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. With the rapid spread of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and data centers, global energy consumption is rising to new heights. A promising way to reduce this burden is to develop memory devices that store information magnetically yet are written using electric fields. Magnetic memories are nonvolatile, meaning stored information is retained without a power supply. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-nanoscale-multiferroic-materials-path-efficient.html Nanophysics Thu, 03 Sep 2026 17:40:01 EDT news707661062 Using an engineered metasurface that traps light, Cornell researchers have demonstrated a new way to generate strong static magnetic fields without using external magnets or magnetic materials—an approach that could advance spintronics, quantum and photonic computing, and data storage. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-generates-nanoscale-magnetization.html Condensed Matter Wed, 02 Sep 2026 18:40:01 EDT news707583061 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 Researchers have captured in real time the "birth moment" when the performance of a next-generation memory material is determined. The key lies in controlling oxygen vacancies, microscopic defects created when oxygen atoms are missing from their normal positions. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tiny-oxygen-gaps-generation-memory.html Nanomaterials Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:20:01 EDT news707065262 Tall trees are generally associated with high-biomass forests. This is particularly true for forests dominated by Sequoia sempervirens (hereafter redwood), the world's tallest tree species. Extreme decay resistance, the ability to survive high-severity fires, shade tolerance and prolific trunk reiteration (resprouting) make the species unique, allowing tall redwood forests to accumulate more biomass and store more aboveground carbon than any other vegetation type. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hydroclimate-whiplash-california-tallest-redwoods.html Plants & Animals Tue, 25 Aug 2026 18:20:01 EDT news706879229 Researchers at TU Dortmund University, Paderborn University, the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the University of Oxford have developed a new method for selectively modifying the internal structure of specific types of glass. The study, published in the journal Nature Materials, shows how adding an organic molecule during melting causes the chemical bonds in the material to rearrange. The process reduces the required processing temperature, prevents the substance from decomposing, and allows the magnetic and optical properties to be precisely tuned. These specialized glasses are used, among other things, in gas storage, batteries, optical applications and catalysis. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-molecular-door-generation-glass.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 24 Aug 2026 18:10:01 EDT news706807741 In the vast, nutrient-poor regions of the world's oceans, there is a constant struggle for survival. Yet tiny organisms known as Collodaria have thrived there for millions of years. These Collodaria host microscopically small algae that are essential for survival. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ocean-plankton-reveal-sugar-nutrients.html Ecology Fri, 21 Aug 2026 14:20:07 EDT news706533781 Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide is boosting grass growth in Africa's water-limited savannas, according to a new study led by the University of Sheffield. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-carbon-dioxide-supercharging-grass-growth.html Environment Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:00:01 EDT news706450801 A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment, with contributions from researchers at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), shows that higher seawater temperatures could significantly reduce the long-term ability of underwater plants to store carbon. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ocean-temperatures-natural-carbon-storage.html Earth Sciences Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:40:01 EDT news706449062 Between 29,000 and 19,000 years ago, the planet experienced some of its coldest temperatures and drastic landscape changes at the peak of the Ice Age, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the period of most extensive global ice cover. Humans, despite being unaccustomed to such icy temperatures and surroundings, survived through the age. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ancient-jomon-dna-reveals-hidden.html Evolution Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:40:10 EDT news706266198 A new review led by professor Emese Bordy at the University of Cape Town (UCT) Department of Geological Sciences brings together more than two decades of research on the Karoo Supergroup, revealing how scientific understanding of this iconic geological archive has changed since 2000. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-gondwana-million-year-archive-karoo.html Earth Sciences Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:30:01 EDT news706198442 A genetically engineered bacterium can rapidly break down one of Earth's most abundant minerals, opening a promising new pathway for simultaneously removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and recovering critical elements used in electric vehicle batteries, according to new Cornell research. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-microbe-capture-recovers-critical-metals.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 14 Aug 2026 17:40:01 EDT news705934681 Satellite images can be used to estimate how much carbon forests store as aboveground biomass (AGB) and how biomass varies in different forests. In a study published in the journal Nature, a team of researchers affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the University of Maryland, NASA and the Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Brazil, analyzed 16 million 2020 NASA-GEDI satellite estimates of biomass from forests in the Amazon, the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-satellite-reveal-tropical-forests-differently.html Earth Sciences Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:20:12 EDT news705840962 Charting a better future will require redressing the problems of the past. That's one reason many countries have begun to return dispossessed land to Indigenous peoples. The goal of Indigenous land restitution is to empower disadvantaged communities and entrust land management back to the region's traditional stewards. In many cases, these programs also carry expectations of broad environmental benefits. However, there's been relatively little research testing this assumption. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-indigenous-restitution-empowers-communities-environmental.html Environment Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:00:07 EDT news705840061 A year after its final muon magnetic anomaly announcement, the Muon g-2 collaboration reports a new measurement of a different property of the muon: its electric dipole moment. The work is published on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-muon-constraints-forbidden-property-muons.html General Physics Thu, 13 Aug 2026 09:20:03 EDT news705831042 Salt marshes are coastal wetlands that are alternately inundated and exposed by tides. These marshes, like other coastal ecosystems, are hotspots of carbon cycling. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-radar-creeks-carbon-salt-marshes.html Earth Sciences Tue, 11 Aug 2026 15:00:05 EDT news705668881 El Niños and La Niñas are the third-most dominant influences on Earth's climate, after the sun and the greenhouse effect. But they haven't been easy to decipher or to predict in terms of when they will happen and what exact effects they will have on the global climate. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-impact-super-el-nios-sea.html Earth Sciences Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:00:08 EDT news705585565 As global temperatures rise, scientists have largely assumed that mountain tree species will move uphill in search of cooler conditions. A new study published in Nature Climate Change reveals a more complex reality: Some tree species are moving uphill, while others are shifting downhill, and the key to understanding these contrasting responses lies in how trees manage water. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hydraulic-traits-reveal-mountain-trees.html Environment Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:40:01 EDT news705323461 Magnetic storage technologies, which store information in the direction of magnetization, play an essential role in modern data storage. Hard disk drives (HDDs) are widely used for long-term storage, while nonvolatile magnetic random-access memory (MRAM) is emerging as a promising alternative to flash memory. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-50c-ultrathin-magnetic-stays-flat.html Nanomaterials Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:40:07 EDT news705316862 Researchers have demonstrated a solid-state organic laser microcavity fabricated entirely by solution processing. The device operates in the strong light–matter coupling regime, where light and matter form hybrid states called polaritons. This makes the platform not only a new type of solution-processed laser but also a powerful way to study nonlinear polariton interactions. The paper is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fully-solution-solid-state-polariton.html Condensed Matter Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:00:06 EDT news705251523 Agriculture covers more than 40% of Earth's habitable land and plays a central role in both climate change and biodiversity loss. Yet the impact of agriculture is far from evenly distributed across space. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-agricultural-accounts-thirds-global-impact.html Ecology Thu, 06 Aug 2026 17:40:05 EDT news705250742 The explosion of new data centers being proposed and built around the U.S. has increased demand for energy to keep them powered and cooled. The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that data centers could consume up to 9% of U.S. electricity generation annually by 2030, up from 4% of total load in 2023. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-carbon-nanostructure-fuel-cell-catalyst.html Nanomaterials Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:20:07 EDT news705234001 The processes that capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it on the seabed are crucial for climate balance. However, assessing these mechanisms is often complicated because it requires measurements ranging from the surface to the deep ocean. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mechanical-shortcut-rapidly-particles-deep.html Earth Sciences Mon, 03 Aug 2026 19:40:01 EDT news704992802 The small mountain streams that feed many of the West's rivers may face a much drier future. A new study led by NAU researchers found that groundwater-fed streamflow, known as base flow, has been steadily declining across headwater watersheds in the western United States since 1950 and could decrease by 45% to 65% by the end of this century if current climate trends continue. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-climate-west-headwaters.html Environment Sun, 02 Aug 2026 14:40:01 EDT news704719021 Information and communication technologies (ICTs) driven by artificial intelligence (AI) are generating data at an unprecedented rate. Every internet search, AI-generated image, recommendation, scientific simulation and large language model creates and processes enormous amounts of information that must be stored, transferred and analyzed. As AI continues to expand across every sector of society, global demand for data storage and computing is rising dramatically. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-optimized-magnetic-pulses-memory-energy.html Condensed Matter Fri, 31 Jul 2026 16:00:01 EDT news704720412 A few years ago, the first ceramic finds came to light during construction work in the Burg district of the municipality of Hannersdorf. Geomagnetic surveys in subsequent years provided evidence of numerous kilns thought to lie hidden beneath the field. In a recent educational excavation led by Basema Hamarneh from the University of Vienna, archaeologists uncovered two pottery kilns. Another 100 kilns are thought to remain buried—an unprecedented discovery of a local production center for utilitarian pottery from the Roman period. The finds date from the mid-1st century to the mid-2nd century CE. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-roman-workshop-reveals-large-scale.html Archaeology Thu, 30 Jul 2026 15:00:04 EDT news704632681 Around a quarter of the U.S. food supply is grown in California's Central Valley. Most of its crops, like rice, fruit trees and nut trees, are water-intensive and require extensive groundwater pumping during droughts. Over time, heavy water extraction has contributed to changes in the aquifer systems under the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. Although some of these changes can be reversed, a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates that large parts of the Sacramento Valley may have undergone irreversible ground compaction during recent droughts, leading to a permanent loss of groundwater storage. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-california-drought-sacramento-valley-aquifer.html Earth Sciences Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:50:01 EDT news704462972 Complex simulations—the most intricate of their kind to date—carried out by an international research team led by scientists at Heidelberg University's Institute for Physical Chemistry, have revealed how water governs the way protons move through it. Using their modeling, researchers from Cambridge (U.K.), Bochum, Dijon (France) and Heidelberg were able to trace, in full quantum detail, the movements of a proton shared among six water molecules. At its core, the work addresses how a proton moves through water: not as a single particle drifting along, but by "hopping" from one molecule to the next. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-local-asymmetry-proton-molecules-simulations.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 27 Jul 2026 20:40:04 EDT news704385621 Lithium in drinking water is a widespread and persistent source of human exposure across Tribal communities in the Western United States, according to a new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The findings document substantial regional variation in exposure and provide some of the strongest evidence to date that household drinking water is a major contributor to lithium levels measured in the body. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-term-widespread-lithium-communities-western.html Environment Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:40:01 EDT news704362802 A new study led by Japanese researchers from Tohoku University and the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) reveals that some of the minerals most essential for green technologies may have a significant negative impact on biodiversity. Using remote sensing and machine learning, the scientists produced an unprecedented global map of mined commodities. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-global-reveals-uneven-toll-forests.html Earth Sciences Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:40:04 EDT news704036827