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. Birds are facing a crisis—nearly 3 billion birds have been lost across North America since 1970 as a result of human activities affecting birds and their habitats. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-birdsafe-glass-norm-collisions.html Plants & Animals Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:40:02 EDT news704375761 Introducing a 2% minimum annual tax on households with more than £100 million in wealth could raise around £10 billion in 2026, while affecting fewer than 1,000 households in the UK, suggests a report by academics at King's College London, the Paris School of Economics and the University of California, Berkeley. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-minimum-tax-richest-households-billion.html Economics & Business Wed, 22 Jul 2026 09:40:04 EDT news703927442 When fire risk is high, Arizonans know the major warning signs: hot temperatures, low humidity and lots of wind. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-underground.html Environment Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:20:02 EDT news703835402 Archaeologists have uncovered a rare and intricate polychrome mosaic within the remains of a Roman villa beneath Devon farmland. Made up of thousands of red, white and dark blue-gray cubes, the 12 m2 (129 square feet) mosaic would have been a striking decorative floor feature in the villa when it was likely installed sometime in the 4th century A.D. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-archaeological-reveals-full-extent-roman.html Archaeology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:20:01 EDT news703759561 Increases to the standard federal tax deduction implemented in 2018 were made permanent a year ago, and researchers are beginning to understand the downstream effects on state and local governments. The increased deduction meant many taxpayers received a bigger tax break by taking the standard deduction instead of itemizing their expenses, including state and local taxes (SALT). However, a Penn State research team has found that lower-income taxpayers who take the standard deduction have become more likely to vote against local spending for repairing or building infrastructure or other community services. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-qa-federal-taxes-impact-local.html Economics & Business Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:00:03 EDT news703750622 If you've driven down two-lane highways in rural parts of North Florida recently, you may have noticed a spate of new signs that designate the grassy knolls bordering the asphalt as wildflower areas. The signs likely feel redundant right about now as thousands of milkweeds produce thick umbels packed full of pentagonal buds and fully developed flowers. Many of these flowers and all the monarchs they attract have the same attention-grabbing orange color as the safety vests worn by workers who carefully planted each milkweed by hand months earlier. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-butterfly-experts-milkweed-florida-roadsides.html Plants & Animals Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:30:01 EDT news703499199 Cells are crowded, dynamic places where thousands of molecules interact in tight quarters. Until now, scientists lacked a reliable way to see many of these molecular interactions as they happen. Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have now developed a new imaging method that allows scientists to see previously hidden enzyme activities in small regions across the whole cell. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, open new possibilities for understanding how cells process information. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cell-imaging-method.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:40:05 EDT news703255069 When people think about climate change, they often picture melting glaciers, stronger storms, rising temperatures, or prolonged droughts. These visible consequences dominate headlines and shape public discussions. Yet another consequence is quietly growing in the background—one that cannot be measured with a thermometer or satellite image. Climate change is increasingly affecting how people think, feel, and imagine their future. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-built-environment-mental-health-climate.html Environment Tue, 14 Jul 2026 06:00:01 EDT news703147786 How do bees make group decisions without a leader? Math experts have determined that the best strategy is for a few to assume the risk of foraging under all conditions while the majority stay safely back and forage only when conditions are favorable. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-math-reveals-honeybee-hives-patient.html Ecology Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:20:06 EDT news702900976 As sea levels rise and coastlines erode, Australia's legal system is struggling to keep up. Longstanding assumptions about who owns the coast—and who should pay when it disappears—are now at the center of growing disputes. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tides-tensions-rethink-coastal-law.html Earth Sciences Fri, 10 Jul 2026 09:20:01 EDT news702892862 Consider the following scenario. Suzy is 63, recently retired and trying to decide when to start receiving Social Security and how to manage her retirement savings to minimize the tax hit. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-money-chatbot-confidence-grain-salt.html Economics & Business Tue, 07 Jul 2026 18:00:04 EDT news702649262 Understanding how firms build their capabilities, such as managerial skills, technology adoption and innovation capacity, is important for explaining why some firms perform better and how others can improve. However, unlike sales or profits, firm capabilities are not easily quantifiable. So existing studies have used surveys or interviews to assess them, but these methods are costly, time-consuming and susceptible to bias. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-algorithm-firms-advanced-capabilities.html Economics & Business Mon, 06 Jul 2026 14:20:02 EDT news702554992 Jupiter's moon Europa has become high-value real estate for astrobiologists and the search for life beyond Earth. This is because the small moon, which is slightly smaller than Earth's moon, boasts a massive subsurface ocean of liquid water that scientists estimate contains about double the amount of water in all Earth's oceans combined. As seen on Earth, water equals life, so scientists are eager to continue exploring Europa in any way possible to determine if it could harbor life as we know it, or even as we don't know it. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-europa-ice-shell-secrets-ground.html Space Exploration Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:20:01 EDT news701945984 The past and present are rife with examples of advisers convincing leaders of the benefits of launching an ill-advised war, or downplaying the risks of a potentially fatal flaw in the design of a car or spacecraft. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-overconfident-leader-rational-sycophant-veteran.html Economics & Business Thu, 11 Jun 2026 14:40:05 EDT news700398182 Accounting is usually associated with corporations. "In accounting, we traditionally think more about the firm and less about the household," says Fabian Nagel, an assistant professor of accounting at Stanford Graduate School of Business. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-reveals-deception-bankruptcy.html Economics & Business Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:20:07 EDT news700137722 There is a chamber at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston that is, in its own way, one of the most extraordinary rooms on Earth. Chamber A is one of the largest thermal vacuum facilities in the world, a vast steel vessel that can recreate the airless, temperature swinging brutality of space without leaving the ground. It has tested spacecraft destined for the moon, for the planets, and for the deep dark between them. Now it has tested Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar lander, known as Endurance, and the vehicle has passed with flying colors. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-blue-lunar-lander-toughest.html Space Exploration Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:40:01 EDT news699527882 Climate change is exacerbating rainfall, flooding and sea-level rises in coastal and low-lying areas. During the past few years, disastrous floods have swept through Lismore in New South Wales, Northern Queensland, and the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. Large waves have pounded beaches, causing erosion in Byron Bay and Wamberal Beach in NSW and Lancelin, Western Australia. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-backlash-swift-authorities-retreat-coast.html Earth Sciences Sat, 30 May 2026 12:30:02 EDT news699268480 Investors looking for higher returns may want to focus on a company's location instead of its growth potential, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State. They found that portfolios built to consider company headquarter location and the housing market together could produce returns three times higher than portfolios focused on growth stocks alone. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-company-growth-higher-investment.html Economics & Business Wed, 20 May 2026 13:00:02 EDT news698498102 Melbourne home sellers and landlords lost up to $55 million a week as sales prices and rents declined after the second severely restrictive COVID-19 lockdown (July 2020) to attract buyers and renters who were relocating to less restrictive lockdowns outside the city, a QUT-led study has found. The findings are published in the journal Real Estate Economics. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-severe-covid-lockdowns-home-sellers.html Economics & Business Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:00:01 EDT news695983381 Asian immigrants are both the fastest-growing and highest-earning immigrant ethnic group in the United States, facts that have caught the attention of many economists interested in how these groups—whether investors or residents—impact housing prices, K-12 education, and other important aspects of community life. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-community-effects-asian-immigrants-housing.html Economics & Business Fri, 17 Apr 2026 08:00:03 EDT news695625961 Mississippi State researchers have developed an updated version of a widely used forestry decision-making tool, improving accessibility and usability while maintaining its analytical strength. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-forestry-decision-software.html Ecology Sat, 11 Apr 2026 06:31:24 EDT news695107861 Cities are often described as living archives of human memory. Walk through an old neighborhood in an Islamic city like Fez in Morocco or Cairo in Egypt, and you can see layers of history in its streets and buildings. Traces of the past remain visible in everyday life. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-cities-history-alive.html Environment Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:40:02 EDT news694958103 Peri-urban agriculture in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) is in a critical situation after decades of decline. A new study conducted by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) highlights the dramatic reduction of peri-urban farming in the region, with losses of up to 70% of agricultural land, largely driven by urban expansion, real estate speculation, and the low profitability of the agricultural sector. Currently, only 8.5% of the metropolitan region is devoted to agriculture, equivalent to about 16 square meters per inhabitant. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-barcelona-metropolitan-area-lost-agricultural.html Ecology Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:50:02 EDT news693830941 The São Paulo Metropolitan Area (SPMA) in Brazil has approximately 22 million inhabitants and consumes an average of 61.6 cubic meters (61,600 liters) of water per second. Although nearly the entire public water supply originates from surface sources, it is estimated that about 18% of total consumption relies on aquifers through approximately 14,000 private wells. Aquifers contribute approximately 347 million cubic meters of water per year. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-groundwater-contamination-poorly-paulo-metropolitan.html Environment Fri, 20 Mar 2026 10:40:07 EDT news693220861 On the sloping shoreline of the Greek Aegean island of Milos, a vast construction site has left a gaping wound into the island's trademark volcanic rock. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-greece-cycladic-islands-swept-concrete.html Environment Thu, 12 Feb 2026 04:20:02 EST news690090741 In December 2025, the Trump administration accelerated the process of reclassifying marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act—a shift that would reduce restrictions and penalties associated with the drug. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-rescheduling-marijuana-big-tax-legal.html Economics & Business Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:41:23 EST news688920062 The sky is getting crowded. In the last few years, the number of satellite launches has increased by an order of magnitude as mega-constellations of internet-powering hardware crowd into low Earth orbit. The pace of both launching and retiring these units is creating new kinds of pollution, potentially upsetting the climate system and the protective ozone layer. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-satellites-stratosphere-emerging-climate.html Space Exploration Thu, 29 Jan 2026 11:27:48 EST news688908421 China's economy met the government's official growth target in 2025, with official figures showing real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 5%. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-sustain-prosperity-population-china-invest.html Economics & Business Tue, 20 Jan 2026 22:20:02 EST news688122993 New research highlights how Silicon Valley-style investment strategies are reshaping housing—and why this matters for renters. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-expert-venture-capital-hypergrowth-tenants.html Economics & Business Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:20:01 EST news687017766 Waiting in an airport for a connecting flight is often tedious. A new study by MIT researchers shows it's bad for business, too. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-flights-multinational-firm-growth-globally.html Economics & Business Wed, 07 Jan 2026 09:46:17 EST news687001561