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. Dr. Tonya Lander, Stipendiary Lecturer at Christ Church and researcher at the Oxford Martin School Program on the Future of Food, explains the diverse factors that impact the price of chocolate, and what measures could help improve the long-term resilience and stability of this global market that supports millions of livelihoods. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-price-chocolate-volatile.html Economics & Business Mon, 15 Dec 2025 10:57:39 EST news685018622 The Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny, is a treasured relic of history in Great Britain, used for centuries as an accompaniment to the coronation of kings. This 152 kg (335 lb) sandstone block has suffered through a series of thefts and journeys, one of which apparently resulted in a loss of 34 fragments. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-fragments-stone-scone-tracked-reveal.html Archaeology Mon, 10 Nov 2025 12:10:01 EST news681998642 A new study reveals that up to a third of the British public felt petty corruption would have been acceptable in order to get early access to vaccines during the UK's COVID-19 vaccination rollout. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-uk-tolerant-petty-corruption-covid.html Social Sciences Thu, 09 Jan 2025 15:56:16 EST news655660572 Bora—a type of thank you gift—is a Sierra Leonean custom of respect that is often used in relation to land. For instance, informal farmers pay bora to landowners to be able to farm on their land. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-qa-sierra-leone-women-farmers.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Aug 2024 12:25:04 EDT news643461901 George Washington, John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan are going on a hair-raising journey into outer space. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-hair-eternity-space.html Space Exploration Mon, 20 Feb 2023 06:44:32 EST news596097869 Most gift givers likely won't choose a digital gift card over a physical gift card, even though many recipients would prefer the digital version. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-digital-gift-cards-easy-hard.html Social Sciences Mon, 13 Feb 2023 15:38:43 EST news595525113 Maine lobster fishermen received a Christmas gift from Congress at the end of 2022: A six-year delay on new federal regulations designed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-lobsters-whales-latest-chapter-quest.html Ecology Fri, 13 Jan 2023 12:10:07 EST news592834201 Until about 2020, universities used cryptocurrencies only to pay ransoms to criminals attacking their networks. A fast payment to criminals helped victim universities restore their networks quickly. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-ways-cryptocurrency-colleges-business-students.html Economics & Business Mon, 05 Dec 2022 12:29:03 EST news589465741 If you visit the Ju/'hoansi people of northeast Namibia and northwest Botswana, you will see families that make a living from a mixture of foraging, government aid, selling crafts and other ventures. Most people have some monetary income used to buy food, clothing and other goods. Some of the very few with salaried government jobs may have cars and furniture. Mud huts stand alongside stone houses. Wealth is unequally distributed and hiding behind some of that wealth is debt. https://phys.org/news/2022-10-year-perspective-money-hunter-gatherers-choices.html Social Sciences Fri, 07 Oct 2022 01:30:57 EDT news584325046 Almost everyone who's moved house has a story to tell—the truck was too small, the power got cut off too soon, the cat got lost on the day. Moving house can be stressful, but the better prepared you are, the higher the chances you'll enjoy the result. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-prison-life-upside-low-risk-prisoners.html Social Sciences Wed, 07 Sep 2022 09:16:03 EDT news581760961 Demand for rhino horn in Asian markets, especially Vietnam and China, has pushed the remaining rhino populations to the brink of extinction. In the past decade, nearly 10,000 rhinos were killed by poachers in Africa. The remaining rhino populations in Africa and Asia are steadily declining, with fewer than 30,000 animals left in 2020 from a population of 500,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-rhino-horn-consumers-reveal-legal.html Plants & Animals Fri, 21 Jan 2022 10:40:01 EST news561980926 For more than 40,000 years, Indigenous communities in Borneo have hunted and eaten bearded pigs—huge, nomadic animals that roam the island in Southeast Asia. These 100kg creatures are central to the livelihood and culture of some Bornean peoples—in fact, some hunters rarely talk of anything else. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-pigs-decimation-borneo-rainforests-threatens.html Plants & Animals Tue, 14 Sep 2021 07:28:35 EDT news550823311 Palm oil is everywhere today: in food, soap, lipstick, even newspaper ink. It's been called the world's most hated crop because of its association with deforestation in Southeast Asia. But despite boycott campaigns, the world uses more palm oil than any other vegetable oil—over 73 million tons in 2020. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-palm-oil-world-fat-source.html Environment Thu, 24 Jun 2021 10:50:01 EDT news543749845 As Australian consumers step out of their loungewear post-lockdown, many might be looking to buy new clothes for themselves or as gifts. https://phys.org/news/2020-11-ethical-fashion-confusingeven-shoppers-good.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Nov 2020 09:50:01 EST news525518117 Gold foil, ornate labels and an intriguing backstory are product characteristics highly desired by premium chocolate consumers, according to research conducted by food scientists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2020-11-golden-ticket-consumers-desire-chocolate.html Economics & Business Wed, 11 Nov 2020 13:18:33 EST news524323109 Canadians spend a lot of money around this time of year, on gifts, food, entertainment and travel. In its annual study of holiday season spending habits, the accounting firm PwC estimates that the average Canadian consumer will drop close to $1,600 in 2019. https://phys.org/news/2019-12-green-products-shoppers.html Economics & Business Thu, 05 Dec 2019 13:17:46 EST news494774263 For decades, more women have been entering male-dominated educational fields and careers. The proportion of men in female-dominated areas, on the other hand, has remained mostly unchanged. Now, gender gaps in female-dominated undergraduate majors—like foreign language—are larger than gender gaps in biology, math or the physical sciences.Foreign language proficiency is a useful skill that can lead to job opportunities and potential cognitive benefits. https://phys.org/news/2019-04-traditional-masculinity-english-speaking-men-languages.html Social Sciences Tue, 30 Apr 2019 08:25:43 EDT news475831534 The Chinese government will be reopening the nation's domestic rhino horn trade, overturning a ban that has stood since 1993. An outcry since the announcement has led to the postponement of the lifting of the ban, which currently remains in place. https://phys.org/news/2018-11-china-legalisation-rhino-horn-disaster.html Ecology Thu, 22 Nov 2018 08:03:11 EST news462096177 No more chocolate by 2050? Several articles have pointed recently that we are heading to a major chocolate crisis. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-chocapocalypse-looming-stake.html Economics & Business Wed, 22 Aug 2018 10:02:10 EDT news454149678 If you're struggling to find a different, out of the ordinary gift for someone special, here's a head start. https://phys.org/news/2017-11-gadgets-extraordinary-gifts-one-of-a-kinds.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 23 Nov 2017 07:50:02 EST news430645396 People have used crowdfunding sites to raise money for business ideas, help afford medical emergencies and even to pay for vacations. Now the concept is coming to college savings. https://phys.org/news/2017-06-529s-easier-family-friends-college.html Internet Wed, 21 Jun 2017 13:39:47 EDT news417271181 Kanishk Sajnani did not receive so much as a thank you from a major Indian airline when he contacted them with alarming news—he had hacked their website and could book flights anywhere in the world for free. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-india-ethical-hackers-rewarded-home.html Security Mon, 29 May 2017 03:20:01 EDT news415245853 Across the country, classrooms are making the transition to blended learning models. Typically, students work together, with devices, with a teacher and seek information from a number of educational resources. Recently, researchers at the University of Kansas developed an online course to help teachers create blended learning environments by moving from teacher-centered to student-centered learning, which increases opportunities for personalized learning. Early evaluation of the online course indicated that teachers find the course helpful in providing planning guidance and support necessary to shift to a blended learning model of instruction. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-online-blended.html Social Sciences Tue, 02 May 2017 08:20:02 EDT news412928572 Several years ago, Elanor Williams' parents gave her a large Himalayan salt block for Christmas, knowing how much she loved cooking and entertaining. Although she appreciated the gesture, she promptly returned it to the store and bought an "extremely boring" tea kettle that she uses every day. https://phys.org/news/2016-12-great.html Social Sciences Thu, 08 Dec 2016 13:28:14 EST news400426081 With the holiday season almost upon us, it's time to start thinking about what to get those special people in our lives. https://phys.org/news/2016-11-holiday-gift-techies.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 23 Nov 2016 04:51:04 EST news399098734 Bitcoin, the virtual currency used by savvy techies and online black market traders, has faded from the public eye in recent months. But investor and cryptocurrency expert Adam Draper says bitcoin still has the potential to play a major role in the financial market - once society figures out exactly what to use it for. https://phys.org/news/2016-11-bitcoin-young-venture-capitalist.html Internet Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:40:01 EST news399055203 When preserved specimens of birds of paradise—prized throughout 17th-century Europe for their vivid plumage, rarity and distant origins—were exported from their native Papua, New Guinea, by the Dutch, their feet were routinely cut off for transport. Thus, many Europeans who viewed the footless specimens concluded that these exotic creatures must remain in constant flight as they possessed no feet with which to land. https://phys.org/news/2015-11-scholars-gain-insight-geographical-cultural.html Archaeology Fri, 20 Nov 2015 07:20:01 EST news367224405 Denny Colwell fires up a weed whacker and makes quick work of his prized American ginseng patch, a fall ritual that helps hide the slow-growing, long-lived perennials from poachers keen on digging them up. https://phys.org/news/2015-10-sang-aims-wild-ginseng.html Ecology Mon, 19 Oct 2015 03:23:50 EDT news364443801 An iPad that belonged to Argentina-born Pope Francis went under the hammer for $30,500 on Tuesday, auctioneers in Uruguay said. https://phys.org/news/2015-04-pope-ipad-auction.html Other Wed, 15 Apr 2015 02:12:27 EDT news348282739 When something is rare, it's alluring—true whether you're talking about precious gemstones or a pristine edition of the first issue of Action Comics (which introduced Superman). And psychologists have long known that if you can make a consumer good more desirable by making it appear rare. https://phys.org/news/2015-02-consumer-power-scarcity.html Social Sciences Fri, 06 Feb 2015 14:10:01 EST news342453592