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. Orangutans seek out plants with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties, new research shows. Based on 20 years of observations of orangutans in Indonesian Borneo, scientists assessed how often the animals ate plants with known medicinal benefits. The findings, published in Scientific Reports, suggest orangutans eat combinations of plants in specific sequences—consistent with "self-medication" seen in other species. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-orangutans-medicinal-patterns-medication.html Plants & Animals Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:40:05 EDT news700993307 In a seismic shift since Kew's inaugural State of the World report 10 years ago, the sixth State of the World's Plants and Fungi report, published June 16, 2026, brings together expertise from more than 400 scientists across 40 countries to explore how new technology is transforming the race to save nature. The report argues technology can be nature's ally, with digital tools exposing critical gaps in scientific knowledge and highlighting where action is most urgently needed to safeguard plants and fungi. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-digital-tools-reveal-hidden-extinctions.html Plants & Animals Mon, 15 Jun 2026 19:00:07 EDT news700748402 The Arctic and northern high latitudes are warming about 2–4 times faster than the global average, allowing ancient permafrost to thaw and release stored carbon. These permafrost soils currently store roughly one-third of the world's organic soil carbon, much of which has remained frozen for thousands of years. As the soils thaw, organic matter from dead plants and animals within them starts to decompose, and greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, are released. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-northern-permafrost-carbon-source-earlier.html Earth Sciences Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:59:59 EDT news700747125 Thousands of holes are appearing in the Pennine hills, as part of efforts to improve carbon storage by restoring damaged peatland. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-pennine-hills-full-holes-theyre.html Environment Sun, 24 May 2026 20:30:03 EDT news698324643 Imagine being tasked with counting every blade of grass in a field, noting every single species as you go. This is not far from the challenge many scientists face when analyzing microscopic samples packed with thousands of tiny particles. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-repurposed-medical-device-ancient-climate.html Earth Sciences Fri, 08 May 2026 21:40:01 EDT news697448702 The prices of mineral fertilizers are rising. The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB is working on alternative production methods: Researchers have developed various processes and demonstrated them on a pilot scale to recover nutrients from locally available waste streams. Fertilizers ready for immediate use can be obtained from digestion residues, manure, and wastewater, as the institute will show at IFAT in Munich in early May. This circular approach strengthens supply security and protects water bodies and the climate. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-fertilizer-local-resources-fossil-fuels.html Biotechnology Wed, 29 Apr 2026 17:20:01 EDT news696685141 Push a metal corer into a peatland and you pull up something remarkable: a dark, dense, sponge-like material made of partly decomposed plants. This peat is rich in carbon. In some places, that peat has been building up for thousands of years. Peatlands are the ecosystems where this happens. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-peatlands-vital-tackling-climate-scientists.html Environment Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:20:08 EDT news696596582 Researchers including a number from the University of Exeter, have identified the most urgent unanswered questions about peatlands, providing a global roadmap to guide future science and policy for one of the planet's most important and threatened ecosystems. The paper, "Priority research questions in global peatland science," is published in Communications Earth & Environment. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-earth-unanswered-reshape-climate-action.html Earth Sciences Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:00:03 EDT news696598042 By analyzing peat cores, researchers have shown how populations of nesting seabirds have fluctuated on a sub-Antarctic island over 8,000 years. They found that bird numbers rose and fell alongside shifts in climate, offering new clues about how future climate change could impact seabird populations. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ancient-seabird-guano-reveals-climate.html Environment Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:50:01 EDT news695486221 Organic soils cover less than 9% of Norway's land area, and about 65,000 hectares are currently used as agricultural land. Emissions from these areas are presently estimated at more than 2 million tons of CO₂ equivalents per year. This is equivalent to the emissions from 400,000 fossil-fueled cars. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-emissions-cultivated-peat-soils-assumed.html Earth Sciences Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:40:02 EDT news695464441 New research from the University of St Andrews has shown that an important group of peatlands in the western Amazonia region of Peru developed more recently than many other peatlands in the tropics. Published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, the study analyzed more than 150 new and previously published radiocarbon dates from peats from the Pastaza-Marañón Basin in northern Peru. This is the largest known peatland complex in Amazonia, covering an area about the size of Belgium. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-peatland-nurseries-peru-insights.html Earth Sciences Mon, 13 Apr 2026 08:00:02 EDT news695285461 The movement patterns of waterfowl, including ducks, swans and geese, may affect the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza in bird populations, according to a new study from the University of Georgia. The findings are published in the journal Ecology Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-bird-flu-impacted-waterfowl.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Apr 2026 14:00:03 EDT news694780202 The structure of the plant communities that grow on the thawing permafrost in the Arctic is changing, with grasses displacing slower-growing shrubs. Although these grasses bind more carbon dioxide than previous plant communities, they lead to far more methane emissions over the course of the year. Methane is a greenhouse gas that accelerates the global temperature rise much faster than carbon dioxide. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-vegetation-permafrost-emissions-greenhouse-gases.html Earth Sciences Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:00:06 EDT news693760799 Monitoring the populations of one of nature's slower creatures could become faster, thanks to the University of Georgia. UGA researchers have developed an easier, more cost-effective way to learn more about male marine turtles, a traditionally elusive creature in the world's oceans. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-tracking-male-sea-turtles-easier.html Plants & Animals Wed, 18 Mar 2026 13:40:03 EDT news693056401 A new study reveals an unprecedented increase in wildfires in tropical peatlands during the 20th century. "Unprecedented burning in tropical peatlands during the 20th century compared to the previous two millennia" is published in Global Change Biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-charcoal-reveal-unprecedented-wildfires-tropical.html Earth Sciences Tue, 17 Mar 2026 05:00:01 EDT news692900581 Ice cores taken from glaciers reveal the air pollution of the past, using atmospheric particles incorporated in snow that fell on the glacier and became ice. Now, scientists have extracted a record of thousands of years' worth of air pollution from 9.5 meters of ice at the Weißseespitze glacier, close to the border between Austria and Italy. But this ice is under threat from global warming, and scientists warn that it is now a race against time to capture critical climate information locked in these glaciers before it's gone forever. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-alpine-ice-cores-medieval-volcanoes.html Earth Sciences Fri, 13 Mar 2026 01:00:01 EDT news692538181 Research led by the University of Cambridge and the RSPB shows that farming wetland-adapted crops on wetter peat—known as paludiculture—can support richer and more diverse bird communities than drained grassland. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-tolerant-wetland-crops-nature-recovery.html Plants & Animals Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:20:01 EDT news692522449 The Amazon rainforest is famous for storing massive amounts of carbon in its trees and soils, helping regulate the global climate. Yet a paper published in New Phytologist shows that one of South America's largest carbon-storing ecosystems exists in an often-overlooked grassy savanna: the Cerrado in Brazil. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-wetlands-brazil-cerrado-carbon-storage.html Earth Sciences Thu, 12 Mar 2026 10:00:04 EDT news692436781 In the face of climate change, permafrost peatland wildfires could play more of a role in the destructive cycle of global warming, University of Alberta research suggests. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-permafrost-peatlands-carbon-years-wildfires.html Earth Sciences Thu, 05 Mar 2026 09:40:04 EST news691924621 Air pollution causes millions of premature deaths worldwide each year, with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) identified as a major culprit. In response, countries from Ireland to China have promoted low-smoke or smokeless fuels as a clean alternative to traditional bituminous coal, peat, and wood. However, the health risks of ultrafine particles (UFPs, PM0.1, https://phys.org/news/2026-03-solid-fuels-pose-hidden-health.html Environment Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:40:05 EST news691691461 Wildfires in the northern boreal forests of Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia may be more damaging to the climate than previously thought, a new UC Berkeley-led study suggests. That's because these fires don't just burn through trees; they can also penetrate deep into the carbon-rich layers of soil underneath many boreal forests, releasing carbon that has been accumulating for hundreds or even thousands of years. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-underestimating-true-carbon-northern-wildfires.html Earth Sciences Fri, 27 Feb 2026 14:00:05 EST news691342862 Eastern Canada has seen a rise in the number of hurricane- and near-hurricane strength events battering its maritime areas, with particularly violent storms in 2003 (Hurricane Juan), 2019 (Dorian) and 2022 (Fiona). While this seems to be a recent phenomenon, the region has experienced this kind of surge in activity before, according to a new Concordia University study. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-canada-magdalen-islands-peatlands-vital.html Earth Sciences Tue, 24 Feb 2026 18:20:01 EST news691166102 Researchers at ETH Zurich have now discovered for the first time that large blackwater lakes in the extensive peatlands of the central Congo Basin are releasing ancient carbon. To date, climate researchers had assumed that carbon was stored safely for millenia in the peat. How the carbon is mobilized from the peat to the lake, where it is finally released to the atmosphere, is still unknown. Climate changes and altered land use, especially the conversion of forest to cropland, could exacerbate this trend—with consequences for the global climate. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-peatland-lakes-congo-basin-carbon.html Earth Sciences Mon, 23 Feb 2026 05:00:05 EST news690809329 Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) have used long-term data from the Spree River to discover that aquatic plants can compensate for declining water levels in a drier climate. In recent summers, the growth of aquatic plants in the lower part of the Spree has led to an increase in water levels compared to previous years, thus compensating for the declining discharge. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-dense-aquatic-spree-river-steady.html Environment Sun, 22 Feb 2026 12:30:02 EST news690800668 The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet, with average temperatures increasing by about 4°C in the last four decades. A new study, led by the University of Exeter, shows peatlands have expanded since 1950, with some peatland edges moving by more than a meter a year. The work has been published in Global Change Biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-arctic-peatlands-temperatures.html Earth Sciences Fri, 13 Feb 2026 05:10:01 EST news690110041 A national survey of the four supply-chain sectors involved in the production and sale of flowers and ornamental plants shows that sustainability practices—those already implemented and those planned for the future—differ by sector. The findings could provide a roadmap of specific needs to help all sectors reach sustainability goals. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-floriculture-sustainability-differs-industry-sector.html Agriculture Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:05:21 EST news690048302 The combustible sedimentary rock, better known as coal, was not only crucial to the onset of advanced technology here on Earth, but it should also be key to the development of advanced E.T.s residing on any given exoearth. Or so say the authors of a new paper just published in the International Journal of Astrobiology. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-advanced-aliens-exoplanets-large-coal.html Astrobiology Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:24:34 EST news689858642 There may be a connection between how much a couple spends and saves and how happy they are in their relationship, according to a new study from the University of Georgia. The researchers found spouses who see their partners as "savers" tend to be more satisfied with both their marriages and their finances. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-partner-habits-impact-relationship-dynamics.html Social Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:01:49 EST news689256062 Using a new method to track groundwater levels and greenhouse gas emissions, researchers uncover the climate impact of Southeast Asia's peatlands. In Indonesia, Malaysia, and other parts of Southeast Asia, vast areas spanning up to 300,000 square kilometers have emerged over thousands of years as plants grow and thrive in dense tropical peat swamp forests, then die and slowly decompose in waterlogged, low-oxygen conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-tropical-peatlands-major-source-greenhouse.html Earth Sciences Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:11:43 EST news688993861 Wetlands make up only about 6% of the land area but contain about 30% of the terrestrial organic carbon pool. Therefore, CO2 emissions from wetlands are central to the global climate balance. In Denmark, the plan is to flood 140,000 hectares of low-lying land such as bogs and meadows as part of the Green Tripartite Agreement. Flooding such areas will slow down the decomposition of organic material in the soil and keep the CO2 in the soil rather than allowing it to be released to the atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse effect. At least, that has been the rationale until now. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-wetlands-greatest-climate-benefit.html Earth Sciences Thu, 29 Jan 2026 10:34:45 EST news688905241