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Phys.org / The discovery of the Great Barrier Reef's whale maternity ward

It started with a simple message: "This is the year to do something small for something huge." Now, 17 years later, the Whitsundays region has some of the best protection in the world for migrating humpback whales.

Aug 28, 2026
Phys.org / How bacteria develop resistance to programmable antibiotics

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest challenges facing modern medicine. A new class of programmable antibiotics known as asobiotics can be used to treat bacterial infections when classical antibiotics fail. A team ...

Aug 27, 2026
Phys.org / Dry seeds preserve fully formed mitochondria, unlocking rapid energy at germination

The majority of plant seeds have the special ability to almost completely dry out and yet remain viable. While most living cells die with a 90% loss of water, cells in seeds enter a biological state of dormancy. With a moisture ...

Aug 26, 2026
Phys.org / Did ocean motion carve Enceladus's tiger stripes?

Saturn's moon Enceladus sports a thick shell of ice surrounding a liquid water ocean. As though scraped by an enormous claw, four parallel cracks slash across its south pole. Each about 500 meters (1,600 feet) deep, 2 kilometers ...

Aug 26, 2026
Tech Xplore / Six-legged robot learns to walk from a stick insect

Do you ever see an ant skittering across your kitchen counter and wonder how this little bug overcame all the obstacles in your home just to get there? Insects use their tiny nervous systems to walk with surprising dexterity—a ...

Aug 27, 2026
Medical Xpress / Pre-cancerous blood cells may fuel disease risk by prematurely aging the bone marrow

Precancerous blood cells can actively reshape their surroundings, prematurely aging cells in the bone marrow to create conditions that favor their own growth and potentially increase the risk of blood cancer, according to ...

Aug 27, 2026
Tech Xplore / Forged by fire, frozen for fuel: Thermal shock advances green energy

As the global push for cleaner energy intensifies, solid oxide fuel cells have emerged as a promising option. They turn hydrogen or other renewable fuels directly into electricity and heat without combustion, eliminating ...

Aug 27, 2026
Phys.org / We've reconstructed Melbourne's 200-year-old forests

Have you ever wondered what your Melbourne suburb looked like before all the streets and houses?

Aug 28, 2026
Phys.org / Tomatoes get flavor boost from green bin compost

Commercially farmed tomatoes taste sweeter when food and garden waste compost is added to their soil, a University of Queensland study has found. Researchers in the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability grew tomatoes ...

Aug 27, 2026
Phys.org / The wisdom of the egg cell: Oocyte epigenetic mark may help prevent excessive placental growth after fertilization

The genome—which contains genes encoded in DNA—acts as the fundamental blueprint of life. But what you might not know is that, in addition to this genetic information, we have something akin to an "instruction manual" for ...

Aug 27, 2026
Tech Xplore / ScaFi: A robot that grows like a fish, not a machine—from 2 feet to nearly 10

Propeller-powered underwater vehicles have long helped scientists explore and monitor aquatic environments. But they're limited by their own mechanics: Spinning blades can snag on vegetation, stir up sediment and startle ...

Aug 26, 2026
Phys.org / Heat-tolerant corals may be more vulnerable to disease

Corals that partner with heat-tolerant algae may be better equipped to survive warming oceans—but that resilience comes with an unexpected trade-off, according to a new study from Boston University published in Science Advances.

Aug 27, 2026