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. Stripe patterns are commonly seen in nature—for instance, birds and fish move in coordinated flocks and schools, fingerprints form unique designs, and zebras can be identified by their distinctive stripes. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-stripe-patterns-blood-cells-clues.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:22:17 EST news685646521 A pair of recent papers, led by biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and published in Fisheries Research and Marine and Coastal Fisheries, sought to comprehensively pinpoint which catch-and-release fishing practices pose a considerable risk to striped bass, and to show that there's a mismatch between what anglers know about catch-and-release best practices and how this knowledge translates into action once on the water. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-striped-bass-struggling-biologists-keys.html Ecology Tue, 02 Dec 2025 13:11:28 EST news683903461 Painting zebra stripes on cows to fend off flies, lizards' favorite pizza toppings and how booze helps you speak another language: these were some of the winners at the Ig Nobel prizes, which celebrate the sillier side of science. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-stripes-cows-lizards-pizza-ig.html Other Sat, 20 Sep 2025 08:20:01 EDT news677484815 With warm weather here and more people out on the water, great white shark sightings are rising around the region. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-sharks-chomping-massachusetts-feasting-dead.html Ecology Fri, 27 Jun 2025 05:59:41 EDT news670222775 A research team has identified two novel genetic mechanisms for disease resistance in wheat, offering promising strategies to enhance resilience against powdery mildew and stripe rust. The discoveries were published in back-to-back articles in Nature Genetics. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-gene-pairs-confer-resistance-wheat.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 10 Jun 2025 10:37:03 EDT news668770621 A new study involving the University of Liverpool reveals striking temperature shifts across both the oceans and the atmosphere, using an extended version of the now-iconic climate stripes visualization. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-oceans-atmosphere-visualized-climate-stripes.html Environment Mon, 05 May 2025 08:00:04 EDT news665650802 In many animals, skin coloration and its patterns play a crucial role in camouflage, communication, or thermoregulation. In the corn snake, some morphs display red, yellow, or pink blotches, and their dorsal spots can merge or turn into stripes. But which genetic and cellular mechanisms determine these colorful patterns? https://phys.org/news/2025-04-gene-corn-snake-skin-pattern.html Plants & Animals Thu, 24 Apr 2025 08:21:03 EDT news664701661 In a surprising discovery, researchers from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University have found a substantial number of anadromous blueback herring in New Jersey's Cooper River. The fish, similar to salmon, swim upriver to spawn, and had been considered all but extinct in the region by the 1970s. But the finding suggests they have made a robust return in the river, which is somewhat unexpected considering the area along it remains highly urbanized. The finding suggests that the herring's return corresponds with improvements in water quality and fish passage over the last 50 years. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-blueback-herring-robust-urbanized-waterway.html Plants & Animals Wed, 19 Feb 2025 14:27:04 EST news659197622 Falcons are found worldwide, from the fast and slick hobbies to the large and powerful gyrfalcon of the Arctic tundra. In Africa, falcons are found across many habitats. Several species are unique to the continent, including the endangered Taita falcon, which nests on high cliffs, and the greater kestrel, which breeds in the old nests of other species, particularly crows. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-falcons-stripes-eyes-complex-thought.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Jan 2025 11:20:01 EST news655470466 When thinking of animal camouflage, we typically imagine creatures remaining still, blending seamlessly into their surroundings. But remaining motionless isn't always practical, and many animals are highly mobile, constantly moving through their environment to graze their food. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-humbug-damselfish-motion-dazzle-evade.html Plants & Animals Wed, 25 Sep 2024 09:53:04 EDT news646476782 Tiles that fill two- and three-dimensional spaces with no gaps—including triangles, squares, hexagons, cubes, and other polyhedra—are typically designed with sharp corners and flat faces (straight edges). https://phys.org/news/2024-09-soft-cells-rounded-tile-echo.html Mathematics Tue, 10 Sep 2024 13:35:02 EDT news645194101 In copper-containing materials called cuprates, superconductivity competes with two properties called magnetic spin and electric charge density wave (CDW) order. These properties reveal different parts of the electrons in the superconductor. Each electron possesses spin and charge. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-high-temperature-superconductivity-closer-theory.html Superconductivity Tue, 30 Jul 2024 07:17:40 EDT news641542657 Although zebrafish are much smaller and less famous than their terrestrial namesakes, the tiny fish possess a unique ability: They can rapidly change the color of their characteristic stripes from blue to yellow when they're distressed. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-zebrafish-stripes-closer.html Plants & Animals Wed, 29 May 2024 15:34:04 EDT news636215642 After five straight years of troubling data on the population of young rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland officials plan to enact emergency regulations canceling this spring's trophy season for recreational anglers. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-rockfish-population-maryland-cancel-trophy.html Plants & Animals Thu, 30 Nov 2023 07:10:27 EST news620550623 Patterns on animal skin, such as zebra stripes and poison frog color patches, serve various biological functions, including temperature regulation, camouflage and warning signals. The colors making up these patterns must be distinct and well separated to be effective. For instance, as a warning signal, distinct colors make them clearly visible to other animals. And as camouflage, well-separated colors allow animals to better blend into their surroundings. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-animals-skin-patterns-physicsresearch-medical.html Plants & Animals Sat, 11 Nov 2023 09:20:01 EST news618757888 Trying to catch striped bass in Cape Cod Bay these days? You might be competing with an incredibly powerful apex predator. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-shark-cape-cod-bay-striper.html Plants & Animals Fri, 21 Jul 2023 13:20:01 EDT news609164080 Our galaxy's largest nearby companion is the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy visible to the naked eye in the Southern Hemisphere. In recent years, new theoretical research and better observational capabilities have taught astronomers a great deal about our (not-so-little) neighbor. It's becoming increasingly clear that the LMC is helping shape the Milky Way's evolution. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-milky-large-magellanic-cloud-gravity.html Astronomy Mon, 24 Apr 2023 14:37:04 EDT news601565821 Humanity needs to fundamentally change its relationship with nature in order to protect wildlife and enhance the environment. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-humans-nature-environmental.html Environment Mon, 27 Mar 2023 13:30:02 EDT news599141912 Researchers at the University of Bristol have found why zebra fur is thinly striped and sharply outlined. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-experts-zebra-stripes-thwart-horsefly.html Evolution Mon, 20 Feb 2023 09:28:03 EST news596107681 A team of researchers from NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has discovered new insights into the evolution of color patterns in frogs and toads—collectively known as anurans. Animal color patterns can help them camouflage with their surroundings and avoid detection from preys or predators. Many anurans have a light stripe along their back, which, when observed from above, creates the optical illusion that the animal is split in two halves and confuses visually-oriented predators. Although this color pattern is widespread in frogs around the world, little is known regarding its evolution or genetic origin. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-uncover-insights-evolution-patterns-frogs.html Evolution Thu, 17 Nov 2022 17:29:02 EST news587928541 In a town in northeastern Scotland, Debbie Banks looks for clues to track down criminals as she clicks through a database of tiger skins. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-stripes-tech-tiger.html Ecology Wed, 17 Aug 2022 04:41:26 EDT news579930076 Pests and diseases result in the loss of one-fifth of the global wheat harvest each year, which is enough to make around 290 billion loaves of bread. Resolving the persistent problem of the fungal rust diseases that attack wheat could help ensure future food security. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-rust-resistance-bread-wheat.html Plants & Animals Mon, 14 Mar 2022 12:08:29 EDT news566478506 Two University of Wyoming researchers are part of the first-ever mapping of magnetic stripes—one of the foundations of plate tectonics—within the lower gabbroic section of fast-spreading oceanic crust. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-magnetic-stripes-fast-ocean-crust.html Earth Sciences Thu, 23 Sep 2021 13:05:27 EDT news551621119 A team of researchers affiliated with a large number of institutions in India and the U.S. has found a rare genotype in an isolated tiger population that explains its dark wide stripes. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their genetic study of pseudomelanistic tigers at India's Nandankanan Biological Park. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-rare-phenotype-isolated-tiger-population.html Plants & Animals Tue, 14 Sep 2021 08:03:55 EDT news550825417 An international team has observed an amazing phenomenon in a nickel oxide material during cooling: Instead of freezing, certain fluctuations actually increase as the temperature drops. Nickel oxide is a model system that is structurally similar to high-temperature superconductors. The experiment shows once again that the behavior of this class of materials still holds surprises. https://phys.org/news/2021-08-vibrations-cooling-anti-freezing.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 04 Aug 2021 11:54:00 EDT news547296832 What if electricity could be squeezed out of something? It turns out some materials have this property. Piezoelectricity is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solids when mechanical stress is applied on them. Piezoelectric materials, like bismuth ferrite thin films, when grown on a single lanthanum aluminate substrate, give rise to highly strained epitaxial thin films that exhibit excellent electromechanical and ferroelectric properties. In bismuth ferrite thin films "doped" or polluted with lanthanum (BLFOs), piezoelectricity is attributed to the presence of "mixed-phase structures" with stripe patterns. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-phases-piezoelectric-materials.html Materials Science Tue, 29 Jun 2021 12:01:33 EDT news544186889 A team of researchers from the University of Florida and Arizona State University has found that removing black stripes on male jumping spiders does not increase their chances of being captured by prey. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group describes experiments they conducted with jumping spiders. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-makeup-spiders-chances-eaten-predator.html Plants & Animals Wed, 23 Jun 2021 09:00:01 EDT news543656436 Dark 'eyeliner' feathers of peregrine falcons act as sun shields to improve the birds' hunting ability, a new scientific study suggests. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-falcons-natural-eye-makeup-ability.html Plants & Animals Tue, 01 Jun 2021 19:10:01 EDT news541771081 Unconventional superconductors contain a number of exotic phases of matter that are thought to play a role, for better or worse, in their ability to conduct electricity with 100% efficiency at much higher temperatures than scientists had thought possible—although still far short of the temperatures that would allow their wide deployment in perfectly efficient power lines, maglev trains and so on. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-scientists-glimpse-puzzling-state-superconductor.html Superconductivity Thu, 22 Apr 2021 08:28:55 EDT news538298932 Stripe rust is one of the most destructive wheat diseases in the world, especially in the United States. While the disease can be controlled by chemicals, those may be harmful to humans, animals, and the environment and the application can cost millions of dollars to wheat production. Rather than use chemicals, many farmers would prefer to grow wheat varieties that resist stripe rust and the development of such varieties is a top priority for wheat breeding programs. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-wheat-varieties-resist-destructive-stripe.html Plants & Animals Thu, 17 Sep 2020 14:21:59 EDT news519571307