Phys.org news

Phys.org / Arctic shipping alters cloud formation, study finds

A study led by the EPFL suggests that shipping emissions influence climate-relevant cloud formation and may affect regional climate processes far beyond the polar region.

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / Nanotube-based thermoelectrics open a new pathway to waste-heat energy conversion

Whenever someone asks ChatGPT a question, heat is generated somewhere in the server room—a data center. When an electric vehicle battery generates heat during operation, the heat must be managed continuously. Manufacturing ...

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / Astronomers map a magnetic 'skeleton' funneling gas into a stellar nursery

Stars form when vast clouds of cold gas in space collapse under their own gravity. But not all gas collapses, and not all clouds form stars equally efficiently. A longstanding puzzle in astrophysics is what controls this ...

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / Crashing insect populations lead to smaller tree swallows that reproduce less

Since the 1970s, the number of insects at Canada's Long Point Bird Observatory has dropped by more than 60%, according to a new study led by the University of Michigan. Because of this, today's birds are smaller and facing ...

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / Artificial light is keeping reef fish awake, and the effects may ripple across coral reefs

Artificial light spilling into coastal waters from cities, ports, roads and hotels is disrupting sleep in coral reef fish and is associated with changes in markers linked to brain health, according to a new study from Bar-Ilan ...

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / The Caspian Sea has lost an area nearly the size of Sicily: Human activities are a major reason why

The Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on Earth, is shrinking. Not fluctuating, not entering another natural cycle, but shrinking.

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / How thousands of nature's longest sperm squeeze into a tiny fruit fly

When Jasmin Imran Alsous peered down her microscope lens, she expected to see chaos—a mishmash of tangled cells. She was viewing the inside of a male fruit fly's sperm storage organ, using a powerful microscope at the CCBScope ...

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / Primordial halo simulations reveal how cosmic storms shaped the universe's first stars

Just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, the universe was a dark and simple place. There were no galaxies like the Milky Way, no planets, and no heavy elements such as carbon or oxygen. Instead, vast clouds of ...

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / Algae microbots take aim at bladder cancer

Tiny algae-based robots guided by magnets could improve bladder cancer treatment by boosting delivery of chemotherapy drugs into tumors, researchers say.

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / Four new chameleon species found on Mozambique's mountaintop 'sky islands'

Tropical rainforest patches perched on isolated granite mountains in northern Mozambique have yielded four new species of sylvan chameleons, according to a new study by Prof. Krystal A. Tolley and Dr. Werner Conradie, recently ...

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / Using less, living better: Demand-side climate action wins public support

Climate strategies are still judged largely across two dimensions: how much they cost and how many tons of CO2 they save. A new study published in Communications Sustainability argues that this narrow lens overlooks much ...

Jun 22, 2026
Phys.org / Seal pups and seabird chicks are suffering in extreme weather. How can we protect them?

Extreme weather is becoming the new normal, disrupting human communities across the globe.

Jun 22, 2026