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 seafloor plays an important ecological and societal role. Understanding the processes that shape this environment will help guide conservation policy and decision-making about underwater infrastructure and geohazards. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-qa-technology-seafloor.html Earth Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news703943237 A research team led by UCLA and the University of Rochester has demonstrated a promising evolution of an imaging system designed to capture details within "complex media," which scatter light, from depicting structures inside body tissue to seeing obstacles through heavy fog. The system uses physics-based machine learning to improve an existing imaging technique. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-physics-based-ai-boost-biomedical.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:00:08 EDT news703945682 From microplastics clogging up our oceans to landfills leaching dangerous chemicals, plastic waste is a serious and growing problem for human health and the environment. We need to recycle more and, crucially, recycle better. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-super-enzymes-recycling.html Polymers Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:20:04 EDT news703937221 A team of Vermont researchers has discovered that mysterious black skin lesions afflicting catfish in Lake Memphremagog and other New England and Canadian lakes are caused by a transmissible cancer—the first identified in a freshwater fish species. The cancer cells behave more like parasites than conventional tumors, moving from fish to fish. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-transmissible-cancer-cells-fish-parasites.html Plants & Animals Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:00:24 EDT news703842242 The GunaiKurnai, an Australian Aboriginal nation, are the acknowledged traditional custodians of Gippsland and the southern Victorian Alps. Within their territory are caves known from 19th-century ethnographic reports and oral traditions to have been settings for magic, healing and cursing rituals by powerful learned women and men called "mulla-mullung," as well as by other spiritual practitioners. Archaeologists have shown that people have been visiting one of these caves, Cloggs Cave, for such activities over the past 25,000 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-australian-cave-discovery-grass-magic.html Archaeology Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:03 EDT news703848781 Deep learning approaches have transformed how scientists predict the activity and function of DNA sequences in the genome. A new AI tool called Corgi (Context-aware Regulatory Genomics Inference), developed by Martin Vingron's bioinformatics group at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics allows researchers to predict how the genome behaves across different cell types. The findings could help improve efforts to mimic the activity of cells virtually, with potential applications in basic research and medicine. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-tool-dna-sequences-genes.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:50:01 EDT news703867682 The end-Triassic mass extinction, 201 million years ago, is linked to volcanism that resulted from the break-up of Pangea and which pumped out vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, causing extreme global warming of 5 to 10 degrees Celsius. As a result, tree-dominated vegetation collapsed and the highly disturbed landscapes were colonized by ferns that formed savannahs across large swaths of what is now Northwest Europe. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-triassic-inferno-raged-europe-millennia.html Earth Sciences Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:20:05 EDT news703842721 With their ability to use tools, remember faces and even learn how to communicate with humans through sign language, nonhuman primates are considered to be among the smartest creatures on Earth. However, some concepts—geometry, for instance—have traditionally been thought of as beyond the abilities of humanity's closest cousins. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-children-monkeys-common-geometry.html Plants & Animals Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:11 EDT news703766521 A coral reef, missing and presumed dead, has been found alive and well off the coast of Benin. Surveys in the 1960s, focused on identifying promising fishing areas, flagged a possible deep-water coral reef but assumed it must be dead. Now, using a modern sonar survey and the Deep Sea Camera System provided by the National Geographic Exploration Technology Lab, scientists have found an apparently healthy reef. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-underwater-drones-coral-reefs-benin.html Ecology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:05 EDT news703491408 Seen from the air, Channel Country resembles a vibrant, vast tapestry, with a network of waterways crisscrossing the land. Spread across more than 280,000 square kilometers (108,000 square miles) in outback Australia, it is one of the world's last free-flowing desert river systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-aboriginal-people-harvested-native-grass.html Ecology Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:20:01 EDT news703488661 An international team of researchers, including scientists from Utrecht University and the University of Maryland, has reconstructed the concentration of clumped isotopes of methane in air from the past for the first time. This provides new insights into how atmospheric methane concentrations have changed since the start of the industrial era, around 1850. For the study, the scientists used air that was roughly 40 years old, preserved in compacted snow (firn) in Greenland. The results were published in Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-air-greenland-industrialization-impact-atmospheric.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703329073 A new tool that allows researchers to create realistic full-body animations of monkeys has provided the first evidence that nonhuman primates experience the "uncanny valley" phenomenon for body avatars, according to a study by Lucas Maximilian Martini at the University Clinic Tübingen in Germany and colleagues at KU Leuven in Belgium, published in PLOS Biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-uncanny-valley-effect-macaques-3d.html Plants & Animals Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:00:07 EDT news703229447 Researchers have demonstrated a novel AI model that can predict which DNA molecules bind with other DNA molecules. A more thorough understanding of these hypercomplex binding relationships has utility in applications ranging from biomedical diagnostic tools to DNA computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-scientists-dna-sequences.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:50:02 EDT news703250253 A research team has presented a roadmap for developing an "artificial olfactory system" that detects odors like the human nose and analyzes them using artificial intelligence (AI) by leveraging metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The team systematically organized and reviewed key research trends in electronic nose technology, from MOF material design to sensor implementation and AI-based odor pattern recognition. The research was led by Hyuk-Jun Kwon's in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science of Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology. The work is published in the journal Progress in Materials Science. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-powered-electronic-nose-distinguish.html Biochemistry Mon, 13 Jul 2026 16:00:01 EDT news703169645 The planets that appear most common in the universe could have a lot of water—but it could be hiding where telescopes can't detect it, according to a new study led by scientists with the University of Chicago. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-distant-exoplanets-webb-telescope.html Astronomy Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703166987 A new study finds a widely used technique for assessing the health of freshwater streams is not effective at detecting a range of water quality problems, including those related to acidity, oxygen levels and the presence of pathogens. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-widely-method-stream-health-doesnt.html Environment Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:29:57 EDT news703160828 When people think about geological faults, they usually think about earthquakes. Yet faults do not move only during earthquakes. Sometimes they slip silently, without generating noticeable shaking, releasing stress over hours or days through slow fault movements that remain largely hidden from conventional monitoring systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-reveals-hidden-san-andreas.html Earth Sciences Thu, 09 Jul 2026 19:00:05 EDT news702833771 An expedition led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in partnership with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has obtained the first close-up images of the wreck of Quest, the last ship of famed Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, in the Labrador Sea. The images were obtained by WHOI's Falcon ROV and DSV Alvin, the first submersible to visit the wreck of Titanic 40 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-shackleton-ship-longer-sonar-shadow.html Archaeology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:40:10 EDT news702807367 Tiny, invisible swirls and twirls—not much bigger than a coin—deep below the ocean's surface are silently shaping some of the biggest forces shaping our climate: sea level rise, fisheries collapse, extreme flooding and how much carbon dioxide the ocean absorbs. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hidden-deep-sea-turbulence-climate.html Earth Sciences Thu, 09 Jul 2026 05:00:01 EDT news702711269 Beavers are widespread in estuaries and tidal wetlands in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, demonstrating that they are not restricted to rivers and streams, Gregory Hood at the Skagit River System Cooperative, U.S., reports July 8, 2026, in the journal PLOS One. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-beavers-river-estuaries-north-america.html Plants & Animals Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:00:20 EDT news702728106 The explosive growth of data generated by artificial intelligence, cloud computing and modern digital infrastructure is placing increasing pressure on existing information storage technologies. Although magnetic storage systems such as hard disk drives remain the dominant platform for digital storage, they face challenges including rising costs, limited lifespan and relatively slow information retrieval. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-wavelength-multiplexed-diffractive-optical-storage.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:40:05 EDT news702721575 Phase transformations—in which a material changes from one crystal structure to another, thereby acquiring dramatically different properties—are ubiquitous in nature. Understanding the microscopic mechanisms of these transformations is essential for controlling material properties and designing functional devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-atomic-domino-effect-phase-dimensional.html Nanomaterials Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:00:08 EDT news702563334 A new airborne imaging approach can reliably detect unexploded weapons that lie in shallow coastal waters and remain an ongoing hazard to public safety, marine ecosystems and infrastructure worldwide. By combining advanced multispectral sensing with artificial intelligence, the researchers were able to identify underwater munitions with high confidence, even when they are partially hidden by sediment, biological growth or debris. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-airborne-ai-underwater-munitions-shallow.html Environment Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:20:01 EDT news702210143 A new big-data analysis of the U.S. pinpoints how urban design aids the health of city residents—especially when cities provide walking opportunities, greenery and mixed-use streets with a blend of commercial and residential activity. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-walkable-greener-neighborhoods-linked-physical.html Environment Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:20:08 EDT news702126481 When a bright fireball streaked across the Alaska sky last spring, the usual tools scientists rely on to track such events—cameras and satellites—did not provide a detailed picture. But the meteoroid left behind something else: low-frequency sound waves that traveled hundreds of miles and were captured by a dense network of earthquake and volcano-monitoring sensors on the ground. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-reconstruct-alaska-fireball-path-cameras.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 30 Jun 2026 16:00:10 EDT news702041402 Accurate RNA splicing is essential for gene expression and human health, yet predicting how DNA sequence variations affect splicing remains a major challenge. Although recent artificial intelligence (AI) models have improved splice-site prediction, many struggle to capture regulatory signals located thousands of DNA bases away from the sites they influence. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ai-deciphers-range-dna-rna.html Biotechnology Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:20:08 EDT news702037742 Over 300 million years ago, a minnow-sized fish died and fell to the bottom of a prehistoric swamp near the village of Trawden, Lancashire, in northwest England. The remains of this tiny fish—known as Trawdenia planti—became fossilized, embedding proof of its existence in a layer of soapstone sandwiched between coal seams in the Burnley coalfields. By some combination of marine chemistry, mineral composition of the seafloor, timing and luck, not only was the bony skeleton of this fish preserved, but also the soft neural tissues of its brain. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tiny-ancient-fish-fossil-brain.html Evolution Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:40:02 EDT news702032614 For nearly half a century, scientists have known that malaria parasites force their way into human red blood cells through a ring-shaped structure called the moving junction. What no one could work out was what it actually does. The structure assembles, does its job and dissipates in the space of 60 seconds—gone before anyone can get a close look. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-malaria-parasites-invade-human-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 30 Jun 2026 11:00:01 EDT news701971141 Scientists discovered a protein secreted by a deep-sea extremophile—an organism adapted to extreme environmental conditions—that self-assembles into a biofilm and is highly stable, boosting its potential for biomedical applications. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-deep-sea-extremophile-yields-protein.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 29 Jun 2026 17:50:01 EDT news701968261 Howdy, pards, here's a quick roundup of the week's science news: Moose, previously thought to be a transplanted species, are actually native to Colorado. A digital twin of a two-year-old child's brain revealed neural signatures linked to autism. And a new gel treatment for severed spinal cords restored mobility in lab animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-saturday-citations-earthquakes-event-horizons.html Other Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:10:01 EDT news701696929