Phys.org news

Phys.org / Landsat 9 captures Russia's restless Shiveluch volcano mid-eruption

Near-constant activity continues on the volcano in Russia. Shivelyuch (also called Shiveluch), the most northerly active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. On a near-daily ...

10 hours ago
Phys.org / Hologram technology where 'light becomes the key' enables hard-to-copy security

A new type of hologram technology has been developed that uses the motion of light as a key, revealing information only under specific conditions. This is gaining attention as a novel approach that can simultaneously overcome ...

11 hours ago
Phys.org / Deforestation may push Amazon degradation threshold below 2°C warming

Around two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest could shift into degraded forest or savanna-like ecosystems at 1.5–1.9°C of global warming if deforestation increases to roughly 22–28% of the Amazon, according to a new study from ...

9 hours ago
Phys.org / The lost koala: New fossil species was hiding in plain sight for 100 years

In 2024, the Western Australian Museum received a donation. It was a koala skull collected from Moondyne Cave in Margaret River by Lindsay Hatcher, an avid caver. There was something a bit odd about this skull, and we were ...

9 hours ago
Phys.org / When strength in numbers stops working: Climate extremes rewrite monkey society in Costa Rica

As climate change intensifies, scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about how animals will cope with a more unpredictable world. One way to gain insight is by studying how animals have already responded to natural ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Freshwater mussel protein offers new source of inspiration for medical-grade glues

Researchers at the University of Toronto have identified a protein from the quagga mussel that can stick to surfaces underwater, even though it lacks a chemical feature long thought to be essential for this kind of adhesion. ...

11 hours ago
Phys.org / 'Indian Niño' drove record heat in 2023 and 2024, new study finds

In 2023 and 2024, Earth's average global surface temperature spiked nearly 0.3 degrees Celsius above what was already expected from climate change. Each year was declared the hottest on record and coincided with deadly wildfires, ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Space junk falls to Earth faster when sunspots peak, reshaping satellite collision forecasts

Solar emissions exert 'drag' on space junk orbiting Earth. From historical measurements across a period of 36 years, researchers have now shown that space junk begins to fall down much faster once the sun's activity across ...

19 hours ago
Phys.org / On the ground or in the atmosphere? Swarm satellites help characterize and pinpoint destructive events

When solar storms strike Earth, they can disrupt power grids, rail systems, satellites, and even marine life. These effects arise because solar wind and geomagnetic activity disturb the magnetosphere–ionosphere system, generating ...

18 hours ago
Phys.org / Medieval jaw reveals Scotland's first known dental bridge made from 20-carat gold

Without good dental care, teeth tend to suffer. An abundance of archaeological evidence has shown that poor oral health was common throughout history. And unsurprisingly, there have been many attempts at dental restoration ...

May 5, 2026
Phys.org / Indigenous Andeans have a digestive superpower—and it may be linked to potatoes

Indigenous people of the Andes were the first to domesticate the potato, making the starch-rich crop a dietary staple for this high-altitude population long before it spread to the rest of the world. Today, their descendants ...

May 5, 2026
Phys.org / Astronomers map lifetime of over 100,000 molecular clouds across 66 galaxies

An international team of astronomers has analyzed the data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to investigate giant molecular clouds in nearby galaxies. The new ...

May 5, 2026