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. A 93-strong international expedition team has been exploring the northwestern Weddell Sea in the Antarctic on board the Alfred Wegener Institute's icebreaker Polarstern since February 8, 2026. In this key region for global ocean currents, the focus has been on the outflow of ice and water from the Larsen Ice Shelf and the astonishing sea ice retreat of recent years. When the research work had to be interrupted due to rough weather conditions in order to seek shelter in the lee of Joinville Island, the scientists and ship's crew were surprised by the sudden appearance of an island that had previously only been marked as a danger zone on the available nautical charts. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-uncharted-island-nautical.html Earth Sciences Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:50:02 EDT news694886401 With the departure of the research vessel Polarstern from Punta Arenas (Chile) scheduled for this weekend, the "Summer Weddell Sea Outflow Study" (SWOS) international expedition will commence. Up to early April, a multidisciplinary international research team will investigate the northwestern region of the Weddell Sea—an area of central importance for the global climate and ocean system, but one that can only be explored on site by research icebreakers such as Polarstern due to challenging sea ice conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-polarstern-weddell-sea-probe-antarctica.html Earth Sciences Fri, 06 Feb 2026 20:00:01 EST news689607734 In a remote part of Antarctica's western Weddell Sea, an area once hidden beneath a 200-meter-thick ice shelf, scientists have uncovered a new and unusual phenomenon: extensively maintained fish nesting grounds arranged in patterns. The discovery has been published in Frontiers in Marine Science. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-underwater-robot-lassie-remarkable-icefish.html Plants & Animals Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:01 EDT news680782554 A new study has revealed that tiny organisms called snow algae are significantly contributing to the surface melting on Antarctic ice shelves. The discovery could have far-reaching implications for global sea level rise. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-algae-antarctic-ice-shelf.html Earth Sciences Wed, 27 Aug 2025 08:42:04 EDT news675502922 A total collapse of the roughly 80-mile-wide Thwaites Glacier, the widest in the world, would trigger changes that could lead to 11 feet of sea-level rise, according to scientists who study Antarctica. To better predict fractures that could lead to such a collapse—and to better understand the processes driving changes in Antarctic ice shelves—a team led by researchers at Penn State developed a new method to evaluate cracks that destabilize ice shelves and accelerate those losses. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-antarctic-ice-tool.html Earth Sciences Thu, 10 Jul 2025 11:17:24 EDT news671365033 A new study reveals there was a time when massive icebergs, like the ones we see in Antarctica today, were drifting less than 90 miles off the U.K. coastline. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-massive-icebergs-roamed-coast-uk.html Earth Sciences Thu, 24 Apr 2025 13:09:10 EDT news664718946 Scientists have for the first time taken in-situ ocean measurements during the collapse of a giant iceberg in the sub-Antarctic. These new observations reveal how ocean ecosystems may be affected if more icebergs calve due to warmer ocean temperatures around Antarctica. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-mega-iceberg-affects-important-marine.html Earth Sciences Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:30:03 EDT news640434601 In March 2002, the Larsen B Ice Shelf collapsed catastrophically, breaking up an area about one-sixth the size of Tasmania. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-historical-photos-reconstruct-antarctic-glaciers.html Earth Sciences Mon, 08 Jul 2024 11:51:04 EDT news639658261 When Tasmanian astronomer Louis Bernacchi set foot on Antarctica in 1898, he declared, "Antarctic exploration is of capital importance to science." While his statement remains as true as ever, scientific exploration has faced unique geostrategic and environmental threats in the intervening years. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-antarctica-dedicated-peaceful-scientific-danger.html Environment Wed, 29 May 2024 14:48:04 EDT news636212881 When air temperatures in Antarctica rise and glacier ice melts, water can pool on the surface of floating ice shelves, weighing them down and causing the ice to bend. Now, for the first time in the field, researchers have shown that ice shelves don't just buckle under the weight of meltwater lakes—they fracture. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-ice-shelves-fracture-weight-meltwater.html Earth Sciences Fri, 03 May 2024 14:10:07 EDT news633964201 Four dozen Antarctic ice shelves have shrunk by at least 30% since 1997 and 28 of those have lost more than half of their ice in that time, reports a new study that surveyed these crucial "gatekeepers'' between the frozen continent's massive glaciers and open ocean. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-scientists-huge-antarctic-ice-shelves.html Environment Sun, 15 Oct 2023 10:20:01 EDT news616389315 The melting of the supergiant iceberg A-68 had a huge impact on the ocean around South Georgia, in sub-Antarctica, and significantly changed the Southern Ocean's temperature and saltiness, with potentially major consequences for this ecologically significant region. These results are published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-explores-supergiant-iceberg-huge-impact.html Earth Sciences Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:03:36 EDT news614606613 In 2002, an area of ice about the size of Rhode Island dramatically broke away from Antarctica as the Larsen B ice shelf collapsed. A new study of the conditions that led to the collapse may reveal warning signs to watch for future Antarctic ice shelf retreat, according to a Penn State-led team of scientists. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-early-prior-antarctic-ice-shelf.html Earth Sciences Tue, 14 Mar 2023 12:00:04 EDT news598014001 In December 1972, NASA's final Apollo mission (Apollo 17) took the iconic "Blue Marble" photo of the whole Earth. Many, including science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, had expected that the sight of Earth from afar would instill the belief that mankind's future lay in space. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-blue-marble-half-century-climate-earth.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 31 Jan 2023 13:28:04 EST news594394082 It was a good year for research of all kinds as three men shared the Nobel Prize in physics for their work that showed that tiny particles separated from one another at great distances can be entangled. Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger won the award for their work showing that the counterintuitive field of quantum entanglement is real and also demonstrable. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-year-articles.html Other Fri, 09 Dec 2022 09:30:01 EST news589716013 The claim: Study shows that 'CO2 emissions play no role' in Antarctic Larsen ice shelf melt https://phys.org/news/2022-10-fact-human-driven-global-larsen-ice.html Environment Thu, 20 Oct 2022 12:12:50 EDT news585486749 New factors have been identified which contribute to record-high temperatures and ice melt over the eastern Antarctic Peninsula and Larsen C Ice Shelf. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-tropical-storms-trigger-antarctic-ice.html Earth Sciences Wed, 13 Jul 2022 09:58:46 EDT news576925123 As soon as an iceberg is born it starts to die. Waves chip away at its edges, air thaws it from above, and water melts it from below. Scientists recently chronicled such death throes for one of the world's largest-known icebergs and published their research in Remote Sensing of Environment. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-tracking-demise-giant-antarctic-iceberg.html Environment Thu, 26 May 2022 08:59:11 EDT news572774347 Despite the rapid melting of ice in many parts of Antarctica during the second half of the 20th century, researchers have found that the floating ice shelves which skirt the eastern Antarctic Peninsula have undergone sustained advance over the past 20 years. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-sea-ice-antarctic-sheet-stability.html Earth Sciences Fri, 13 May 2022 03:47:26 EDT news571632437 The eastern coast of Antarctica has lost most of the Glenzer and Conger ice shelves. In the process, it gained what is likely an island. If confirmed, the unnamed island would be one in a series of islands exposed in recent years as portions of the floating glacial ice hugging the continent's coast have disintegrated. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-ice-lost-island.html Earth Sciences Mon, 02 May 2022 12:41:25 EDT news570714083 The lakes that form on Antarctica's ice shelves can drive vertical cracks deep within the ice, increasing the chance of ice shelf collapse and sea level rise. However, if meltwater accumulates in certain areas and drains fast enough, it may temporarily stabilize the ice shelf despite increased warming, according to researchers. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-strong-tides-lakes-beneficial-antarctic.html Earth Sciences Tue, 19 Apr 2022 06:52:23 EDT news569569933 A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions across Europe has found evidence that suggests the collapse of the Larsen A and B ice shelves was due to the arrival of atmospheric rivers. In their paper published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, the group describes how they tracked the movement of atmospheric rivers during the time period when the ice shelves collapsed and what their work reveals about likely scenarios unfolding in Antarctica as global warming continues. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-larsen-ice-shelves-collapsed-due.html Earth Sciences Fri, 15 Apr 2022 09:47:59 EDT news569234875 A new study by scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has used computer modeling to rank the factors responsible for the Larsen C ice shelf melt according to their severity. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-biggest-threats-larsen-ice-shelf.html Earth Sciences Thu, 14 Apr 2022 14:33:17 EDT news569165595 In just three days in late January, a mass of ice the size of Philadelphia fragmented from the Larsen-B embayment on the Antarctic Peninsula and floated away, after persisting there for more than a decade. NASA satellites captured the break-up between January 19 and 21, and with it saw calving of icebergs from Crane Glacier and its neighbors as the sea ice no longer buttressed their fronts. Now more vulnerable to melting and acceleration into the ocean, the glaciers that line the Antarctic Peninsula could add directly to sea level. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-sea-ice-antarctic-glaciers-abruptly.html Environment Mon, 14 Mar 2022 08:30:02 EDT news566464844 The rate of glacier ice flow is more sensitive to stress than previously calculated, according to a new study by MIT researchers that upends a decades-old equation used to describe ice flow. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-ice-sensitive-stress-previously-thought.html Earth Sciences Thu, 10 Mar 2022 09:23:24 EST news566126601 One of the world's most storied shipwrecks, Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, has been discovered off the coast of Antarctica more than a century after its sinking, explorers announced Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-shackleton-lost-shipwreck-antarctica.html Archaeology Wed, 09 Mar 2022 04:39:41 EST news566023177 152 billion tons of fresh water—equivalent to 20 times the volume of Loch Ness or 61 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, entered the seas around the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia when the megaberg A68A melted over three months in 2020/2021, according to a new study. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-satellites-mega-iceberg-billion-tons-fresh.html Environment Thu, 20 Jan 2022 09:54:39 EST news561894876 Glaciologists at the University of California, Irvine and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have examined the dynamics underlying the calving of the Delaware-sized iceberg A68 from Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf in July 2017, finding the likely cause to be a thinning of ice melange, a slushy concoction of windblown snow, iceberg debris and frozen seawater that normally works to heal rifts. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-scientific-team-uncovers-additional-threat.html Earth Sciences Mon, 27 Sep 2021 16:10:16 EDT news551977813 A vast iceberg that broke off Antarctica earlier this month could drift through the ocean for several years before it breaks up and melts away, a scientist from the European Space Agency said Friday. https://phys.org/news/2021-05-vast-antarctic-iceberg-drift-ocean.html Earth Sciences Fri, 21 May 2021 18:12:30 EDT news540839545 A huge ice block has broken off from western Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg in the world and earning the name A-76. https://phys.org/news/2021-05-world-largest-iceberg-antarctica-european.html Environment Thu, 20 May 2021 06:18:15 EDT news540710293