Phys.org news

Phys.org / Chicken kidney sponge could be 'outstanding' at cleaning up polluted ports

Ports rank among the most disturbed marine environments. Pollutants like trash, oil and toxins from antifouling paints tend to accumulate in enclosed harbors. Invasive species arriving in ballast water may displace native ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient stardust grains were seeds for the earliest solids in the solar system

How did the first solids that made up planets, moons and asteroids form from the "hot soup" that characterized our solar system's earliest years? New research from Caltech analyzing pieces of a meteorite has found that, just ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient turtle hunting could inform modern conservation throughout southern Caribbean

Despite the promise of rebounding green sea turtle numbers, many sea turtle populations continue to flounder under the pressures of changing climates, overfishing and urbanization.

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Neptune's inner moons may be shattered remains of ancient icy worlds

In 1989, the Voyager 2 mission discovered six new moons orbiting Neptune, including five tiny ones that orbit just outside the planet's main rings. Because of their small sizes and locations, these satellites have been difficult ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient Chinese seeds spanning 5,000 years train AI to ease archaeology's specialist bottleneck

Ancient plant seeds provide important archaeological evidence for studying the evolution of human civilization. Lingnan University and Shandong University have jointly developed the world's first artificial intelligence (AI) ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Pacific Ocean pattern helps explain diverging wildfire trends in US and Australia

Two of the world's most fire-prone regions have followed strikingly different wildfire trajectories despite both experiencing a warming climate. Burned forest area has surged across the U.S. Southwest, while eastern Australia ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / From single projection to many possibilities: A new tool for climate risk assessment

Assessing how climate change will affect different regions usually requires running a complex chain of models. While this approach provides valuable insights, it is expensive and can cover only a limited set of scenarios ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Female birds have shorter lifespans than male birds across 35 North American species, researchers find

Birds have a lot to do in their short lives: defend territories, build nests, raise chicks and feed themselves. But the toll of these activities may be greater for female birds than for male birds. A new study by UCLA ornithologists ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Meet the astronomer digging into the Milky Way's 'fossils'

Amina Helmi's passion for the Milky Way is clear as soon as one steps into her small office at the University of Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands.

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Scientists solve mystery of how muscle cells grow and stay healthy

In a study published in Nature Communications biophysicists unravel the mystery of how muscles form at the molecular level and maintain their function. The findings may help design treatments for muscle diseases such as dilated ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Spectroscopy system detects aerosols using light reflected from traffic signs and tree trunks

Researchers have developed and tested an infrared spectroscopy system that can rapidly detect chemical aerosols from a distance by using light reflected from common surfaces such as traffic signs, tree trunks or painted surfaces. ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny fossils crack a Cretaceous cold case: Ocean acidification triggered one of the ocean's most severe extinctions

A 113-million-year-old marine murder mystery may finally be solved. Using chemical clues locked inside microscopic fossils, Northwestern University scientists found evidence that ocean acidification drove one of the largest ...

Jul 30, 2026