Phys.org news

Phys.org / Retail therapy fail? Online shopping may raise stress more than news, email or adult content

Planning to save time by doing your shopping online? If so, it's possible you're not doing your well-being any favors. A study from Aalto University in Finland has found that online shopping is more strongly linked to stress ...

Jan 12, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / The surprising way you could improve your finances in 2026, according to research

When people talk about improving financial literacy, the conversation often focuses on teaching practical skills: how to budget, how to save, how to avoid debt. These lessons feel concrete and actionable. But recent research ...

Jan 12, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / How marine viruses help fuel underwater oxygen-rich zones

Newly published interdisciplinary research led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and University of Maryland shows that viral infection of blue-green algae in the ocean stimulates productivity in the ecosystem and ...

Jan 12, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / High-speed AFM imaging reveals how brain enzyme forms a dodecameric ring structure

Scientists at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, have captured real-time images showing how a key brain enzyme organizes itself to help memory formation.

Jan 12, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / El Niño events projected to cut life expectancy gains and cost trillions by 2100

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the planet's greatest driver of year-to-year climate swings, shapes temperature, rainfall, and extreme weather around the world. Its impact ranges from heat waves and floods to air ...

Jan 12, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Genomic study uncovers button mushroom's evolutionary and domestication history

A large-scale population genomic study has shed new light on the evolutionary and domestication history of the button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), one of the most widely cultivated edible fungi in the world.

Jan 12, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Surprise discovery reveals silica's hidden potential in flat optics

An unexpected discovery in a Harvard lab has led to a breakthrough insight into choosing an unconventional material, silica, to make optical metasurfaces—ultra-thin, flat structures that control light at the nanoscale and ...

Jan 12, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Nightingales strike right chord in territorial singing duels

During conversation, people sometimes synchronize their voices in ways that often go completely unnoticed. Talking speeds converge, sentence lengths shift, turn-taking rhythms fall into sync. New research from the Max Planck ...

Jan 12, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Queen conch's hopping behavior helps set new conservation guidance

A new study published in Conservation Biology examines the behavior and distribution of queen conch (Aliger gigas) to guide conservation management for the threatened sea snail.

Jan 12, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Major gaps in global satellite maps of forests raise policy concerns

For decades, global efforts to combat climate change and protect biodiversity have relied on a high-tech promise: that satellite-derived maps can tell us exactly where the world's forests are.

Jan 12, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Scientists observe infections by cancer-causing retroviruses in koalas as they occur

An international team of scientists has analyzed the ongoing colonization by two retroviruses of the germline of koalas and resulting deaths from cancer in multi-generational pedigrees of over 100 koalas in US and European ...

Jan 12, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Eye for trouble: Automated counting for chromosome issues under the microscope

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a suite of algorithms to automate the counting of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) in chromosomes under the microscope. Conventional analysis requires trained ...

Jan 12, 2026 in Biology