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. During a recent expedition aboard the research vessel David Packard, MBARI scientists encountered a rarely seen barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma). This sighting is MBARI's 11th observation of this unique deep-sea fish with a transparent head. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rarely-deep-sea-barreleye-fish.html Plants & Animals Wed, 28 Oct 2026 17:00:06 EDT news712419481 Late last year, scientists in Germany published findings on a World War II munitions dump in the Baltic Sea. Some may dismiss the dump as hazardous waste, but to marine biologists it was something far more exciting: a thriving ecosystem. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-shipwrecks-reefs-hidden-toxic.html Ecology Tue, 20 Oct 2026 19:40:12 EDT news711718819 In a deep, dark part of the Gulf of Mexico, the number of marine animals plummeted by about 60% in the years following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, a new study found. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-marine-life-declined-gulf-mexico.html Ecology Tue, 20 Oct 2026 05:39:07 EDT news711693484 Juan Mayorga smiled as a stingray glided across his computer screen, moving gracefully over the seabed near Portugal's Desertas Islands, part of the Madeira archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-front-line-ocean-portugal-madeira.html Ecology Mon, 19 Oct 2026 04:40:01 EDT news711601036 With about 30 visual pigments, compared to just three in humans, mantis shrimp possess a visual system that remains a mystery. Researchers from ULiège and Humboldt University in Berlin have, for the first time, analyzed these pigments one by one and discovered that some detect red light that very few animals can perceive. This finding, published in Science Advances, has potential applications in optogenetics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-red-sensitive-pigments-mantis-shrimp.html Plants & Animals Sat, 17 Oct 2026 09:00:01 EDT news711300101 Sustainable packaging is only the beginning. What a medicine is made from—and how its ingredients are produced—matters just as much. Yet the synthesis of compounds for pharmaceutical research can still depend on fossil feedstocks, high temperatures, strong oxidants and metals that raise costs and complicate purification. Two recently published studies from Colmenares' group at IPC PAS demonstrate that cleaner chemistry can begin at the level of a single chemical bond. The studies are published in the journal Ultrasonics Sonochemistry and Chemistry—A European Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ultrasound-reveal-renewable-routes-compounds.html Biochemistry Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:20:01 EDT news711378121 Zavodovski, a volcanic island in Antarctica, is silently witnessing a shift in the local ecosystem. Known as home to the world's largest penguin colony, this island has long been under the watchful eye of scientists. One such study has now led to a bittersweet discovery. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-world-largest-penguin-colony-title.html Plants & Animals Tue, 13 Oct 2026 06:20:01 EDT news711014785 A new species of ancient crocodile relative that lived around 170 million years ago has been discovered by scientists at the University of Portsmouth and Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-jurassic-crocodile-species-unusually-slender.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 12 Oct 2026 14:00:06 EDT news711029785 Do people eat insects when there is nothing else to eat? Are insects really "food for the poor" or famine food? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-insects-poor-people-food.html Ecology Thu, 08 Oct 2026 15:00:01 EDT news710684317 A giant isopod from Puerto Rico, rediscovered in the depository of the University of Tübingen's Paleontological Collection, has turned out to be a previously unknown species. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-puerto-rico-specimen-reveals-giant.html Evolution Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:40:01 EDT news710677142 Coral reefs are renowned for their visual beauty, but for the marine life they support, their sounds may be just as enticing. Two new studies led by UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography reveal how underwater acoustic enrichment—the playback of sounds from healthy reefs—can help spur the recovery of degraded coral reefs and their fish communities. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-healthy-reef-boost-coral-fish.html Plants & Animals Thu, 08 Oct 2026 05:00:14 EDT news710587621 A team of marine scientists led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has developed a new approach to predicting harmful algal blooms (HABs), changing how oceanographers track these hazardous marine events. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ocean-predator-chemical-cues-early.html Ecology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 18:10:07 EDT news710006402 When designing a large underwater robot that could swim silently to avoid startling sea creatures, roboticist Rob Shepherd considered the unusual swimming system of oarfish, the meters-long fish whose ribbon-like dorsal fin moves in waves to propel its body. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-mysterious-oarfish-fins-large-underwater.html Biotechnology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:40:20 EDT news709997165 Plesiosaurs swam into river deltas to vomit up shells and other indigestible elements of their marine meals, suggests new research published by Cambridge University Press. The behavior resembles that of today's fur seals and marine crocodiles. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-queasy-plesiosaurs-swam-shore-vomit.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 22 Sep 2026 19:00:01 EDT news709201289 In September 2026, 20 Australian university students departed Brisbane for Fiji aboard the CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator on a CAPSTAN sea training voyage. While in coastal waters off Queensland, the students were involved in several shipwreck surveys that led to an intriguing observation: A shipwreck surrounded by mysterious holes on the seafloor. For some aboard, this wasn't the first time they'd seen such a thing. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fish-marine-life-reveal-hidden.html Ecology Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:14:32 EDT news709290836 For more than 170 years, paleontologists have been trying to solve the mystery of what created the strangely uniform hexagonal tunnels found in fossils. In a new study published in Earth Science Reviews, a team of researchers pored over the evidence and concluded that the most likely culprit was a type of arthropod—probably a small crustacean. This challenges a long-standing idea that a worm-like creature may have created the tunnels. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-elusive-builders-hexagonal-tunnel-fossils.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:20:03 EDT news709210408 Stand on the damp sand on a California beach and chances are you're standing on top of an active earthworks site. Sand hoppers (Megalorchestia spp.), the tiny, shrimp-like creatures commonly found eating away at kelp on the shore, have been found to move massive amounts of sand, excavating up to 50 kg (110 pounds) of sand per meter (3.3 feet) of shoreline per day. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-beach-crustaceans-big-sand.html Earth Sciences Sun, 20 Sep 2026 16:20:01 EDT news708951869 Some types of marine life appear to have it easy. While exploring thousands of meters below the waves in the Chilean Margin in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, scientists observed tiny shrimp-like crustaceans known as amphipods (Mesopleustes abyssorum) clinging tightly to much larger giant sea spiders (Colossendeis colossea) that were scuttling on the ocean floor. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-deep-sea-crustaceans-caught-hitching.html Plants & Animals Thu, 17 Sep 2026 10:50:01 EDT news708859334 It's no secret that plastic and other human trash are a problem for marine life, but our understanding has long focused on the ocean's surface. As described in a study published in PLOS One, a more complete picture is coming into focus, revealing that even some of our planet's greatest depths have become home to our debris. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-deep-ocean-familiar-trash-plastic.html Environment Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:00:11 EDT news708680581 Our sense of taste is critical for survival, alerting us to substances that provide vital nutrients and those that might poison us. Now, a team led by researchers from the University of Osaka has discovered how one such taste receptor in pufferfish can detect a surprisingly wide range of flavors at once. Their study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-pufferfish-receptor-versatile-human-savory.html Plants & Animals Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:20:07 EDT news708767643 While most people are aware of how plastic, arsenic and various industrial chemicals can pollute bodies of water, the effects of caffeine on freshwater environments remain largely unknown. Nonetheless, traces of caffeine, the stimulant contained in coffee and tea, often pass through wastewater treatment systems, entering rivers and streams. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-caffeine-pollution-disrupt-crustacean-defenses.html Plants & Animals Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:00:01 EDT news708695725 At just an inch (2.5 centimeters) long, the sand hoppers skipping across California's Isla Vista Beach at dawn don't exactly look like a force of nature. But a new study reveals that these shrimp-like creatures might be doing more to shape the landscape in which they live than any other animal on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-beach-burrowing-beasties-shovel-sand.html Earth Sciences Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:00:10 EDT news708700861 Has El Niño reached the West Coast? You might think it has. After all, the ocean off Southern and Central California is unusually warm. But that warmth is from a recent marine heat wave that predates the current El Niño. Much of the Pacific Coast is experiencing relatively normal conditions while still awaiting the impacts of what could be a very strong El Niño. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ocean-indicators-noaa-scientists-tracking.html Earth Sciences Sat, 05 Sep 2026 07:40:01 EDT news707807952 Proteins are vital to living systems. They build and repair tissues, act as enzymes to speed chemical reactions, regulate hormones and transport nutrients—all of which are important for developing next-generation bioproducts and advancing bioengineering and biotechnology. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-based-probe-library-protein-function.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:20:03 EDT news707723882 The color of penguin poop, as seen from space, is offering a new window into how Antarctica's ecology and environment are changing over time. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-satellite-images-penguins-diets-response.html Plants & Animals Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:40:11 EDT news707656861 Scientists at UMass Chan Medical School and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole have shown that the four core clock genes responsible for maintaining circadian rhythms in animals—Per, Cry2, Bmal1 and Clk—also regulate circatidal behavior in the crustacean P. hawaiensis. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-crustacean-scientists-genes-circatidal.html Plants & Animals Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:40:01 EDT news707646781 The formation of complex terrestrial ecosystems was a significant innovation in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. This event signified the expansion of life beyond marine environments and marked the beginning of a new phase in the diversification of terrestrial biota. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-texas-fossil-reveals-early-insects.html Evolution Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:20:05 EDT news707064181 A large-scale study of nearly 700 species reveals the evolutionary relationships and history of Neogastropoda, a diverse group of marine snails. The findings provide new evidence for their single origin, identify four new families and reveal a previously undetected burst of diversification in the early Cenozoic. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-shell-predators-early-cenozoic-boom.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Aug 2026 16:30:01 EDT news706806241 From a fishing trawler in the Adriatic, Italian scientists gently release thousands of tiny octopuses in the hope of fighting an invasive crab species that has devastated local fisheries. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-italian-scientists-octopus-crab-invasion.html Plants & Animals Wed, 19 Aug 2026 04:30:02 EDT news706332058 Researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, have made an advance by using a natural substance from fungi called chitin to create hydrogels that are significantly stronger and tougher. This new material could lead to safer medical devices, longer-lasting coatings and other innovations that improve everyday technology and health care. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fungal-chitin-route-tougher-hydrogels.html Biotechnology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:00:05 EDT news705670982