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. Millions more people will face hunger in the coming months if the conflict in the Middle East is not resolved soon, the UN has warned. The price of energy, which instantly affects the cost of producing and transporting food, has risen sharply due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-world-millions-hungry-chains-collapse.html Environment Sat, 16 May 2026 15:30:03 EDT news697984336 In the novel "When There Are Wolves Again" by E.J. Swift, the Chernobyl disaster and its legacy is extrapolated to a near future where natural habitats are depleted and precarious. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-forty-years-disaster-foxes-bison.html Ecology Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:30:02 EDT news695911516 On a chilly yet beautifully clear evening last November, I sat on a video call with colleagues and happened to mention the live feed from the International Space Station—a real-time broadcast from onboard cameras as the station orbits Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-sunsets-night-sky-technology-nature.html Space Exploration Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:20:01 EDT news695561222 Restoring forests, wetlands and peatlands could help defend national borders as well as tackle climate change, according to new research from the University of East London (UEL). The study introduces the concept of "defensive rewilding"—the intentional, pre- or mid-conflict restoration of ecosystems to shape terrain in ways that can slow, redirect or impede military advances, while delivering environmental benefits. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-defensive-rewilding-wetlands-forests-border.html Environment Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:40:03 EDT news695041365 Humans have always imagined the natural world. From Ice Age cave paintings to the modern day, we depict the animals and landscapes we value—and ignore those we don't. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-ai-rewilding-messy-reality.html Ecology Sat, 04 Apr 2026 19:30:01 EDT news694089676 There is a closing 20-year window in which decisions on climate and land use will determine the fate of dozens of native birds, butterflies and plants across Great Britain, which is already one of the most nature-depleted countries globally. That is the warning in a new study led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), which, for the first time, predicts how different combined environmental changes would affect the survival of species within 1km square areas across the country. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-years-left-spiraling-decline-british.html Plants & Animals Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:30:01 EDT news694191599 Beavers could engineer riverbeds into promising carbon dioxide sinks, according to a new international study led by researchers at the University of Birmingham. The paper, published in Communications Earth & Environment, has for the first time calculated the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted and sequestered due to engineering work done by beavers in suitable wetland areas. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-beavers-stream-corridors-persistent-carbon.html Earth Sciences Wed, 18 Mar 2026 09:20:02 EDT news693042241 Payments that enable landowners to rewild ecologically degraded land—in the form of biodiversity credits bought by investors wishing to offset their impact on nature—could be an effective component of the emerging market for nature recovery, but will not work as a standalone approach. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-biodiversity-credits-boost-rewilding-fall.html Environment Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:30:01 EDT news691770968 Between 1347 and 1353, Europe was gripped by the most catastrophic pandemic in its history: the Black Death. Killing many millions, the plague wiped out between one-third and a half of Europe's population. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-black-death-counterintuitive-effect-human.html Ecology Thu, 05 Mar 2026 13:30:02 EST news691937822 The bubonic plague, which swept across Europe between 1347 and 1353, is estimated to have killed up to one half of the continent's population. The sudden loss of life led to the abandonment of farms, villages and fields, creating what researchers describe as a massive historical "rewilding" event. However, the devastation caused by the Black Death in medieval Europe may not have delivered the environmental benefits that could be assumed to follow large-scale human decline, according to new research. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-black-death-rewilding-boost-biodiversity.html Ecology Thu, 05 Mar 2026 08:40:01 EST news691922162 Natural history museums contain an astonishing snapshot of the planet's biodiversity. Using this information to better research and inform conservation projects could help lead the way in nature recovery and restoration. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-natural-history-museums-world.html Ecology Wed, 04 Mar 2026 07:20:05 EST news691829341 Many large herbivores that once roamed modern-day Panama have declined or died out—including the 6-meter-long giant ground sloth and elephant-related creatures called Cuvieronius. New research suggests that introducing large herbivores in Panama's forests could fill the gap left by extinct species. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-rewilding-gap-left-panama-lost.html Ecology Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:40:04 EST news691754198 Protected natural areas across Europe are changing. Climate change, with rising temperatures and heavy rainfall, is turbocharging the growth of shrubs and trees, choking the flowers and insects that need the light and heat of open spaces. Traditionally, this scenario prompts nature managers to reach for chainsaws and brush cutters to keep the landscape open. But researchers at Aarhus University and the Natural History Museum, Aarhus, Denmark, can now show that horses and cattle represent a more effective method of nature management given adequate time to do their work. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-feral-horses-cattle-resilient-nature.html Plants & Animals Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:04 EST news691684741 More than 150 giant tortoises have been reintroduced to Floreana Island in Ecuador's famed Galapagos archipelago where they disappeared more than a century ago, the environment ministry said Friday. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-giant-tortoises-reintroduced-galapagos-island.html Ecology Sat, 21 Feb 2026 13:49:26 EST news690904141 Centuries after they were wiped out, the reintroduction of beavers to the UK is gathering pace. Following a government announcement allowing beavers to be released in the wild, a flurry of reintroductions are planned for 2026 and beyond. Beavers could soon be coming to a river near you. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-beavers-reintroduced-uk-year.html Plants & Animals Thu, 12 Feb 2026 18:20:01 EST news690113612 A new genetic study examines an unusually large hybridization event that followed the Fukushima nuclear accident, when escaped domestic pigs bred with wild boar. The research shows that domestic pig maternal lineages sped up generational turnover, rapidly diluting pig genes. The findings reveal a mechanism likely operating wherever feral pigs and wild boar interbreed. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-fukushima-pig-boar-hybrids-reveal.html Plants & Animals Mon, 09 Feb 2026 16:20:02 EST news689856229 If you've watched a giraffe browsing in the tree canopy, a white rhino meandering across open grassland, or a warthog shuffling around on its knees in South Africa's Kalahari desert, you know what they eat: leaves, grass, shoots, and roots. With every mouthful, they swallow something less obvious—soil. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-grazing-herbivores-greater-toxic-elements.html Plants & Animals Wed, 04 Feb 2026 12:00:47 EST news689428802 Corn is a colossal grain in the global food and feed chain, with the U.S. producing roughly 30% of the world's supply, or nearly 278 million metric tons in the 2024–25 growing season alone. But its journey from wild grass to staple crop began in central Mexico with teosinte (from the Nahuatl word "teocintli," meaning "sacred corn"). Over thousands of years, domestication and selective breeding transformed teosinte into the corn we enjoy at backyard barbecues today. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-rewilding-corn-reveals-roots-forgot.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Jan 2026 14:20:02 EST news688313941 Is that bird feeder in your backyard really helping nature? How about feeding the chipmunks that come to your patio? Or handouts to wildlife in their natural environment, far from human habitation? https://phys.org/news/2026-01-birds-wildlife-good-bad.html Plants & Animals Fri, 16 Jan 2026 11:10:01 EST news687783617 Scientists have uncovered the mummified remains of cheetahs from caves in northern Saudi Arabia. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-mummified-cheetahs-discovery-species-arabic.html Ecology Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:00:01 EST news687607173 For decades, researchers have focused on the problem of overgrazing, in which expanding herds of cattle and other livestock degrade grasslands, steppes and desert plains. But a new global study reveals that in large regions of the world, livestock numbers are substantially declining, not growing—a process the authors call destocking. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-overlooked-decline-grazing-livestock-opportunities.html Ecology Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:00:01 EST news687187681 When postdoctoral researcher Matthew Zipple releases lab mice into a large, enclosed field just off Cornell's campus, something remarkable happens. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-cages-fields-lab-mice-anxiety.html Plants & Animals Mon, 15 Dec 2025 13:30:02 EST news685027545 Although humans are to blame for nature's recent decline, a new study shows that for millennia, European farming practices drove biodiversity gains, not losses. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-farmers-boosted-europe-biodiversity-years.html Ecology Mon, 15 Dec 2025 09:55:34 EST news685014902 A new report from researchers at the University of Derby has highlighted the positive impact that a city park's urban rewilding project is having on both people and nature. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-highlights-positive-impact-rewilding-people.html Ecology Wed, 10 Dec 2025 23:00:03 EST news684592873 There are many things people have love-hate relationships with in Britain and Ireland, from Brussels sprouts to cricket or sea swimming. Another item can now be added to this list: the reintroduction of lynx and wolves to the countryside. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-lynx-wolves-reintroduced-britain-ireland.html Plants & Animals Fri, 05 Dec 2025 06:58:46 EST news684140281 Wolves are returning across Europe—but not to the UK and Ireland, where public support is lukewarm at best. Ecologists point out their benefits, while farmers worry about their livestock. But another influence on public opinion is rarely discussed: Hollywood's obsession with the wolf as a monster. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-hollywood-horror-killer-wolf-trope.html Plants & Animals Wed, 03 Dec 2025 10:07:02 EST news683978761 In 2023, a visit to a local state secondary school to discuss our project, The Museum of Climate Hope, led to an unexpected discussion. A few weeks earlier, an eminent climate scientist had presented a harrowing tale of climate apocalypse to the school's sixth form. But the students told us the scientist's presentation, intended as a wake-up call to apathetic teenagers, had backfired. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-climate-museum-eco-distressed-students.html Environment Mon, 24 Nov 2025 23:50:02 EST news683221516 Beaver-created wetlands increase pollinator numbers, boosting biodiversity, according to new research by the University of Stirling. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-beavers-boost-declining-pollinators-reveals.html Plants & Animals Thu, 13 Nov 2025 10:22:42 EST news682251757 A new nationwide survey from the University of Copenhagen published in the Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism shows that most Danes would like to see more large animals in the forests. Danes prefer forests with wild animals such as red deer and bison to traditional nature conservation with cattle and sheep. However, a significant minority are far from enthusiastic about nature with fences and large animals. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-wild-animals-danes-red-deer.html Ecology Wed, 12 Nov 2025 09:36:03 EST news682162561 A new study from the Durham University Psychology Department has found that people want grass to be mowed less often and would like to see more wild green spaces but only if they look attractive. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-favors-scenic-wild-spaces-lawns.html Ecology Tue, 11 Nov 2025 12:07:03 EST news682085222