars and the moon. Now, the University of Trento has demonstrated the existence of an empty lava tube even in the depths of Venus, a planet whose surface and geology have been largely shaped by volcanic processes. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-evidence-subsurface-lava-tube-venus.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 09 Feb 2026 05:00:01 EST news689606641 Mars, often depicted as a barren red planet, is far from lifeless. With its thin atmosphere and dusty surface, it is an energetic and electrically charged environment where dust storms and dust devils continually reshape the landscape, creating dynamic processes that have intrigued scientists. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-electrifying-science-martian.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 08 Jan 2026 16:26:33 EST news687111961 In the run up to Christmas, carols fill the air. Many have an astronomical twist, singing of the "Christmas Star" from the story of the nativity. Described in the Gospel of Matthew, the star guided the three wise men to the cradle of the young baby Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-christmas-star-astronomy.html Astronomy Mon, 29 Dec 2025 10:30:04 EST news686226375 The moon and sun share top billing in 2026. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-moon-sun-figure-big-year.html Space Exploration Mon, 29 Dec 2025 07:41:49 EST news686216460 The material used to build the Temple of Venus in Naples has remarkably endured even as Earth's surface around it sank from volcanic activity, and researchers were curious to know how. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-secret-temple-venus-resilient-uncovered.html Archaeology Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:00:02 EST news683385475