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 Facebook post about your trip to Peru. An Amazon review of a new toaster oven. An email to the super about the inflatable reindeer blocking the hallway. You phrase and rephrase things all day without thinking that anyone—or anything—is putting words in your mouth. But what happens when AI joins the conversation? Are chatbots changing the way you write, talk and interact with others? https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bots-people-language-age-ai.html Social Sciences Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:51:23 EDT news708940190 Physicists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a technology that uses quantum sensors to measure biomagnetic signals, such as heart activity. Researchers from the DIAQNOS (DIAmond-based Quantum Sensing for NeurOSurgery) flagship project, coordinated by Dr. Arne Wickenbrock in Mainz, have demonstrated the potential of quantum technology for future medical applications. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-diamond-quantum-sensors-heart-magnetism.html Condensed Matter Thu, 17 Sep 2026 11:40:08 EDT news708854822 Two-thirds of a century after Jane Goodall observed "David Greybeard" break off a twig to fashion a fishing rod for termites, researchers following in her footsteps have found that adult chimpanzees in Senegal literally hand youngsters the tools for learning. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-chimpanzees-youngsters-tools-tricky-techniques.html Plants & Animals Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:02 EDT news708597361 If you are trying to detect or bait little fire ants in your backyard, scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa suggest swapping tuna for cooked beef and sunflower seeds. The study, published in the Journal of Applied Entomology by researchers at the UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR), revealed that the little fire ant's (Wasmannia auropunctata) preferred diet is not what scientists and homeowners previously thought. In laboratory food-choice tests, the tiny, stinging pests overwhelmingly chose cooked beef and sunflower seeds over water-packed tuna. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-invasive-ants-cooked-beef-seeds.html Plants & Animals Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:00:03 EDT news708680222 Fire ants have earned their reputation as one of Australia's most damaging invasive pests. From ruined picnics to serious impacts on agriculture, biodiversity and public health, they are notoriously difficult to control. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ants-genomics.html Plants & Animals Wed, 09 Sep 2026 12:20:08 EDT news708161701 This summer, you may have wondered why you are seeing so few insects squished on your car's windshield compared with a road trip several years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-squished-insects-windshield.html Ecology Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:40:03 EDT news708088422 Arthropods are small, but they could play an outsized role in tackling some of the world's biggest challenges. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-arthropods-interdisciplinary-solutions-global.html Ecology Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:00:06 EDT news708086102 Why do some ants help nestmates in distress while others don't? A research team from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Tel Aviv University addressed this question in a new study. The researchers examined worker ants of the species Cataglyphis niger, some of which had shown rescue behavior while others had not. The results, recently published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, suggest that the key difference lies not in body size, morphology or the animals' energy reserves, but in gene activity in the nervous system. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ant-nervous-gene-behavior.html Plants & Animals Fri, 04 Sep 2026 17:40:01 EDT news707747341 El Niño is firmly established and will intensify into a very strong event in the coming months, with major impacts on rainfall and temperature patterns and associated risks of floods, drought and extreme heat, according to a new update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). https://phys.org/news/2026-09-el-nio-warmer-nz-australia.html Environment Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:40:04 EDT news707747701 Two tiny ant fossils recovered in southern Saskatchewan are helping scientists better understand the evolutionary history of modern ants. Ant fossils dating from 72–56 million years ago are rare. What happened to insects such as ants during this period that saw a mass extinction wipe out all non-bird dinosaurs? How did that event reshape their world? https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-fossils-reveal-big-insights.html Evolution Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:20:01 EDT news707668441 Global temperature rise is set to cross 1.5°C, likely within the next few years, pushing climate risks and impacts to increasingly dangerous heights. But it is still possible to bring temperatures down and achieve the global goals of the Paris Agreement, according to a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-quick-action-world-hotter.html Environment Wed, 02 Sep 2026 15:20:04 EDT news707575981 In a strategic retreat in the fight against climate change, the United Nations has acknowledged that Earth has lost its chance to prevent some of the worst of global warming's harms. So now the world must figure out how to get temperatures below the danger zone and back to safety, officials say. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-global-exceed-limit-path-danger.html Environment Wed, 02 Sep 2026 03:38:36 EDT news707539081 A small, nest-dwelling tick found across large parts of Texas could play an outsized role in how the United States responds to African swine fever (ASF) should the virus reach domestic or wild pigs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-habitat-african-swine-fever-preparedness.html Ecology Wed, 26 Aug 2026 07:20:01 EDT news706939621 While extreme weather and habitat changes can spell doom for many native animals, including insects, a different picture has emerged from a new study led by Flinders University. Long-running investigations into Fiji's native bee populations indicate several species of lowland sweat bees (genus Lasioglossum) have evolved and used their individual traits to resist human-driven environmental changes, allowing them to survive and thrive. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-habitat-deterrent-fijian-native-bees.html Ecology Tue, 25 Aug 2026 17:40:05 EDT news706868979 When I first arrived in Peru's Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve in 2005, a local youth surprised me with an offer to sell me a live owl, despite the fact that we were in a protected area where commercial hunting was prohibited. We set the owl free together, but this turned out to be an early lesson about the vulnerability of tropical protected areas to exploitation, even when laws and policies had been put in place to protect them. At that time, Allpahuayo-Mishana was a newly designated protected area with no paid staff except for its director, who was stationed in the nearby city of Iquitos. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bird-eye-view-illegal-consequences.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Aug 2026 17:40:06 EDT news706783338 Don't assume an uptick in ant activity after setting out pesticide traps means the treatment failed. New UC Riverside research shows their behavior changes as chemicals make their way through a colony. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-pesticides-argentine-ants-crazy-roaming.html Plants & Animals Mon, 17 Aug 2026 17:50:01 EDT news706205761 In ant colonies, a single ant can be the catalyst for a wave of mob activity, launching brief bursts of coordinated movement involving hundreds or even thousands of swarming workers, according to new simulations from New Jersey Institute of Technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-scientists-simulating-ant-swarms-mover.html Ecology Sat, 15 Aug 2026 07:00:03 EDT news705724257 Bumblebees are able to learn to associate new odors with their colony's queen, instead of being preprogrammed to recognize the queen's pheromones from birth, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State. For the study, published in the journal Communications Biology, the researchers treated buff-tailed bumblebee queens daily with one of two different floral scents as they built their colonies. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bumblebees-associate-queen.html Ecology Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:40:03 EDT news705742562 In the coastal forests of a tropical Japanese island near Okinawa grows an inconspicuous plant that is easy to mistake for a mushroom. It is a non-green parasite that feeds on the roots of other plants and produces up to 1 million tiny seeds, each covered in a minuscule, dry fruit. The seeds, in particular, present a mystery to scientists: How do they get dispersed? https://phys.org/news/2026-08-secret-gardeners-parasitic.html Plants & Animals Tue, 11 Aug 2026 06:00:01 EDT news705585324 Scientists have long known that ant colonies sometimes seem to move as one. A nest that appears quiet can suddenly erupt into activity, with workers throughout the colony springing into motion almost simultaneously before settling back into stillness. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ant-trigger-colony-wide-mathematical.html Plants & Animals Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:20:03 EDT news705251999 Ants make up one of the most diverse groups of animals on the planet, with many species boasting remarkable physical abilities and social behaviors, and an overall species richness that far exceeds that of mammals. Various types of ants can carry up to one hundred times their weight or forage hundreds of meters from their nest, the equivalent of a human carrying thousands of kilograms and walking hundreds of kilometers. These feats have inspired researchers to study not only the anatomy that makes them possible but also how ants use these capabilities to forage and explore. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-random-physics-individual-ant-motion.html Plants & Animals Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:00:07 EDT news705155701 Newborn German cockroaches use pheromones in cockroach feces to identify members of their own colony and form a kind of social bond, a discovery that could be used to improve pest control efforts. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-german-cockroaches-social-animals-previously.html Plants & Animals Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:40:08 EDT news705149701 For more than 60 years, evolutionary biologists have debated whether a unique genetic system found in ants, bees and wasps helps explain one of nature's most remarkable innovations: eusociality, a form of social organization in which colonies divide reproductive labor between queens and workers. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-decades-theory-insect-societies-evolve.html Plants & Animals Tue, 04 Aug 2026 16:20:01 EDT news705071641 El Niño continues to intensify steadily and is expected to dominate global climate patterns in the August to October 2026 season, increasing the likelihood of above-normal temperatures across much of the world and driving significant shifts in rainfall patterns, according to the World Meteorological Organization. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-world-meteorological-strong-el-nio.html Earth Sciences Mon, 03 Aug 2026 16:00:05 EDT news704987041 Ants live in highly organized colonies and cooperate daily to tackle a wide range of problems. Their striking group behaviors have fascinated biologists for centuries and even inspired the development of various artificial intelligence (AI) systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ant-teams-gravity-based-puzzle.html Plants & Animals Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:20:10 EDT news704987373 A team led by researchers at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), in Manaus, has found evidence that the "zombie-ant" fungus (genus Ophiocordyceps), known worldwide for controlling ant behavior and forcing infected ants to bite plants before dying, also lives hidden inside mosses in the Amazon rainforest. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-amazonian-zombie-fungus-harbors-hidden.html Plants & Animals Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:40:04 EDT news704629501 Invasive alien species are driving human displacement, according to a new research paper published this month in Frontiers. In Kenya, Opuntia stricta has displaced pastoralist communities, while the invasive little fire ant has led to farm abandonment in New Caledonia, the Galápagos Islands and French Polynesia. Water hyacinth has disrupted fishing livelihoods in much of Africa. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-invasive-species-emerge-driver-human.html Ecology Wed, 29 Jul 2026 18:40:01 EDT news704550791 Ants are known allies in the fight against coffee pests known as coffee berry borers. Now, a discovery made by Jonathan "Jonno" Morris while he was a University of Michigan graduate student has revealed there may be a new dimension to this protection. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-small-ants-evict-coffee-pests.html Ecology Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:20:02 EDT news704458620 Quantum information is notoriously fragile. Internet traffic is anything but. Yet Northwestern University scientists have demonstrated they can peacefully coexist inside the same fiber-optic cable. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-internet-lab-real-world.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:40:01 EDT news703948921 When a fruit fly catches a whiff of a ripe peach, it quickly heads toward it. Time after time, it finds the fruit—even from many feet away and even if the scent arrives only as a few drifting, disconnected puffs. How do they home in with such unerring accuracy? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fruit-flies-fleeting-scent-puffs.html Plants & Animals Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:00:29 EDT news703857961