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. Despite a barren start to Colorado's ski season, Winter Park Resort opened on Halloween and served up holiday powder. The ski area's secret is a contraption a few miles upwind of the chairlifts that looks like a meat smoker strapped to the top of a ladder. When weather conditions are just right, a Winter Park contractor fires up the machine, burning a fine dust of silver iodide into the sky—a process known as cloud seeding. Ideally, the particles disappear into a cloud that is cold enough and wet enough to produce snow, but may need a nudge. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-resorts-drones-dire-drought.html Environment Mon, 09 Feb 2026 17:50:01 EST news689848892 About a year ago, researchers at the University of Michigan found that the extratropical cyclones that are the biggest drivers of winter weather in the Great Lakes region are warming and trending northward. That means, outside of the northern reaches of the region, residents can expect that their winters will be warmer and wetter on average. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-great-lakes-winter-storms-global.html Earth Sciences Mon, 09 Feb 2026 16:14:49 EST news689876041 The world is looking for more clean water. Intense storms and warmer weather have worsened droughts and reduced the amount of clean water underground and in rivers and lakes on the surface. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-reclaiming-contaminated-brine-environmental.html Environment Wed, 04 Feb 2026 12:07:35 EST news689429221 Some tropical land regions may warm more dramatically than previously predicted, as climate change progresses, according to a new CU Boulder study that looks millions of years into Earth's past. Using lake sediments from the Colombian Andes, researchers reveal that when the planet warmed millions of years ago under carbon dioxide levels similar to today's, tropical land heated up nearly twice as much as the ocean. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-tropical-oceans-climate-sediment.html Earth Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:00:12 EST news689266441 Some brands of bottled water contain significantly higher levels of microplastics than tap water, according to new research by scientists who have developed a novel method for detecting these tiny particles. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-bottled-worse-microplastics.html Environment Mon, 02 Feb 2026 10:36:12 EST news689250901 A U.S.-Indian Earth satellite's ability to see through clouds, revealing insights and characteristics of our planet's surface, is on display in a colorful, newly released image showing the Mississippi River Delta region in southeastern Louisiana. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-nasa-isro-radar-mission-peers.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 30 Jan 2026 06:04:50 EST news688975441 Argentina's government on Thursday declared an emergency in Patagonia, where wildfires have ripped through vast tracts of forest since the start of the Southern Hemisphere summer. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-argentina-declares-emergency-patagonia-wildfires.html Environment Fri, 30 Jan 2026 03:00:01 EST news688964104 Should growing glacial lakes be used for energy production and water supply—or remain protected as ecologically valuable systems? A research team from the University of Potsdam, together with partners from the University of Leeds, has recorded the distribution and volume of glacial lakes worldwide. Their findings allow various usage scenarios to be derived, particularly in areas where the largest glaciers still exist today. Their article has been published in Nature Water. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-meltwater-reservoirs-glacial-lakes-resource.html Earth Sciences Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:45:23 EST news688927501 No matter where you live in the United States, you have likely seen headlines about PFAS being detected in everything from drinking water to fish to milk to human bodies. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-pfas-great-lakes-fish.html Environment Thu, 29 Jan 2026 01:00:01 EST news688827404 Perilously cold temperatures threatened millions of Americans Monday in the wake of a sprawling winter storm that left at least 23 people dead as it knocked out power and paralyzed transportation. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-bitter-cold-millions-snowstorm.html Environment Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:40:04 EST news688656878 With western states deadlocked in negotiations over how to cut water use along the Colorado River, the Trump administration has called in the governors of seven states to Washington to try to hash out a consensus. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-western-governors-washington-colorado-river.html Environment Fri, 23 Jan 2026 19:30:01 EST news688368617 CO2 that has been absorbed and accumulated in fresh water areas like lakes and reservoirs—is receiving attention for its potential contributions to achieving a carbon neutral society. Kobe University is a hub for freshwater carbon research, with Graduate School of Engineering Professor Nakayama Keisuke, an expert in aquatic and environmental engineering, at the forefront. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-qa-carbon-neutral-society-freshwater.html Earth Sciences Fri, 23 Jan 2026 17:50:01 EST news688311925 Plastic pollution is everywhere—including where you would least expect it, especially when it's in tiny particle form. Today, scientists are working to measure the consequences of this contamination. There's the pollution you can see—on the beach, on the roadside and in open-air landfills. And then there's the pollution you can't—on the peak of Mount Everest, deep inside the Mariana Trench, in clouds, in buildings, and in our water supply, food, blood and brain. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-consequences-plastic-contamination.html Environment Fri, 23 Jan 2026 12:06:42 EST news688392345 Nine months ago, President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum instructing his administration to "achieve maximum speed and efficiency" in moving to block invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-asian-carp-barrier-illinois-snag.html Ecology Wed, 21 Jan 2026 21:20:01 EST news688202169 Warm Arctic waters and cold continental land are combining to stretch the dreaded polar vortex in a way that will send much of the United States a devastating dose of winter weather later this week with swaths of painful subzero temperatures, heavy snow and powerline-toppling ice. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-meteorologists-blame-polar-vortex-moisture.html Environment Wed, 21 Jan 2026 13:30:28 EST news688224590 The world is entering an era of "global water bankruptcy" with rivers, lakes and aquifers depleting faster than nature can replenish them, a United Nations research institute said on Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-declares-global-state-bankruptcy.html Environment Wed, 21 Jan 2026 05:40:01 EST news688193529 Archaeologists working near Skipsea Castle in East Yorkshire say a series of rare discoveries is transforming understanding of life in the centuries before the Norman Conquest. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-anglo-saxon-center-unearthed-skipsea.html Archaeology Tue, 20 Jan 2026 13:20:07 EST news688137266 The return of humans to the British Isles after the end of the last ice sheet, which covered much of the northern hemisphere, happened around 15,200 years ago—nearly 500 years earlier than previous estimates. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-humans-british-isles-earlier-previously.html Archaeology Mon, 19 Jan 2026 12:19:21 EST news688047541 On a frigid April day, Brock University Professor of Biological Sciences Glenn Tattersall, then-Ph.D. student Danilo Giacometti and wildlife researcher Patrick Moldowan ventured out into Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park hoping to take in a rare sight. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-supercooling-salamanders-canadian-winters.html Plants & Animals Mon, 19 Jan 2026 12:06:14 EST news688046761 Freshwater browning is stunting fish growth of some species, shrinking populations of others and changing the composition of fish communities, McGill-led research suggests. "Browning" refers to freshwater bodies turning tea-colored, a phenomenon driven by higher levels of dissolved organic matter and/or higher levels of iron in the water. Causes include changes in land use and climate, and reduced acid precipitation. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-freshwater-browning-threatens-growth-populations.html Ecology Mon, 19 Jan 2026 11:24:29 EST news688044242 For the second time in the past two weeks, the U.S. Drought Monitor, a prominent national report, has classified 100% of California as being drought-free. That's a rating that hasn't occurred in 25 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-california-drought-free-years.html Environment Fri, 16 Jan 2026 17:10:01 EST news687769712 Most people can imagine why a shrinking Great Salt Lake would mean unhealthy dust storms for the Wasatch Front, or why refilling the lake through water conservation could reduce dust exposure. Now, there is a data-based modeling tool to visualize it, hosted at the University of Utah's Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-interactive-exposure-great-salt-lake.html Earth Sciences Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:18:56 EST news687795513 Under the Great Salt Lake playa lies a potentially vast reservoir of pressurized freshwater that has accumulated over thousands of years from mountain-derived snowmelt, according to new research from University of Utah geoscientists. This groundwater occupies the pore spaces in sediments that fill the basin west of the Wasatch Mountains and below a 30-foot-thick salty layer. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-utah-great-salt-lake-underground.html Earth Sciences Thu, 15 Jan 2026 05:36:18 EST news687677761 Charophytes are extremely beneficial to lakes, improving water quality and biodiversity. However, their abundance was found to decline in many lakes without clear signs of eutrophication during recent decades. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-reintroducing-charophytes-quality-biodiversity-lakes.html Plants & Animals Sat, 10 Jan 2026 16:10:01 EST news687110509 Small lakes on ancient Mars may have remained liquid for decades, even with average air temperatures well below freezing. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-thin-ice-lake-frozen-mars.html Astrobiology Mon, 05 Jan 2026 16:57:38 EST news686854621 Legend once had it that the huge, three-toed footprints scattered across the central highlands of Bolivia came from supernaturally strong monsters—capable of sinking their claws even into solid stone. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-fossil-footprints-central-bolivia-reveal.html Paleontology & Fossils Fri, 26 Dec 2025 12:00:01 EST news684476256 The 20th century was horrible for the Everglades. The broad shallow river, one of the most unique ecosystems on the planet, was labeled wasteland and ruthlessly dammed, carved into parcels, dried out and diverted into near oblivion. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-years-america-everglades.html Plants & Animals Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:30:01 EST news685693384 When Dickson Ngome first leased his farm at Lake Naivasha in Kenya's Rift Valley in 2008, it was over 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from shore. The farm was on 1.5 acres (0.6 hectares) of fertile land where he grew vegetables to sell at local markets. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-scientists-kenya-lakes-thousands-uncertain.html Environment Mon, 22 Dec 2025 04:04:00 EST news685598591 In what came to be called the "Christmas Valley miracle," the Lake Tahoe Basin communities of Christmas Valley and Meyers were spared in late August 2021 when the massive Caldor Fire entered the basin, burning more than 222,000 acres and forcing roughly 30,000 people to evacuate during one of the hottest, driest summers on record. Outside of the Lake Tahoe Basin, the fire destroyed over 1,000 structures, many of them homes. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-lessons-caldor-christmas-valley-miracle.html Ecology Sat, 20 Dec 2025 11:40:01 EST news685373638 Federal officials gave the clearest timeline yet for when a breakthrough could come in closed-door negotiations over the water supply of 40 million Americans. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-river-strict-timeline-colorado.html Environment Thu, 18 Dec 2025 20:40:07 EST news685269523