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. Imagine a world where fresh vegetables and herbs sprout in the heart of our cities without the need for sprawling farms. Hydroponics—a method of growing plants without soil—uses a nutrient-rich water solution instead of earth and is useful in areas where soil quality is poor, land is frequently flooded, water supply is unreliable, or there simply isn't enough space. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-cape-town-hydroponic-farming-urban.html Agriculture Tue, 03 Feb 2026 11:51:37 EST news689341861 It's a Wednesday evening in a town hall in Penryn in Cornwall, and my friend Pete and I are volunteering at our local repair cafe. We set up tables, get our tools ready, put up a sign outside and wait for people to arrive. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-volunteer-cafe-broken-christmas-gift.html Social Sciences Tue, 30 Dec 2025 16:40:01 EST news686313516 Endangered penguins living off South Africa's coast have likely starved en masse due to food shortages, a study said, with some populations dropping by 95% in just eight years. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-african-penguins-starved-en-masse.html Plants & Animals Thu, 25 Dec 2025 10:30:01 EST news684130910 In the face of a changing climate, an updated planning tool will act as Anchorage's guide to preparing for and living with an increased wildfire risk. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-anchorage-rewrites-wildfire.html Environment Mon, 24 Nov 2025 09:40:03 EST news683198530 An explorer and a glaciologist have embarked on a three-month mission to cross part of Antarctica on kite skis in search of ice that is 130,000 years old. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-explorers-ancient-antarctica-ice-climate.html Earth Sciences Sat, 01 Nov 2025 07:05:39 EDT news681199534 A new study published in the journal Nature Communications by researchers from the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in the Republic of Korea reveals that global warming is accelerating the risk of multi-year droughts that can lead to extreme water scarcity, threatening water demands in cities, agriculture, and livelihoods worldwide, already within the coming decades. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-dry-extreme-scarcity-decades.html Earth Sciences Tue, 23 Sep 2025 11:50:07 EDT news677846453 A genomic analysis of over 1,200 people from across South Africa reveals how colonial-era European, Indigenous Khoe-San peoples, and enslaved people contributed to the modern-day gene pool in South Africa. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-european-colonizers-genetic-ancestry-indigenous.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 23 Sep 2025 11:00:07 EDT news677752100 More than 10,000 evacuees sheltered in schools and evacuation centers in the Philippines on Monday as heavy rains and gale-force winds from Super Typhoon Ragasa lashed the country's far north. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-thousands-evacuated-philippines-super-typhoon.html Environment Mon, 22 Sep 2025 04:32:05 EDT news677734317 Researchers have examined a sediment core from the Roman town and metal production center of Aldborough in Yorkshire, revealing metal production did not collapse immediately after the Romans left Britain. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-britain-economy-collapse-romans-left.html Archaeology Thu, 11 Sep 2025 05:00:05 EDT news676280919 Deep in Earth's past, an icy landscape became a seascape as the ice melted and the oceans rose off what is now the northeastern United States. Nearly 50 years ago, a U.S. government ship searching for minerals and hydrocarbons in the area drilled into the seafloor to see what it could find. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-scientists-secret-fresh-ocean-thirsty.html Environment Fri, 05 Sep 2025 15:42:50 EDT news676305754 Cape Town has consistently been one of the metropolitan regions in South Africa with the highest murder rates. It has more than double the national average, and is currently ranked second overall and 16th worldwide. Many victims are discovered only after their bodies have decomposed, burned, or been exposed to the elements. That makes identification difficult and delays justice. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-bodies-decompose-cape-town-forensic.html Biotechnology Wed, 03 Sep 2025 13:00:03 EDT news676120801 A new study led by researchers at the University at Albany's Center for Technology in Government finds that in some rural and tribal communities, the public library remains the single most important access point for technology, learning and civic engagement—often functioning as the community's primary link to the digital world. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-highlights-tribal-libraries-bridge-digital.html Education Fri, 29 Aug 2025 09:08:06 EDT news675677282 Africa's urban future will be shaped not only by large cities and capitals but also by its many small and medium-sized towns. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-small-towns-fast-ghana-environmental.html Environment Mon, 16 Jun 2025 10:54:04 EDT news669290041 Canada's military used aircraft to help evacuate members of a remote Indigenous group Monday as wildfires spread eastward from the Prairies region and into the country's most populous province Ontario. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-military-aids-evacuations-canada-wildfires.html Environment Tue, 10 Jun 2025 04:50:01 EDT news668749724 Climate change is reshaping the global water cycle, disrupting rainfall patterns and putting growing pressure on cities and ecosystems. Some regions are grappling with heavier rainfall and flooding, while others face prolonged droughts that threaten public health, disrupt economies and increase the risk of political instability. In one recent example, a years-long drought between 2015 and 2020 brought Cape Town, South Africa, to the brink of running out of water—a moment officials dubbed "Day Zero." https://phys.org/news/2025-06-ancient-climate-modern-droughts.html Earth Sciences Fri, 06 Jun 2025 09:23:04 EDT news668420581 A magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook a coastal town in Turkey on Tuesday, causing panic among residents, officials said. Dozens were reported injured after jumping from windows or balconies to get out of their homes while a teenager died after being taken to the hospital. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-quake-turkey-coast-dozens-teen.html Environment Tue, 03 Jun 2025 04:10:43 EDT news668142639 Why did your hometown newspaper vanish while the next town over kept theirs? https://phys.org/news/2025-05-towns-local-news-dont.html Social Sciences Tue, 27 May 2025 11:52:04 EDT news667565521 Visit just about any downtown on a weekend and you will likely happen upon a farmers market. Or, you might grab lunch from a food truck outside a local brewpub or winery. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-young-food-entrepreneurs-rural-america.html Social Sciences Thu, 22 May 2025 11:02:03 EDT news667130522 When Lungelo Zondi first learned about stars and galaxies at primary school in South Africa, she dreamed of having a live feed into the universe for uninterrupted space exploration. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-safrica-vast-radio-telescope-generation.html Astronomy Tue, 13 May 2025 14:59:58 EDT news666367182 A bright object, initially appearing to be a meteorite, lit up the skies over Mexico's capital around 3 a.m. Wednesday, stretching over plains, volcanoes and small towns. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-fireball-mexico-city-skies-awe.html Space Exploration Thu, 17 Apr 2025 04:08:56 EDT news664081732 Driving through almost any coastal town, you'll notice staples of being at the beach: ice-cream stands, seafood shacks, bridges leading to the shore. But what if they all washed away? https://phys.org/news/2025-04-beach-day-critical-elevation-threshold.html Earth Sciences Tue, 15 Apr 2025 12:50:02 EDT news663939602 As the planet gets hotter and freshwater sources dry up, cities and towns will not be able to continue the global norm of using millions of liters of clean, drinkable water to flush toilets. South Africa's Water Research Commission recently commissioned a study into using seawater to flush toilets in Cape Town. Water engineering lecturer Teboho Mofokeng researches water management and reuse in South Africa and she co-authored the study. She spoke to The Conversation Africa about Capetonians' willingness to pay up to 10% more on their water bills to use seawater to flush their toilets, as long as it doesn't smell or stain their toilets. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-south-africans-flush-toilets-drinkable.html Environment Tue, 01 Apr 2025 17:10:01 EDT news662731698 A South African court order issued Tuesday barred for at least 10 years commercial fishing at key breeding colonies for African penguins that are facing extinction in part because of threats to their food supply. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-africa-court-bars-fishing-endangered.html Ecology Tue, 18 Mar 2025 12:01:06 EDT news661518063 A study published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP) presents a methodology to test the assumption of cosmic homogeneity and isotropy, known as the Cosmological Principle, by leveraging weak gravitational lensing—a light distortion effect described by general relativity—in astronomical images collected by new observatories such as the Euclid Space Telescope. Finding evidence of anomalies in the Cosmological Principle could have profound implications for our current understanding of the universe. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-universe-weak-gravitational-lensing.html Astronomy Tue, 11 Feb 2025 00:00:01 EST news658407886 Water scarcity is often viewed as an issue for the arid American West, but the U.S. Northeast's experience in 2024 shows how severe droughts can occur in just about any part of the country. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-drought-cities-ran-dry.html Environment Mon, 03 Feb 2025 12:47:56 EST news657809269 Urban agriculture takes many forms, among them community, school or rooftop gardens, commercial urban farms, and hydroponic or aquaponic systems. These activities have been shown to promote sustainable cities in a number of ways. They enhance local food security and foster economic opportunities through small-scale farming initiatives. They also strengthen social cohesion by creating shared spaces for collaboration and learning. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-urban-food-gardens-vegetables-bonds.html Social Sciences Mon, 27 Jan 2025 12:40:01 EST news657202123 Countries that earn a lot of money from oil, coal, minerals and other natural capital by no means invest it wisely. A lot of money flows away into corruption and unsustainable investments. Investing more sustainably in education, health and infrastructure would benefit not only current, but also future generations within these countries. Charan van Krevel investigated why things still often go wrong. His Ph.D. defense at Radboud University takes place on 21 December. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-resource-rich-countries-invest-unsustainably.html Economics & Business Tue, 17 Dec 2024 15:59:35 EST news653673569 Have you recently opened YouTube or TikTok and immediately gone looking for cat videos? If your answer is "yes," then you're not alone: the global consumption of cat-related media online is simply massive. In 2015, there were over 2 million cat videos on YouTube alone, with an average of 12,000 views each—a higher average than any other category of YouTube content. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-cat-videos-wild-caracals-internet.html Ecology Wed, 11 Dec 2024 12:34:33 EST news653142866 On a sunny afternoon in Cape Town's seaside village of Simon's Town, three young chacma baboons cause a commotion, clambering on roofs, jumping between buildings and swinging on the gutters. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-baboons-bolder-cape-town-solutions.html Ecology Mon, 25 Nov 2024 04:30:35 EST news651731428 Typhoon Usagi blew out of the Philippines early Friday as another dangerous storm drew closer, threatening an area where scores were killed by flash floods and landslides just weeks ago, the weather service said. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-philippines-usagi-fresh-storm.html Environment Fri, 15 Nov 2024 04:19:29 EST news650866764