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. A leading U.S. beef industry trade association knew by 1989 that cattle contributed to global warming but focused its response on protecting consumer demand through public relations, according to a new study that examined a decade of industry records. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-documents-beef-industry-group-early.html Ecology Thu, 08 Oct 2026 20:40:11 EDT news710670577 The Canadian government launched its first National Food Security Strategy in June 2026. The strategy aims to invest $750 million to increase year-round Canadian production of fruits and vegetables, including on so-called vertical farms. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-vertical-farming-food.html Agriculture Thu, 08 Oct 2026 15:20:07 EDT news710684402 Students with stronger reading skills are better able to spot misinformation online—and those skills may be especially important for teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds, according to a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-strong-skills-teens-resist-misinformation.html Social Sciences Thu, 08 Oct 2026 08:20:01 EDT news710664002 American scientist Margaret Hamilton, who led development of the computer system used by NASA's Apollo lunar program, has died at 90, her former employer said Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-margaret-hamilton-scientist-nasa-apollo.html Space Exploration Thu, 08 Oct 2026 04:37:04 EDT news710652952 A new study of multiple large language models (LLMs) found that when users asked chatbots for advice, the chatbots were more likely to make suggestions that favor the status quo over alternatives. The tendency of artificial intelligence to default to more common advice could be bad news for the climate. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-chatbots-endorse-climate-policies.html Environment Wed, 07 Oct 2026 22:20:01 EDT news710604121 Articles published in The Conversation go well beyond academics writing for a general audience—they can also serve as valuable content for educators to use in the classroom. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-jargon-impact-undergraduates-art-communication.html Education Wed, 07 Oct 2026 20:00:02 EDT news710596683 Failure to curb global warming now could cost future generations of Canadians trillions of dollars in wildfire impacts alone, according to a new Simon Fraser University study. The study is among the first to put a price tag on projected Canadian wildfire activity driven by climate change. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-canadian-wildfires-trillion-21st-century.html Environment Wed, 07 Oct 2026 19:40:05 EDT news710596561 Elementary school teachers often put such care into creating their classroom libraries: shelving multiple copies of each book, stringing lights around them to set the mood, situating beanbag chairs and magic carpet squares strategically to encourage students to settle in. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-survey-censor-controversy.html Education Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:20:01 EDT news710595362 A landmark survey of the world's largest free-roaming giant tortoise population has revealed that the once-endangered species is thriving and stable in the Seychelles. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-giant-tortoises-outnumber-people-seychelles.html Plants & Animals Wed, 07 Oct 2026 16:50:01 EDT news710606101 Ahead of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, attention is turning to the question of what causes psychological strain at work. A study by Bielefeld University shows that inappropriate tasks are not the only factor associated with exhaustion. Changes in day-to-day work can also leave employees feeling exhausted, even when the number of burdensome tasks decreases. Perceived uncertainty plays an important role. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-unnecessary-tasks-links-greater-employee.html Social Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 16:00:01 EDT news710595157 Most voters see Congress through floor debates, campaign promises and partisan conflict. Yet about half the work done by the average congressional office involves helping constituents, businesses, nonprofits, universities and local governments navigate federal agencies. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-voters-incumbents-complicates-case-congressional.html Political science Wed, 07 Oct 2026 14:40:05 EDT news710591882 Say no to sushi and steer clear of raw sprouts. Skip Bikram yoga. And keep your hands off that cat litter box. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-pfas-blood-pressure-pregnancy.html Environment Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:00:10 EDT news710579702 Scientists Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for untangling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs and transformed modern medicine. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nobel-prize-chemistry-awarded-kagan.html Other Wed, 07 Oct 2026 06:12:46 EDT news710572334 Four decades after the 1986 nuclear disaster, researchers at Leibniz University Hannover and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) examined six tiny, highly radioactive fragments that were released from the destroyed reactor in Ukraine in the wake of the incident. Analyses show that these "hot particles" are far more stable than had previously been assumed. The findings could allow for more precise assessments of the health risks posed by such radioactive particles. The paper is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-chernobyl-particles-reveal-unexpectedly-stable.html General Physics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 18:20:05 EDT news710509501 In January 2013, Lake Michigan reached its lowest water level on record. Seven years later, in the summer of 2020, it broke the opposite record with widespread flooding, eroded shorelines and closed lakeside roads. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-great-lakes.html Earth Sciences Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:10:01 EDT news710515621 The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but sometimes taking the long way home can have advantages. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-corporate-disclosures-circuitous-route.html Economics & Business Tue, 06 Oct 2026 13:40:13 EDT news710508962 The holiday season is a time for getting together to celebrate, but if that get-together involves traveling by air, ticket prices may become a major barrier to holiday cheer. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-news-holiday-bank.html Economics & Business Tue, 06 Oct 2026 13:20:02 EDT news710508722 Artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to create convincing fake political content and harder to tell what's real. Now, a University of Missouri expert is helping voters navigate that changing information landscape ahead of this year's midterm elections. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-expert-voters-political-deepfakes.html Political science Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:40:02 EDT news710505601 Earth seems like a troubled place right now, but at least our cosmic surroundings appear peaceful. This is not universally true, as explosions, collisions and other dangers lurk in other places and times. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-life-cosmos-universe-supercomputer-yields.html Astronomy Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:40:29 EDT news710498341 Francis Halzen won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for his efforts to demystify a rare group of neutrinos, tiny cosmic particles that scientists believe offer clues to how the universe evolved. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-francis-halzen-nobel-prize-physics.html General Physics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 06:12:06 EDT news710485847 Russian authorities have quarantined a hospital and are monitoring contacts of an employee at a plague research institute in Siberia who contracted pneumonia of an "unknown" cause. Local state TV said the woman died last week. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-russia-worker-siberian-plague-pneumonia.html Archaeology Tue, 06 Oct 2026 01:41:48 EDT news710469684 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 If the goal was to silence rapper Macklemore by preventing him from touring with singer Ed Sheeran, it clearly backfired. Macklemore delivered a monolog in support of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and performed his pro-Palestinian protest song "Hind's Hall" during a Sept. 4, 2026, concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where he was an opening act for Sheeran. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-artists-silencing-backfires.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:00:10 EDT news710414341 Deep space travel comes with a huge potential downside—radiation exposure that can kill an astronaut either quickly or slowly over time if not managed correctly. But what exactly does that mean, and is there any way to handle it other than sticking more and more protective layers between the squishy biological systems inside a spacecraft and the radiative void of deep space? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-space-biological-cascade-cancer.html Astronomy Mon, 05 Oct 2026 12:40:20 EDT news710407742 Imagine you're worried about vaccinating your baby. A message on Facebook tells you: "Protect the community and your kids by booking their vaccinations today." Another asks: "Do you know all the effects of childhood vaccinations on your babies?" https://phys.org/news/2026-10-counter-misinformation-online-style.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:20:01 EDT news710407382 On the shores of Lake Eyasi in northern Tanzania, a small number of people still hunt and gather their food. Today, a Hadza hunter has taken down an animal—a kudu. He can't carry it by himself, so he cuts his poisoned arrow from its flank, covers the carcass in dry grass to hide it from hyenas and heads home to enlist help. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hunter-societies-reveal-inequalities-power.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:40:01 EDT news710407022 The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to U.S. psychiatrist and neurologist Karl Deisseroth and German scientists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their pioneering work in the neuroscience field of optogenetics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-german-trio-medicine-nobel-optogenetics.html Other Mon, 05 Oct 2026 06:32:02 EDT news710400687 The U.S. prison population is declining at an accelerating rate, and prison admission rates are predicted to fall an additional 50% within the next two decades, according to new research from University at Albany professor Shawn Bushway. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-steep-decline-prison-population.html Social Sciences Sun, 04 Oct 2026 10:30:01 EDT news709904783 Roadsides may not look like wildlife habitat, but a few simple changes to how they are maintained could turn them into much better places for pollinators. A new uOttawa-led study found that reducing mowing and herbicide use along rural roadsides led to a 45% jump in pollinator numbers and a 23% increase in the number of species found there. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-spraying-smarter-pollinators-boost.html Plants & Animals Fri, 02 Oct 2026 17:00:04 EDT news710163902 A core assumption in any democracy is that citizens with access to information will make reasoned decisions on political candidates and policy issues. But a new study by UC Berkeley social scientists finds that Americans usually don't consider the full scope of difficult issues, instead basing their opinions on mental shortcuts that sidestep complexity. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-complex-political-issues-americans-shortcuts.html Political science Fri, 02 Oct 2026 16:40:02 EDT news710160246