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. From Alaska to Texas, the battle for control of the U.S. Senate is unfolding across 35 races. And a new Northwestern University election model is tracking them all—every 10 minutes. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-election-minutes.html Political science Tue, 27 Oct 2026 22:40:01 EDT news712327045 A small sample of human tissue can hold a remarkable amount of information. Researchers can use it to search for molecular clues associated with cancer, investigate the chemical landscape of the brain or determine where a drug travels after it enters the body. Mass spectrometry imaging, or MSI, helps answer those questions by mapping where different molecules are located within tissue. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-simple-recipe-guesswork-mass-spectrometry.html Biochemistry Tue, 27 Oct 2026 18:40:03 EDT news712325222 As the 2026 midterm elections approach, the signs of democratic backsliding are everywhere across the U.S. political landscape. Troubling signs include the Trump administration's demand for state voter roll data and interference with mail-in voting, the pressure it applied to Georgia election officials to reverse Joe Biden's victory in that state in the 2020 election and, of course, extreme partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-qa-democratic-backsliding-federalist-street.html Political science Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:20:01 EDT news712210823 Who knew a monarch butterfly could borrow a cellphone to check in with friendly people he met on his journey? That is essentially what happens now that new technology has reduced the weight of a radio-pulse tag to less than half a gram (0.02 ounces). https://phys.org/news/2026-10-monarchs-cellphone.html Plants & Animals Sun, 25 Oct 2026 15:00:06 EDT news711983213 Every storybook opens a window for our imagination to be freed from the reality of the world around us and escape into the fictional world. While the author's words act as a guide, everyone experiences fiction in their own way, creating vivid mental pictures and even forming an emotional connection with the characters. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-worlds-readers.html Social Sciences Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:33 EDT news711885746 The loss of Earth's animal and plant species is a crisis. Just don't call it an "extinction crisis" if you aim to mobilize public concern. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-word-choice-extinction-animals-biodiversity.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Oct 2026 11:40:01 EDT news711885121 With the midterms fast approaching, communicating just the right message has been top of mind on all sides of the political aisle. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-partisan-politics-accents-yall.html Political science Tue, 20 Oct 2026 22:00:06 EDT news711721418 Quality of life for Americans 65 and older increased over the past decade, according to new research from Shatakshee Dhongde in Georgia Tech's School of Economics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quality-life-older-americans.html Social Sciences Mon, 19 Oct 2026 10:40:03 EDT news711611830 Standing on a verdant hill above Georgia's Black Sea coast, ornithologist Bart Hoekstra looked out over one of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles unfolding before him—then gunshots pierced the air. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-million-migrating-raptors-dodge-illegal.html Ecology Sun, 18 Oct 2026 07:39:23 EDT news711527915 Across the waters of West Africa, commercial fishing vessels vanish along international boundary lines. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-uncover-patterns-vessels-sea.html Ecology Wed, 14 Oct 2026 22:40:01 EDT news711201621 Just a few centimeters long, slimy and covered in razor-sharp spines, baby sturgeons look like creatures from one of the Alien movies. But for the people who pull them from the river, these diminutive ugly ducklings of the fish world are a beautiful sight. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-fish-big-haul-baby-sturgeons.html Plants & Animals Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:00:29 EDT news711187996 Georgia has been a destination for quail hunters for more than a century. But recent declines in its bobwhite population have researchers searching for answers to boost the popular game bird's numbers. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-woody-vegetation-boost-populations-georgia.html Plants & Animals Tue, 13 Oct 2026 09:40:01 EDT news711100381 Hurricanes can produce enormous amounts of rain, adding up to trillions of gallons of water. But the big risk isn't the total amount—it's how much rain falls on each location. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hurricane-storm-size.html Environment Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:40:01 EDT news711019141 Millions of people worldwide, likely without realizing it, are capturing rare and valuable data that can help researchers assess trends in ecosystem health. Such data, however, are hidden in an ocean of comments on free online platforms like eBird and iNaturalist used by birdwatchers and other nature enthusiasts. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nature-lovers-aid-ecology-ai.html Ecology Mon, 12 Oct 2026 11:40:20 EDT news711016082 Four people died in the southeastern United States as post-tropical cyclone Isaias posed flooding and tornado risks Saturday as it moved northward after making landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dead-cyclone-isaias-drenches-southern.html Environment Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:20:04 EDT news710937137 Isaias weakened from a hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone early Saturday after it made landfall in northwestern Florida, where it lashed the U.S. Gulf Coast with heavy rain and strong winds, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-isaias-downgraded-tropical-cyclone-landfall.html Environment Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:10:01 EDT news710837937 Many naturally occurring molecules such as menthol or limonene exist in two mirror-image forms, known as enantiomers, that look almost identical but can differ greatly in smell, taste or effect on the body. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-enzymes-mirror-image-molecules.html Plants & Animals Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:20:01 EDT news710759952 Isaias strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane on Thursday as it headed toward the U.S. Gulf Coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, prompting mandatory evacuations and disrupting oil and gas production. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hurricane-isaias-en-route-gulf.html Environment Fri, 09 Oct 2026 04:40:01 EDT news710738129 Disease and heat pose a deadly combination for coral reefs, according to a new University of Georgia study published in the journal Coral Reefs. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-florida-keys-reveals-fourfold-death.html Plants & Animals Mon, 05 Oct 2026 15:20:17 EDT news710424301 The 2026 U.S. midterm campaigns are the first in which AI-generated political ads are regularly appearing on people's televisions and social media feeds. We are researchers who have been studying political advertising through the Wesleyan Media Project since 2010. This election cycle—using data from media reports, student coders and AdImpact, a firm that tracks political ad spending—we've tracked about $80 million in spending on almost 170 unique ads that use AI. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tracking-uncovers-million-spent-ai.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:20:11 EDT news710414581 Astronomers using Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array have found that nearby stars darken toward their edges more strongly at near-infrared wavelengths than predicted by several widely used models of stellar atmospheres, providing a new benchmark for understanding how stars are structured. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-stars-infrared-expose-gaps.html Astronomy Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:20:20 EDT news710153702 New technology from Texas A&M AgriLife Research could be a major step toward bringing disease-resistant peppers and tomatoes to growers' fields and lowering costs at grocery stores. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tomato-wilt-virus-clone-disease.html Biotechnology Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:00:01 EDT news710142841 From vaccines to gene therapies, mRNA medicines often rely on tiny fat-based particles called lipid nanoparticles, or LNPs, to carry treatments where they need to go. But researchers still face a fundamental challenge: getting those therapies to the organs where they are needed most while limiting side effects elsewhere in the body. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gut-mrna-tech-supercharges-vaccine.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:02 EDT news710062742 The storm ends, the fire goes out, floodwaters recede. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-storm-recovery-community-crisis.html Social Sciences Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:00:01 EDT news710055662 Have you ever found yourself listening to someone share their good news and felt pressure to respond with excitement, even if you didn't feel particularly enthusiastic? Does that pressure feel even greater when the person sharing the news is your boss? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hidden-pressure-boss-good-news.html Social Sciences Thu, 01 Oct 2026 07:20:06 EDT news710049542 La Trobe archaeologists have described 18 new hominin fossils, including a second Homo erectus skull fragment that confirms the species first appeared in southern Africa 2.0 million years ago—200,000 years earlier than traditionally thought. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-adult-fossil-evidence-homo-erectus.html Evolution Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:00:02 EDT news709983601 New research suggests that poultry litter-based soil amendments and weather conditions, particularly extreme weather events, may influence how long bacteria survive in agricultural soils used to grow sweet onions. The findings could help inform food safety risk management for produce growers. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-coli-survives-longer-poultry-amended.html Agriculture Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:09 EDT news709888620 Investment advice is only a scroll away. But new research from the University of Georgia suggests social media may leave some investors feeling more knowledgeable than they actually are. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-social-media-investors-confident.html Economics & Business Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:20:05 EDT news709814282 Spacecraft propulsion traditionally relies on volatile fuels and separate, bulky systems for different types of maneuvering in space. NASA is working to change that. Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently completed a series of environmental and physical tests on a new small satellite designed to make spaceflight safer and more efficient. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-nasa-dual-mode-propulsion-cubesat.html Space Exploration Mon, 28 Sep 2026 10:20:09 EDT news709799041 Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of astronomers led by the University of Maryland identified water, methane and ammonia in the atmosphere of HATS-6 b, a giant planet 500 light-years from Earth. The observations also revealed that HATS-6 b may be significantly cooler than standard calculations predict—suggesting that the planet's relationship with its star may be far more complicated than previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-webb-ammonia-unexpected-chill-distant.html Astronomy Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:40:05 EDT news709549202