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 fast-growing wildfire sparked by the fatal crash of a small medical plane outside Ruidoso, New Mexico, has triggered evacuations for a rural area north of the Capitan Mountains and closures in the Lincoln National Forest, officials said Monday. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mexico-wildfire-fatal-medical-plane.html Environment Tue, 19 May 2026 03:53:40 EDT news698381595 The climate of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean was far more turbulent than previously thought—and a new study suggests that people adapted anyway. An international team of scientists, spearheaded by UC San Diego's Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability (CCAS) and the University of Haifa's Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies (RIMS), has developed a new way to track ancient climate and used it to decode 4,000 years of key environmental history in the ancient Mediterranean. The paper was published in Quaternary Science Reviews on May 13. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-wetland-sediment-scientists-uncover-centuries.html Archaeology Mon, 18 May 2026 17:20:04 EDT news698337181 Sticking needles into arms—or rather, haunches—is often the hardest part of distributing an effective agricultural vaccine. Now, University of Connecticut researchers show in the April 15 issue of Advanced Healthcare Materials that a patch can deliver a safe, temperature-stabilized vaccine against foot and mouth disease, no needles required. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-microneedle-patch-vaccine-farming-stubborn.html Veterinary medicine Mon, 18 May 2026 17:10:01 EDT news698342101 Eastern Africa's earliest livestock herders continued fishing, hunting and gathering for centuries after livestock were first brought to the region. The first pastoralists in eastern Africa didn't suddenly switch to a diet centered only on cows, sheep and goats. Instead, they kept eating a wide mix of foods—fish, wild animals and plants—alongside livestock for at least 1,000 years. The strategy may have helped them adapt to a harsh, changing climate. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-cattle-early-east-african-herders.html Archaeology Mon, 18 May 2026 15:00:09 EDT news698317797 Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth. Somehow, it feels like it's getting hotter and drier every day. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-western-australia-edging-desertification.html Environment Tue, 12 May 2026 16:40:06 EDT news697817881 We have been on a years-long campaign of satellite remote sensing of the vast desert landscapes in Eastern Sudan. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-hundreds-huge-ancient-mass-graves.html Archaeology Tue, 12 May 2026 12:00:01 EDT news697800955 British Columbia's wildlife is in trouble, and governments aren't working hard enough to keep wild animals and plants alive. How do we know? https://phys.org/news/2026-04-british-columbia-endangered-wildlife.html Ecology Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:20:05 EDT news695903222 Humans have always been playful. But for much of our history, play has left little trace. Unlike tools or bones, games rarely preserve and the fleeting pleasures they produce are even harder to recover. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-archaeologists-12000yearold-dice-reveal-history.html Archaeology Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:00:01 EDT news695564112 Hidden among the red sandstone escarpments of Mutawintji National Park in western New South Wales lives a rare lizard, long isolated in this arid landscape. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-kungaka-hidden-ancient-lizard-rarest.html Plants & Animals Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:00:08 EDT news695384624 Permanently wiping out a disease is tricky business. Polio, measles, mumps—all have effective vaccines, yet they persist in certain pockets around the world. To date, the World Health Organization considers just two viruses as successfully eradicated: smallpox and rinderpest. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-years-eradication-rinderpest-lessons-true.html Biotechnology Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:50:02 EDT news694773661 Khirigsuurs are Late Bronze Age monuments found across Mongolia and parts of southern Siberia. They are typically thought to be burial monuments or ritual spaces, consisting of a burial mound surrounded by satellite features beneath which horse and caprine (goat/sheep) remains were deposited. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-evidence-assumptions-mass-feasting-ancient.html Archaeology Thu, 02 Apr 2026 08:10:01 EDT news694258066 By the time Kim Ring arrived at her neighbors' yard that spring afternoon in 2022, their chicken coop was a flattened pile of lumber surrounded by feathers. The poultry had been raided by a bear. At the neighbor's request, Ring and her husband headed into the woods abutting their home in the rural Massachusetts town of Ware, in the hopes of finding any fluffy survivors. What they encountered instead was a bear with her two cubs in a tree—the mother bear downing one of their neighbor's chickens. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-youre-sightings.html Ecology Fri, 13 Mar 2026 09:20:02 EDT news692612042 Many of the most damaging invasions do not simply subtract species; they fundamentally remodel the environment, altering habitats, rewiring interactions, and shifting processes in ways that species lists alone cannot reveal. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-biological-invasions-silently-remodeling-ecosystems.html Ecology Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:00:01 EDT news692531627 Urban scavengers like spotted hyenas are preventing more than 1,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually in Ethiopia's second-largest city, according to new research revealing the predators' role as accidental eco-warriors. By consuming organic waste that would otherwise rot, these predators are saving the city of Mekelle over $100,000 USD in waste management costs while reducing the significant sanitation risk associated with routine roadside dumping. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-reveals-ethiopia-hyenas-combat-climate.html Ecology Tue, 10 Mar 2026 21:30:01 EDT news692357753 Currently, Australia is the only continent in the world still free from the highly contagious H5 bird flu. But that status faces an ongoing threat. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-simulation-australia-h5-bird-flu.html Veterinary medicine Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:40:01 EST news691669269 New research has revealed that the Old Irish Goat shares a 3,000-year genetic link with goats living in Ireland during the Late Bronze Age. The findings suggest that the rare indigenous breed represents a continuous Irish lineage stretching back millennia. The work appears in the Journal of Archaeological Science. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-late-bronze-age-today-irish.html Archaeology Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:10:02 EST news691252622 Approximately 9,000 years ago, human communities in Southwest Asia underwent a dramatic transformation, known as the Neolithic revolution. This period was marked by pronounced changes in how they lived and sourced food, with a shift from living on the move, hunting and gathering to permanently residing in one place, farming and herding of animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-evidence-early-goat-sheep-dairy.html Archaeology Fri, 20 Feb 2026 15:00:01 EST news690808540 A camera-trap survey conducted throughout 2025 has revealed the bewildering breadth of biodiversity hidden within the Annamite Mountains, a largely unexplored forest haven stretching for 1,100 kilometers through Laos and Vietnam to northeast Cambodia. The Annamites are the sole stronghold for some of Southeast Asia's most spectacular and super-rare species, from the aptly named Annamite striped rabbit to the mystical saola. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-asia-amazon-camera-reveal-secrets.html Plants & Animals Sat, 14 Feb 2026 17:50:01 EST news690031965 A new study conducted at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) shows that grassland-based grazing systems—currently covering a third of Earth's surface and representing the world's largest production system—will see a severe contraction as global temperatures rise. Depending on the scenario analyzed, 36–50% of the land with suitable climatic conditions for grazing today will experience a loss of viability by 2100, affecting more than 100 million pastoralists and up to 1.6 billion grazing animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-climate-halve-areas-suitable-cattle.html Ecology Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:00:03 EST news689848625 Goats are increasingly being used in efforts to manage invasive common buckthorn in Midwestern woodlands. New research demonstrates when and how they are best used. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-goats-play-role-multi-pronged.html Ecology Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:50:30 EST news689863801 Fences intended to protect cattle from catching diseases from wildlife and other livestock in southern Africa are in disrepair, restrict wild animal migrations and likely intensify human-elephant conflict—but a plan to remove key sections could make both livestock and wildlife safer, a new Cornell University study suggests. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-southern-african-wildlife-boost-economy.html Ecology Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:26:23 EST news689531161 For generations, farmers have spent backbreaking hours tearing down and rebuilding fences just to move livestock to fresh grazing fields. Now, thanks to a groundbreaking project at the University of Missouri's Center for Regenerative Agriculture, that chore is becoming a thing of the past. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-gps-collars-virtual-frontier-livestock.html Biotechnology Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:53:39 EST news689345581 In Bangladesh, programs targeting ultra-poor, rural households can help families escape extreme poverty. However, the programs may have the unintended consequence of reinforcing gender gaps, a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign finds. The paper, "How does a rural poverty alleviation program affect parents' aspirations about their children? Evidence from BRAC-TUP in Bangladesh," is published in the Journal of Development Studies. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-poverty-intervention-bangladesh-gender-gaps.html Social Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2026 17:04:15 EST news689274241 In a study conducted by Dr. Mahdi Alirezazadeh and Dr. Hanan Bahranipoor, published in Archaeological Research in Asia, two exceptionally well-preserved fetal burials from Chaparabad, Iran, dating to the mid-5th millennium BC, were analyzed including burial L522.1, one of the most complete prehistoric infant burials in the Iranian plateau. Despite being buried only meters apart, the two fetal burials exhibit distinct burial treatments, offering insights into the variable burial practices of prehistoric cultures in southwestern Asia. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-rare-5th-millennium-bc-fetal.html Archaeology Sun, 01 Feb 2026 11:10:03 EST news688907414 On Jan. 27, California lawmakers took initial steps toward addressing the public safety concerns posed by the state's growing populations of wolves, mountain lions and other predators—issues the state's top environmental official called a crisis. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-wolves-predators-crisis-california-environment.html Plants & Animals Thu, 29 Jan 2026 23:30:02 EST news688901237 In the drylands of Benin, West Africa, livestock farming is under growing pressure. These vast, hot landscapes cover roughly 70% of the country's land area. Their sparse pastures and scattered trees sustain around six million grazing animals, including 2.5 million cattle, one million sheep and 2.4 million goats which walk with herders over long distances in search of food and water. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-indigenous-trees-secret-climate-resilient.html Ecology Wed, 28 Jan 2026 20:30:03 EST news688827289 A new study combines drone data, satellite observations, and ground-based flux measurements to examine methane emissions from ruminants in Kenya. The research represents a pioneering effort to quantify methane (CH₄) emissions from livestock using drones in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also among the first field studies to measure methane emissions from camels, a largely understudied source. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-drones-satellites-methane-emissions-ruminants.html Biotechnology Thu, 22 Jan 2026 21:20:01 EST news688319329 As part of its ongoing efforts to combat brucellosis, a serious and often neglected disease endemic to many low- and middle-income countries around the world, a team of researchers from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) has identified the specific species of the Brucella bacteria that causes illness in animals in Cameroon. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-brucella-species-livestock-infections-cameroon.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:30:18 EST news688235401 Researchers have deciphered the diet of an important nomadic people in Eastern European history. By analyzing dental calculus, they have provided the first direct evidence that the diet of the Scythians included milk from various ruminants and horses. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-iron-age-dental-plaque-reveals.html Archaeology Wed, 21 Jan 2026 14:00:03 EST news688207381 For decades, researchers have focused on the problem of overgrazing, in which expanding herds of cattle and other livestock degrade grasslands, steppes and desert plains. But a new global study reveals that in large regions of the world, livestock numbers are substantially declining, not growing—a process the authors call destocking. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-overlooked-decline-grazing-livestock-opportunities.html Ecology Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:00:01 EST news687187681