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. NASA's Juno mission has provided the first measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter's moon Io, revealing significant heating within the shallow subsurface of the most volcanically active world in the solar system. Collected during two close flybys, the data also show that most of Io's surface is remarkably smooth and composed of material with very low density. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-juno-temperature-jupiter-fiery-moon.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:07:19 EDT news703943161 Observations made with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) have revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Unlike moons in our solar system, the newly found object does not orbit a planet, raising questions about what to name it. Instead, it circles a brown dwarf, an object larger than a planet, that orbits the CD-35 2722 star. If confirmed, this could be the first "moon" discovered outside our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-jupiter-mass-exomoon-orbiting-brown.html Astronomy Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:00:03 EDT news703842182 A Southwest Research Institute and University of Texas at San Antonio experiment has passed a critical NASA review, designating it ready for parabolic flight testing. The two institutions will evaluate the performance of a patent-pending electrolyzer, the Mars Atmospheric Reactor for Synthesis of Consumables (MARS-C), in partial-gravity environments. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-electyrolyzer-ready-fly-nasa.html Space Exploration Tue, 21 Jul 2026 22:00:01 EDT news703864012 On Aug. 5, 2026, an abandoned piece of space junk is predicted to crash into the moon near a spot called Einstein Crater. Astronomers will be watching because the collision and aftermath may be visible from Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spacex-rocket-moon-scientists.html Space Exploration Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:50:01 EDT news703856818 Researchers from Manchester and Canada have shown that the claim by the authors of a study published earlier this year that most of its participants had experienced parental alienating behaviors during childhood is seriously misleading. Claims in the study that people affected by parental alienating behaviors showed greater signs of stress, PTSD and depression are also challenged by the team from The University of Manchester and the University of New Brunswick. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-evidence-high-profile-parental-alienation.html Social Sciences Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:00:03 EDT news703758181 AI companies increasingly want to move their operations into space. Elon Musk's SpaceX has applied to launch over a million AI data center satellites and ultimately build them on the moon. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-environmental-footprint-wont-orbit.html Earth Sciences Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:40:02 EDT news703748457 Nearly 40% of Canadian workers say they feel burned out often or always, according to a 2025 survey by Mental Health Research Canada and Canada Life. The term has become part of a broader lexicon of modern work, alongside quiet quitting, hustle culture and grindset and "taskmasking." https://phys.org/news/2026-07-burnout-isnt-18thcentury-farm-workers.html Archaeology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:20:04 EDT news703747801 How life started on our own planet may not seem as interesting as finding evidence of life on Mars or the icy moons Europa or Enceladus. But the search for the first eukaryotes on Earth remains as important to astrobiology as finding life on a far-flung planet. That's in part because, for 90% of Earth's history, life was microbial. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-earth-complex-life.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:00:05 EDT news703747742 The moon has been bathed in solar wind for billions of years, but the two hemispheres are struck by solar wind of different speeds and energies. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-samples-reveal-earth-solar-moon.html Planetary Sciences Sun, 19 Jul 2026 15:00:02 EDT news703506046 The spacecraft aced its encounter with Mars. Now, mission scientists are studying a trove of data from the flyby in preparation for its arrival at asteroid Psyche in 2029. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-nasa-psyche-mission-mars-flyby.html Planetary Sciences Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:51:26 EDT news703605061 India's first privately built orbital rocket took its maiden flight Saturday, its company said, marking a significant step for the South Asian giant as it eyes a bigger slice of the global space economy. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-india-successfully-private-orbital-rocket.html Space Exploration Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:36:46 EDT news703582576 America's most daring, extraordinary feat—landing astronauts on the moon—remains the pinnacle of achievement by anyone anywhere. Ever. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-earth-nasa-apollo-lunar-lander.html Space Exploration Sat, 18 Jul 2026 04:00:34 EDT news703566003 Reflect Orbital moves ahead with the company's first Eärendil launch amid concerns from the astronomical community. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fcc-space-reflector-constellation.html Astronomy Fri, 17 Jul 2026 23:00:01 EDT news703500899 Private companies are reshaping India's space ambitions, building rockets and satellites as the country pushes to capture a bigger share of the global space economy. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-india-private-space-industry-stars.html Space Exploration Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:00:07 EDT news703491730 SpaceX's mega Starship rocket came within a second or so from blasting off on a test flight Thursday, but some of the engines failed to ignite, triggering a launch abort amid billowing clouds of smoke and vapor. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spacex-starship-aborted-pad-moment.html Space Exploration Fri, 17 Jul 2026 05:07:55 EDT news703483630 Before Artemis astronauts land on the moon's surface in 2028, NASA will conduct the Artemis III demonstration mission in 2027, allowing teams on Earth and in orbit to practice rendezvous and docking operations between commercial human landing systems and the Orion spacecraft. Data from that mission, along with future uncrewed demonstration missions at the moon, will support astronaut safety and mission success for crewed lunar landings. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-nasa-artemis-iii-lander-pave.html Space Exploration Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:40:08 EDT news703399801 What does it take to catch up with a small, tumbling rock hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Earth? For China's Tianwen-2 mission, the answer was a 400-day chase covering roughly 1 billion kilometers (621 million miles) of deep space—one that has just ended in success. The China National Space Administration has confirmed that the probe has rendezvoused with the near-Earth asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, also known as 2016 HO3, closing to within about 20 kilometers (12 miles) and officially beginning its scientific exploration phase. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-billion-kilometers-china-asteroid-hunter.html Space Exploration Wed, 15 Jul 2026 16:20:01 EDT news703326234 Scientists have painted the most detailed portrait yet of the planetary system orbiting Barnard's Star—the sun's closest neighbor after Alpha Centauri, just under six light-years from Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-astronomers-nearby-planets-small-strange.html Astrobiology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:20:01 EDT news703340046 A Southwest Research Institute-led study has proposed a connection between a specific collision in the main asteroid belt and an inner-solar-system-wide bombardment episode that may have had measurable biological and geological consequences on Earth. The research suggests that the catastrophic breakup of the Eulalia parent body could be linked to an impact shower that struck the terrestrial planets about 800 million years ago. The work is published on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-asteroid-breakup-solar-bombardment-million.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:00:12 EDT news703338887 Studies published in prestigious academic journals receive more attention from scholars and media outlets, shaping public discourse and potentially accelerating academic careers. While the path to publication is often murky, a new analysis of more than 110,000 papers submitted to Science and Science Advances—two leading journals published by the world's largest general science association—reveals that Western scientists, larger teams, top-ranked universities and select regions have slight advantages in acceptance rates. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-editorial-trends-science-journals.html Education Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:30 EDT news703325741 Ocean tides push upstream along coastal rivers, in some cases reaching hundreds of kilometers (hundreds of miles) inland. These inland stretches are known as tidal rivers, and they're the scene of complex interactions between the river current and tidal oscillations. When rivers flood, tidal dynamics can sometimes add to a river's height, increasing overall peak water levels and amplifying flooding. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tides-river-combine-amplify.html Earth Sciences Tue, 14 Jul 2026 17:20:03 EDT news703250317 New research by lunar scientists from Brown University provides critical new insights into the thickness of the moon's regolith, the layer of loose dust and rock that drapes the entire lunar surface. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-eye-exploration-moon-regolith-thickness.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 14 Jul 2026 17:00:09 EDT news703263513 How do black holes at the centers of galaxies form and grow over time? To answer this question, scientists need to detect and study supermassive black holes at great distances that existed much earlier in the universe's history. New research suggests NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is on track to launch Aug. 30, 2026, will be able to detect these distant, ancient black holes that existed up to 11 billion years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-roman-telescope-distant-black-holes.html Astronomy Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:20:06 EDT news703254967 Evidence of the slowing of Charon's spin period (despinning) is recorded in tectonic features on the surface of Pluto's icy moon, according to a modeling study published in Nature Communications. The findings offer insights into the early thermal evolution of Charon and other icy satellites in the outer solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-pluto-moon-charon.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:38:00 EDT news703255062 The expense of launching cargo into space will plummet over the next few years, with the cost of reaching orbit forecast to more than halve between now and the end of the decade, and fall by around 93% by 2040, according to new Cambridge-led research. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-space-cargo-fall.html Space Exploration Tue, 14 Jul 2026 07:35:02 EDT news703233247 More than a century after Albert Einstein first transformed our understanding of gravity, his general theory of relativity continues to withstand ever more demanding experimental tests. Now, an international team led by Ignazio Ciufolini at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has carried out the most precise measurement yet of one of the theory's most subtle predictions: the dragging of spacetime caused by Earth's rotation. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-validate-einstein.html Astronomy Tue, 14 Jul 2026 07:30:01 EDT news703154341 After decades of analyzing reams of lunar rocks back here on Earth, the canonical view of the moon was that it was anhydrous; that it had extraordinarily little water. That all began to change in 2009 with new data from NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) and the much-ballyhooed evidence of water ice in the moon's permanently shaded polar regions (PSRs). https://phys.org/news/2026-07-moon-chemically-bound-deep-interior.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 13 Jul 2026 22:20:01 EDT news703154539 Researchers at the University of Warwick and the University of Colorado Boulder have directly observed, for the first time, four white dwarfs in binary star systems in our nearby region of space. These stellar binaries are all within 65 light-years of Earth, and one contains the ninth-closest white dwarf to the sun. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-dead-stars-cosmic-backyard-astronomers.html Astronomy Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:00:01 EDT news703143636 The Space Aquaculture Project at Okayama University of Science is an ambitious research initiative aimed at cultivating fish and crustaceans on the moon and Mars, which are expected to serve as food production bases for future space exploration. The project ultimately seeks to improve astronauts' quality of life through better food options in space. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-shrimp-behavior-simulated-microgravity.html Plants & Animals Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:54:20 EDT news703169626 A giant mirror to create "sunlight on demand" was just approved by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), despite opposition from astronomers and the public, and real safety concerns. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-giant-space-mirror-sunlight-demand.html Space Exploration Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:07:02 EDT news703159573