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. As voters seeking information about political issues increasingly turn to LLMs to do research, will AI lead them astray with hallucinations and bias, distorting the democratic process? Maybe not, according to a study of AI use in the 2024 U.K. election, published in PNAS Nexus. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-chatbots-accurate-political-knowledge.html Political science Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:40:01 EDT news710493902 An abundance of complex molecules has been proposed as a universal signature of life. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-molecular-complexity-signature-life.html Biochemistry Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:20:16 EDT news710493842 The universe may be trapped in its own comfort zone, and a researcher in the College of Engineering and Computer Science has helped explain why it cannot seem to leave. A new study suggests the universe could be locked into its current state by the same kinds of quantum effects that scientists study when trying to preserve fragile information inside a quantum computer. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-interactions-early-universe-fields.html Astronomy Mon, 05 Oct 2026 18:20:09 EDT news710425308 Like Earth, most planetary bodies circle their star in stable, detached orbits. These companionable systems can suddenly change when a planet comes too close to its star. In such a close encounter, a star can pull the planet in and swallow it whole. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-astronomers-star-slowly-snacking-brown.html Astronomy Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:40:16 EDT news710425861 Building with nature is an important concept in our coastal defense. After all, by harnessing natural processes, we are more resilient to sea level rise. A good understanding of these processes is therefore indispensable. Ecologist Paul Berghuis, affiliated with Utrecht University and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), delved into the world of dune formation and discovered that within young dune landscapes, dunes and grasses do not arrange themselves randomly but follow a fixed pattern. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-local-dune-landscapes.html Ecology Mon, 05 Oct 2026 15:00:20 EDT news710162521 DNA analyses of ancient remains have revealed a previously unknown extinct bovine species that inhabited southern Siberia during and even before the last ice age. The extinct species was related to modern yaks but followed a separate evolutionary path for hundreds of thousands of years. The findings are published in Current Biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-extinct-bovine-species-siberia-reveals.html Plants & Animals Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:00:01 EDT news710162041 Dark matter could be a type of matter in the universe that does not emit, absorb or reflect detectable light and appears to interact very weakly with regular matter. Although physicists have observed gravitational effects attributed to dark matter, they have not yet been able to determine what it is made of. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-gamma-ray-limits-dark-annihilation.html Astronomy Sun, 04 Oct 2026 15:20:01 EDT news709978528 When I explain topology to students, I start with a knot in a rope. You can stretch it, twist it or shake it, but the knot stays until you cut the rope. Physicists have found that some materials and devices carry similar "knots" in how waves move through them. These are topological properties, labeled by whole numbers that don't change under small imperfections. That robustness is why topology has become one of the central ideas in modern physics. It promises electronics, photonics and quantum devices that tolerate defects and noise. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hidden-topology-energy-leaks.html Optics & Photonics Sat, 03 Oct 2026 13:40:01 EDT news710151198 Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with no resistance and expel magnetic fields when cooled to ultralow temperatures. And depending on their quantum structure, they can also showcase strange properties like magnetic levitation. But now things are getting a little weirder. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-scientists-superconductor-reversal-symmetry.html Superconductivity Fri, 02 Oct 2026 17:00:01 EDT news710164361 In her dissertation, Hanna Entsalo examines how public policies, such as policy strategies and legislation, influence transitions toward the circular economy and sustainability. Entsalo works as a researcher in the Circular Economy Solutions Unit at the Finnish Environment Institute. Her work focuses on circular economy policy instruments, sustainability transitions and innovation policy, particularly at the national and EU levels. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-small-big-impact-sustainability-transitions.html Environment Fri, 02 Oct 2026 15:20:13 EDT news710160961 Astronomers analyzed 2,435 galaxies hosting actively feeding black holes using data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). Among them, they identified 546 "bulgeless" galaxies—systems with little or no central stellar bulge. Their paper, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, suggests that galaxies without a central bulge grow black holes just as effectively as galaxies that have one—a surprising sign that black holes don't need galaxy mergers to grow normally. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-black-holes-quietly-galaxies-violent.html Astronomy Fri, 02 Oct 2026 15:20:02 EDT news710150297 The earliest animals may have evolved hundreds of millions of years before their first unmistakable fossils appear in the fossil record, according to a new study led by the University of Oxford. The findings, published in Science Advances, suggest animals may have originated deep in the Neoproterozoic Era, even before some of the most extreme ice ages in Earth's history. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-animals-evolved-vastly-earlier-fossil.html Evolution Fri, 02 Oct 2026 14:00:13 EDT news710066581 Knowledge workers such as scientists, teachers, lawyers and business leaders are increasingly using generative artificial intelligence applications for tasks that demand imagination, creativity and problem-solving. Ironically, perhaps, recent research shows that people who interact with generative AI for work tasks can end up not thinking critically. They can surrender to AI's quick and confident answers, which can lead to speedy but low-quality solutions. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai.html Economics & Business Fri, 02 Oct 2026 13:40:01 EDT news710158988 University of Sydney researchers have developed a new way to test how closely lab-grown biological models resemble real human embryos, finding that while some models perform well, none yet fully capture the complexity of early human development. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-reality-lab-grown-human-embryo.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:00:29 EDT news710066461 Broccoli grown under magenta solar panels absorbed sunlight more efficiently than plants grown out in the open, according to a study to be published Oct. 2 in Cell Reports Physical Science. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-multitasking-magenta-solar-panels-farms.html Biotechnology Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:00:05 EDT news710063403 Neutron stars, the extremely dense remains of massive stars that exploded at the end of their lives, are widely studied astrophysical objects. Some of these stars, known as pulsars, spin and send out beams of radio waves, making them appear to pulse as the beams sweep past Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-astronomers-lowest-mass-neutron-star.html Astronomy Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:20:08 EDT news709902345 An instrument built to study cosmic rays has turned out to be a powerful tool for investigating thunderstorms. Earlier observations with the GRAPES-3 muon telescope revealed that thunderclouds can develop electrical potential differences far greater than those ever measured directly. But they also uncovered a puzzle: the instrument detected many more thunderstorm events in the eastern part of its field of view than in the western part. A new study by the same team, published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, has now explained why. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-cosmic-ray-particles-probe-powerful.html Earth Sciences Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:02 EDT news710067792 In the fight to find better treatments for bacterial infections, one rapidly evolving therapy uses a group of viruses called bacteriophages (phages). Phages can attack and kill dangerous bacteria while leaving human cells unharmed and bypassing antibiotic resistance. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-viral-enzyme-bacterial-sensor-protein.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:00:21 EDT news709989541 Northwestern University scientists have developed remarkably long, precisely patterned molecular threads that could open new possibilities for designing advanced materials. The scientists also discovered that these threads—called supramolecular polymers—can dramatically enhance brain cell activity. The study is published in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-precisely-patterned-molecular-threads-boost.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:00:13 EDT news709985941 A research consortium has generated the broadest look yet at the proteins that make up mitochondria, capturing the organelle's diversity across multiple branches on the tree of complex life. With major contributions from Broad Institute scientists and its Proteomics Platform, the consortium generated and analyzed the mitochondrial proteomes of one plant and five single-celled pathogens that affect millions of people globally every year. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-mitochondria-life-family-tree-unearths.html Evolution Thu, 01 Oct 2026 11:00:10 EDT news709989111 In water, soil and air all around us lives a free-living, single-celled organism called Acanthamoeba. Most of the time, Acanthamoeba keeps to itself. On rare occasions, though, the amoeba infects humans and can cause severe infections of the eyes, skin and even the brain. What's more, doctors can struggle to diagnose and treat the eye infection caused by the organism, called Acanthamoeba keratitis. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-eye-amoeba-resists-treatment-biochemistry.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 01 Oct 2026 11:00:02 EDT news709919162 For nearly 30 years, a small fossil from Scotland has been celebrated as one of the earliest known reptiles. A new study out today in Nature and led by researchers at the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, is rewriting that story. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fossil-world-oldest-reptile-dethroned.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 30 Sep 2026 17:00:02 EDT news709988333 Researchers at Tohoku University, in collaboration with the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and the University of Tokyo, have taken an important step toward semiconductor quantum computing using zinc oxide (ZnO). https://phys.org/news/2026-09-zinc-oxide-quantum-dots-enable.html Condensed Matter Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:20:11 EDT news709981741 Climate change is increasingly reshaping the polar oceans, with Arctic waters warming rapidly, sea ice shrinking and wildlife losing habitat at both ends of the planet, an annual report said Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-polar-oceans-ice-habitats.html Environment Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:00:01 EDT news709983456 Engineers have developed a new approach for turning ordinary water into a weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to a study published in the journal Chem Catalysis. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-crystals-dna-molecules-potentially-curbing.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 11:00:50 EDT news709920721 A bird attacking a butterfly will often find its beak snapping at thin air. According to new research, that split-second miss isn't just bad luck. It's caused by a visual illusion from the butterfly's wings. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-butterflies-optical-illusions-dodge-predators.html Plants & Animals Wed, 30 Sep 2026 11:00:24 EDT news709891142 Asgard archaea, our closest known microbial relatives, play a key role in current models of the origin of more complex organisms, known as eukaryotes (all animals, plants, protists and fungi). However, their biology has so far been poorly understood. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-asgard-archaea-motility-older-previously.html Evolution Wed, 30 Sep 2026 11:00:20 EDT news709920782 Heat waves and wildfires combined with human-caused emissions this year to expose one-third of the world's population to extremely high levels of ozone pollution, a European Union report said Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-world-population-exposed-air-pollution.html Environment Wed, 30 Sep 2026 04:20:01 EDT news709953213 A new study by an international research team provides the first systematic, cross-cultural comparison of how children help their peers. While previous research has mainly focused on how children help adults, often within the family, peer interactions play an equally important but far less studied role in children's social lives across many cultures. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-cultures-children-peers.html Social Sciences Tue, 29 Sep 2026 15:00:09 EDT news709912430 Scientists have confirmed the existence of a predicted room temperature superconductor, while explaining the microscopic mechanism that distinguishes it from a similar one discovered several years ago. The work, published in the journal Physical Review B, offers "a theoretical blueprint for the future design of superior superconductor hydrides" the physicists write. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-scandium-electrons-room-temperature-superconductivity.html Condensed Matter Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:30:05 EDT news709897818