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. While a colleague traveled along the East Coast from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico collecting oysters, Northeastern University bioinformatics graduate student Megha Prasad worked away at her computer. She zeroed in on DNA, the molecule containing instructions for making proteins that shape the critters' traits. It also holds the key to their adaptation to the changing climate. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-uncover-oyster-dna-linked.html Ecology Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:00:07 EDT news707033222 In productive marine environments, a square meter (10.8 square feet) of seafloor can be perforated by hundreds to thousands of isolated and interconnected tunnels through which crawl and writhe a cornucopia of clams, shrimp, sea stars, sand dollars, snails, worms and other animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-twenty-years-fossils-reveal-blurs.html Paleontology & Fossils Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:00:07 EDT news706530721 Researchers have identified two new species in the genus Bogidiella, small shrimp-like amphipods that live in subterranean aquatic environments, from cave waters on the Ryukyu Islands, a subtropical island chain in southwestern Japan. These creatures are clear products of their underground aquatic environment, often lacking pigmentation and eyes, with elongated appendages and reduced swimming legs, called pleopods. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-eyeless-shrimp-species-japan-groundwater.html Plants & Animals Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:00:01 EDT news706175761 What does it mean when brown patches show up in a perfectly healthy lawn? The truth is, it could be anything from drought to dog urine, fungal diseases, pests or too much fertilizer. But many homeowners automatically blame grubs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-lawn-grubs.html Ecology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 18:40:01 EDT news705664081 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 Shedd Aquarium has sent four zebra shark eggs to contribute to a conservation effort for the endangered species, marking the Chicago nonprofit's first delivery to Raja Ampat, Indonesia. As a founding partner of ReShark, Shedd Aquarium has long contributed expertise to the StAR Project (Stegostoma tigrinum Augmentation and Recovery)—ReShark's pioneering zebra shark, or Indo-Pacific Leopard Shark, recovery initiative. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-aquarium-shark-eggs-bolster-wild.html Plants & Animals Tue, 04 Aug 2026 07:00:03 EDT news705036902 Imagine trying to swallow a sip of water while your face feels stuffed with congestion, your sense of taste is dulled and your body is floating 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-spaceflight-astronauts-swallow-subtle-ways.html Space Exploration Mon, 03 Aug 2026 14:20:03 EDT news704979421 As the U.S. looks to expand domestic seafood production, a new University of Miami study argues that long-term competitiveness will depend on how well fisheries can withstand climate-driven disruptions. The study comes as NOAA advances new efforts to increase domestic seafood production and suggests that producing more seafood will require investments that reduce disruptions to the nation's fisheries and seafood supply chains. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-climate-resilience-strategy-seafood-competitiveness.html Agriculture Wed, 29 Jul 2026 19:20:03 EDT news704556062 Researchers have described a new species of shrimpgoby from the coastal waters off Banyuwangi, East Java, and given it a name that pays tribute to both its fiery coloration and its birthplace. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-shrimpgoby-species-sunrise-java.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Jul 2026 17:40:06 EDT news704473261 You've been planning your dream beach vacation for months, only to arrive and find the shoreline covered in large piles of smelly, brown seaweed, with even more floating offshore. It's disappointing, for sure—and increasingly common. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-sargassum-smelly-nemesis-beach-vacations.html Ecology Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:00:02 EDT news704459401 Invasive rats on tropical islands are creating winners and losers among the tiny underwater animals near the bottom of the food chain that inhabit surrounding coral reefs. Scientists say the changes to these marine ecosystems can rewire food chains on the reefs. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-invasive-rats-rewire-coral-reef.html Plants & Animals Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:00:36 EDT news704381942 The pearly razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula) is a small marine animal that lives in sandy coastal waters and feeds on creatures like shrimp. Known locally in Spain's Balearic Islands as raors, it is a popular dish in many homes and restaurants across the region. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fishing-fish-species-molecular.html Plants & Animals Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:40:06 EDT news704113560 A new collaborative research project between Murdoch University and Walailak University (WU) aims to restore seagrass meadows in Thailand using 3D-printed pods made from bioplastics. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-3d-bioplastic-pods-seagrass-thailand.html Ecology Thu, 23 Jul 2026 23:20:01 EDT news704019083 Around 80 million years ago, a stretch of tropical coastline in what is now northeastern Italy was lashed by monsoon rains and tropical cyclones. Those storms swept dinosaur carcasses, crocodiles, plants and river mud onto a tidal flat, where the tides and a film of microbes sealed everything away with extraordinary preservation. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-storms-built-graveyard-ancient-monsoons.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:20:09 EDT news703938783 For decades, scientists have crawled through Bobcat Cave on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, searching its dark pools and underground passages for rare life. The cave is home to the endangered Alabama cave shrimp, making it one of the most closely watched cave systems in the region. Researchers have surveyed it month after month for roughly 40 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-demon-cavefish-lineage-alabama-cave.html Plants & Animals Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:40:03 EDT news703848541 The Great Salt Lake is separated by a 20-mile (32-kilometer) causeway into a super-salty north arm and a less-salty south arm, with each hosting distinct communities of extremophiles. These organisms mingle at a gap in the causeway, designed to regulate salinity, that has provided microbiologists with an unusual and rich opportunity to study how human activities and weather disturbances affect microbial communities in extreme environments. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-weather-human-impact-lake-extremophiles.html Earth Sciences Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:00:03 EDT news703505669 Hyperiid amphipods are a small but anatomically diverse group of shrimp-like crustaceans with remarkable adaptations for life in the ocean's twilight zone. A team of researchers from MBARI, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, GEOMAR, the University of Western Australia and the Florida Museum of Natural History leveraged 30 years of video observations from MBARI's robotic submersibles to study the evolution of eye complexity in hyperiid amphipods. The team recently published its findings in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-evolution-remarkable-eyes-deepsea.html Evolution Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:00:01 EDT news703326587 Domestic fisheries catches in the Chagos Archipelago are 25 times higher than official statistics show, according to a recent study by Sea Around Us—Indian Ocean and Sea Around Us researchers. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-chagos-slated-shift-reveals-true.html Ecology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:10:01 EDT news703228423 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 IMDEA Materials Institute has developed mechanically tunable hydrogel membranes that closely mimic the mechanical environment of human skin while remaining highly biocompatible, representing an improved platform for skin tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-chitosan-based-hydrogel-membranes-transparent.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:00:08 EDT news703147866 Scientists from a handful of universities across the country have made innovative use of satellite images from NASA to determine the diet of Antarctic Adélie penguins across the continent by studying their icy feces with a fidelity and frequency that could be captured only by space technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-penguin-poo-satellites-reveal-global.html Ecology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:00:02 EDT news702807956 The shape of biological structures, ranging from flower petals to the limbs or organs of animals, is often naturally best suited for performing specific functions. Biological structures also often present curved surfaces with specific functional advantages, such as facilitating the drainage of water, increasing a structure's strength or aerodynamic efficiency, or supporting heavy loads. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bioinspired-strategy-complex-3d-shrinkage.html General Physics Mon, 06 Jul 2026 07:20:07 EDT news702118964 During his morning runs, Rod Keogh had no doubt that the whale poo he saw washed up on the beach had value. Science has finally caught up with him. Samples collected by the South Australian man have contributed to a groundbreaking study of the diets and microbiomes of southern right whales, led by Macquarie University in Sydney and Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland. The study is now published in the journal Molecular Ecology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-beachcomber-fuels-whale-breakthrough.html Ecology Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:50:06 EDT news702287382 A scientific project launched by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in direct collaboration with fishermen in the region has evaluated the state of fishery resources and ecological quality in the Garraf and Plana de Foix Marine Area. The species were found to be in good biological and health condition, with low levels of contaminants and an overall healthy state. The research has led to the creation of a Strategic Plan for Sustainable Fisheries. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-good-state-garraf-fishery-resources.html Ecology Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:40:06 EDT news701426850 When Jasmin Imran Alsous peered down her microscope lens, she expected to see chaos—a mishmash of tangled cells. She was viewing the inside of a male fruit fly's sperm storage organ, using a powerful microscope at the CCBScope Observatory, the experimental biology lab at the Center for Computational Biology (CCB) at the Simons Foundation's Flatiron Institute in New York City. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-thousands-nature-longest-sperm-tiny.html Evolution Mon, 22 Jun 2026 14:20:15 EDT news701353213 An international team of researchers have published a new review in Animal Behavior revealing how communication enables cooperation between different animal species. The review, titled "The ecology and evolution of cues and signals in animal interspecies cooperation," highlights how movements, visual displays, calls, and other behavioral cues and signals help partners coordinate interactions and align interests across species boundaries. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-animals-communicate-species-boundaries.html Plants & Animals Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:00:01 EDT news701079434 On his fishing boat moored in the Greek port of Ierapetra in southwestern Crete, Alexis Charlambakis pries open the mouth of a freshly caught pufferfish to reveal two massive teeth on each jaw. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-greek-fishermen-struggle-pufferfish-invaders.html Ecology Mon, 15 Jun 2026 03:51:18 EDT news700714223 A new study of the blue button (Porpita porpita), a small and elusive sea creature which lives on the surface of the ocean, has found that it may live for several years adrift at sea, much longer than previously estimated. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-tiny-sea-creature-porpita-adrift.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 08:40:03 EDT news698484541 Burrowing shrimp are small marine excavators native to Washington. They make their homes deep in the sediment by digging, turning the ground to Swiss cheese. This presents a problem for shellfish farmers, whose clams and oysters are often smothered under layers of displaced sediment. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-method-washington-shellfish-farmers-pesky.html Ecology Thu, 14 May 2026 14:11:28 EDT news697986662 Beneath the lush rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula lies a hidden, subterranean world: a vast network of flooded sinkholes and anchialine caves. These unique underwater systems, which mix fresh and saltwater and are influenced by the tides, have no open connection to the surface and have served as an evolutionary refuge for millions of years. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tiny-cave-shrimps-power-underworld.html Evolution Mon, 20 Apr 2026 09:20:04 EDT news695893441