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. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted severe consequences of unchecked respiratory disease, including cytokine storms. This phenomenon affected many COVID-19 patients and is a potential side effect of many other diseases involving significant inflammation, but approaches to treating these symptoms remain unclear. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cell-vesicles-trigger-lipid-counterstorm.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:00:04 EDT news704554321 Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have recovered and analyzed the first ancient smallpox virus genomes ever identified in the Americas, providing the strongest direct evidence to date that the disease was introduced through European colonization. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancient-smallpox-genomes-reveal-european.html Evolution Thu, 30 Jul 2026 14:00:04 EDT news704549521 How much of what you see on social media comes from sources that repeatedly post falsehoods? And if that content quietly vanished from your feed, would you believe anything different months later? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-exposure-untrustworthy-social-media-rare.html Social Sciences Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:40:01 EDT news704611262 Why do some people who embrace conspiracy theories simply hold those beliefs, while others act on them? A new study published in the British Journal of Social Psychology identifies three characteristics that help determine when conspiracy beliefs are most likely to shape real-world behavior: how certain people are that the belief is true, how personally important they consider it, and whether they see it as "actionable"—useful for deciding what to do. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-conspiracy-beliefs-action.html Social Sciences Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:20:08 EDT news704538721 La Trobe University scientists have uncovered the critical role fatty cell structures play in our body's early detection and defense against viruses. Published in Nature Communications, the discovery could open the door to a new type of antiviral strategy that harnesses the body's innate defense mechanisms rather than targeting individual viruses. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fat-cell-block-viral-antiviral.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:00:01 EDT news704111702 As the world faces new and often untreatable viral threats, Simon Fraser University researchers have found a way to cut years off the time it takes to discover antiviral drugs. The new research enables scientists to quickly create large libraries of nucleoside analogs (NAs), compounds that mimic the building blocks of DNA and RNA and are widely used to treat cancer and viral infections such as HIV and hepatitis. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-driven-chemistry-method-antiviral-compound.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:20:01 EDT news703948201 As generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in translation, questions have been raised about whether it could eventually replace professional interpreters. A joint study led by Lingnan University found that while AI can improve translation efficiency, it is still less capable than professional interpreters at adapting language to context and preserving rhetorical and communicative effects. The researchers conclude that human judgment and oversight remain essential, particularly in politically, diplomatically and culturally sensitive settings. These findings have been published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-falls-short-context-cultural.html Social Sciences Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:20:08 EDT news703767301 Advances in medical technology have improved health in part by bringing key aspects of care, once difficult to access, into the home. Tracking symptoms and even screening for certain types of illness outside of a laboratory or clinical setting puts more control into the hands of patients. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-airpods-sized-fluorescence-analytical-device.html Analytical Chemistry Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:00:03 EDT news703496954 Studies published in prestigious academic journals receive more attention from scholars and media outlets, shaping public discourse and potentially accelerating academic careers. While the path to publication is often murky, a new analysis of more than 110,000 papers submitted to Science and Science Advances—two leading journals published by the world's largest general science association—reveals that Western scientists, larger teams, top-ranked universities and select regions have slight advantages in acceptance rates. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-editorial-trends-science-journals.html Education Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:30 EDT news703325741 Scientists from prestigious universities and large research groups are significantly more likely to have their research published in general-interest, top-tier scientific journals. Meanwhile, authors based in China and those studying politics, economics, gender or other social issues face a significant disadvantage. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-analysis-prestige-topic-published.html Social Sciences Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703318133 The age-old question asks, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" While philosophers and scientists alike have pondered this question for centuries, the more relevant question for today's recreation and wildlife managers is: Does it matter what makes the sound? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-human-noise-alaska-predators-night.html Ecology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:40:05 EDT news703246996 To prevent viruses from sickening or killing us—whether it's an individual case of hepatitis B or a COVID pandemic—it's crucial to understand how the proteins they make initiate changes in our bodies that allow them to flourish. A new tool has broadened the scale at which researchers can study these proteins, promising to speed basic discoveries in virology, inform the development of new vaccines and treatments, and help humanity protect against emerging pathogens. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-largest-viral-protein-library-probe.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 10 Jul 2026 10:20:01 EDT news702890184 What makes people change their minds or their behavior? Social scientists spend a lot of time thinking about this question, and experiments are one of the most powerful ways to answer it. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-youll-survey.html Social Sciences Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:20:06 EDT news702806835 Getting it over the finish line was a labor of love—and now, more than five years after her death, the lab of former Sloan Kettering Institute Developmental Biology Chair Kathryn Anderson, Ph.D., is publishing its final study. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-embryo-cells-lab-discovery.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:00:08 EDT news702222361 As humans, our eyes take in two-dimensional images that our brains convert to three-dimensional experiences. This ability enables us to be aware of our position in space, judge distances, possess depth perception, and visually examine and enjoy all manner of objects and happenings. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-d-scientists-ai-tool-complex.html Biotechnology Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:00:03 EDT news702125822 The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the way people work, making remote and work-from-home (WFH) jobs far more common than ever before. Even after social distancing ended, many companies and employees chose to stick with this model because it offers greater flexibility. People can work from where they already live, avoid long commutes, and enjoy a better work-life balance. For primary caregivers in particular, remote work has made it easier to juggle professional and personal responsibilities. A recent study has found that WFH isn't all sunshine and roses. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-mismatched-worklife-boundaries-home-couples.html Social Sciences Wed, 01 Jul 2026 09:40:03 EDT news702116669 The technology at the center of the growing "resolution revolution" has again shown its value to scientists at Yale by revealing the secrets of gum disease. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-atomic-gum-disease-bacteria-sharp.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:10:01 EDT news702048482 The same family of artificial intelligence that powers today's image generators is now being aimed at one of biology's hardest puzzles: the ever-changing, three-dimensional shapes of RNA. These are the molecules behind mRNA vaccines like the ones that prevent serious COVID-19 cases. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-ai-tool-rivals-alphafold.html Biotechnology Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:40:03 EDT news702035677 It's one thing to design a pharmaceutical drug. It's another to know if and why it actually works; not on paper or in a computer model, but inside the chaotic world of living systems, where proteins twist into shape, atoms constantly pull and push each other apart, and molecular interactions are the difference between health and disease. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-hidden-quantum-power-generation.html Quantum Physics Thu, 25 Jun 2026 16:20:10 EDT news701617438 As young adults, many millennials feared growing up more than past generations. But they've come around to it as they age, research published in the journal Developmental Psychology has found. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scary.html Social Sciences Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:00:07 EDT news701508482 Medical advancements over the last several decades have made great strides in the treatment of HIV. Pharmaceutical treatments are able to contain and reduce a patient's viral load to the point where it is nearly undetectable. But a cure remains frustratingly elusive due to the virus's ability to evade the immune system. Researchers from Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania, who specialize in modulating immune responses, have offered a new approach—one that's likely familiar to anyone who has dealt with pest removal: setting a trap. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nanotrap-hiv-liposomes-repurposed-trigger.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:30:07 EDT news701538542 Genes are not passed on exclusively from parents to their offspring. Some are mobile and can also jump to other species, as researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen have now shown. The direct observation of a jumping gene provides the first evidence that such genes can transfer from one species to another—from predator to prey. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-gene-caught-species.html Evolution Sat, 20 Jun 2026 16:00:01 EDT news701017584 Researchers at the University of Houston's College of Pharmacy have discovered an unexpectedly simple strategy to improve the performance of mRNA vaccines and gene therapeutics: adding salt. The findings, published in Small, address one of the biggest challenges facing modern gene medicine—getting fragile therapeutic material to the right place inside cells. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nanomedicine-discovery-salt-major-obstacle.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:50:01 EDT news700838821 Global migration has risen sharply from approximately 13 million people per year in 2000 to around 35 million people per year in 2023. This is according to a new dataset on human migration published in Nature by researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), IIASA and the University of Hong Kong. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-annual-global-migration-tripled-reshaping.html Social Sciences Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:40:04 EDT news700323661 Researchers in Spain and Japan tested a broad range of pedestrians in varying group sizes to see whether there were any patterns in their turning behaviors, and what factors influenced them, if any. It turns out that the vast majority of people prefer counterclockwise turning. Most factors, such as culture or gender, made little difference. Only age showed a noticeable but small change, in that younger people followed this pattern more strongly. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-people-inherent-counterclockwise-motion-reveals.html Other Wed, 10 Jun 2026 05:00:07 EDT news700215182 For over a century, doctors have used electrocardiograms (EKGs) to render the invisible electrical activity of the human heart visible, using the pulse to diagnose disease before it becomes fatal. Now, scientists have invented a way to do the exact same thing for the places where most of humanity lives: cities. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-satellites-reveal-cities-urban-pulse.html Environment Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:50:01 EDT news700157221 Working from home comes with some major pluses. It's more flexible, there's no more pesky commute, work-life balance improves, and you can even stay in your pajamas all day if you want. But according to a major study of more than 580,000 American workers published in Science, remote work is taking its toll on people's mental health. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-remote-toll-mental-health-american.html Social Sciences Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:20:03 EDT news699871293 When a person coughs or sneezes, they expel a cloud of microscopic particles capable of carrying viruses and bacteria that act as vectors for respiratory diseases such as flu, COVID-19 or tuberculosis. Understanding how these aerosols disperse in the air is crucial for minimizing the transmission of pathogens in indoor spaces, but their dynamics are complex and depend on many factors: the force of the exhalation, the morphology of the respiratory system, the characteristics of the space, etc. Now, a new study led by researchers from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili has shown that temperature also plays an important role. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-temperature-gaps-clouds-stay-denser.html Soft Matter Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:30:02 EDT news699722042 A key step in the origin of many pandemics occurs when an animal-borne virus infects humans and then evolves to spread more efficiently from person to person. That is why scientists and physicians keep a close watch on viruses that could jump from animals to humans, such as emerging strains of avian flu and bat coronaviruses, as well as viruses that have already crossed into humans but, for now, spread poorly among people, such as hantavirus and Ebola. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-lab-evolution-recreates-covid-path.html Evolution Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:40:02 EDT news699619681 A tiny sea creature might hold the secret to reversing the aging process. When treated with a brief series of electrical pulses, sea squirts experience dramatic and long-lasting health improvements that can significantly extend their lifespans, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford and other institutions. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-electrical-pulses-reverse-aging-sea.html Biotechnology Thu, 28 May 2026 14:20:06 EDT news699190473