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. Freshwater from melting Antarctic glaciers may be influencing the Southern Ocean in ways scientists have largely overlooked. New research, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, has found that glacial meltwater is not confined to the ocean's surface, as previously assumed, but can also be detected much deeper in coastal waters along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-hidden-meltwater-deep-antarctic-coastal.html Earth Sciences Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:00:06 EDT news699710011 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 Elements essential to life, such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, were "delivered" to Earth and the moon during the early stages of the solar system via asteroids and comets impacting their surfaces. These exogenous materials may have provided the chemical building blocks necessary for the origin and early evolution of life on Earth. But extensive geological activity and biological processes on Earth have largely erased the direct records of these early inputs on our planet. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-mission-samples-reveal-exogenous-evolves.html Astrobiology Fri, 10 Apr 2026 18:40:03 EDT news695047248 Why are frogs diverse in some parts of Africa's rainforests and less so in others? The patterns of cooling and glaciation during the last ice age would probably not have been your first answer or even your last-ditch guess, but it is, nonetheless, correct. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-african-frogs-havent-forgotten-ice.html Evolution Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:40:03 EDT news694790761 Some newly published findings from an Idaho State University professor and his colleagues point out how changes to currents an ocean away can impact climates on the other side of the globe. The new paper published in Nature Communications explains how Bruce Finney, professor in the departments of biological sciences and geosciences at ISU, and his collaborators, Lesleigh Anderson, research geologist with the United States Geological Survey, and W. Brad Baxter, Idaho State alum, came to understand how shifts in currents in the Atlantic Ocean led the climate of Alaska to cool, especially in winter, roughly 13,000 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-current-scientists-shifts-atlantic-ocean.html Earth Sciences Thu, 02 Apr 2026 13:20:02 EDT news694346465 Planetary scientists have long debated where the material that formed Earth comes from. Despite its location in the inner solar system, they consider it likely that 6–40% of this material must have come from the outer solar system, i.e., beyond Jupiter. For a long time, material from the outer solar system was considered necessary to bring volatile components such as water to Earth. Accordingly, there must also have been an exchange of material between the outer and inner solar systems during the formation of Earth. But is that really true? https://phys.org/news/2026-03-earth-material-exclusively-solar-planetary.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:00:03 EDT news694087382 Two University of Victoria (UVic) geologists have integrated field geology with statistical modeling to give scientists a new view of the chemical reactions happening on ocean floors billions of years ago. The revised picture shows that big changes in the carbon cycle were happening earlier than expected, and at the same time as ballooning atmospheric oxygen and global glaciation. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-links-carbon-spike-great-oxidation.html Environment Fri, 20 Mar 2026 19:40:01 EDT news693240408 For scientists who study the Southern Ocean, a long-standing silver lining in the gloomy forecast of climate change has been the theory of iron fertilization. As temperatures rise and glaciers in Antarctica melt, ice-trapped iron would feed blooms of microscopic algae, pulling heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow. There's just one problem: The theory doesn't hold water. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-glaciers-climate-prevailing-theory-shaky.html Earth Sciences Thu, 26 Feb 2026 05:00:13 EST news691232701 Pinpointing when early land plants colonized terrestrial environments and began influencing Earth's systems is a core question in the evolution of the Earth system. A research team led by Prof. Zhao Mingyu at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has uncovered evidence indicating that land plants may have started reshaping Earth's surface environments far earlier than previously recognized. Their findings are published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-began-reshaping-earth-million-years.html Evolution Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:00:01 EST news691236303 Scientists have long known that Earth's core is mostly made of iron, but the density is not high enough for it to be pure iron, meaning lighter elements exist in the core, as well. In particular, it's suspected to be a major reservoir of hydrogen. A new study, published in Nature Communications, supports this idea with results suggesting the core contains up to 45 oceans' worth of hydrogen. These results also challenge the idea that most of Earth's water was delivered by comets early on. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-earth-core-oceans-worth-hydrogen.html Earth Sciences Wed, 11 Feb 2026 11:40:01 EST news690030935 The city of Pompeii was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have now reconstructed the city's water supply system based on carbonate deposits—particularly the transition from wells to an aqueduct. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-hygienic-conditions-pompeii-early-poor.html Archaeology Tue, 13 Jan 2026 09:30:04 EST news687517802 Mars, often depicted as a barren red planet, is far from lifeless. With its thin atmosphere and dusty surface, it is an energetic and electrically charged environment where dust storms and dust devils continually reshape the landscape, creating dynamic processes that have intrigued scientists. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-electrifying-science-martian.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 08 Jan 2026 16:26:33 EST news687111961 Mosasaurs, giant marine reptiles that existed more than 66 million years ago, lived not only in the sea but also in rivers. This is shown by new research based on analyses of a mosasaur tooth found in North Dakota and believed to belong to an animal that could reach a length of 11 meters. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-sea-reptile-tooth-mosasaurs-freshwater.html Paleontology & Fossils Fri, 12 Dec 2025 02:00:01 EST news684665523 A new analysis of chemical signatures measured by NASA's Curiosity Rover gives a peek at Mars's past to a time some 3.7 billion years ago, when it was warmer and wetter. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-postcards-ancient-mars-isotopes-illuminate.html Astrobiology Wed, 29 Oct 2025 16:12:09 EDT news680973124 A team of researchers at The University of New Mexico has uncovered how a peculiar, prehistoric plant might unlock new ways to reconstruct Earth's ancient climate. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-meteorite-oxygen-isotope-ratios-ancient.html Earth Sciences Wed, 29 Oct 2025 14:40:04 EDT news680967027 Because oxygen-bearing sulfate minerals trap and preserve signals from Earth's atmosphere, scientists closely study how they form. Sulfates are stable over billions of years, so their oxygen isotopes are seen as a time capsule, reflecting atmospheric conditions while they were evolving on early Earth—and possibly on its planetary neighbor Mars. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-geochemical-microbial-earth-martian-sediments.html Astrobiology Thu, 23 Oct 2025 01:57:04 EDT news680403417 Dust brought back to Earth by China's Chang'e-6 mission contains rare meteorite relics that could change our understanding of sources of water and other life-essential ingredients in our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-side-moon-reveal-solar.html Astrobiology Tue, 21 Oct 2025 10:20:03 EDT news680260441 The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is one of the most dynamic regions of the Antarctic continent. Much of its bed lies below sea level, making the region particularly sensitive to ocean warming. Understanding the development of the WAIS is central to anticipating future sea level changes. If the WAIS were to melt completely, global sea levels could rise by more than 4 meters. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-ocean-reveals-insights-stability.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Oct 2025 12:58:05 EDT news679838281 When astronauts returned from NASA's final Apollo moon mission in 1972, some of the samples they collected were sealed and carefully stored away in the hope that future researchers using advanced equipment might analyze them and make new discoveries. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-analysis-apollo-samples-brought-earth.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 06 Oct 2025 17:08:06 EDT news678989281 The explosion of animal life in Earth's oceans half a billion years ago during and after the Cambrian Period is commonly attributed to a substantial and sustained rise of free oxygen (O2) in seawater. Some researchers even argue for near-modern levels of ocean oxygenation at this time. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-oxygen-late-ocean-depths-paleozoic.html Earth Sciences Thu, 04 Sep 2025 12:27:03 EDT news676207621 Astronomers at Leiden University have detected rare isotopes of carbon and oxygen in our neighboring stars for the first time, providing a new path toward better understanding the chemical evolution of the cosmos. The results are published today in the journal Nature Astronomy. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-rare-isotopes-neighboring-stars-insights.html Astronomy Tue, 26 Aug 2025 12:06:24 EDT news675428776 Some 390 million years ago in the ancient ocean, marine animals began colonizing depths previously uninhabited. New research indicates this underwater migration occurred in response to a permanent increase in deep-ocean oxygen, driven by the above-ground spread of woody plants—precursors to Earth's first forests. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-deep-ocean-oxygen-marine-habitats.html Earth Sciences Mon, 25 Aug 2025 16:25:04 EDT news675357902 Roughly two-thirds of all emissions of atmospheric methane—a highly potent greenhouse gas that is warming planet Earth—come from microbes that live in oxygen-free environments like wetlands, rice fields, landfills and the guts of cows. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-scientists-hack-microbes-environmental-sources.html Earth Sciences Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:25:05 EDT news674403901 A previously unexploited source of information is now throwing new light on Earth's climate during the age of dinosaurs. Fossilized dinosaur teeth show that concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during the Mesozoic Era, i.e., 252 to 66 million years ago, were far higher than they are today. This has been determined by researchers at the universities in Göttingen, Mainz, and Bochum following the analysis of oxygen isotopes in the dental enamel of dinosaur teeth. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-dinosaur-teeth-climate-capsules-secrets.html Earth Sciences Tue, 05 Aug 2025 12:45:22 EDT news673616711 As early humans spread from lush African forests into grasslands, their need for ready sources of energy led them to develop a taste for grassy plants, especially grains and the starchy plant tissue hidden underground. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-diet-drove-physical-evolution-early.html Evolution Thu, 31 Jul 2025 14:00:09 EDT news673106169 Since the beginning of Earth's history, tiny particles of rock and metal from space have been hitting our planet. On clear nights, we can even see their traces as shooting stars. Trapped in layers of rock, these micrometeorites can remain preserved for billions of years. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-scientists-cosmic-reconstruct-earth-atmospheric.html Astrobiology Tue, 29 Jul 2025 13:18:25 EDT news673013900 A small, inconspicuous meteorite may be about to change our understanding of how and when our solar system formed. Tiny shavings from the meteorite Northwest Africa 12264 are challenging the long-held belief that planets near the sun formed earlier than those beyond the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-meteorite-timeline-early-solar.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 07 Jul 2025 11:05:40 EDT news671105129 To save elephant populations from extinction, the international community banned the sale of their ivory—but selling mammoth ivory remains legal, and the two are difficult to tell apart, especially for non-experts. This leaves a possible loophole for sellers of poached ivory to exploit. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-wildlife-forensic-scientists-tool-elephant.html Ecology Tue, 24 Jun 2025 00:00:01 EDT news669629617 Scientists have used clues locked into tree rings to reveal major changes in the Amazon's rainfall cycle over the last 40 years: wet seasons are getting wetter and dry seasons drier. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-tree-reveal-rainfall-seasonality-amazon.html Earth Sciences Tue, 17 Jun 2025 05:00:05 EDT news669283166 Several key moments in Earth's history help us humans answer the question "How did we get here?" These moments also shed light on the question "Where are we going?" and offer scientists deeper insight into how organisms adapt to physical and chemical changes in their environment. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-oxygenation-ocean-earlier-previously-thought.html Earth Sciences Thu, 29 May 2025 16:14:04 EDT news667754041