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. Most people have experienced a heat wave on land. But heat waves can strike in the ocean too. And as the planet continues to warm, marine heat waves are growing longer and deadlier, hurting the seafood supply that billions of people worldwide rely on for their food and livelihoods. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-solar-geoengineering-shield-oceans.html Earth Sciences Fri, 12 Jun 2026 18:40:01 EDT news700413636 Scientists have shed light on a thermal process in magma that may help explain why similar volcanic systems can produce very different eruptive behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-superheated-magma-similar-volcanoes-erupt.html Earth Sciences Mon, 08 Jun 2026 05:00:05 EDT news699811681 Researchers have uncovered a new principle that could accelerate the development of cheaper and more efficient fuel cells by revealing how dual-atom catalysts behave during a key energy conversion reaction. The study, led by researchers at Tohoku University, shows that these catalysts follow a previously unknown "dual-Sabatier optima" pattern, overturning long-standing assumptions in catalyst science. Details of the findings were published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dual-atom-fuel-cell-catalysts.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 21 May 2026 15:20:06 EDT news698591607 How much of the essential trace element iron remains available for marine life in the ocean depends critically on the diversity of organic molecules in seawater, according to new research published in Nature Communications by an international team led by Dr. Martha Gledhill from GEOMAR. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-diversity-iron-marine-life.html Earth Sciences Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:20:01 EDT news696606661 When Mauna Loa erupted in 2022, the largest lava flow headed on a path headed directly toward Daniel K. Inouye State Highway 200, also known as Saddle Road, a critical route that carries many residents from their homes on one side to their jobs on the other. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-volcano-eruption-earth-venus-mauna.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:20:08 EDT news696508381 Glaciers can reveal vast archives of information about Earth's environmental past, but deciphering the origins of the matter within them can be a challenge. Now, using a novel technique that enables researchers to directly analyze millions of individual particles at once, a new study has revealed that specks of dust trapped in Antarctic ice likely originated from a common source during the last Ice Age, between about 120,000 and 11,500 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-technique-drills-ice-core.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:30:03 EDT news695567693 A lot of research goes into determining how to best predict the next eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Part of this involves pinning down how the magma migration system functions and evolves over time. The exact mechanism driving Yellowstone's volcanism and how magma travels from deep within Earth to the surface is still debated, but a new study, published in Science, offers up evidence that Yellowstone's underground magma system is largely driven by tectonics. This is in contrast with some previous theories which posit that a deep mantle plume is the main source of magma. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-yellowstone-magma-plumbing-tectonic-deep.html Earth Sciences Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:20:01 EDT news695041316 Understanding what triggers large volcanic eruptions is crucial for hazard assessment, but the exact mechanism driving these eruptions is still poorly understood. The prevailing theory is that volatile exsolution—gas coming out of magma—is a main driver of eruptions, particularly in volcanoes rich in silica. However, a new study, published in Nature Communications, posits that it is actually gas being dissolved back into the magma that leads to the pressurization needed for large eruptions. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-major-volcanic-eruptions-driven-gas.html Earth Sciences Fri, 27 Mar 2026 12:40:04 EDT news693831264 The magma reservoir of the largest volcanic eruption of the Holocene is refilling. This Kobe University insight on the Kikai caldera in Japan allows us to understand giant caldera volcanoes like Yellowstone or Toba more generally and gets us closer to predicting their behavior, too. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-japan-giant-caldera-volcano-refilling.html Earth Sciences Fri, 27 Mar 2026 06:00:08 EDT news693739024 The Phlegraean Fields volcanic complex, located beneath the metropolitan area of Naples—a city of 900,000 inhabitants in Italy—has been rising increasingly since 2005, accompanied by a growing number of small earthquakes. This development has been attracting increasing attention in the densely populated region for years. Although such phases of uplift and subsidence have occurred there for over a thousand years, the relationship between ground uplift and seismic activity is complex and not yet fully understood. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-complex-earthquake-patterns-phlegraean-fields.html Earth Sciences Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:20:15 EDT news693750842 In the whole history of Earth's climate, few events are as extreme as those that geologists call "Snowball Earth." https://phys.org/news/2026-02-snowball-earth-extreme-climates-world.html Earth Sciences Wed, 18 Feb 2026 14:14:18 EST news690646382 A study on tectonic plates that converge on the Tibetan Plateau has shown that Earth's fault lines are far weaker and the continents are less rigid than scientists previously thought. This finding is based on ground-monitoring satellite data. The study, published in Science, includes several high-resolution maps based on data from Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites. It shows how the region is being stretched and squeezed by Earth's geological movements. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-tibet-tectonic-clash-satellite-view.html Earth Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:50:05 EST news689257548 Forecasting volcanic eruptions in time to alert authorities and populations remains a major global challenge. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers and engineers from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) and the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences present a new detection method, called "Jerk," using a single broadband seismometer. It is capable of identifying, in real time, very early precursor signals of volcanic eruptions generated by subtle ground movements associated with magma intrusions. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-jerk-volcano-early-method-seismometer.html Earth Sciences Thu, 29 Jan 2026 13:06:27 EST news688914361 The giant planet Jupiter has nearly 100 known moons, yet none have captured the interest and imagination of astronomers and space scientists quite like Europa, an ice-shrouded world that is thought to possess a vast ocean of liquid salt water. For decades, scientists have wondered whether that ocean could harbor the right conditions for life, placing Europa near the top of the list of solar system bodies to explore. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-jupiter-moon-europa-lacks-undersea.html Astrobiology Tue, 06 Jan 2026 11:00:01 EST news686910397 Life has a way of bouncing back, even after catastrophic events like forest fires or volcanic eruptions. While nature's resilience to natural disasters has long been recognized, not much is known about how organisms colonize brand-new habitats for the first time. A new study led by a team of ecologists and planetary scientists from the University of Arizona provides glimpses into a poorly understood process. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-life-lava-microbes-colonize-habitats.html Astrobiology Thu, 18 Dec 2025 16:01:31 EST news685296061 An international team has made a significant breakthrough in understanding the tectonic evolution of terrestrial planets. Using advanced numerical models, the team systematically classified for the first time six distinct planetary tectonic regimes and identified a novel regime: the "episodic-squishy lid." https://phys.org/news/2025-11-tectonic-regimes-terrestrial-planets-earth.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 24 Nov 2025 13:21:04 EST news683212861 By 2100, Australian and global coral reef communities will be slow to recover, less complex, and dominated by fleshy algae, as high carbon dioxide changes ocean chemistry. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-volcanic-fate-coral-acidic-seas.html Ecology Mon, 24 Nov 2025 09:07:04 EST news683197621 The explosiveness of a volcanic eruption depends on how many gas bubbles form in the magma—and when. Until now, it was thought that gas bubbles were formed primarily when the ambient pressure dropped while the magma was rising. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-volcanoes-dont.html Earth Sciences Fri, 21 Nov 2025 08:39:04 EST news682936741 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 The massive 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano on Hawai'i Island lasted for months, destroyed neighborhoods, and was associated with 60,000 earthquakes. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-hidden-beneath-klauea-aid-eruption.html Earth Sciences Tue, 18 Nov 2025 09:11:04 EST news682679461 Currently, scientists struggle to forecast volcano eruption events, as no universally reliable, real-time eruption forecasting framework is available. Instead, researchers often rely on retrospective analysis to evaluate eruptions. And although much has been learned from doing this, it can sometimes introduce biases, such as data snooping, hindsight reinterpretation, and post-eruption model adjustment. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-axial-seamount-real-eruption.html Earth Sciences Thu, 13 Nov 2025 14:59:22 EST news682268357 We've gone to the bottom of the ocean to study how its chemistry shapes our planet's climate, even chasing lava-spewing underwater volcanoes to do it. But it turns out we may have missed something far closer to home: the water beneath our feet. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-coastal-groundwater-rivals-rivers-volcanoes.html Earth Sciences Wed, 05 Nov 2025 12:02:04 EST news681566521 Every year, the Taurid meteor shower lights up the night sky from late October through early November. Sometimes called the "Halloween fireballs," they are named for the constellation Taurus—the bull—from which the meteors appear to radiate. The shower is best viewed from dark-sky locations. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-halloween-fireballs-cosmic-impact-airburst.html Astronomy Thu, 30 Oct 2025 06:28:05 EDT news681024482 Located on the island of Sicily, in Italy, Mount Etna is one of the world's most active volcanoes. Documentation of its many eruptions stretches back as far as 2,700 years ago, with the most recent occurring in June 2025. The robust seismic, geological, geophysical, and geochemical data from the region are a scientific goldmine for the study of volcanoes. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-earlier-volcano-mount-etna-earthquake.html Earth Sciences Thu, 23 Oct 2025 07:00:02 EDT news680357877 Nearly 600 years ago, a massive volcanic eruption sent clouds of sulfurous gas and ash high into the atmosphere. The blast known as the 1458/59 CE event was so huge that it triggered decades of cooling, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-antarctic-ice-reveals-volcanoes-erupting.html Earth Sciences Wed, 22 Oct 2025 10:50:04 EDT news680347937 The pH, or the acidity or alkalinity of an environment, has long been known to affect how efficiently catalysts drive key electrochemical reactions. Yet despite decades of research, the atomic-scale mechanisms behind these pH effects have eluded scientists. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-decoding-ph-chemistry-energy.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:59:38 EDT news680345974 Muon beams can now be created in a device that is the length of a ruler. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-compact-laser-plasma-generate-muons.html General Physics Tue, 14 Oct 2025 13:40:01 EDT news679666717 Combing through 20 years of images from the European Space Agency's Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft, scientists have tracked 1,039 tornado-like whirlwinds to reveal how dust is lifted into the air and swept around Mars's surface. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-mars-devils-revealing-faster.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:00:05 EDT news678988921 Georgia Tech researchers have developed a mathematical formula to predict the size of lakes that form on melting ice sheets—discovering their depth and span are linked to the topography of the ice sheet itself. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-future-antarctic-ice-reveals-mathematics.html Earth Sciences Tue, 07 Oct 2025 09:03:04 EDT news679046582 For people living near volcanoes, danger goes well beyond lava flows and clouds of ash. Some explosive eruptions can lead to dramatic collapses of the sides of a volcano, like those at Mount St. Helens, Washington, and Anak Krakatau, Indonesia. The latter triggered tsunamis blamed for most deaths from its historic eruptions in 1883. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-tool-volcano-slope-collapses-tsunamis.html Earth Sciences Fri, 03 Oct 2025 12:37:05 EDT news678713822