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. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with strong heat-trapping capabilities. Although there is less methane in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, the foremost greenhouse gas, researchers attribute 30% of modern global warming to methane. Observations show that methane levels have increased over time, but the factors driving changes in the rate of accumulation remain unclear. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-satellite-stratospheric-methane-loss-higher.html Earth Sciences Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:07:43 EST news689872021 The current image of Mars as an arid and hostile desert contrasts sharply with the history revealed by its surface. Channels, minerals altered by water, and other geological traces indicate that the red planet was, in its early days, a much wetter and more dynamic world. Reconstructing how this water-rich environment disappeared remains one of the great challenges of planetary science. Although several processes are known that can explain some of this loss, the fate of much of Martian water remains a mystery. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-unusual-storm-mars-reveals-red.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 04 Feb 2026 10:26:40 EST news689423161 Water vapor (H2Ov) is an essential component of Earth's atmosphere, playing critical roles in climate regulation, weather patterns, and the water cycle. Its sources primarily come from natural processes such as ocean evaporation and terrestrial evapotranspiration. However, during the fossil fuels (e.g., coal, petroleum, natural gas) combustion process, in addition to emitting substantial amounts of CO2, they also generate significant amounts of water vapor as a byproduct (combustion-derived water vapor sources: CDWV). https://phys.org/news/2026-02-distinct-isotopes-combustion-derived-vapor.html Earth Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2026 17:20:35 EST news689275202 Organic matter carried in rivers to the Russian part of the Arctic Ocean may be creating more clouds and keeping the region cooler, a new study has found. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-arctic-cloud-ice-formation-affected.html Earth Sciences Thu, 22 Jan 2026 14:54:57 EST news688316041 Astronomers have long searched for life within a rather narrow ring around a star, the "habitable zone," where a planet should be neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water. A new study argues that this ring is too strict: on tidally locked worlds that keep one face in daylight and the other in permanent night, heat may still circulate enough for liquid water to persist on the dark side, even when the planet orbits closer to cool M- and K-dwarf stars than conservative climate models allow. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-rethinking-life-earth.html Astrobiology Thu, 22 Jan 2026 10:10:02 EST news688298401 On Jan. 11, 2026, I watched anxiously at the tightly controlled Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as an awe-inspiring SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried NASA's new exoplanet telescope, Pandora, into orbit. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-nasa-pandora-telescope-stars-exoplanets.html Astronomy Mon, 12 Jan 2026 09:37:22 EST news687433022 Scientists from the University of Cambridge have developed a new reactor that converts natural gas (a common energy source primarily composed of methane) into two highly valuable resources: clean hydrogen fuel and carbon nanotubes, which are ultralight and much stronger than steel. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-reactor-energy-carbon-nanotubes-natural.html General Physics Tue, 23 Dec 2025 13:03:15 EST news685717366 A research team led by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) scholars has discovered a significant slowdown in Arctic sea ice melting since 2012, with a decrease rate of 11.3% per decade to an insignificant downward trend of only −0.4% per decade. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-arctic-sea-ice-slowdown-linked.html Earth Sciences Tue, 23 Dec 2025 11:10:13 EST news685710570 Atmospheric rivers are massive plumes of moisture carried across the sky that can dump heavy rains or snow over land. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-atmospheric-rivers-weather-phenomenon.html Environment Mon, 22 Dec 2025 15:36:47 EST news685640174 The transition from simple chemistry to the complex biology of molecules that gave rise to life is a puzzle that scientists have been trying to solve for ages. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-life-molecule-borate-boosts-formation.html Astrobiology Sun, 21 Dec 2025 10:00:02 EST news685359162 MXenes (pronounced like the name "Maxine") are a class of two-dimensional materials, first identified just 14 years ago, with remarkable potential for energy storage, catalysts, ultrastrong lightweight composites, and a variety of other purposes ranging from electromagnetic shielding to ink that can carry a current. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-reinvents-mxene-synthesis-fraction.html Nanomaterials Thu, 18 Dec 2025 16:25:43 EST news685297498 An international assessment report has been released to provide definitive statements on the atmospheric impacts from a huge volcanic eruption in 2022. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-international-reveals-atmospheric-impact-hunga.html Earth Sciences Thu, 18 Dec 2025 14:37:29 EST news685291022 The Arctic has experienced its hottest year since records began, a US science agency announced Tuesday, as climate change triggers cascading impacts from melting glaciers and sea ice to greening landscapes and disruptions to global weather. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-arctic-unprecedented-climate-impacts-cascade.html Environment Tue, 16 Dec 2025 14:01:02 EST news685115997 Researchers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have detected the strongest evidence yet for an atmosphere on a rocky planet outside our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-ultra-hot-super-earth-thick.html Astronomy Thu, 11 Dec 2025 10:00:01 EST news684583021 If you look up at the sky on a clear day, chances are you'll notice thin, white clouds—also known as contrails—following behind airplanes. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-seeding-jet-exhaust-ice-nucleating.html Environment Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:45:58 EST news684081881 In hydrogen production catalysts, water droplets must detach easily from the surface to prevent blockage by bubbles, allowing for faster hydrogen generation. In semiconductor manufacturing, the quality of the process is determined by how evenly water or liquid spreads on the surface, or how quickly it dries. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-success-nano-droplets-real-images.html Nanophysics Wed, 03 Dec 2025 09:40:33 EST news683977201 What is the importance of studying explosive volcanism on Venus? This is what a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the potential altitudes of explosive volcanism on Venus. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-venus-volcanic-plumes-cloud-heights.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 01 Dec 2025 08:21:34 EST news683799662 Inside the cell reside many tiny assembly factories and warehouses that gather together all of the proteins and RNAs—which carry out instructions from our DNA—that a living being needs. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-cellular-nanodomains-hidden-hubs-protein.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 26 Nov 2025 13:08:28 EST news683384881 The Qinling-Bashan Mountains (QBMs) serve as an important boundary between southern and northern China and are dubbed China's Central Water Tower (CCWT). However, the spatiotemporal structures and dynamics of the summer hydroclimate, as well as the water vapor sources and mechanisms in this CCWT during the peak and most concentrated precipitation period, which is crucial for forest growth, crop yield, and water management, remain unclear. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-centuries-tree-reveal-hydroclimatic-patterns.html Earth Sciences Tue, 25 Nov 2025 13:06:03 EST news683298361 In industrial pipes, mineral deposits build up the way limescale collects inside a kettle ⎯ only on a far larger and more expensive scale. Mineral scaling is a major issue in water and energy systems, where it slows flow, strains equipment and drives up costs. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-lab-grown-diamond-coatings-shown.html Nanomaterials Sat, 22 Nov 2025 05:42:25 EST news683012538 Cornell researchers have discovered a previously unknown way plants regulate water that is so fundamental it may change plant biology textbooks—and open the door to breeding more drought-tolerant crops. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-stomata-hidden-mechanism-crops-survive.html Plants & Animals Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:07:21 EST news682877237 Graphene's enduring appeal lies in its remarkable combination of lightness, flexibility, and strength. Now, researchers have shown that under pressure, it can briefly take on the traits of one of its more glamorous carbon cousins. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-coaxing-bilayer-graphene-diamond-layer.html Nanomaterials Wed, 19 Nov 2025 15:24:04 EST news682788241 Parts of the Argentine Pampas, a vast expanse of flat grasslands, look more like wetlands these days following record rains, with local farmers warning of a "catastrophic" impact to their livelihoods. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-argentina-farm-pampas-plains-wetlands.html Environment Thu, 13 Nov 2025 05:00:01 EST news682231178 A research team from the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed a new method that enhances the precision and reliability of trace gas analysis in open-path infrared spectroscopic remote sensing. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-method-boosts-accuracy-path-infrared.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 06 Nov 2025 17:08:05 EST news681671282 Vapor-phase synthesis, a technique used to create very pure and scalable nanomaterials and coatings, has great promise for the electronic, optical, aerospace, energy and environment, and semiconductor industries. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-electrified-atomic-vapor-enables-nanomaterial.html Nanomaterials Thu, 06 Nov 2025 09:23:02 EST news681643381 No one can control the weather, but certain clouds can be deliberately triggered to release rain or snow. The process, known as cloud seeding, typically involves dispersing small silver iodide particles from aircraft into clouds. These particles act as seeds on which water molecules accumulate, forming ice crystals that grow and eventually become heavy enough to fall to the ground as rain or snow. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-silver-iodide-triggers-ice-formation.html General Physics Mon, 03 Nov 2025 14:12:03 EST news681401521 Astronomers have generated the first three-dimensional map of a planet orbiting another star, revealing an atmosphere with distinct temperature zones—one so scorching that it breaks down water vapor, a team co-led by a Cornell expert reports in new research. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-3d-exoplanets-focus.html Astronomy Tue, 28 Oct 2025 06:00:08 EDT news680776861 Researchers from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a hybrid deep learning model that can accurately predict atmospheric delay, a key source of error in astronomical observations and geodetic measurements. The study is published in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ai-powered-atmospheric-calibration-precision.html Astronomy Fri, 17 Oct 2025 10:21:03 EDT news679915261 Around the world, we are already witnessing the detrimental effects of climate change, which we know will only become more severe. Extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, tropical cyclones, and heat waves are projected to intensify, and this will negatively impact both human society and natural ecosystems. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-hotter-wetter-climate-extreme-rainfall.html Earth Sciences Wed, 15 Oct 2025 08:58:03 EDT news679737481 Explosive volcanic eruptions on early Mars may have transported water ice to equatorial regions, according to a modeling study published in Nature Communications. The authors suggest that these eruptions could have led to conditions that allow these ice deposits to still exist under the surface today, which would expand our knowledge of Mars's terrain for future exploration. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-volcanic-eruptions-hidden-ice-mars.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:12:02 EDT news679669921