Phys.org news

Phys.org / Even after adopting cattle, early east African herders kept hunting and gathering for 1,000 years

Eastern Africa's earliest livestock herders continued fishing, hunting and gathering for centuries after livestock were first brought to the region. The first pastoralists in eastern Africa didn't suddenly switch to a diet ...

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / Dark lunar craters could host ultrastable lasers for moon navigation

They rank among the darkest and coldest places in the solar system: Hundreds of lunar craters, many of them at the moon's south pole, never receive direct sunlight and lie in permanent shadow. That's exactly why physicist ...

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / How hidden viruses wake up inside seaweed and pass on to future generations

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen have shown that giant viruses long thought to exist only as fleeting, free-living particles that can embed themselves permanently in the genome of a multicellular ...

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / How wasted infrared light could boost solar panels, night vision and 3D printing

Researchers at UNSW Sydney have developed a nanoscale device that converts low-energy infrared and red light into higher-energy visible light, a breakthrough that could eventually improve solar panels, sensing technologies, ...

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / A smelly dog breath breakthrough: Plant-based spray tackles odor and harmful oral microbes

Pet owners love their dogs but may not always love the smell of their breath. Because this bad odor can signal oral disease, veterinary clinics will prescribe daily toothbrushing, antibiotics, or chemical rinses as treatment. ...

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / This single mother must learn quickly—or her colony won't survive

Being a single mother of 20 is no joke, especially if the survival of a whole species depends on it. A queen bumblebee faces this very challenge when she lays her first eggs in the spring: She is utterly alone, with no worker ...

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / Overfishing hits 11 of 12 Bahamian seafood staples, 73 years of catch data show

Most of the Bahamas' signature seafood stocks are being fished harder than the sea can replace them, according to a new paper led by Sea Around Us researchers and published in Frontiers in Marine Science.

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / Chemical pathway unlocks next-generation infrared III–V nanocrystals

A research team led by Professor Sohee Jeong at Sungkyunkwan University has uncovered a key chemical pathway for the controlled synthesis of III–V semiconductor quantum dots, a class of next-generation infrared materials ...

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / New evidence reveals a millennium-old dingo was ritually buried, and cared for, in Australia

A millennium-old dingo deliberately buried by Barkindji ancestors along the Baaka, or Darling River, is offering rare insight into the depth of relationships between First Nations people and dingoes in western New South Wales, ...

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / Climate adaptation may drive gentrification across African cities, continent-scale analysis shows

Green-blue adaptation (climate adaptation based on green and water spaces), which uses green and water spaces such as creating urban parks and restoring wetlands, is considered a representative climate adaptation strategy ...

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / Policing plagiarism of ideas in generative AI-assisted research writing

As more people—including researchers—use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in their writing, it's becoming increasingly important to define what plagiarism looks like and how to police it.

May 18, 2026
Phys.org / Hidden clean energy under mountains? Why erosion could shape hydrogen prospects in Alps and Pyrenees

Hydrogen gas formed by natural processes in the subsurface of mountain ranges could represent a promising source of clean energy. A new international study led by Unil and GFZ shows that erosion plays a key and complex role ...

May 18, 2026