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. China's sweeping efforts to clean up its air have delivered one of the biggest public health success stories of recent decades. Since the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan was launched in 2013, coal-fired power plants have been fitted with scrubbers, heavy industry has been modernized and pollution standards tightened, leading to an over 50% reduction in atmospheric particulate matter. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-china-emissions-policies-climate-problem.html Earth Sciences Tue, 10 Feb 2026 07:50:01 EST news689850775 Benefits to society from coral reefs, including fisheries, tourism, coastal protection, pharmaceutical discovery and more, are estimated at about $9.8 trillion per year. For the first time, an international team led by Smithsonian researchers estimated the extent of coral bleaching worldwide during a global marine heat wave, finding that half of the world's reefs experienced significant damage. Another heat wave began in 2023 and is ongoing. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-world-coral-reefs-major-global.html Earth Sciences Tue, 10 Feb 2026 05:00:04 EST news689849281 Large blooms of seaweed are increasingly being reported along coastlines globally, from Europe and Asia to the tropics and beyond. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-drastic-seaweed-growth-threatens-marine.html Ecology Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:36:57 EST news689859362 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 A new study involving researchers from Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences has finally solved the mystery of what caused the collapse of an Ancient Chinese civilization—finding that widespread flooding was to blame. The findings have been published in National Science Reviews. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-ancient-yangtze-linked-shijiahe-decline.html Earth Sciences Sun, 08 Feb 2026 12:00:01 EST news689607576 Earth's magnetic field is generated by the churn of its liquid nickel-iron outer core, but it is not a constant feature. Every so often, the magnetic north and south poles swap places in what are called geomagnetic reversals, and the record of these flips is preserved in rocks and sediments, including those from the ocean floor. These reversals don't happen suddenly, but over several thousand years, where the magnetic field fades and wobbles while the two poles wander and finally settle in the opposite positions of the globe. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-earth-magnetic-field-flipping.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 05 Feb 2026 14:47:32 EST news689525221 Scientists at the University of Southampton have uncovered evidence from ancient rocks that Earth's climate continued to fluctuate during its most extreme ice age—known as Snowball Earth. During the Cryogenian Period, between 720 and 635 million years ago, it has long been believed that Earth's climate entirely shut down. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-snowball-earth-ancient-scottish-reveal.html Earth Sciences Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:20:02 EST news689512447 Parts of ancient Earth may have formed continents and recycled crust through subduction far earlier than previously thought. New research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has uncovered chemical signatures in zircons, the planet's oldest minerals, that are consistent with subduction and extensive continental crust during the Hadean Eon, more than 4 billion years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-hadean-zircons-reveal-crust-recycling.html Earth Sciences Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:00:17 EST news689320381 In collaboration with the National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Oshima College, the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) succeeded in developing a new regenerator material composed solely of abundant elements, such as copper, iron, and aluminum, that can achieve cryogenic temperatures (approx. 4K = −269°C or below) without using any rare-earth metals or liquid helium. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-cryogenic-cooling-material-solely-abundant.html Condensed Matter Tue, 03 Feb 2026 20:50:01 EST news689348840 Most near-Earth asteroids are thought to drift in from the main asteroid belt. But a small subset may have a much closer origin: the moon. One intriguing example is 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3), an Earth quasi-satellite whose reported spectrum resembles lunar material and which is a target of China's Tianwen-2 sample-return mission. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-rubin-survey-underway-simulations-lunar.html Astronomy Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:18:07 EST news689256956 New research may have solved an American mystery which has baffled geologists for a century and a half: How did a river carve a path through a mountain in one of the country's most iconic landscapes? Scientists have long sought an answer to this question of how the Green River, the largest tributary of the Colorado River, managed to create a 700-meter-deep canyon through Utah's 4km-high Uinta Mountains instead of simply flowing around them. The question is particularly confounding because, while the Uinta Mountains are 50 million years old, the Green River has been following this route for less than 8 million years. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-geologists-mystery-green-river-uphill.html Earth Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2026 08:00:01 EST news688987166 Sediment containing rare earth was retrieved from ocean depths of 6,000 meters (about 20,000 feet) on a Japanese test mission, the government said Monday, as it seeks to curb dependence on China for the valuable minerals. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-japan-rare-earth-sediment-deep.html Earth Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2026 04:40:18 EST news689229576 Using data collected by NASA's Parker Solar Probe during its closest approach to the sun, a University of Arizona-led research team has measured the dynamics and ever-changing "shell" of hot gas from where the solar wind originates. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-sun-unraveling-mysteries-solar.html Space Exploration Fri, 30 Jan 2026 10:35:31 EST news688991702 It's been 54 years since the last Apollo mission, and since then, humans have not ventured beyond low-Earth orbit. But that's all about to change with next week's launch of the Artemis II mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-artemis-ii-human-mission-moon.html Space Exploration Thu, 29 Jan 2026 22:20:01 EST news688911606 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 Earth's radiation budget is a core process of the Earth-atmosphere system, closely linked to global climate and environmental changes. While current satellite observations have greatly advanced our understanding of Earth's radiation budget, low-Earth orbit and geostationary satellites struggle to achieve both temporal continuity and spatial consistency. Accurately capturing the laws of Earth's outgoing radiation is key to studying this budget. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-moon-based-capture-earth-fingerprint.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:10:06 EST news688658687 Rising tensions between the US and China are changing how companies design global supply chains in strategic industries such as semiconductors and rare earths. New research shows firms are no longer just reacting to trade rules—they are proactively redesigning supply chains to reduce political risk and secure access to critical technologies. The work is published in the journal Production Planning & Control. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-great-power-rivalry-reshaping-global.html Economics & Business Mon, 26 Jan 2026 17:30:01 EST news688656157 Already recognized for its excellence and even adopted for operational weather forecasting, the European Space Agency's Arctic Weather Satellite has now fulfilled its most important role. This small prototype mission has succeeded in paving the way for a new constellation of similar satellites, known as EPS-Sterna. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-arctic-weather-satellite-paves-constellation.html Environment Sun, 25 Jan 2026 15:30:02 EST news688303766 A research team affiliated with UNIST has reported a novel synthesis strategy that enables the direct intercalation of a wide range of metal cations into the interlayer spaces of layered titanate (LT) structures. This approach opens new possibilities for designing highly tailored catalysts and energy storage materials for specific industrial applications. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-art-custom-intercalating-metals-layered.html Materials Science Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:35:25 EST news688390502 Our planet is unique for its ability to sustain abundant life. From studies of the rock record, scientists believe life had already emerged on Earth at least 3.5 billion years ago and probably much earlier. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ocean-hydrothermal-life-earth.html Earth Sciences Thu, 22 Jan 2026 12:40:30 EST news688308002 Meteorologists say a major disturbance in Earth's magnetic field Monday could mean the northern lights will be seen farther south than typical in the US, possibly even in Alabama or northern California. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-geomagnetic-storm-northern-central.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 20 Jan 2026 04:27:10 EST news688105552 As we prepare for missions beyond Earth orbit, one crucial challenge remains: keeping astronauts healthy in microgravity. Without daily exercise, their muscles, bones and cardiovascular systems weaken, which could impact mission success and astronaut safety, especially in destinations such as the moon or Mars, where crew will have to operate autonomously immediately after landing. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-astronaut-deep-space-missions.html Space Exploration Mon, 19 Jan 2026 15:30:13 EST news688059002 For the first time in 25 years of continuous crewed operations, an astronaut has been medically evacuated from the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew-11 mission ended when a SpaceX Dragon capsule brought the four astronauts of Crew 11 home following a medical incident in early January 2026. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-medical-evacuation-international-space-station.html Space Exploration Mon, 19 Jan 2026 10:40:30 EST news688041601 On Wednesday, January 14, 2026, the coolest library on Earth was inaugurated at the Concordia station, Antarctica. Samples from glaciers rescued worldwide are now beginning to be stored there for safekeeping. This will allow, among other things, future generations to continue studying traces of past climates trapped under ice, as glaciers on every continent continue to thaw out at a fast pace. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-qa-ice-core-library-antarctica.html Earth Sciences Sun, 18 Jan 2026 16:10:01 EST news687629187 This week, a new analysis of Jupiter's atmosphere estimated that the gas giant has 1.5 times more oxygen than the sun. Researchers in Brazil identified a protein that allows pancreatic cancer to infiltrate nerves and spread early in the course of the disease. And scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School discovered how exercise helps aging muscles regain their ability for self-repair. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-saturday-citations-super-earths-superagers.html Other Sat, 17 Jan 2026 08:50:01 EST news687787314 Deep beneath the surface of distant exoplanets known as super-Earths, oceans of molten rock may be doing something extraordinary: powering magnetic fields strong enough to shield entire planets from dangerous cosmic radiation and other harmful high-energy particles. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-hidden-magma-oceans-shield-rocky.html Astrobiology Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:49:35 EST news687714542 Sometimes to truly study something up close, you have to take a step back. That's what Andrea Donnellan does. An expert in Earth sciences and seismology, she gets much of her data from a bird's-eye view, studying the planet's surface from the air and space, using the data to make discoveries and deepen understanding about earthquakes and other geological processes. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-infrastructure-earthquakes-physics-planetary-science.html Earth Sciences Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:49:17 EST news687624541 New Space is a term now commonly used around the rocketry and satellite industries to indicate a new, speed focused model of development that takes its cue from the Silicon Valley mindset of "move fast and (hopefully don't) break things." Given that several of the founders of rocketry and satellite companies have a Silicon Valley background, that probably shouldn't be a surprise, but the mindset has resulted in an exponential growth in the number of satellites in orbit, and also an exponential decrease in the cost of getting them to orbit. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-philanthropy-fast-track-flagship-telescope.html Space Exploration Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:40:01 EST news687531936 In a blow to anyone dreaming that complex life may exist elsewhere in the universe, a new study suggests we're unlikely to find it around many of the most common stars in the galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-complex-life-planets-orbiting-galaxy.html Astrobiology Mon, 12 Jan 2026 14:20:01 EST news687448797 An Indian rocket hit a snag during its launch Monday, forcing a deviation in flight path as it carried an Earth observation satellite and commercial payloads, the country's space agency said. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-indian-rocket-snag.html Space Exploration Mon, 12 Jan 2026 11:10:01 EST news687438169