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. The climate fiction movie The Day After Tomorrow, released in 2004, popularized the devastating effects of sudden climate change on Earth. The plot dramatizes the consequences of a shut-down in an ocean current, and features the Northern Hemisphere plunging, within a few weeks, into an ice age. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-african-climate-science-policy-atlantic.html Environment Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:53:50 EST news689871181 Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have developed a new type of plastic that, according to materials theory, should not be able to exist. Its properties sit somewhere between those of glass and plastic: it is easy to (re)shape, yet resistant to impact. This unusual combination is possible because the building blocks of the material are not held together by chemical bonds, but by physical forces. As a result, the material is easier to shape and repair than conventional plastics. The researchers have published their findings in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-compleximer-plastic-glass-impact-resistance.html Polymers Thu, 05 Feb 2026 14:40:02 EST news689519848 As commercial spaceflight draws ever closer and time spent in space continues to extend, the question of reproductive health beyond the bounds of planet Earth is no longer theoretical but now "urgently practical," according to a new study published in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine Online. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-reproduction-space-environment-hostile-human.html Space Exploration Tue, 03 Feb 2026 19:00:01 EST news689324729 With wildfires growing in size, frequency, and intensity, more and more people are being exposed to their smoke, sometimes thousands of miles from the flames. In the wake of recent historic fires in Canada and the United States, a growing body of research is showing how harmful that smoke can be to human health. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-qa-wildfire-policy.html Environment Wed, 28 Jan 2026 12:31:38 EST news688825862 For millions of gig workers driving for companies such as Uber Eats, DoorDash and Deliveroo, there is no human manager to call, no supervisor to appeal to and no office to walk into. Decisions about pay, performance, penalties and access to work are made by algorithms. Increasingly, those algorithms are trying to explain themselves. This push towards "explainable AI" is often promoted as a way to improve fairness and trust. But new Macquarie University research suggests explaining too much can backfire. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ai-bosses-problem-gig-workers.html Economics & Business Wed, 28 Jan 2026 10:00:01 EST news688816719 The male Lady Amherst's pheasant knows how to put on a show when it comes to attracting mates. As well as elaborate courtship displays, they will unfurl their golden feathers to form a cape around their neck, which can prove irresistible to some females of the species. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-flashy-feathers-male-pheasant-species.html Evolution Wed, 26 Nov 2025 09:56:09 EST news683373342 As world leaders begin COP30 climate negotiations in Brazil, an international team co-led by a University of Sydney researcher has warned of a hidden crisis undermining global biodiversity and carbon targets: the quiet abandonment of conservation projects. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-cop30-global-nature-goals-quietly.html Environment Mon, 10 Nov 2025 05:00:01 EST news681730875 A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics recently set out to investigate whether people who are blind gesture like sighted people when talking about the world, and how their unique perceptual experience might influence the way they express different kinds of concepts. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-gesture-people-concepts-vision.html Social Sciences Tue, 21 Oct 2025 16:04:13 EDT news680281450 We have all been in that situation: The moving boxes are large and heavy, but we are determined to carry them all in one trip, even if that means we can't see where we're going. In the tropics, some leafcutter ants face a similar challenge: carrying a load that is several times their body weight. To make matters even more difficult, carrying oversized weights may create "blind spots" when leafcutter ants transport material on a trail. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-leafcutter-ants-truck-drivers.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Oct 2025 14:27:04 EDT news679066022 The 2023 landmark Supreme Court decision effectively banning race-conscious affirmative action—along with the subsequent challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion in major corporations and military admissions—has brought back the decades-old argument for "merit-based" or "colorblind" policies. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-minority-groups-economic-social-opportunities.html Economics & Business Wed, 10 Sep 2025 15:20:01 EDT news676734763 Scientists have confirmed that East Antarctica's interior is warming faster than its coastal areas and identified the cause. A 30-year study, published in Nature Communications and led by Nagoya University's Naoyuki Kurita, has traced this warming to increased warm air flow triggered by temperature changes in the Southern Indian Ocean. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-east-antarctic-interior-faster-earlier.html Earth Sciences Mon, 08 Sep 2025 12:41:05 EDT news676554061 Humor has become one of the most potent weapons in the populist politician's playbook. Comedic populists like Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Argentinian president Javier Milei use ridicule, absurdity and sarcasm not just to entertain, but to deflect criticism, confuse opponents and present themselves as relatable outsiders. Their tomfoolery and comedic stunts often dominate headlines and capture attention online. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-funny-populist-politicians-bonds-voters.html Political science Thu, 28 Aug 2025 15:44:04 EDT news675614641 Asteroid 2024 YR4 made headlines earlier this year when its probability of impacting Earth in 2032 rose as high as 3%. While an Earth impact has now been ruled out, the asteroid's story continues. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-asteroid-yr4-moon.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 27 Jun 2025 14:30:02 EDT news670253091 A team from Fudan University, the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and Shaoxin Laboratory, all in China, has developed a retinal prosthesis woven from metal nanowires that partially restored vision in blind mice. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-retinal-prosthesis-woven-tellurium-nanowires.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 06 Jun 2025 14:00:01 EDT news668436027 Many employees have experienced the unfortunate but pervasive reality of working under an abusive leader. In a recent survey, almost 90% of respondents reported having at least one abusive boss during their careers, with 30% reporting that they had worked for more than one. Yet, toxic bosses are rarely called out. Why? https://phys.org/news/2025-05-overlooking-abusive-leaders-psychology-workplace.html Social Sciences Mon, 26 May 2025 08:36:04 EDT news667467361 What happens to a family business when its leader dies unexpectedly? https://phys.org/news/2025-05-fredo-effect-family-businesses-inherited.html Economics & Business Fri, 16 May 2025 06:30:04 EDT news666595801 Humans are known to make mental associations between various real-world stimuli and concepts, including colors. For example, red and orange are typically associated with words such as "hot" or "warm," blue with "cool" or "cold," and white with "clean." https://phys.org/news/2025-04-language-adjective-links-people-born.html Mathematics Mon, 28 Apr 2025 11:40:02 EDT news665058628 Around 450,000 children are being failed by the UK education system because they have a special educational need and disability (SEND) that is effectively unrecognized by most schools and local education authorities, an author has warned. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-children-disadvantaged-lack-school.html Education Mon, 25 Nov 2024 06:30:01 EST news651738303 Traditionally, research has focused on either climate change or chemical pollution in isolation, overlooking their combined effects. This oversight creates a blind spot in understanding the full scope of risks to ecosystems and human health. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-highlights-combined-effects-climate-chemical.html Environment Wed, 06 Nov 2024 15:15:03 EST news650128501 Imagine having to do your job, but not being able to visually process the data right in front of you. Nearly 8% of genetic males and 0.5% of genetic females have some form of Color Vision Deficiency (CVD), or the decreased ability to discern between particular colors. CVD is commonly referred to as color blindness. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-visionary-approach-team-accessible-colorblind.html Environment Fri, 16 Aug 2024 10:33:57 EDT news643023234 Over thousands of years, cavefish evolved and lost their vision, earning the moniker "the blind cavefish," but some cavefish also developed an inordinate number of taste buds on the head and chin. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-cavefish-extraordinary-buds-age-reveals.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Aug 2024 17:18:03 EDT news642961081 A psychologist at the University of London has found that humans have a surprisingly precise degree of tactile localization beneath their fingernails. In his study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Matthew Longo tested how well volunteers could pinpoint the part of their fingernail being stimulated and outlines possible reasons. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-subsurface-fingernails-precise-tactile-localization.html Evolution Wed, 10 Jul 2024 09:59:03 EDT news639824339 Physicists from Swansea University and Åbo Akademi University have made a significant breakthrough in solar cell technology by developing a new analytical model that improves the understanding and efficiency of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-year-solar-cell-equation.html General Physics Tue, 02 Jul 2024 10:12:03 EDT news639133921 A Philippine court has blocked the commercial propagation of genetically modified golden rice because it said conflicting scientific views gave rise to "severe" health and environmental safety concerns. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-philippine-court-blocks-gmo-golden.html Agriculture Thu, 25 Apr 2024 03:50:02 EDT news633235342 New research from scientists at Durham University reveals an unexpected pathway toward brighter, more efficient, and more stable blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). https://phys.org/news/2024-02-avenues-efficient-stable-blue-oled.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 13 Feb 2024 05:00:01 EST news626951521 Dr. Mark Lindsay was 5 years old when he first learned that tree trunks were brown. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-science-unseen-barriers.html Other Mon, 15 Jan 2024 12:33:54 EST news624544428 Our lives are becoming increasingly data driven. Our phones monitor our time and internet usage and online surveys discern our opinions and likes. These data harvests are used for telling us how well we've slept or what we might like to buy. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-pie.html Mathematics Mon, 08 Jan 2024 12:18:32 EST news623938709 The AI models that power chatbots and other applications still have difficulty distinguishing between nonsense and natural language, according to a study released on Thursday. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-ai-struggle-nonsense.html Education Thu, 14 Sep 2023 13:09:25 EDT news613915756 When researchers set out to study 401(k) retirement savings accumulation, they found that thousands of studies of retirement savings accumulation ignored the surprisingly high rate of departing employees who cash out retirement savings at job separation. This is concerning, because statistically, everyone will likely change jobs multiple times before retirement. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-401k-accounts-jobs-hidden-undermining.html Economics & Business Thu, 20 Jul 2023 17:01:16 EDT news609091273 A team of marine biologist from James Cook University and University College London has found that blind cavefish living in dark caves in Mexico produce cells that are responsive to light. In their paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes their study of several samples of blind cavefish. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-biologists-cavefish-cells-responsive.html Plants & Animals Mon, 17 Jul 2023 12:10:01 EDT news608814165