Phys.org news

Phys.org / Grasslands are vanishing nearly four times faster than forests, global study finds

Along with forests, grasslands and wetlands are also being converted to cropland and pasture at an increasing rate around the world—often for livestock farming and the export of agricultural products. An international team ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Peanut waste can be turned into high-quality futuristic graphene

Researchers at UNSW have discovered a new way to make graphene, a remarkable "wonder material," using just discarded peanut shells. The development opens the door to cheaper, more sustainable electronics and energy storage ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Human activity is influencing the behavior of Germany's wildcats

A research team led by Dr. Chris Baumann and Dr. Dorothée Drucker from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tübingen has found that the European wildcat is increasingly using ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Carbon-based catalyst can use sunlight to degrade PFAS

An international team of scientists led by the University of Bath has developed a new catalyst—a substance that speeds up chemical reactions—that uses sunlight to break down so-called "forever chemicals" prevalent in ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Using high-energy sparks to degrade pollutants without generating waste

A study published in the Chemical Engineering Journal proposes a new approach to environmental remediation of pharmaceutical pollutants in water flows. This approach is based on a phenomenon known as "sparks," which refers ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Scientists lay out what we do and don't yet know about moths and butterflies

Should you ever find yourself playing a trivia game on the topic of moths and butterflies, here are a few facts that might help. Collectively called Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies account for nearly 10% of all animal ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Will melting glaciers slow climate change? A prevailing theory is on shaky ground

For scientists who study the Southern Ocean, a long-standing silver lining in the gloomy forecast of climate change has been the theory of iron fertilization. As temperatures rise and glaciers in Antarctica melt, ice-trapped ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Laser technique can quickly check mRNA packaging in lipid nanoparticles

Messenger RNA (mRNA) technology is transforming medicine by providing our cells with genetic instructions to produce proteins that help the immune system prevent or fight a wide range of diseases, including cancer and other ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / PFOS 'forever chemical' can accumulate in bees—and their honey

A study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology has revealed the toxic "forever chemical," PFOS, can accumulate in exposed honeybee colonies and transfer to their honey, threatening pollinator viability, ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Rice gene discovery could cut fertilizer use while protecting yields

Researchers from the University of Oxford, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (Chinese Academy of Sciences) have finally identified the master regulator in plants that balances ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Tackling the global tuberculosis crisis: An emerging class of antibiotics offers hope

Researchers from the University of Sydney and the Centenary Institute have discovered how a promising class of experimental antibiotics disrupts the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), paving the way for urgently needed ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Birds achieve sweet success: What adaptations to high-sugar diets reveal about metabolism

Anyone who has seen a hummingbird poking her beak deep into a trumpet creeper blossom, or a honeyeater using its brush-tipped tongue to extract nectar from eucalyptus flowers, has witnessed something that, from a human perspective, ...

Feb 26, 2026 in Biology