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. After the success of Artemis II, longer space journeys are expected, raising new health and nutritional challenges for astronauts. Current space foods rely on dried, shelf-stable items. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-customizable-essential-nutrients-space-missions.html Space Exploration Fri, 15 May 2026 08:58:50 EDT news698054281 An international team led by researchers at University of California San Diego and University of California, Riverside has developed a free, web-based platform designed to make public metabolomics data more accessible. By allowing users to search for chemical structures across billions of chemical spectra (the unique signatures of molecules) spanning thousands of studies, the tool has the potential to make "big-data" metabolomics as straightforward as a standard internet search. It can be used to discover new metabolites, track drug exposures and connect specific molecules to diseases or environmental sources. The study was published in Nature Biotechnology. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-molecules-chemistry-life.html Biochemistry Wed, 13 May 2026 15:28:19 EDT news697904356 The impacts were severe: Within a very short time, tropical storm Doksuri intensified into a super typhoon in July 2023. Exceptionally strong winds tore roofs from houses along the coasts of China and the Philippines, trees were uprooted, and torrential rain flooded streets and residential areas. In many places, everyday life came to a temporary halt. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-earth-ai-gaps-extreme-weather.html Earth Sciences Wed, 13 May 2026 10:05:35 EDT news697885501 From navigation to solar weather forecasting, many different areas of research require space-based sensors to measure Earth's magnetic field as accurately as possible at any given moment. So far, however, existing sensors have consistently struggled with effects including drift, interference from the spacecraft itself, and the harsh conditions of orbit. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-resilient-quantum-sensor-earth-magnetic.html Space Exploration Mon, 11 May 2026 14:00:05 EDT news697711981 The vast, deserted South Pacific is considered unspoiled nature. But this ocean is not as unspoiled as we would like to think. A new study by a group of researchers from ETH Zurich and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel sheds light on this premise. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-remote-ocean-contaminated-zinc-human.html Earth Sciences Wed, 06 May 2026 14:20:04 EDT news697288441 The new focus on manned missions to the moon and Mars presents countless pressing challenges, including keeping humans alive in hostile environments. What happens when an astronaut or space tourist has a cardiac emergency millions of miles from the nearest hospital? https://phys.org/news/2026-05-cpr-simulator-space-tracks-differences.html Space Exploration Tue, 05 May 2026 19:40:01 EDT news697204081 The Fe Kα line, or iron Kα line, is often used in astronomical research to understand the physical composition of astronomical objects. This line is produced when a K-shell electron of an iron ion in the photosphere—the gas on the stellar surface—is ejected by an external process, and has been detected in X-ray spectra of solar and stellar flares. Yet the dominant mechanism behind this ionization process has remained an open question for many years. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tandem-superflare-reveal-stellar-fe.html Astronomy Mon, 27 Apr 2026 05:00:01 EDT news696256870 It takes a moment for the eyes to adjust. A faint spark appears in the darkness; then another, brighter one. Soon, stars, planets and entire constellations emerge. Before long, a whole galaxy stretches across the sky, visible to the naked eye. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-threat-pollution-world-darkest-skies.html Astronomy Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:40:01 EDT news696422376 Too much stress can make even a rock crack. But before rocks reach their breaking point, they "sigh" a chemical warning by releasing nuclides, a type of atom defined by the number of neutrons as well as protons in the nucleus. Scientists have studied these naturally occurring geochemical emissions for more than half a century, but struggled to link nuclide release to the timing of rock breakage. Now, an international team of scientists from universities in China (led by Xin Luo at Hong Kong University and Yifeng Chen at Wuhan University) and the United States (led by Michael Manga at the University of California, Berkeley) has cracked that mystery, by creating a model to connect nuclide signal fluctuations to progressive changes in rock structure that lead to critical failure. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-stressed-geohazards.html Earth Sciences Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:30:01 EDT news696094681 British scientists have launched a crew of microscopic worms to the International Space Station in a pioneering experiment that could help unlock the secrets of long-duration space travel—and support ambitions to reach the moon and beyond. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-space-worms-microscopic-crew-orbit.html Space Exploration Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:40:06 EDT news695294943 After a successful trip around the moon, everything has been going smoothly on the Orion spacecraft's journey back to Earth—except for the $23 million toilet, which has gotten clogged. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-houston-problem-toilet.html Space Exploration Thu, 09 Apr 2026 04:28:32 EDT news694927657 Still aglow from their triumphant lunar flyby, the Artemis II astronauts made more history Tuesday: calling their friends aboard the International Space Station hundreds of thousands of miles away as they headed home from the moon. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-artemis-ii-astronauts-distance-space.html Space Exploration Wed, 08 Apr 2026 04:12:49 EDT news694840292 Designed to hunt for new alien worlds, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has serendipitously observed the rising outburst of a black hole X-ray binary known as AT 2019wey. The observations, which may help us better understand the nature of this system, were presented March 25 on the arXiv pre-print server. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tess-black-hole-ray-binary.html Astronomy Sun, 05 Apr 2026 12:20:01 EDT news694337723 Now more than halfway to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts prepared for their historic lunar fly-around to push deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-artemis-ii-toilet-astronauts-moon.html Space Exploration Sun, 05 Apr 2026 06:29:45 EDT news694589315 NASA's moonbound astronauts have reason to celebrate, and not just because their launch went so well. Their toilet is now working. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-artemis-ii-moonbound-toilet-astronauts.html Space Exploration Thu, 02 Apr 2026 13:34:29 EDT news694355447 The astronaut who prompted NASA's first medical evacuation earlier this year said Friday that doctors still don't know why he suddenly fell sick at the International Space Station. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-suddenly-couldnt-space-nasa-astronaut.html Space Exploration Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:40:02 EDT news693836791 More than half a century after the groundbreaking Apollo program's last crewed flight to the moon, three men and one woman are preparing for a lunar journey set to turn a new page in American space exploration. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-historic-moon-mission.html Space Exploration Wed, 25 Mar 2026 05:19:35 EDT news693634719 NASA's chief on Tuesday said the US space agency will invest $20 billion to develop a base on the moon, while suspending its plans to create the lunar orbital space station known as Gateway. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-nasa-bn-moon-base-orbital.html Space Exploration Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:32:53 EDT news693581335 NASA's chief on Tuesday said the US space agency "intends to pause" its Gateway project that would have created a space station in orbit around the moon, instead shifting focus toward "building a lunar base." https://phys.org/news/2026-03-nasa-orbital-lunar-space-station.html Space Exploration Tue, 24 Mar 2026 10:27:15 EDT news693566767 How does fine dust aggregate into building blocks that ultimately form entire planets like our Earth? A research team led by the University of Bern, with the participation of ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS has provided the first experimental evidence—obtained during parabolic flights in zero gravity—that a key physical process, known as shear-flow instability, actually occurs under conditions similar to those in planet formation regions. The study thus addresses an important gap in our understanding of the very first steps of planet formation. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-planets-parabolic-flight-reveal-turbulent.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 17 Mar 2026 17:40:01 EDT news692972401 It's well known that spaceflight causes muscle atrophy and other biological changes in reduced gravity, and especially in near-zero gravity (microgravity) environments. However, the gravity threshold needed to maintain sufficient muscle health in space is still unclear. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-iss-thresholds-muscle-atrophy-fiber.html Space Exploration Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:20:05 EDT news692881116 Just a few days in simulated microgravity can subtly change the way women's blood clots, sparking bigger questions about health monitoring protocols for astronauts who can spend six months or more in orbit, say Simon Fraser University researchers. First reported in 2020, an International Space Station mission detected an unexpected blood clot in a female astronaut's jugular vein. To date, space-health research has had more male participants, but with the number of female astronauts on the rise, a new SFU–European Space Agency study examined how microgravity affects blood clotting specifically in women. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-female-astronauts-clotting-day-weightlessness.html Space Exploration Wed, 04 Mar 2026 15:40:07 EST news691852801 As space agencies prepare for human missions to the moon and Mars, scientists need to understand how the absence of gravity affects living cells. Now, a team of researchers has built a rugged, affordable microscope that can image cells in real time during the chaotic conditions of zero-gravity flight—and they're making the design available to the broader scientific community. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-microscope-cells-gravity.html Space Exploration Sat, 21 Feb 2026 08:00:05 EST news690818565 A new crew rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday to replace the astronauts who returned to Earth early in NASA's first medical evacuation. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-astronauts-international-space-station-medical.html Space Exploration Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:20:06 EST news690206873 If humankind is to explore deep space, one small passenger should not be left behind: microbes. In fact, it would be impossible to leave them behind, since they live on and in our bodies, surfaces and food. Learning how they react to space conditions is critical, but they could also be invaluable fellows in our endeavor to explore space. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-space-heavy-machines-microbes-harvest.html Space Exploration Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:00:02 EST news690034613 In a new study, terrestrial bacteria-infecting viruses were still able to infect their E. coli hosts in near-weightless "microgravity" conditions aboard the International Space Station, but the dynamics of virus-bacteria interactions differed from those observed on Earth. Phil Huss of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues present the findings in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-phages-bacteria-accumulate-distinctive-mutations.html Astrobiology Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:00:01 EST news687442141 Stanford researchers have become the first to demonstrate that machine-learning control can safely guide a robot aboard the ISS, laying the groundwork for more autonomous space missions. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-ai-advances-robot-international-space.html Space Exploration Fri, 05 Dec 2025 05:52:23 EST news684136321 Mosses thrive in the most extreme environments on Earth, from the peaks of the Himalayas to the sands of Death Valley, the Antarctic tundra to the lava fields of active volcanoes. Inspired by moss's resilience, researchers sent moss sporophytes—reproductive structures that encase spores—to the most extreme environment yet: space. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-moss-spores-survive-months-international.html Space Exploration Thu, 20 Nov 2025 11:00:02 EST news682701181 With NASA's International Space Station set to come out of service in 2030, American aerospace firm Vast has stepped into a frenzied race for the world's first commercial space station. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-private-space-station-nasa-iss.html Space Exploration Thu, 13 Nov 2025 10:20:02 EST news682251453 Missions to the moon and Mars pose nutritional challenges for astronauts. Now, a new paper on space-grown food poses nutritional challenges for astronauts, but volunteers from NASA's Open Science Data Repository Analysis Working Groups (OSDR-AWG) are working together to analyze data on astronaut health. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-space-grown-lettuce-falls-short.html Space Exploration Tue, 23 Sep 2025 09:32:48 EDT news677838764