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. About six years ago, hearing researcher Dr. Kelly Miles had a stroke just a week after having a baby. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-conversation-difficult.html Social Sciences Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:40:01 EDT news711872666 Private companies are getting better at launching more mass into space with larger rockets. But there is still a major constraint on the size of objects we can get into orbit—fairing size. This places physical constraints on the overall shape of what we can launch and severely limits the sizes of, say, a communications array or a power satellite. But a new paper from researchers at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Beijing Institute of Technology offers a solution—a self-shaping, deployable module that can fine-tune both its positioning and its own dimensions. The findings are published in the journal Space: Science & Technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-autonomous-triangular-modules-tomorrow-mega.html Astronomy Thu, 22 Oct 2026 20:40:01 EDT news711905701 If you wanted a Nobel Prize, you would do well to study neutrinos. To date, the Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded five times to research related to neutrino detection and discovery. This year, Francis Halzen earned the Nobel "for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin." https://phys.org/news/2026-10-neutrino-science-year-nobel-prize.html General Physics Thu, 22 Oct 2026 19:30:01 EDT news711891573 A new design methodology for school playgrounds is demonstrating how children can still enjoy their playtime while being protected from the harmful effects of the sun. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-revamped-playground-children-world-dangers.html Social Sciences Thu, 22 Oct 2026 19:10:01 EDT news711864815 What, exactly, is a plant made of? Scientists have a good understanding of the essential nutrients plants need to grow. But what plants need and what they contain are not necessarily the same. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-global-database-fuller-picture-elements.html Biochemistry Thu, 22 Oct 2026 18:20:11 EDT news711903362 New research started with a special material that behaves unusually when it's extremely cold—135 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 93 degrees Celsius), close to the most frigid temperature ever recorded in Antarctica—and showed that the unusual behavior could be extended to well above room temperature—up to about 135 F (57 degrees Celsius), close to the highest heat ever measured in Death Valley, California. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-amino-acid-stabilizes-material-quantum.html Nanophysics Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:40:13 EDT news711902942 The presence of non-native trees is often seen as an obstacle to the recovery of tropical forests regrowing in previously deforested areas. To better understand the behavior of these plants over time in both humid and dry forests, researchers from approximately 60 institutions analyzed data from over 1,500 areas of forest regeneration across the Americas. The results, published in the journal Nature Plants, indicate that the initial dominance of exotic species is temporary. They multiply easily during the first 10 to 20 years, taking advantage of abundant sunlight in open areas. However, they decline as native trees grow and shade the forest. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-natural-forest-regeneration-curb-invasive.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:20:10 EDT news711902821 In Australia, the days are growing longer and summer is fast approaching. But a very strong El Niño—a natural weather phenomenon that drives variations in temperature and winds across the Pacific—could make this summer a sweltering one. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-entire-cities-extreme-reveals.html Environment Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:20:02 EDT news711880157 There was a time when decorative wreaths appeared on front doors in December, stayed on front doors for a few weeks and then disappeared. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-autumn-wreaths-doorscaping-life-front.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:20:14 EDT news711878963 The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope continues to reveal hidden parts of the cosmos with its advanced suite of infrared instruments. In a newly released image, Webb revealed many stars previously hidden by the dust clouds of NGC 7129, a stellar nursery about 3,300 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cepheus. The image is already improving our understanding of how new stars are born and evolve with time. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-webb-captures-stars-early-stages.html Astronomy Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:40:18 EDT news711878476 In this Picture of the Month from the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope, we visit a turbulent cauldron of star formation to see what is brewing inside dense clumps of gas. This is a star-forming region named LHA 120-N 159, or simply N159, located 161,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of the satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way galaxy. This image spans about 230 light-years across. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-webb-image-reveals-young-stars.html Astronomy Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:40:01 EDT news711892283 From 2010 to 2024, the Amazon rainforest—the largest tropical rainforest on the planet—released an average of 1.17 billion metric tons more carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere than it absorbed each year. Wildfires were the main source, emitting approximately 1.47 billion metric tons of CO₂ per year—far exceeding the forest's absorption capacity of 300 million metric tons per year. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-wildfires-amazon-emit-billion-metric.html Earth Sciences Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:00:20 EDT news711890465 When people think about democracy, they tend to think about national elections, parliaments or the policies of national governments. Even the recent special election in Holborn and St Pancras showed that democratic events are often framed around what they mean for the fortunes of national leaders, rather than what they mean for daily life within a community. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ways-cities-democratic-values.html Political science Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:00:01 EDT news711877636 Scientists have discovered a hidden layer of identity in plant root cells: an "environmental mode" that switches on in some cells and becomes more common when water is scarce. The study, led by Dr. Marina Oliva and professor Ryan Lister, from the ARC Center of Excellence in Plants for Space and The University of Western Australia's School of Molecular Sciences, examined how plant cells responded to drought conditions. The work is published in Nature https://phys.org/news/2026-10-drought-shifts-root-cells-newly.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:40:14 EDT news711888302 By analyzing data on around 100,000 quasars, or extremely luminous galactic nuclei, researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have found statistical evidence that some supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies are ejected from their positions after forming. The relationship now identified in the data was predicted 10 years ago by members of the same research group, Peter Raffai and Zsolt Frei, together with Zoltán Haiman. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-supermassive-black-holes-ejected-galactic.html Astronomy Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:20:25 EDT news711886019 Every storybook opens a window for our imagination to be freed from the reality of the world around us and escape into the fictional world. While the author's words act as a guide, everyone experiences fiction in their own way, creating vivid mental pictures and even forming an emotional connection with the characters. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-worlds-readers.html Social Sciences Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:33 EDT news711885746 Technion researchers have presented evidence for the existence of solar-storm-like outbursts near supermassive black holes, which can be a million times larger than the sun or more. The phenomenon was discovered in the vicinity of the black hole in the galaxy NGC 3783, and the researchers' findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-black-hole-uncover-evidence-solar.html Astronomy Thu, 22 Oct 2026 11:03:31 EDT news711885705 An international team of scientists from the University of Sheffield and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, led by a postdoctoral research fellow from the University of Newcastle, Australia, has discovered that solar jets called spicules, which are 6–8 Mm long, take the form of warped, denser plasma sheets like pleated drapery. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-curtain-plasma-solar-jets-apparent.html Astronomy Thu, 22 Oct 2026 10:20:06 EDT news711877531 A new study by Miki Shibata, a professor at Hiroshima University's Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, reveals a paradox in Japan's English-medium higher education: Official English instruction coexists with local peer expectations that drive classroom interactions back into Japanese. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-implicit-language-hierarchies-english-taught.html Social Sciences Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:00:20 EDT news711876195 Citywide measures of urban sustainability can conceal sharp differences between neighborhoods. A city may appear to provide good streets overall while some areas lack greenery, openness or pedestrian-friendly space where diverse populations live. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tokyo-streets-reveal-hidden-gaps.html Other Thu, 22 Oct 2026 08:30:01 EDT news711865906 Giant manta rays can grow up to nine meters (30 feet) long with a disk size of seven meters (23 feet) across and weigh up to 2,000 kg (4,400 pounds). This size leaves them with very few natural enemies once they reach adulthood at around eight to 10 years old. But giant manta ray babies, called pups, cannot rely on their size to protect them from predators that live in the open ocean, including several species of shark and orcas. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-baby-manta-rays-hunker-coasts.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:01 EDT news711799141 A patrol boat off the coast of Gabon intercepted three trawlers in July 2026, inside the Grand Sud Reserve. This is one of West and Central Africa's largest marine reserves, where industrial trawling is banned. None of the trawlers held a valid license. The patrol found them because analysts at the nonprofit Global Fishing Watch had studied satellite data and worked out where to look. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-illegal-fishing-african-satellite.html Ecology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 22:40:07 EDT news711797621 Imagine you're in the movie theater watching 2018's "Hereditary." During one of the film's most unsettling sequences, the main character, Peter, wakes up in bed disoriented. As he sits up, you hear a couple of gasps from others in the audience. The camera stays locked on Peter as he moves through his house and enters the dim living room. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-horror-exploit-human-vision-movies.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 22:00:01 EDT news711794699 Ecological grief is growing—and our current approach to climate change education isn't keeping pace. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-young-people-climate-rapidly-world.html Environment Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:40:01 EDT news711804203 Physical education has traditionally been one of the most eagerly awaited classes of the school day, since it lets students get out of the classroom, move around and interact with their classmates in a different way—conditions that are conducive to learning values such as camaraderie and cooperation. However, the physical exposure and the dynamics of interaction, comparison and competition that the class can entail still make some students uneasy, and, in settings where bullying occurs, turn it into a potentially unsafe space. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-student-responsibility-shown-key-tackling.html Education Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:20:01 EDT news711803296 A team of researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has developed a new instrument designed to eliminate blind spots between lines of lidar data on Earth's surface. Built with support from NASA's Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO), the Concurrent Artificially-intelligent Spectrometry Lidar System (CASALS) could help researchers map the features of Earth's surface in detail. Rather than mechanically steering a laser with moving mirrors, CASALS steers light using wavelength itself, generating a continuous, 3D swath of the ground below. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nasa-casals-instrument-bridges-gaps.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:20:09 EDT news711795891 An international team led by Alexander Vorbrugg analyzed (online) media reporting on war-related land changes in Ukraine. The study asked: How is damage to land represented? What knowledge do these representations draw on? How does the war affect the symbolic meaning of land and visions of the future? How are material damage and destruction translated into the media discourse? What ideas of landscape does this create? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ukrainian-media-coverage-lifeline-danger.html Political science Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:40:16 EDT news711795555 An international team of researchers, including members from the University of Michigan, has revealed surprising results that could rewrite our understanding of a key transition in the early universe. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hubble-supernova-role-cosmic-reionization.html Astronomy Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:20:15 EDT news711800461 Viruses are sneaky intruders, hijacking the internal machinery of host cells and replicating out of sight. Understanding these dynamics is the first step to developing effective antiviral strategies that could stop infections, but scientists have largely been left in the dark because there are limited tools to study how viruses move in space and time inside live infected cells, according to Joyce Jose, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tool-tracks-viral-rna-infected.html Biotechnology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:00:13 EDT news711800341 For the first time, Northwestern University physicists have coaxed a single positron—the antimatter counterpart of an electron—into an exquisitely controlled quantum state. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-physicists-particle-antimatter-months.html General Physics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:00:10 EDT news711713041