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. Coral reefs are renowned for their visual beauty, but for the marine life they support, their sounds may be just as enticing. Two new studies led by UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography reveal how underwater acoustic enrichment—the playback of sounds from healthy reefs—can help spur the recovery of degraded coral reefs and their fish communities. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-healthy-reef-boost-coral-fish.html Plants & Animals Thu, 08 Oct 2026 05:00:14 EDT news710587621 The European Space Agency–led Solar Orbiter spacecraft has flown through an S-shaped kink known as a "switchback" in the solar wind's magnetic field. By fingerprinting the elusive particles within the switchback, Solar Orbiter has traced its origin back to the sun's surface and revealed more about solar magnetism—the unruly instigator of dangerous solar storms. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-solar-orbiter-tracks-mysterious-magnetic.html Astronomy Thu, 08 Oct 2026 05:00:10 EDT news710588161 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 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 More than 80 years ago, scientists discovered that differences in yellow pigmentation were critical to courtship success and failure for fruit flies. It was one of the first demonstrations linking genes to complex behavior, and ever since, the Yellow proteins that paint these shades in nature have been a fruitful source of scientific inquiry. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tortoise-beetles-pigmentation-protein-shield.html Ecology Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:40:08 EDT news710590201 While lithium has been used as a first-line treatment for the long-term management of bipolar disorder for more than 70 years, scientists still do not fully understand how it produces its therapeutic effects in the brain.In a new study published in PLOS ONE, Surrey researchers used computational chemistry and quantum simulations to investigate whether part of the answer could lie in "nuclear spin"—a quantum property that makes an atom's nucleus behave like a tiny magnet, allowing it to influence nearby electrons and potentially change the outcome of chemical reactions. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-simulations-lithium-isotopes-affect.html Biochemistry Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:20:11 EDT news710590142 A University of Texas at Dallas scientist and her colleagues have discovered an unusual atomic pattern in a uranium-based material that gives it a rare combination of magnetic properties, a finding that could open new pathways for designing advanced electronic and computer memory devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-uranium-compound-1960s-reveals-hidden.html Condensed Matter Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:00:35 EDT news710524081 Where did the energy come from to power the chemical origin of life, and how did phosphate come to be the universal energy currency of cells? Biologists from the Institute of Molecular Evolution at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have uncovered a new source of energy that drove primordial chemical reactions on the early Earth forward to kick-start metabolism. Their findings, now published in The FEBS Journal, identify phosphite and palladium, substances that naturally occur in H2-producing hydrothermal vents, as an inorganic precursor of ATP. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hydrothermal-vents-geochemical-precursor-atp.html Evolution Tue, 06 Oct 2026 18:00:11 EDT news710509202 Creating a quantum device often begins by intentionally damaging a crystal. Scientists fire an ultrafast laser pulse into a material, knocking atoms out of place and leaving behind tiny imperfections called vacancies. Far from being flaws, these vacancies can behave as qubits—the fundamental building blocks of quantum information. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ray-technique-reveals-quantum-materials.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 17:20:08 EDT news710508661 A study from the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), one of the centers under the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), presents a new method to reveal hidden material disorder reflected in complex photoluminescence spectra, paving the way for new optical diagnostics of material disorder in two-dimensional semiconductors and related light-emitting materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-peaks-optical-analysis-decodes-spectral.html Nanophysics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:40:10 EDT news710505781 The world would look radically different without rulers and measuring tapes that fit into a pocket. Carpenters, fashion designers and engineers rely on these trusty tools to check the size of everything from a wooden board to a fabric swatch. But physicists who work with light lack that same convenience for one of the basic measurements of their craft. They routinely need to measure and compare the frequencies—colors—of the light waves they are using. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-chip-based-frequency-potential-portable.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:00:10 EDT news710504281 Like Earth, most planetary bodies circle their star in stable, detached orbits. These companionable systems can suddenly change when a planet comes too close to its star. In such a close encounter, a star can pull the planet in and swallow it whole. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-astronomers-star-slowly-snacking-brown.html Astronomy Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:40:16 EDT news710425861 Scientists have developed a new way to make ceramic materials that can better withstand extreme heat and continue performing reliably in sensors and actuators. The approach creates tiny structures throughout the material that give it new electrical and mechanical properties. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nanoscale-electromechanical-properties-ceramics.html Nanophysics Mon, 05 Oct 2026 10:20:07 EDT news710412482 As Ted Schuur stepped along the edges of Smith Lake, a bubble surfaced from the muck underfoot. And then another. They're bubbles of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas made from decomposing plants and animals that had once been stuck in Alaska's frigid permafrost. But that frozen ground is thawing because the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the globe. For thousands of years that frozen ground stored dead plants and animals, but the accelerating thaw is allowing them to decay into methane and carbon dioxide. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gas-frozen-arctic-ground-slowly.html Environment Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:20:01 EDT news710069106 Saturn's icy moon Enceladus hides a global ocean beneath its frozen surface. From fractures near its south pole, material from this ocean is ejected into space as a plume of water vapor and ice particles. These particles offer scientists a rare opportunity to investigate an extraterrestrial ocean without drilling through kilometers of ice. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-enceladus-ocean-spray-chemically-diverse.html Astrobiology Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:01 EDT news709890049 In recent experiments involving hydrogels and water droplets, researchers have proposed that exposure to visible light could make water evaporate faster without heating it. However, direct evidence that light acts on water itself has proven elusive. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-visible-evaporation-rigorous.html General Physics Sat, 03 Oct 2026 12:40:01 EDT news710151999 Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with no resistance and expel magnetic fields when cooled to ultralow temperatures. And depending on their quantum structure, they can also showcase strange properties like magnetic levitation. But now things are getting a little weirder. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-scientists-superconductor-reversal-symmetry.html Superconductivity Fri, 02 Oct 2026 17:00:01 EDT news710164361 The circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE), a phenomenon that generates helicity-dependent photocurrents in noncentrosymmetric materials, can originate purely from a crystal's internal structure without a contribution from the surface, a study from Science Tokyo reveals. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mirror-image-crystals-reverse-driven.html Nanophysics Fri, 02 Oct 2026 14:40:12 EDT news710157781 Research led by a group from the University of Newcastle has found a new way to make silicone surfaces—and control how slippery they are. The work was published in the journal Chemistry of Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-smart-silicone-coatings-friction-stickiness.html Nanomaterials Fri, 02 Oct 2026 13:40:13 EDT news710156282 Thanks to enzyme-based biocatalysis, an enormous range of pharmaceutical active ingredients and other complex molecules can be synthesized in an environmentally friendly manner. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed a technology that allows to assemble enzymes into millimeter-sized, storable beads. In this process, the enzymes not only act as catalysts but also constitute the beads' material itself. In a further variant, the enzyme networks can be combined with living cells. A patent application has been filed for the technology. The results have been published in Advanced Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-enzymes-sturdy-beads-sustainable-chemical.html Biochemistry Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:40:07 EDT news710154661 Astronomers using Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array have found that nearby stars darken toward their edges more strongly at near-infrared wavelengths than predicted by several widely used models of stellar atmospheres, providing a new benchmark for understanding how stars are structured. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-stars-infrared-expose-gaps.html Astronomy Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:20:20 EDT news710153702 Next-generation computing technologies could be one step closer to emulating how neurons respond and communicate with each other, thanks to research examining how electrons and ions move through materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ions-electrons-porous-material-potential.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 01 Oct 2026 18:40:01 EDT news710084581 A new research paper published in Zootaxa describes five new species of freshwater mussels in the southern U.S., providing the scientific foundation for protecting the most imperiled group of animals in North America. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-species-freshwater-mussels-southern-uncovered.html Plants & Animals Thu, 01 Oct 2026 18:30:01 EDT news710092442 In the early history of our solar system, scientists theorize that a Mars-sized object called Theia smashed into the infant Earth, vaporizing massive amounts of rock and blasting it into space. Some of that material coalesced into the moon, where NASA's Artemis program is returning humans, preparing for Mars and shaping the future of space exploration. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-webb-planet-shattering-collisions.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 01 Oct 2026 18:00:13 EDT news710078942 Anak Krakatau, which means Child of Krakatoa, has been active sporadically since it emerged from the sea at the beginning of the last century in the caldera formed after the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-earthcare-view-volcanic-plume-boosts.html Earth Sciences Thu, 01 Oct 2026 16:20:20 EDT news710075761 In the fight to find better treatments for bacterial infections, one rapidly evolving therapy uses a group of viruses called bacteriophages (phages). Phages can attack and kill dangerous bacteria while leaving human cells unharmed and bypassing antibiotic resistance. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-viral-enzyme-bacterial-sensor-protein.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:00:21 EDT news709989541 Northwestern University scientists have developed remarkably long, precisely patterned molecular threads that could open new possibilities for designing advanced materials. The scientists also discovered that these threads—called supramolecular polymers—can dramatically enhance brain cell activity. The study is published in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-precisely-patterned-molecular-threads-boost.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:00:13 EDT news709985941 As cities grow and urban sprawl expands, could these changing landscapes be giving invasive species a competitive edge? Scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) say the answer may be yes, according to a new study from the UF/IFAS Invasion Science Institute. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-urban-environments-ultimate-grounds-invasive.html Evolution Thu, 01 Oct 2026 12:20:09 EDT news710070241 How do bacteria adapt when resources run low? ISTA researchers have found that, under starvation stress, E. coli can use bacteriophages and CRISPR-Cas immunity to transfer and incorporate DNA, accelerating genetic reshuffling. The process resembles a primitive form of sexual reproduction and may help bacterial populations adapt to changing conditions. The findings were published in Molecular Biology and Evolution. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-sex-dna-exchange-starving-bacteria.html Evolution Thu, 01 Oct 2026 12:00:24 EDT news710066761 The Mars we know today is a cold, dry world of dust and rocks. However, around 3.8–3.6 billion years ago, it may have looked very different. Geological and mineral evidence suggests that, in its distant past, the planet experienced periods warm and wet enough for water to exist on its surface, potentially forming rivers, lakes and even an ocean in the northern hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ancient-life-chemistry-clues-mars.html Astrobiology Thu, 01 Oct 2026 10:40:11 EDT news710065741