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. No, President Joe Biden did not engineer Hurricane Milton. No, the ice crystal contrails left behind by high-altitude aircraft are not "chemtrails" sprayed by governments to control the weather or manipulate populations. No, state-run cloud seeding did not cause the record floods in Dubai. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-artificially-dim-sun-scientists-theyre.html Environment Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:40:01 EDT news708702685 Floods, wildfires, conflicts, earthquakes, economic shocks, hurricanes or epidemics: These unexpected and often dramatic events affect people's lives and jobs, destroy crops, wipe out livestock and stored food, contaminate water, block roads, cut off communities and severely affect access to markets and food. This is a distressing picture—one expected to get much worse in the near future because of climate change and an increasingly polarized world. Yet science says no: These natural and human-made shocks do not have to lead to more hunger by default. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-countries-disasters-food-crises-analysis.html Environment Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:00:11 EDT news708604742 A string of major disasters in 2026 have had devastating consequences. Earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia and floods and mudslides in Nepal have killed tens of thousands of people and injured many more. Countless people remain missing, and hundreds of thousands of homes are damaged, with some entire neighborhoods destroyed. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-diaspora-groups-disasters-nepal-colombia.html Social Sciences Fri, 11 Sep 2026 12:00:03 EDT news708340802 NASA is bringing artificial intelligence to the study of the moon, helping researchers transform how they analyze its surface. In an ongoing collaboration with IBM Research and several academic institutions, NASA has launched the NASA-IBM Lunar Foundation Model, one of the first open-source AI models built specifically for lunar science. The model, trained primarily on data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), is hosted publicly on Hugging Face for anyone to use, with the complete codebase available on GitHub for testing and experimentation. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-years-lunar-ice-craters.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:40:09 EDT news708340141 Historical records of the deadliest storms and heat waves may be a poor indicator of the scale and impact future weather disasters could have, scientists at King's College London warn. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-future-catastrophic-weather-worse-history.html Environment Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:20:01 EDT news708252174 Extreme heat has become more common—both research and lived experience document this—but when it arrives is a different question. A new study finds that, rather than occurring only during warm seasons, extreme heat events have become more frequent in the months before and after, too. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-dangerous-days-summer-regional-fall.html Earth Sciences Thu, 10 Sep 2026 11:00:12 EDT news708166866 In November 2025, NASA and its European partners launched the Sentinel-6B satellite to improve hurricane forecasts, help protect infrastructure and benefit commercial industries, including shipping. The satellite is now flying 30 seconds behind its predecessor, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. Both satellites are providing precise sea level height measurements during what oceanographers expect to be a historic El Niño, a naturally occurring oceanic phenomenon in which warmer-than-usual Pacific waters shift global weather patterns. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-satellites-hurricanes-el-nio.html Earth Sciences Thu, 10 Sep 2026 08:40:08 EDT news708239522 The United States has endured its hottest summer on record, a new peak that scientists said should send alarm bells ringing over the increasingly dire impacts of climate change. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-alarm-bells-summer-shatters.html Environment Wed, 09 Sep 2026 16:00:01 EDT news708186986 Pounding surf lashing the swanky California enclave of Malibu on Tuesday opened a giant sinkhole in the driveway of a house reportedly belonging to U.S. actor Nicolas Cage. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-pounding-sinkhole-swanky-malibu.html Environment Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:00:11 EDT news708155141 Hurricane Lowell lashed Hawaii with damaging winds, heavy rainfall and powerful floods, knocking out power for 91% of a western island as it pushed farther into the Pacific on Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-hurricane-lowell-lashes-hawaii-western.html Environment Wed, 09 Sep 2026 06:46:57 EDT news708155166 Residents of Kauai were warned to watch for tornadoes late Monday as Hurricane Lowell edged toward the westernmost Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. Pacific island chain, the National Weather Service said. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-kauai-tornado-hurricane-lowell-nears.html Environment Tue, 08 Sep 2026 05:10:01 EDT news708061322 In 1967, a solar storm nearly triggered World War III by jamming early-warning radar systems in the United States, causing U.S. leaders to think the Soviet Union was responsible. Though society averted catastrophe thanks to timely information from solar forecasters, the threat from space weather remains real. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-economic-solar-storms-pose-power.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 07 Sep 2026 11:40:01 EDT news707994751 Whether buying a home or opening a local business, affordability is no longer the only question people should be asking, says Kristle Romero Cortes, an associate professor. They should also consider what their property might look like in 10 or 20 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-climate-banks-disaster.html Economics & Business Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:00:06 EDT news707723221 A rare trio of hurricanes were churning through the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, which scientists attributed to waters warmed by a historically strong El Niño phenomenon. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-rare-trio-pacific-hurricanes-fueled.html Environment Thu, 03 Sep 2026 04:21:49 EDT news707628076 Two powerful hurricanes and a strengthening tropical storm on Wednesday were churning through the Pacific Ocean, where waters were being warmed by a historically strong El Niño climate episode. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-rare-pacific-cyclones-fueled-historic.html Earth Sciences Wed, 02 Sep 2026 16:11:10 EDT news707584233 Inside a lab at the University of Texas at Dallas, researchers have re-created a small-scale ocean environment where they can make waves build, break and crash into one another. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tunnel-deeper-ocean.html Earth Sciences Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:40:07 EDT news707556602 Resources such as sea level rise viewers, heat maps and flood prediction services are crucial tools in a changing climate. NASA Earth Observations (NASA EO) datasets provide important information on these and other natural hazards, but many communities that may benefit from these tools face barriers to accessing them. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-puerto-rico-residents-climate-tools.html Environment Mon, 31 Aug 2026 14:40:07 EDT news707398381 Europe is no stranger to powerful windstorms, but some storms capable of causing serious damage have an unusual origin. Tropical cyclones can occasionally travel north from lower latitudes and reach Europe, where they can bring damaging winds and heavy rain even after losing some of their tropical characteristics. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-uk-ireland-greatest-rare-tropical.html Earth Sciences Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:00:07 EDT news707137390 Hurricane Karina formed Sunday in the Pacific Ocean and swiftly intensified into a dangerous major storm within hours, fueled by warm waters far offshore where it poses no immediate threat to land. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-karina-rapidly-major-hurricane-pacific.html Environment Mon, 31 Aug 2026 03:54:14 EDT news707367234 Tropical Storm Karina strengthened into a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday and could become a major storm this week, forecasters said. The cyclone's center was at far out sea and was not threatening land. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tropical-storm-karina-hurricane-pacific.html Environment Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:40:01 EDT news707307998 A new study examining tropical cyclone forecasts in the Atlantic Ocean suggests that artificial intelligence could provide valuable additional guidance for predicting when and where tropical disturbances may develop into tropical storms. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-complement-traditional-weather-guidance.html Environment Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:40:01 EDT news707035262 As of August 2026, the world is bracing for what forecasters describe as one of the strongest El Niño events on record. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center has put the chance of a very strong event this fall and winter above 90%, with a 69% likelihood that it will exceed every El Niño since 1950. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-expert-comment-extreme-weather-ai.html Environment Wed, 26 Aug 2026 13:00:01 EDT news706954741 Can a city's seawall stand up to a blockbuster storm? Will a region's power grid hold against record-breaking heat? And can a town's firefighting resources contain a major wildfire? https://phys.org/news/2026-08-inches-york-city-ai-plausible.html Earth Sciences Tue, 25 Aug 2026 14:40:05 EDT news706875841 From Texas to Maine, coastal wetlands and marshes are releasing more than 1.45 billion pounds (660,000 metric tons) of carbon into the ocean each year, according to new research supported by NASA. Coastal marshes, like forests and tundra, store large amounts of carbon in their plants and soil, but changes caused by storms, rising seas and human development can affect how that carbon is stored and transported. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-satellite-analysis-tracks-carbon-coastal.html Earth Sciences Tue, 25 Aug 2026 13:00:03 EDT news706874600 Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have found that implosions designed for inertial fusion energy (IFE) can tolerate significant imperfections before performance abruptly declines, a finding that could inform the design of fuel targets for future fusion power plants. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fusion-reactions-survive-flaws.html Plasma Physics Mon, 24 Aug 2026 19:00:01 EDT news706803482 Under global warming, scientists have widely expected tropical cyclones (including typhoons and hurricanes) to bring more intense and frequent rainfall. The underlying physics seems intuitive: Rising temperatures allow the atmosphere to hold more moisture, which, combined with intensifying storms, should theoretically trigger more destructive downpours. However, when researchers analyze climate model projections, they encounter a puzzling phenomenon. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-atmospheric-dryness-limits-typhoon-rainfall.html Earth Sciences Mon, 24 Aug 2026 17:10:01 EDT news706807022 In the opening scene of American writer Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Ministry for the Future," a heat wave combined with a breakdown of the electrical grid in India kills 20 million people. The devastation causes the world's nations to unite to combat climate change. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-world-inches-catastrophic-climate-events.html Environment Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:42:53 EDT news706794146 A sea of corrugated metal roofs stretches into the distance across an informal settlement in Makassar, Indonesia. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-cities-extreme.html Environment Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:00:07 EDT news706535338 Extreme precipitation events are among the most damaging natural disasters and a major concern in our changing climate. In the U.S., since 1980, the most destructive events alone have caused more than 2,800 deaths and $700 billion in damages. But what is the total area of the country affected by these events each year? And how have these patterns changed over the past several decades? In a recent study in Geophysical Research Letters, led by researchers at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which is part of the Columbia Climate School, the authors discovered some unexpected trends. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-extreme-shifts-larger-frequent-storms.html Earth Sciences Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:40:06 EDT news706446782 For more than a decade, anglers on Lake Memphremagog—which straddles the Quebec–Vermont border—have been catching brown bullhead catfish marked with distinctive black lesions. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-transmissible-cancer-bullhead-catfish.html Plants & Animals Wed, 19 Aug 2026 17:20:02 EDT news706362422