Phys.org news

Phys.org / Mapping the 'hidden highways' of Mexico's illegal wildlife trade

For decades, wildlife traffickers have illegally captured and sold hundreds of thousands of wild parrots native to Mexico. Despite changes to international wildlife laws, the conservation status of these birds has continued ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / LST-1 and MAGIC telescopes shatter distance record for the very high-energy blazar OP 313

On Aug. 15, the CTAO LST Collaboration and the MAGIC Collaboration released findings from observations of OP 313, the most distant very-high-energy blazar ever recorded. The paper, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, presents ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Glacier retreat could promote the spread of diseases among bees

A study conducted in the Swiss Alps by the University of Lausanne and the University of Milan shows that glacier retreat and changing vegetation could influence the spread of certain pathogens between honeybees and wild bees.

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / What happens inside a wildfire? A Ph.D. student is finding out

What happens during a wildfire? The short answer is: much more than we know. As wildfires burn through trees, grasses and other vegetation, heat from the flames sets off thousands of chemical reactions at once. Molecules ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Ball milling enhances the antiviral activity of inexpensive inorganic materials

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, developing surfaces that can inactivate viruses upon contact has become an important goal in public health care. Ideally, such surfaces would work on their own without requiring chemical disinfectants, ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Soil bacteria share amino acids, helping nearly half survive nutrient gaps

Bacteria, too, depend on good neighborly relations: A new study by the Osnabrück University, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cambridge in England, shows that soil bacteria live in beneficial communities ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Antarctic bacteria share 'life‑support' genes to survive extreme conditions

Antarctica is one of the driest, coldest places on Earth. Very little life survives its extremes. In the soils scattered around the frozen ice sheets, however, communities of microbes do survive. And one of the keys to their ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Climate scientists solve monsoon puzzle and warn of risks to fisheries

A new study has reconciled a long-standing paradox in the South Asian summer monsoon cycle. Climate scientists have discovered why geological records from land and sea have told opposite stories about monsoons throughout ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Mechanical memory helps explain how cells adapt their movement to changing environments

Cells in our bodies squeeze through dense tissue channels, thread past neighboring cells and navigate every nook and cranny within the extracellular matrix—the mesh-like network that surrounds and supports cells. How well ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny root hairs, big impact: How bacteria help plants survive drought

What helps plants cope better with drought? With heat waves and periods of extreme drought becoming increasingly common worldwide, the need for drought-tolerant plants is increasingly urgent. With the help of bacteria, plants ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Nanoparticle flu vaccine protects against three influenza strains in mice

A new nanoparticle vaccine could one day give patients immunity to the flu with fewer trips to the doctor and without requiring health officials to correctly guess which flu strains will become dominant each year.

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny ocean plankton hold clues to the future of Maine lobster

The future of Maine's lobster industry may depend on a creature the size of a sesame seed. Researchers at the University of Maine have discovered that planktonic baby lobsters, or larvae, preferentially feed on Calanus finmarchicus, ...

Aug 24, 2026