https://phys.org/science-news/sci-other/ en-us The latest news on chemistry, math, archaeology, biology, chemistry, mathematics and science technologies. Researchers reported this week a deadly outbreak of plague in Siberia 5,500 years ago, revealing that Yersinia pestis evolved lethal genetic traits far earlier than suspected. A drug developed for heart tissue repair may also help kidney tissue repair and regeneration. And neighborhood socialization opportunities could shape children's brain development. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-saturday-citations-intermittent-fasting-chronic.html Other Sat, 20 Jun 2026 08:20:01 EDT news701085204 A paper on new research into the cause of death of Simonetta Vespucci, model for the world-renowned Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, has been published by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, Universita Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and the University of California in the journal Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-explanation-mystery-death-botticelli-birth.html Other Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:30:01 EDT news700844162 The Dan David Prize will award nine historians and archaeologists with $300,000 to recognize their work and support future research, the foundation announced Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-dan-david-prize-awards-scholars.html Other Tue, 16 Jun 2026 16:18:25 EDT news700845490 This week's notable citations: Astronomers believe collapsing stars could spawn mini universes. Chimpanzees do not like unfairness. And a single dose of psilocybin temporarily restored function in an 80-year-old with Alzheimer's disease. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-saturday-citations-jaxa-collaboration-toy.html Other Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:20:01 EDT news700486404 A model built by researchers from the University of Liverpool's Management School predicts an England-Spain FIFA World Cup 2026 final, with Spain the favorite to lift the trophy—a repeat of recent major tournament history. The supercomputer correctly predicted England's second-place finish at Euro 2024. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-supercomputer-world-cup-results.html Other Fri, 12 Jun 2026 13:40:05 EDT news700488901 A leather bag made from Tyrannosaurus rex cells failed to sell Thursday, the Paris auction house Drouot said, commenting that bids were well below expectations. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-leather-bag-rex-cells-auctioned.html Other Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:38:08 EDT news700403867 Researchers in Spain and Japan tested a broad range of pedestrians in varying group sizes to see whether there were any patterns in their turning behaviors, and what factors influenced them, if any. It turns out that the vast majority of people prefer counterclockwise turning. Most factors, such as culture or gender, made little difference. Only age showed a noticeable but small change, in that younger people followed this pattern more strongly. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-people-inherent-counterclockwise-motion-reveals.html Other Wed, 10 Jun 2026 05:00:07 EDT news700215182 This week, researchers reported that GLP-1 medications may influence the biology of aging. Hidden meltwater in deep Antarctic coastal waters has a strong climate impact. And a novel prostate cancer treatment reduced risk of disease progression by half in a clinical trial. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-saturday-citations-greenland-sharks-quantum.html Other Sat, 06 Jun 2026 09:00:01 EDT news699879140 The World Cup pitches cover so much ground they'll be hard to ignore. The crews that put them there would prefer if fans didn't notice them at all. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-world-cup-pitches-result-years.html Other Sat, 06 Jun 2026 07:40:01 EDT news699949132 Team Australia kicked it long from the goalkeeper. Switzerland took a slower approach and preferred short passes over long drives. Spain, on the other hand, tended to string the ball with sharp, sideways passes across the field. Those are a few of the takeaways from passing-style graphics that Northeastern University's Network Science Institute developed of the top soccer teams at the FIFA World Cup 2022 that showcased their most distinctive passing clusters. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-network-science-world-cup.html Mathematics Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:40:06 EDT news699793501 Our capacity for innovation, rather than being the work of random variation, is based on an intrinsic understanding of how the world works, claim Karolinska Institutet and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam researchers in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-people-player.html Other Mon, 01 Jun 2026 17:20:03 EDT news699548667 Highlights from the last week of May, 2026: A key climate tipping point is disrupting the Arctic Ocean food chain (more of a lowlight, I guess). Scuba-diving tourism may not be the benefit to coral reef systems that we once thought, and might actually be unsustainable. And an experimental mRNA vaccine showed promising results against strains of Ebola. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-saturday-citations-failure-cellular-mortality.html Other Sat, 30 May 2026 09:20:02 EDT news699280662 Many of the most exciting discoveries in science involve highly specialized knowledge and making connections between far-flung facts. Scientists must combine deep analysis with broad reasoning strategies. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ai-scientists-reveal-fundamental-limits.html Other Sun, 24 May 2026 15:00:02 EDT news698500420 John Hammond voice: "Welcome... to Saturday Citations." We're talking about different types of T. rexes today, along with some unwelcome news about cardiovascular health, but this week also brought news about the connection between poor grip strength and depression; scientists have improved knowledge of sea level rise and confirm it's accelerated since 1960; and researchers provided new insights into how the human hand developed from those of our ape-like ancestors. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-saturday-citations-rexes-guidance-scientists.html Other Sat, 23 May 2026 08:50:01 EDT news698671661 Another day, another literary scandal involving AI. It has been alleged that the judges of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize have been duped by an author using AI in his winning entry. Jamir Nazir's The Serpent in the Grove, which won for the Caribbean region, was then published in leading literary magazine Granta, along with other winning entries. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-commonwealth-writers-prize-ai-allegations.html Other Fri, 22 May 2026 07:40:05 EDT news698650261 The American academic research engine has long been the envy of the world. Generally well-funded, labs in the United States have been able to attract the best minds who generate breakthroughs and train the next generation workforce that powers the U.S. economy. But since the start of the second Trump administration in January 2025, new federal policies have destabilized the American scientific enterprise. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-trump-administration-science-policies-affected.html Other Tue, 19 May 2026 23:20:04 EDT news698413520 One of the last outsiders to make authorized visits to India's only "uncontacted" tribe says it may be time to reconnect with the isolated people—in order to shield them from an encroaching world. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-encroaching-world-threatens-india-uncontacted.html Other Mon, 18 May 2026 05:20:01 EDT news698298740 This week in science news: Are you a mosquito magnet? Here's why. Researchers using topological mathematics have uncovered a hidden rule in abstract art that corresponds to people's perceptions. And scientists developed a technology to create new electrical connections between specific neurons that could improve resilience to stress. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-saturday-citations-prehistoric-dentistry-aging.html Other Sat, 16 May 2026 09:00:02 EDT news698063559 British chemists David Klenerman and Shankar Balasubramanian joined French biophysicist Pascal Mayer in winning Spain's top science award on Wednesday for DNA sequencing research that helped combat coronavirus. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-british-scientists-winners-spanish-award.html Other Wed, 13 May 2026 16:40:01 EDT news697905190 This week, researchers reported that the human brain is capable of sophisticated language processing while in an unconscious state during general anesthesia. An informatics and computing professor found that the Climate TRACE consortium has underestimated vehicle carbon emissions in cities by a staggering 70%. And archaeologists excavated and photoscanned a prehistoric man-made island located in a Scottish loch. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-saturday-citations-psychedelic-therapeutics-interoception.html Other Sat, 09 May 2026 08:30:02 EDT news697453274 The Pentagon on Friday released a first batch of secret files documenting reported sightings of unidentified flying objects—some dating back to the 1940s—fanning speculation over whether alien life exists. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-flying-discs-orbs-newly-pentagon.html Other Fri, 08 May 2026 13:36:47 EDT news697466184 Readers don't need false information to get the wrong idea. In the online attention economy, UC San Diego research finds that making science more clickable or shareable can help some readers learn more—but leaves many others with an incomplete understanding. The study is published in the journal American Economic Review. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-misinform.html Other Thu, 07 May 2026 15:40:01 EDT news697386791 Researchers at the University of Vermont have uncovered a powerful new insight about how language works—one that overturns a cornerstone assumption in psychology, linguistics, and artificial intelligence that has stood for more than 70 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-human-language-deep-safety-bias.html Other Wed, 06 May 2026 14:00:02 EDT news697292341 We're focusing on space news this week, but we did cover the usual amount of local news down here in Earth's gravity well: A new Tokamak reactor regime sustained stable plasma fusion for one full minute. An anomaly in global sea level rise turns out to be due to deep ocean heating. And Chinese researchers report that they found microplastics in every part of both healthy and diseased human brains. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-saturday-citations-spaaa-aaace.html Other Sat, 02 May 2026 09:00:01 EDT news696857370 Artificial intelligence can undoubtedly help scientists with their academic papers by summarizing research and helping to improve writing. However, one downside is that it has led to a wave of poorly written submissions and reviews, according to a new study published in Organization Science. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-journal-ai-academic-publishing-quality.html Other Fri, 01 May 2026 14:40:06 EDT news696849537 Your goofy but lovable cousin just told you that you should stop eating eggs because he read somewhere that a study showed they are bad for you. How much should you trust your relative on such matters? More importantly, how much should you rely on one newly published bit of research when deciding what to make for breakfast? https://phys.org/news/2026-05-isnt-scientific-knowledge-incrementally-revisit.html Other Fri, 01 May 2026 11:20:01 EDT news696846722 "On behalf of President Donald J. Trump," read 22 emails sent from the White House Presidential Personnel Office on Friday afternoon, April 24, 2026, "I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately." https://phys.org/news/2026-05-politics-science-vice-versa-national.html Other Fri, 01 May 2026 10:40:08 EDT news696846421 This week, researchers reported that malaria influenced population distribution in Africa thousands of years ago. Mathematicians at MIT report that classical physics formulations can explain quantum phenomena. And a study found that electron spin causes mirror-image molecules to behave differently from one another. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-saturday-citations-cruise-ship-pathogen.html Other Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:50:01 EDT news696250389 Academia isn't strong on gender equality. Women are underrepresented throughout, in the research workforce and even more so as leaders in scientific organizations. This is true for science academies (prestigious bodies within national science systems) and scientific unions (international organizations representing disciplinary communities). https://phys.org/news/2026-04-women-science-global-presence-power.html Other Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:00:01 EDT news696175742 Spanish Renaissance master El Greco is often considered one of the greatest painters of all time, and many of his artworks are displayed in galleries around the world. His painting The Baptism of Christ is generally believed by art historians to have been unfinished at the time of his death in 1614 and completed by his son, Jorge Manuel. But new research using AI suggests that the artist may have played more of a role in completing the work than previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-brushstroke-ai-reopens-centuries-mystery.html Archaeology Mon, 20 Apr 2026 10:35:52 EDT news695900068