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 breakdown of normal polar winds in winter raises the chance of extreme cold—and a resulting spike in energy demand—in Europe, new research shows. Normally, strong and stable westerly winds circle high above the Arctic in the winter, in what is known as the "stratospheric polar vortex." https://phys.org/news/2026-10-stratospheric-extreme-energy-demand-europe.html Earth Sciences Thu, 08 Oct 2026 19:10:09 EDT news710674081 Just two weeks after it was launched, the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite returned its first images and measurements from two of its key instruments—a major milestone that confirms the satellite is working well and on track to monitor the health of Earth's oceans, land, cryosphere and atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-sentinel-3c-views-earth.html Earth Sciences Thu, 08 Oct 2026 18:40:14 EDT news710690581 Nickel is a promising, cost-effective and robust catalyst for alkaline water electrolysis—a key technology for the climate-neutral production of hydrogen. However, the actual structure of the active surface of such nickel electrodes under reaction conditions had not yet been conclusively determined. A research team at Ulm University has now refuted a decades-old assumption: The catalytically active surface does not consist of nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH), as was previously widely assumed, but is nickel dioxide (NiO₂). The findings have been published in the journal Nature Catalysis. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-chemists-uncover-true-surface-nickel.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 08 Oct 2026 18:00:07 EDT news710681521 In high-latitude coastal areas, Arctic amplification means that temperatures are rising faster than the global average. This combination of rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns driven by the North Atlantic Oscillation has major impacts on regions with a "cryosphere"—areas that host ice sheets and glaciers, such as southern Greenland. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-atlantic-weather-pattern-southern-greenland.html Earth Sciences Thu, 08 Oct 2026 17:40:21 EDT news710681462 A substantial loss of plant diversity could mean that grasslands worldwide, including meadows and pastures, would absorb around 15% less CO₂ through photosynthesis by midcentury compared with a scenario in which diversity is maintained. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-diversity-grassland-absorption.html Environment Thu, 08 Oct 2026 16:30:02 EDT news710694002 Global climate and weather forecasting use predictive models that divide Earth's atmosphere into a grid, with each section typically covering tens to hundreds of kilometers. Now a new model, run by a team at the University of Tokyo, has narrowed this grid spacing to just 220 meters (720 feet). This higher resolution eliminated instances of "popcornlike" rain—bursts of heavy rain that appear in simulations but not in real life—providing more accurate predictions of extreme local weather from a global model. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-high-resolution-global-atmospheric-erases.html Earth Sciences Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:01 EDT news710613001 Iron is one of the most abundant metals on Earth's surface, yet how such massive iron ore deposits formed throughout geological history has long remained a mystery. The prevailing theory has been that ancient photosynthetic bacteria oxidized iron, causing it to precipitate and accumulate in the oceans. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-snowball-earth-iron-deposits-microbes.html Earth Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 20:00:07 EDT news710592481 Tiny photosynthetic organisms in the Baltic Sea can contribute substantially to the transport of carbon from surface waters to deeper parts of the sea. A new study from the Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences at Stockholm University shows that their ability to form colonies and aggregates is an important factor determining how much of their biomass sinks. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tiny-photosynthetic-carbon-depths-baltic.html Earth Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 19:40:01 EDT news710605201 New research within the PELAgIO ECOWind project has revealed how offshore wind farms can influence ocean temperatures and mixing, and why their effects depend on local conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-offshore-turbine-foundations-cool-ocean.html Environment Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:20:06 EDT news710604061 One year after New York City launched its congestion pricing policy, fine particulate pollution inside Manhattan's congestion relief zone was 13% lower, according to a new analysis that accounted for regional pollution trends, weather and normal year-to-year variability. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nyc-congestion-pricing-policy-linked.html Environment Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:00:10 EDT news710603821 Products such as hairspray, paint and household disinfectants are increasingly causing summertime air pollution—and cities aren't accounting for it, which makes it harder to issue air quality advisories and enact regulations, new research from Colorado State University, the University of Minnesota and Purdue University shows. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-island-reveal-household-products-major.html Environment Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:50:06 EDT news710612281 A landmark survey of the world's largest free-roaming giant tortoise population has revealed that the once-endangered species is thriving and stable in the Seychelles. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-giant-tortoises-outnumber-people-seychelles.html Plants & Animals Wed, 07 Oct 2026 16:50:01 EDT news710606101 When scientists discovered that increasing the ocean's natural alkalinity could enhance seawater's capacity to absorb and store carbon dioxide (CO₂), the idea quickly gained attention as a potential geoengineering solution to climate change. Early visions suggested it could remove gigatonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year. But the reality is far more complex. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-boosting-seawater-alkalinity-communities-tackle.html Earth Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 15:00:09 EDT news710594390 Understanding changes in North American bat populations is critical to measuring the risk of extinction from emerging threats such as habitat loss, climate change, white-nose syndrome and other disturbances. A study published Oct. 7, 2026, in the journal PLOS One by Faith M. Walker of Northern Arizona University in the U.S. and colleagues describes a research design involving the genetic analysis of ancient, modern and contemporary biological samples from North American spotted bats. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ancient-samples-day-population-dynamics.html Ecology Wed, 07 Oct 2026 14:00:35 EDT news710558371 Off the coast of East Antarctica, researchers led by Kiel University (CAU) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), have investigated an exceptionally large sedimentary body embedded in the seafloor of Vincennes Bay: a so-called "grounding-zone wedge"—symmetrical, wedge-shaped, approximately 260 meters (853 feet) high and 65 kilometers (40 miles) long. With a volume of more than 580 cubic kilometers (139 cubic miles), it is the largest known isolated grounding-zone wedge on a glaciated continental shelf to date and constitutes an exceptional archive of East Antarctica's glacial history. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-seafloor-sediments-reveal-east-antarctic.html Earth Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 13:40:01 EDT news710593682 A new study on ancient food production in tropical Belize, co-led by the University of New Mexico and published in Communications Earth & Environment, provides evidence that people in the Maya-speaking region were dedicated farmers thousands of years before the first large villages emerged. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-soil-evidence-early-farming-maya.html Archaeology Wed, 07 Oct 2026 12:20:06 EDT news710591281 Scientists who believe technology will largely solve the problems caused by climate change are 23% less likely to engage in civic climate action and 18% less likely to make high-impact lifestyle changes compared with scientists who disagree with this belief. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-techno-optimistic-scientists-climate-actions.html Environment Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:00:05 EDT news710585042 During the 2023–2024 El Niño, about 75% of the world's tropical forest areas experienced at least six months of unprecedented simultaneous drought and heat. According to a study published in Earth's Future, this scenario offers more than just a snapshot of an extreme event; it offers a preview of the "new normal" for the next two decades if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-extreme-drought-el-nio-tropical.html Earth Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 09:00:06 EDT news710523301 Ozone pollution caused by Amazon wildfires is significantly reducing the rainforest's ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, new research reveals. Ground-level ozone is formed when pollutants from sources such as wildfires react in the presence of sunlight. This harms human health and interferes with plants' ability to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-amazon-wildfires-generating-ozone-weakens.html Earth Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 05:00:01 EDT news710524502 A new study shows that the world's oyster reefs are a precious resource that's vastly underestimated and underutilized. The authors set out to calculate the reefs' potential gross ecosystem product (GEP), the ecological counterpart of the gross economic product, and arrived at trillions of dollars in ecosystem goods and services delivered each year to different aspects of planetary health, including human well-being. But for their full potential to be realized, oyster reefs around the world will need to be restored and protected. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-world-oyster-reefs-trillion-planetary.html Earth Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:01 EDT news710524261 "Is there enough water? What's happening with climate change? How do I operate my hydro plant? In a world of water problems, there are problems that we need a good model to solve," says Colin Gleason, a hydrologist in the Riccio College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. But the models are only as good as the math that they're based on, and short of measuring every river in the world, there is no way to check this on a global scale. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-newly-satellite-flawed-river.html Earth Sciences Tue, 06 Oct 2026 17:40:01 EDT news710508841 In January 2013, Lake Michigan reached its lowest water level on record. Seven years later, in the summer of 2020, it broke the opposite record with widespread flooding, eroded shorelines and closed lakeside roads. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-great-lakes.html Earth Sciences Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:10:01 EDT news710515621 When a person falls and gets a cut or a scrape, they often use hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound. This molecular compound is also produced within our cells, helping our immune system build its defenses against harmful bacteria or other pathogens. Hydrogen peroxide is produced inside plants, too, where it acts as a messenger, telling cells to beef up a plant's defenses when it is stressed, wounded or under attack. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tiny-channels-cells-wound-hydrogen.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:50:01 EDT news710514961 El Niño and warming in the tropical Atlantic could help provide advance warning of extreme heat in the Amazon, with some signals appearing as much as seven months earlier, new research has found. Researchers from the ARC Center of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century and the National Institute of Space Research in Brazil studied how major patterns of natural climate variability influence temperature and rainfall extremes across the Amazon Basin. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-el-nio-tropical-atlantic-early.html Earth Sciences Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:00:06 EDT news710503141 The weather over the North Atlantic affects hundreds of millions of people. From winter storms over Europe to cold spells in eastern North America, many of these impacts are shaped by large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns that recur. Climate scientists refer to these preferred patterns as atmospheric regimes. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-anthropogenic-north-atlantic-atmospheric-circulation.html Earth Sciences Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:40:06 EDT news710499169 Extreme heat can have a profound impact on wild animals, causing their death in the most extreme cases and leaving less visible marks in others. Understanding the effects of temperature changes on specific species could inform conservation efforts and other initiatives aimed at protecting natural ecosystems from climate change. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-linked-faster-telomere-loss-wild.html Ecology Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:00:01 EDT news709985845 Forest soils store an estimated 40% of the world's terrestrial carbon, but estimates suggest that around 15–30% of that soil carbon is lost when a forest is harvested. Tracking such losses can be tricky: wildfires, insects, disease and past forest management can all affect forest soil carbon stores, and tree type, climate and harvesting method can all affect how much carbon is lost. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-term-reveals-forest-floor-soil.html Earth Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 17:20:15 EDT news710429701 When a prairie river carries more water in one year than another, the obvious place to look for an explanation is the sky. A year with more snow and rain should have more water in rivers. That was also how I initially thought about year-to-year changes in river flow. But while studying the Prairie Pothole Region, I learned that this is only part of the story. What happens after water reaches the ground can be just as important as how much falls from the sky. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-great-plains-rivers-wetlands-climate.html Earth Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:00:01 EDT news710416727 Scientists used machine learning and super-resolution microscopy to overcome a challenge that has stymied research into the natural history of grasses for decades. Their method allowed them to detect subtle differences among grass pollen grains and trace changes in grass diversity and the proportions of the two main photosynthetic types of grasses at one site over a period of 25,000 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-pollen-reveals-hidden-history-grasses.html Ecology Mon, 05 Oct 2026 13:40:16 EDT news710421361 Zebras grazing in a UK park might sound like the stuff of a high-budget Hollywood blockbuster, but new research suggests it could one day be vital in the fight against climate change, and that the British public might not mind as much as you'd think. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tortoises-hyenas-survey-adding-exotic.html Plants & Animals Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:40:02 EDT news710414222