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. Giant manta rays can grow up to nine meters (30 feet) long with a disk size of seven meters (23 feet) across and weigh up to 2,000 kg (4,400 pounds). This size leaves them with very few natural enemies once they reach adulthood at around eight to 10 years old. But giant manta ray babies, called pups, cannot rely on their size to protect them from predators that live in the open ocean, including several species of shark and orcas. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-baby-manta-rays-hunker-coasts.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:01 EDT news711799141 Your phone vibrates, a notification pops up, or you just take a quick glance at the screen. Even minor interruptions can affect your concentration—not least when you're in class. Now, a large randomized trial involving more than 16,000 students in India shows that teaching without access to mobile phones can improve students' academic performance. The researchers also found that students who experience phone-free teaching firsthand become more supportive of the restrictions. The research is published in Science. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-college-lessons-grades-large-randomized.html Education Tue, 20 Oct 2026 12:00:01 EDT news711711183 It looks like a small, transparent patch with a rainbow on its surface—or for those old enough to remember, the back of a CD. The patch is the first of its kind in the world and, when combined with an ordinary smartphone camera, can measure two things: pulse and blood vessel stiffness. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-octopus-patch-skin-reveals-pulse.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 20 Oct 2026 10:00:16 EDT news711705901 During the COVID-19 pandemic, air travel declined dramatically. Many view the disruption as a potential tipping point for reducing emissions from the aviation sector. However, once travel restrictions were lifted, passenger traffic quickly rebounded to prepandemic levels and, in many regions, even surpassed them. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-social-norms-infrastructure-climate-transitions.html Environment Mon, 19 Oct 2026 14:20:01 EDT news711628141 A new international study led by Lund University examines what happened to population levels after the Kikai-Akahoya volcanic eruption in prehistoric Japan. The results paint a more complex picture than what had previously been believed. The paper is published in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-earth-worst-volcanic-disasters-affected.html Archaeology Sat, 17 Oct 2026 16:00:01 EDT news711298336 A new University of Melbourne-led study has identified insights and evidence that could help mitigate the fast-rising climate impact of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). https://phys.org/news/2026-10-wider-approach-mitigate-rechargeable-battery.html Environment Fri, 16 Oct 2026 16:10:02 EDT news711378241 With the 2026 midterm elections around the corner, voters may be feeling everything from excitement to fear. But how might anger motivate political activism and, ultimately, influence who turns out to vote? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-belief-political-anger-voting-intentions.html Social Sciences Fri, 16 Oct 2026 16:00:01 EDT news711371403 A new model using sturgeon as a material analog has made it possible to estimate how the backbones of some of the first animals on land could and could not move. These results disprove a long-standing hypothesis that changes in early tetrapod anatomy as they moved onto land gave them improved neck mobility. The study, led by a researcher at Uppsala University, formerly of Carleton University in Canada, has been published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-early-tetrapods-ability-necks.html Evolution Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:00:52 EDT news711124258 Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), in collaboration with scientists from institutions in Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Germany, have demonstrated a way to introduce magnetism into an otherwise nonmagnetic two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor and subsequently control its magnetic properties using an electrical voltage. The findings, published in Science Advances, establish a new platform for investigating electrically controllable magnetism in atomically thin materials, with potential implications for future spintronic technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nonmagnetic-magnetic-2d-semiconductor-electrically.html Condensed Matter Mon, 12 Oct 2026 17:40:11 EDT news711014800 Africa boasts up to 25% of Earth's animal and plant species. This diversity is driven by varied habitats: harsh deserts, vast grasslands, dense forests, towering mountains, lush coastlines and teeming seas. It is also due to deep evolutionary roots, as many animal and plant groups originated here in the distant past. Paleontologists have been excavating this material for nearly two centuries. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-zimbabwe-dinosaurs-south-africa-species.html Paleontology & Fossils Sat, 10 Oct 2026 20:30:01 EDT news710684230 A new study led by Paul Schulze-Lefert from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, in collaboration with Ricardo F.H. Giehl at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben, revealed how Arabidopsis plants adapt their chemical communication with the bacterial root microbiota to maximize the acquisition of bio-unavailable iron from acidic or calcareous soils. The study is now published in Cell. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-bacteria-partnership-reveals-roots-access.html Plants & Animals Fri, 09 Oct 2026 16:20:07 EDT news710772482 When the COVID-19 pandemic brought human activity to a standstill around the world in the first half of 2020, wildfire incidents also declined by more than 12%. A new study published in Cell Reports Sustainability reveals the complex role humans play in shaping global fire patterns, both as a source of fire and in helping keep fires in check. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-global-wildfires-decreased-covid-lockdown.html Earth Sciences Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:00:40 EDT news710677201 DNA can be more than just a double helix. When four strands are folded into a compact bundle, they form a G-quadruplex (G4). These bundles form in guanine-rich regions across the genome, including telomeres at the ends of chromosomes and the control regions of genes, where the proteins that dock onto them help decide which genes are switched on. G4 does not act the same way everywhere. What it does depends on where it forms and which proteins bind to it. This is why understanding the interactions surrounding G4 is so important. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-blue-uncovers-unexpected-protein-partners.html Biochemistry Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:20:08 EDT news710503561 A research team led by the University of Osaka has directly observed, for the first time, an unusual heavy-fermion state forming at the boundary between a one-atom-thick material and a metal. Such states are closely linked to exotic quantum phenomena, including unconventional superconductivity, and the finding opens new possibilities for designing quantum materials through their interfaces. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-heavy-fermions-emerge-atomic-layer.html Condensed Matter Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:00:24 EDT news710498582 Some bacteria can sense when they bump into each other and use these interactions to shape how the group organizes and moves. This discovery reveals a new way microbes explore their environments using physical feedback rather than chemical signals. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-bacteria-collisions-crowded-environments-micro.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:40:20 EDT news710496721 The bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE), a photoelectric effect that generates photocurrent without a p–n junction, can persist even when a material's average crystal structure remains centrosymmetric, a study from Institute of Science Tokyo has found. Researchers demonstrated this in CuCrP2S6, a van der Waals material that transitions from a noncentrosymmetric to a centrosymmetric average structure. The finding challenges the conventional view of BPVE and suggests a new strategy for enhancing photoelectric conversion. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-atomic-motion-solar-cells-conventional.html Condensed Matter Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:20:16 EDT news710425741 To sense their environment and respond accordingly, cells enlist membrane proteins as communication hubs, receiving molecular messages from outside and triggering responses inside. One of these proteins is Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), an immune receptor that plays an essential role in protecting against infections. But overactivity of TLR4 has been linked to inflammatory disorders like sepsis, arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, making it an attractive target for therapies. Despite its appeal, TLR4 is difficult to manipulate precisely, and no FDA-approved drugs specifically block it. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-protein-immune-receptor-linked-inflammation.html Biotechnology Fri, 02 Oct 2026 15:40:01 EDT news710158142 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 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 In a new Physical Review Letters study, researchers have demonstrated that bending diamond nanostructures can tune the light they emit without doping. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-nanoribbons-tunes-diamond-emission-doping.html Nanophysics Wed, 30 Sep 2026 15:20:06 EDT news709983577 When designing a large underwater robot that could swim silently to avoid startling sea creatures, roboticist Rob Shepherd considered the unusual swimming system of oarfish, the meters-long fish whose ribbon-like dorsal fin moves in waves to propel its body. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-mysterious-oarfish-fins-large-underwater.html Biotechnology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:40:20 EDT news709997165 Communities across the country are debating the role mobile crisis response programs can play in emergency response. These programs typically take calls from 911 dispatchers involving mental health, substance use, welfare checks and other situations that do not require a law enforcement response. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-mobile-crisis-response-impact-police.html Social Sciences Tue, 29 Sep 2026 16:00:07 EDT news709913581 University of Massachusetts Amherst's Jeff Podos and his former graduate student João C.T. Menezes have identified two contenders for the title of world's loudest bird: the bare-throated bellbird and the red-legged seriema. Their findings also help explain why some birds are so much louder than others. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-biologists-world-loudest-birds.html Plants & Animals Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:00:08 EDT news709804021 Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University have directly visualized how enzymes find and break DNA molecules in real time. Using high-speed atomic force microscopy, the team followed individual enzymes as they moved along DNA and found that they repeatedly returned to vulnerable regions before breaking them apart. The findings reveal how the structure of DNA influences its vulnerability to enzymatic breakdown. The research was led by Richard Wong and his team: Jingge Yang, Yujia Qiu, Keesiang Lim and Toshio Ando. The work is published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-exposed-dna-enzymes-imaging-reveals.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 28 Sep 2026 18:00:17 EDT news709825561 At the end of the last ice age, early humans crisscrossed the Americas following seasons, rivers and game, often with a trusty spear in hand. Nearly 13,000 years later, archaeologists are using those spearheads to study how America's first inhabitants understood risk. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ancient-spearheads-reveal-ice-age.html Archaeology Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:20:05 EDT news709824662 Scientists at Cornell University have found a human genetic element in a poxvirus and discovered that it is both an important gene for brain function and a jumping gene capable of moving and inserting itself into genomes. A study published in Science reports that the gene, called BC200, combines characteristics never before seen together. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-human-gene-poxvirus.html Evolution Fri, 25 Sep 2026 09:40:01 EDT news709544957 A new tool to mutate bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—provides a "big leap" forward in our understanding of how they function and our ability to harness their full potential. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tool-gap-harnessing-untapped-potential.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 25 Sep 2026 05:00:01 EDT news709483201 Honeycomb-shaped structures are familiar from beehives. Researchers have now designed molecules that self-assemble into a similar pattern on a scale far too small to see with the naked eye. These molecules are peptides: short chains of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Each peptide consists of only nine amino acids. Many identical copies assemble into tiny fibers with a honeycomb-like interior filled with water. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-short-peptides-honeycomb-fibers-tiny.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 24 Sep 2026 14:20:17 EDT news709474573 Young adults, not families, drove migration in Bronze Age communities. Using skeletal samples from archaeological sites in Greece, researchers mapped mobility during the region's Middle and Late Bronze Age. The study suggests that young people sought out new communities. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bronze-age-migration-greece-largely.html Archaeology Thu, 24 Sep 2026 11:00:18 EDT news709460389 When an abstract-looking ivory artifact emerged from the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany in 2015, archaeologists didn't know quite what to make of it. Previously, the same cave had yielded what may be the world's oldest musical flutes, as well as one of humanity's earliest pieces of figurative art, the iconic Venus of Hohle Fels. At first glance, this strange new discovery—a 20-centimeter (8-inch) rod perforated with four small holes—seemed comparatively unspectacular. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-rope-twine-thread-invisible-technologies.html Archaeology Tue, 22 Sep 2026 09:20:04 EDT news709286574