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. Patients in hospitals generally trust the nursing staff. After all, they have undergone training and, in some cases, have several years of professional experience. In the case of carpenter ants, it is not nursing expertise that determines who cares for the patients. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-colony-ant-wound-transitional-workers.html Plants & Animals Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:00:01 EDT news702205505 Fire ants are a common nuisance across much of the United States, known for their painful stings and unsightly dirt mounds in lawns and outdoor spaces. However, for individuals who are allergic, these pests can cause potentially life-threatening reactions. To help keep communities safe this summer, University of Tennessee Extension is sharing tips for effective fire ant control. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ant.html Plants & Animals Tue, 30 Jun 2026 07:00:03 EDT news702015182 The Botanical Garden in Uppsala was recently visited by animal ecology researchers, who conducted a BioBlitz to find, identify and record as many insects as possible in the Botanical Garden. One of the finds was an endangered butterfly called the Small Blue, Cupido minimus. It is abundant in one of the garden's meadows. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-vulnerable-butterfly-botanical-garden-uppsala.html Ecology Fri, 26 Jun 2026 20:40:04 EDT news701682351 There's more than one way a spider can spin its web. Some construct large vertical orb webs, while others build horizontal sheet webs or tangled cobwebs that ensnare crawling insects. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tiny-australian-spider-highpowered-web.html Plants & Animals Tue, 23 Jun 2026 20:20:04 EDT news701440275 An echidna in Tasmania looks very different from one in Western Australia. But the differences run much deeper than appearance. A new review published in Australian Zoologist by University of Tasmania zoologist Stewart Nicol, an associate professor from the School of Natural Sciences, has found echidnas across Australia differ widely in diet, breeding, behavior and physiology, challenging long-held assumptions that they are the same. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-australia-echidnas-reveal-scientific-puzzle.html Evolution Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:20:24 EDT news701425695 Researchers have identified "DNA switches" that become active as honeybee larvae grow into worker bees, offering new insight into the development of these important pollinators and the ecosystems they support. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-honeybee-metamorphosis-uncovers-dna-worker.html Ecology Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:20:07 EDT news701425717 New research from the University of St. Andrews has shown that higher extinction risk is associated with a higher frequency of decreasing local prevalence of species, in an analysis of one of the most comprehensive long-term databases ever created, BioTIME—a major tool to study biodiversity change also developed at the University of St. Andrews. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-local-species-trends-flag-global.html Plants & Animals Tue, 23 Jun 2026 05:00:08 EDT news701343121 An international team of researchers has discovered a remarkable new spider species in the rainforest of North Queensland that spins an ingenious and powerful spring-actuated snare to catch a single species of ant—one ant at a time—in what they describe as "the ultimate specialization." https://phys.org/news/2026-06-newly-australian-ballista-spider-snare.html Plants & Animals Mon, 22 Jun 2026 11:00:09 EDT news701094716 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 A James Cook University Ph.D. student's late-night solo survey has led to the first recorded sighting of a microwhip scorpion in the Daintree Rainforest. JCU entomologist and taxonomist Matthew Connors works at the university's Daintree Rainforest Observatory as a demonstrator and rainforest tour guide for visiting groups. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-student-sighting-microwhip-scorpion-daintree.html Plants & Animals Fri, 19 Jun 2026 09:00:03 EDT news701078041 Malaysian scientists have discovered a new species of parasitic fungus in Borneo's jungles that preys on "zombie fungi" known to infect insects before subjecting them to a gruesome death. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-hyperparasite-malaysia-borneo-jungle.html Ecology Fri, 19 Jun 2026 03:59:28 EDT news701060265 Many animals exhibit fascinating collective behaviors, which allow them to move, search for food, reproduce and avoid threats more effectively than they would alone. One of these behaviors is queuing migration, which essentially entails traveling as a group in an organized line or procession. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ancient-amber-fossil-captures-mites.html Evolution Wed, 17 Jun 2026 07:00:01 EDT news700735961 Many quantum effects can be observed only when a small number of particles is studied—individual atoms, molecules or photons, for example, carefully shielded from the rest of the world. But what about macroscopic objects, consisting of an unimaginably large number of particles? Can they, too, display effects that provide a direct glimpse into the quantum world? https://phys.org/news/2026-06-high-degree-quantum-entanglement-centimeter.html Condensed Matter Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:00:04 EDT news700831442 A tropical butterfly has evolved an ingenious anti-aging strategy by delaying the aging process, enabling it to live far longer than its closest relatives, according to a new University of Bristol-led study published in Nature Communications. Found throughout the tropical rainforests of South and Central America, butterflies of the Heliconius tribe are among the longest-lived species ever recorded and could provide a new model for studying the biology of longevity. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-geriatric-butterfly-species.html Evolution Tue, 16 Jun 2026 11:00:05 EDT news700821607 El Niño, Nature's chaotic climate agent, has formed in a warmed-up Pacific Ocean and is expected to grow to historic strength, meteorologists announced Thursday. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-el-nino-scientists-itll-big.html Environment Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:36:44 EDT news700403745 Heat waves across Europe and South Asia have dominated the news recently. But these events are really a surface expression of more fundamental changes affecting our planet: Earth itself is accumulating heat faster than ever before. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-earth-energy-imbalance.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:20:02 EDT news700394702 For many Florida homeowners, lawn mowing can feel like a never-ending chore, especially in the heat of summer. New guidance from experts suggests autonomous or robotic lawn mowers can ease that burden while effectively managing Florida's hardy lawns, including St. Augustine grass. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-robotic-mowers-florida-lawn-health.html Plants & Animals Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:20:05 EDT news700304042 Chimpanzees are the only great apes, apart from humans, that have adapted to living on savannas as well as in forests. However, it is not yet well understood how the harsh ecological conditions of the savanna—compared with those of the forest—affect the foods chimpanzees eat and how they obtain them. Now, a study led by the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain (IJGE) reveals for the first time the strategies savanna chimpanzees use to make tools and extract aggressive army ants—also known as marabunta—from their underground nests and eat them in these dry, hot habitats. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-savanna-chimpanzees-tools-capturing-army.html Evolution Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:20:06 EDT news700221962 A new analysis of approximately 600,000 research papers reveals structural limits to single-country security oversight of dual-use research and identifies trade-offs that policymakers face when strengthening such oversight. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-dual-outgrow-national-oversight-analysis.html Education Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:20:02 EDT news699878822 Dinosaurs are estimated to have roamed Earth for over 165 million years, gradually evolving over time to survive in changing environments. Among the many fascinating groups of dinosaurs known to have lived on our planet are alvarezsauroids. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tiny-armed-alvarezsauroid-dinosaurs-insect.html Evolution Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:40:06 EDT news699529068 Researchers in Spain have discovered that in collectives of moving fire ants, rippling "waves" of density and activity are likely triggered by local regions where ants collectively travel in the same direction as their neighbors. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ripples-ant-motions-driven-neighbor.html General Physics Thu, 28 May 2026 10:00:07 EDT news699098891 Insects are declining across Europe. Czech scientists have determined this decline can be mitigated by returning large ungulates—horses, aurochs cattle, and wisents—to landscapes. This has been shown by a recent study by a group of researchers from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences (BC CAS), who surveyed five insect groups across eleven sites rewilded by large ungulates in Czechia. Their results have just been published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-trophic-rewilding-large-herbivores-insect.html Plants & Animals Tue, 26 May 2026 12:00:06 EDT news699011561 It may sound too bizarre to be true, but the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa), a fish that inhabits rivers, lakes, and swamps in Mexico and Texas, exists over much of its range in populations that are 100% female. In 1932, the Amazon molly became the first known vertebrate to reproduce by cloning itself, producing all-female populations. A new genetic study published in Nature has given scientists insights into the longstanding mystery about how and why this happens. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-asexual-lizards-virgin-births-clones.html Plants & Animals Fri, 22 May 2026 09:40:02 EDT news698661362 Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the lofty goal of ferrying humans to Mars and colonizing Earth's neighboring planet. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-spacex-sprawling-company-stars-mars.html Space Exploration Thu, 21 May 2026 07:10:01 EDT news698556075 Vibrant, tiny, and sporting a bright red grin on its back, the Happy-Face spider is one of the most famous and recognizable arachnids in the world. For over a century, this cheerful-looking creature was thought to be a unique resident of the Hawaiian Islands, a biological curiosity found nowhere else on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-happy-spider-species-indian-himalayas.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 09:20:06 EDT news698400543 Playing a virtual reality game in which the player takes on the role of the zombie fungus Ophiocordyceps increases the players' understanding of how evolution works. Last summer, Utrecht University zombie ant researchers William Beckerson, Maite Goebbels and Charissa de Bekker invited visitors to the University Museum Utrecht to play the virtual reality game Zombie Ants VR: Definitive Edition. Comparisons between questionnaires completed before and after the game suggest that playing the game made the players more aware of how natural selection operates. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-virtual-reality-game-zombie-ants.html Education Mon, 18 May 2026 20:40:01 EDT news698315471 Lobster had one of the greatest reputation makeovers in food history. Once treated as "food for the poor," it is now served in expensive restaurants, dipped in butter and presented as a delicacy. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-cricket-nuggets-caterpillar-cookies-canadians.html Economics & Business Mon, 18 May 2026 14:40:01 EDT news698326801 Kenyan ant expert Dino Martins gushes over the red and black insects that have become the center of an international smuggling trade. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-kenya-poaching-problem-smuggling-giant.html Ecology Mon, 18 May 2026 04:51:32 EDT news698298661 In addition to serving as biochemical weapons for offense and defense, the venoms produced by ants in the subfamily Formicinae also fulfill additional roles. For example, the ants use it to protect their nests from pathogens. It has long been assumed that the primary constituent of these venoms, formic acid, was responsible for these functions. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-discovery-antimicrobial-peptides-ant-venom.html Biochemistry Thu, 14 May 2026 12:53:32 EDT news697981981 Easy-to-use adaptive immersive technologies incorporating augmented reality (AR) can motivate learning, social engagement and cognitive development in early childhood, according to new research. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ar-tech-augments-stem.html Education Thu, 14 May 2026 08:17:36 EDT news697965422