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. Climate change and worsening environmental conditions have brought into sharp relief how we must reconcile development with sustainability. This issue is nowhere more starkly relevant than among the fastest-growing economies. Research published in the International Journal of the Energy-Growth Nexus that examined the BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, suggests that investment in education and training might play a significant role in reducing environmental harm, a role that has often been overlooked. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-human-capital-brics-linked-emissions.html Economics & Business Thu, 05 Feb 2026 23:20:01 EST news689519997 In late January, the gold price reached an all-time peak of around US $5,500 (£4,025). January 30 saw one of the largest one-day falls in prices, which sank by nearly 10% after hitting a record high only the day before. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-fall-gold-prices.html Economics & Business Tue, 03 Feb 2026 15:43:06 EST news689355721 Every year, Australia experiences a summer monsoon characterized by the reversal of winds, heavy rainfall, and flooding. In 2024–2025, however, the Australian summer monsoon (ASM) was the latest on record since measurements began in 1957. The monsoon's timely arrival is critical for Northern Australia. It dictates water security for communities, drives pasture growth for the vital cattle industry, and signals the end of the high bushfire risk period. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-late-monsoon-onset-aiding-northern.html Environment Thu, 29 Jan 2026 01:00:03 EST news688842482 After decades of growth, the use of antimicrobials—including antibiotics—in livestock peaked in 2013 and then dropped by nearly a third by 2020, finds a major new study led by UCL researchers. The decline is positive, as overusing antimicrobials in animals can create drug-resistant bacteria, which can lead to human harm. However, despite this trend, the study also found that richer developed countries continue to drive demand for antimicrobial-heavy products by importing large quantities of foods and products from emerging economies that still use farms with high-levels of antimicrobials. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-global-livestock-antibiotic-falls-shifts.html Environment Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:06:28 EST news688835162 Interlocking directorates—the practice of the same director sitting on the boards of competing companies—have long been identified with backroom deals and corporate collusion. In 1914, when antitrust laws began cracking down on the practice, future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called them "the root of many evils." https://phys.org/news/2026-01-antitrust-crackdowns-corporate.html Economics & Business Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:04:20 EST news688827842 Global food trade is essential for food security, but its ecological consequences often remain unseen. A new data paper published in One Ecosystem introduces a global long-term dataset, quantifying biodiversity loss embodied in the international trade of staple food crops. As such, this dataset offers a novel perspective on how food trade redistributes environmental pressures worldwide. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-dataset-exposes-biodiversity-loss-hidden.html Ecology Sun, 25 Jan 2026 11:50:01 EST news688304592 Over Christmas, vegetables, bananas and insulation foam washed up on beaches along England's southeast coast. They were from 16 containers spilled by the cargo ship Baltic Klipper in rough seas. In the new year, a further 24 containers fell from two vessels during Storm Goretti, with chips and onions among the goods appearing on the Sussex shoreline. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-onions-chips-england-south-coast.html Environment Sat, 24 Jan 2026 15:20:01 EST news688375208 When an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in south Minneapolis on Jan. 7, 2026, what happened next looked familiar, at least on the surface. Within hours, cellphone footage spread online and eyewitness accounts contradicted official statements, while video analysts slowed the clip down frame by frame to answer a basic question: Did she pose the threat federal officials claimed? https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ice-legal-exposes-digital-tracking.html Political science Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:55:18 EST news688222502 After years of international negotiation and diplomacy, as of January 2026, the High Seas Treaty has come into effect. It has been ratified by 61 states around the world and is intended to protect international waters and marine life. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-international-laws-ocean-activists-action.html Environment Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:10:01 EST news688137610 Around the world, wildlife and environmental crime is surging. It is estimated to be the fourth largest organized transnational crime sector, and to be growing at a rate two to three times faster than the global economy. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-crime-wildlife-surging-australia-reforms.html Ecology Mon, 19 Jan 2026 11:00:01 EST news688042485 New research by Monash University and the ARC Center of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century analyzed close to three decades of weather data during the coral bleaching season and identified the prevalence of "doldrum days," and the absence of the trade winds, as a key factor in the mass bleaching events threatening the Great Barrier Reef. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-calm-seas-coral-reveals.html Earth Sciences Mon, 19 Jan 2026 10:20:42 EST news688040360 Oceans shape everyday life in powerful ways. They cover 70% of the planet, carry 90% of global trade, and support millions of jobs and the diets of billions of people. As global competition intensifies and climate change accelerates, the world's oceans are also becoming the front line of 21st-century geopolitics. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-global-power-struggles-ocean-finite.html Economics & Business Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:52:41 EST news687775922 Global corporations may hold an under-recognized key to stabilizing global economies in the face of rising geopolitical tensions, according to new analysis from the University of Surrey. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-global-firms-counter-geopolitical-turmoil.html Economics & Business Tue, 13 Jan 2026 09:46:18 EST news687519961 For decades, researchers have focused on the problem of overgrazing, in which expanding herds of cattle and other livestock degrade grasslands, steppes and desert plains. But a new global study reveals that in large regions of the world, livestock numbers are substantially declining, not growing—a process the authors call destocking. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-overlooked-decline-grazing-livestock-opportunities.html Ecology Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:00:01 EST news687187681 Rising trade frictions over the past decade have sparked urgent questions about their long-term impact on global economies. The U.S. now applies tariffs of 66.4% on Chinese exports, which is higher compared to the average rate of 19.3%, while China retaliates with a 58.3% import tariff on U.S. exports, higher than the average rate of 21.1%. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-japanese-tariff-policies-economic-growth.html Economics & Business Sat, 10 Jan 2026 15:20:01 EST news687172773 Research has shown that conservation campaigns could turn the tide on the illegal ivory trade if they focused less on themes of 'guilt' and more on why people want to buy ivory in the first place. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-strategy-morality-campaigns-ivory-demand.html Plants & Animals Thu, 08 Jan 2026 05:32:19 EST news687072721 Market microstructure refers to the organization and design of markets for trading, how these markets are regulated, and how investors approach trading. In a new article, researchers provide an overview of the regulation of market microstructure, particularly in equity and option markets. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-overview-microstructure.html Economics & Business Tue, 06 Jan 2026 11:33:17 EST news686921582 California milk cartons may lose their coveted recycling symbol, the one with the chasing arrows, potentially threatening the existence of the ubiquitous beverage containers. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-california-cartons-coveted-recycling.html Environment Wed, 24 Dec 2025 09:39:33 EST news685791529 Great apes are humans' closest relatives in the animal kingdom. As much as 98.8% of their DNA is shared, but while the number of humans living on Earth is increasing fast, other great apes are in decline. Five out of the seven species are now critically endangered. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-great-apes-humans-closest-endangered.html Plants & Animals Mon, 22 Dec 2025 10:46:16 EST news685622762 For people living in the EU, the price of their next car, home renovation and even local produce may soon reflect a climate policy that many have never even heard of. This new regulation, which comes fully into force on New Year's Day, does not just target heavy industry—it affects everyday goods which now face an added carbon cost when they enter Europe. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-europe-carbon-tax-imported-goods.html Environment Thu, 18 Dec 2025 20:40:02 EST news685276824 Americans living in political "swing states" have a significantly louder voice in national trade policy—effectively making their votes worth more than others—according to a new study published in the Journal of International Economics. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-hidden-bias-state-voters-policy.html Political science Thu, 18 Dec 2025 11:28:16 EST news685279682 Overexploitation (harvesting at a rate that exceeds the ability of populations to recover) is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Globally, tens of thousands of animal, plant and fungi species are used and traded at different scales for purposes including food, fashion, medicine, pets, and building materials, among many others. Some of this use and trade is legal and sustainable and some not. Research I have led demonstrates that thousands of species are likely threatened by exploitation for international trade and preventing overexploitation of such species is therefore key to conserving life on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-effectively-international-wild-species.html Ecology Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:50:01 EST news685198024 The ubiquitous plastic beverage bottle makes up about half of plastic waste collected for recycling in the U.S. Most recycled plastic is processed domestically, but a portion is traded overseas. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign draws on citizen science data to investigate how the global plastic waste trade contributes to litter along coastlines and waterways in importing countries. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-global-plastic-contributes-coastal-litter.html Environment Tue, 09 Dec 2025 18:50:01 EST news684517309 The recent killing of a 20-year-old tradeswoman in Minnesota has struck a nerve across Canada's skilled trades community. Amber Czech, a welder, was slain by a male colleague while on a work site. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-gender-based-violence-labor-issue.html Economics & Business Thu, 04 Dec 2025 23:40:01 EST news684077634 A comprehensive analysis by The Simpson Center at the University of Calgary reveals mixed results when comparing Canadian farmers' policy priorities with measures introduced in the 2025 federal budget. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-canada-federal-partial-alignment-farmers.html Agriculture Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:34:25 EST news684081241 If someone mentions criminal gangs, you might think of drug trafficking or financial crime. But one of the most persistent illegal trades in the world flies largely under the radar: wildlife smuggling. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-tiny-clue-reveals-animal-illegally.html Ecology Wed, 03 Dec 2025 10:11:36 EST news683979061 In times of economic upheaval, investors can get a clearer picture of the stock market's future performance if they tune into how corporate insiders are trading stocks in their own companies. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-volatility-investors-track-insider.html Economics & Business Wed, 03 Dec 2025 09:28:19 EST news683976482 A growing exotic pet trade has conservationists calling for stronger regulations to protect the reptiles, birds and other animals in the wild that are increasingly showing up for sale on internet marketplaces and becoming popular on social media. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-endangered-species-convention-exotic-pet.html Ecology Tue, 02 Dec 2025 04:21:24 EST news683871650 If there were a place that could be called the archaeological almanac of Saudi Arabian culture, it would be Tell Abraq, located on the west coast of the United Arab Emirates. This area contains traces of every cultural phase of southeast Arabia's history, covering a period from about 2500 BC through possibly the fourth century AD. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-discoveries-reveal-abraq-role-ancient.html Archaeology Mon, 01 Dec 2025 10:37:42 EST news683807783 The world's top wildlife trade organization increased protections on Friday for more than 70 species of sharks and rays, in a move conservationists hailed as a "historical win." https://phys.org/news/2025-11-shark-ray-species-wildlife.html Ecology Fri, 28 Nov 2025 04:09:53 EST news683525350