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Phys.org / Wolves and other predators present 'a crisis,' California's environment chief says

On Jan. 27, California lawmakers took initial steps toward addressing the public safety concerns posed by the state's growing populations of wolves, mountain lions and other predators—issues the state's top environmental ...

Jan 29, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Plastic pollution promotes hazardous water conditions, new study finds

Dangerous concentrations of algae such as "red tides" have been consistently emerging in locations around the world. A region in Southern Australia is experiencing a nine-month toxic algae bloom that spans thousands of miles ...

Feb 1, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Snakes on trains: King cobras are 'hopping railways' to unsuitable habitats in India

King cobras are the world's longest venomous snakes. So, imagine seeing one a few feet away as you embark on a train in India. The Western Ghats King Cobra (Ophiophagus kaalinga)—a vulnerable king cobra species found in ...

Jan 30, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Signaling output genes shed light on evolutionary crossroads of vertebrates

New research from the University of St Andrews has discovered a crucial piece in the puzzle of how all animals with a spine—including all mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians—evolved. In a paper published in BMC Biology, ...

Feb 1, 2026 in Biology
Medical Xpress / Exposing a 'mental trap': The hidden bias behind chronic indecision

Humans are required to make several decisions daily, from choosing what to eat at a restaurant to more crucial choices, such as the studies they wish to complete.

Jan 31, 2026 in Psychology & Psychiatry
Medical Xpress / Rethinking longevity: Genes account for 50% of human lifespan variation, study suggests

What determines how long we live—and to what extent is our lifespan shaped by our genes? Surprisingly, for decades, scientists believed that the heritability of human lifespan was relatively low compared to other human ...

Feb 1, 2026 in Gerontology & Geriatrics
Phys.org / Hard-to-synthesize materials revived using AI: An LLM-based materials redesign technology

A research team led by Prof. Yousung Jung of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU) has developed an innovative AI-based technology that uses large language models (LLMs) ...

Feb 1, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Multi-agent AI and robots automate materials discovery in closed-loop lab system

Traditional processes used to discover new materials are complex, time-consuming, and costly, often requiring years of sustained effort. Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated powerful capabilities ...

Feb 1, 2026 in Chemistry
Tech Xplore / Training four-legged robots as if they were dogs

Over the next decades, robots are expected to make their way into a growing number of households, public spaces, and professional environments. Many of the most advanced and promising robots designed to date are so-called ...

Jan 31, 2026 in Robotics
Phys.org / How topological surfaces boost clean energy catalysts

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a key process in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, technologies expected to play a central role in a low-carbon energy future. However, ORR proceeds slowly on most materials, limiting ...

Feb 1, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / How AI and new sensing tools are reshaping collective animal behavior research

A perspective in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface argues that advances in AI, sensing technologies and modeling are transforming the study of collective animal behavior, with implications reaching far beyond biology, ...

Feb 1, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Why are Tatooine planets rare? General relativity explains why binary star systems rarely host planets

Astronomers have found thousands of exoplanets around single stars, but few around binary stars—even though both types of stars are equally common. Physicists can now explain the dearth.

Jan 30, 2026 in Astronomy & Space