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. Global efforts to preserve habitat and the planet's most endangered species urgently need to be stepped up, according to a new report from Map of Life, the flagship initiative of the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-life-safeguard-global-biodiversity.html Plants & Animals Tue, 27 Oct 2026 12:20:14 EDT news712307127 Can protecting elephants and whales help mitigate climate change? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-large-animals-mitigate-climate-complicated.html Earth Sciences Tue, 20 Oct 2026 11:40:09 EDT news711708181 Japanese scientists will launch a spacecraft on Tuesday that aims to be the first to retrieve samples from one of Mars' moons, potentially helping unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-japan-world-mission-moon-mars.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 19 Oct 2026 15:30:01 EDT news711639870 Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars' moons to retrieve samples that could help unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth, in what aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-japan-historic-mission-mars-moon.html Space Exploration Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:20:01 EDT news711555681 A Ph.D. student at the University of Sydney has produced the first comprehensive classification system and map of Martian soils, creating a new framework that could help scientists compare landscapes across the Red Planet and identify promising locations for future exploration, habitation and food production. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-comprehensive-mars-soil-classification-framework.html Astrobiology Fri, 16 Oct 2026 16:40:06 EDT news711372541 A research team has found that molten rock can carry more oxygen than its chemical composition would seem to allow. Their study is published in National Science Review. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-excess-oxygen-deep-earth-magma.html Earth Sciences Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:00:14 EDT news711366305 In an effort to conserve the world's plants and animals, governments have pledged to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030. Official figures suggest that attempts to reach this target on land have stalled, but a new study led by the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom shows 27% of land may already be conserved for biodiversity if you also count areas that aren't globally recognized but still support wildlife. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-world.html Ecology Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:40:14 EDT news711287461 The seventh annual report by an international coalition led by Oregon State University scientists says the Earth's climate system is quickly becoming unstable and that while signs of important societal changes are emerging, greater and faster action is necessary. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-earth-climate-unstable-positive-emerge.html Earth Sciences Wed, 14 Oct 2026 09:00:05 EDT news711173232 When Belgian American particle physicist Francis Halzen was awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in physics "for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin," it was a reminder that for more than a century, scientists have treated Antarctica's environments as windows onto worlds beyond Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-physics-nobel-highlights-antarctica-role.html Astronomy Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:20:01 EDT news711018902 The world must seize a shrinking window to reverse the steep decline of wildlife and nature by triggering positive tipping points in food and finance, following the path of the one already underway in energy, according to a major new report from WWF featuring contributions from the University of Exeter's academic experts. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-world-seize-window-nature-wildlife.html Ecology Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:00:01 EDT news710676002 The world is changing. As humans, we tend to focus on what happens on land, but the planet's food systems depend on both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-oceans-reshape-plankton-potentially-fish.html Plants & Animals Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:20:11 EDT news710498761 In the early history of our solar system, scientists theorize that a Mars-sized object called Theia smashed into the infant Earth, vaporizing massive amounts of rock and blasting it into space. Some of that material coalesced into the moon, where NASA's Artemis program is returning humans, preparing for Mars and shaping the future of space exploration. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-webb-planet-shattering-collisions.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 01 Oct 2026 18:00:13 EDT news710078942 Lakes may cover only a small fraction of Earth's surface, but new research suggests they play a bigger role in regulating the planet's climate than previously recognized. By reflecting sunlight back into space when covered in snow and ice, lakes in the Northern Hemisphere have a stronger cooling effect than the surrounding land. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-overlooked-lakes-northern-hemisphere-cool.html Earth Sciences Tue, 29 Sep 2026 08:00:07 EDT news709549225 In the search for extraterrestrial life, it makes sense to first look for rocky planets with an atmosphere, like Earth. Without an atmosphere, a planet can't have surface water. But of the more than 6,300 exoplanets cataloged thus far, the vast majority are not rocky, and only a handful of the rocky worlds appear to have an atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-coolest-lava-world-atmosphere-clues.html Astrobiology Thu, 24 Sep 2026 18:20:06 EDT news709469461 The asteroid Bennu orbits the sun once every 1.2 years and approaches Earth every six years, passing within around 300,000 kilometers. NASA took advantage of this to collect material from the celestial body. In a spectacular operation in 2023, the US space agency collected samples from the surface of the asteroid Bennu by its OSIRIS-REx probe. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bennu-asteroid-samples-involving-jupiter.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 23 Sep 2026 18:40:01 EDT news709399861 Rivers across the globe in 2025 had one of the driest years in more than three decades, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It shows a continuation of the long-term decline in Earth's freshwater storage and glacier retreat—trends with serious implications for people and economies in the future. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-global-reveals-drying-rivers-erratic.html Earth Sciences Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:20:01 EDT news708867601 About 252 million years ago, at the end of the Permian Period, a large proportion of species on Earth rapidly became extinct. After this mass extinction, many groups of organisms began to recover, while reptiles known as archosauromorphs—the group that includes dinosaurs and crocodiles—proliferated. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-analysis-reconstructs-dawn-dinosaurs-reptiles.html Evolution Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:00:04 EDT news708176567 As the BepiColombo mission prepares to enter the final phase of its journey to Mercury, a series of studies conducted by researchers at the University of Liège and KU Leuven sheds new light on the early stages of the evolution of the planet closest to the sun. Using experimental petrology, the researchers are reconstructing in the laboratory the formation of Mercury's core, the crystallization of its magma ocean and the formation of its mantle. The studies are published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Nature Communications and Advances in Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-mercury-graphite-crust-core.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:00:01 EDT news707746443 Venus is one of the solar system's most unusual planets. It may sometimes be called "Earth's twin" because of its similar size and density, but it rotates on its axis in the opposite direction of most planets, has surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead and lacks a moon. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-doesnt-venus-moon.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:10:02 EDT news707657547 Microbes from space have fueled the plots of science fiction mainstays like "Project Hail Mary" and "The Andromeda Strain." But with more space missions launching each year, finding extraterrestrial life in a microbial form is becoming more plausible. What will the response be back here on Earth if—or when—scientists discover extraterrestrial microbes? Will the international policy and security communities be prepared for the fallout? https://phys.org/news/2026-09-space-missions-life-earth-fallout.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 01 Sep 2026 20:40:01 EDT news707483513 Welcome back to our series on Interstellar Travel, where we look at the many proposals made for sending missions to the stars since the dawn of the Space Age. In our first installment, we examined how Cold War-era developments in nuclear weapons and rockets paralleled advances in space exploration, resulting in proposals for nuclear rockets. We then examined how the creation of thermonuclear weapons led to applications in fusion propulsion. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-interstellar-warp-wormholes-halo.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Aug 2026 11:40:04 EDT news707391962 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 new study has reconciled a long-standing paradox in the South Asian summer monsoon cycle. Climate scientists have discovered why geological records from land and sea have told opposite stories about monsoons throughout history and found that rising temperatures over Southern Africa reduce upwelling in the Arabian Sea, which could damage marine productivity and fisheries. The work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-climate-scientists-monsoon-puzzle-fisheries.html Earth Sciences Mon, 24 Aug 2026 11:20:05 EDT news706788601 Over the past three decades, computer models of planetary system formation have gone from fairly crude representations to sophisticated simulations using thousands of different starting points. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-solar-earth-fluke.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:40:05 EDT news706520402 A new study led by researchers at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin shows that Berlin's dragonfly populations have declined by more than half since 1963, while populations of frogs, toads and newts have fallen by more than three-quarters since 1981. The study also involved Berlin-based experts Falk Petzold and Klaus-Detlef Kühnel, who coordinate the data series. The research, which was carried out as part of the project "Understanding Diversity—Exploring and Experiencing Nature," was published in the journal Global Change Biology Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hidden-losses-amphibians-dragonflies-berlin.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:00:01 EDT news706275583 Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars' moons to retrieve samples that may unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth, although a rival Chinese mission aims to make it back first. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-japan-aims-moons-mars.html Planetary Sciences Sun, 16 Aug 2026 15:05:17 EDT news706111469 From launchpads to low Earth orbit and beyond, space companies and their affiliates are deploying a familiar marketing tactic—with a new twist. In a space economy projected to reach US$1.8 trillion by 2035, they sell space exploration narratives by appealing to a desire to expand humankind beyond Earth—while downplaying or omitting the negative repercussions for Earth and the space environment. Welcome to the age of starwashing. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-starwashing-space-companies-greenwashing-playbook.html Space Exploration Fri, 14 Aug 2026 21:00:01 EDT news705765127 If you want to know how rapidly pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere will affect future forest ecosystems, you have to look into the distant past. The researchers behind a new study published in Science have done just that, reconstructing the forest canopy of 56 million years ago, during a massive and abrupt emission of carbon into the atmosphere during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). For the first time, the study's authors used fossilized leaf cells to reconstruct the tree canopy of the PETM, Earth's most recent period of comparable global warming, with chilling implications for our near future. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-paleontologists-reconstruct-forests-million-years.html Ecology Thu, 13 Aug 2026 14:00:06 EDT news705678121 You may have heard reports of fish die-offs or seen photos of hauntingly bleached coral. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-marine-cooking-ocean-ecosystems-common.html Environment Thu, 13 Aug 2026 08:00:05 EDT news705821548 The building blocks of rocky planets may have begun forming just 100 million years after the Big Bang—long before the first galaxies even existed—according to new research from the University of Portsmouth. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-supernovae-seeded-rocky-planet-blocks.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:20:03 EDT news705757021