en-us Science X internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. On Aug. 5, 2026, an abandoned piece of space junk is predicted to crash into the moon near a spot called Einstein Crater. Astronomers will be watching because the collision and aftermath may be visible from Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spacex-rocket-moon-scientists.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:50:01 EDT news703856818 Imagine buying three identical 3D printers. Despite being the same brand, the same model and even having similar serial numbers, each machine may behave slightly differently. Over time and at scale, these differences can accumulate into significant manufacturing defects. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-personalities-individual-3d-printers.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 13:20:10 EDT news703856401 A research team led by Professor Jo Woon Chong of the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), in collaboration with researchers from KAIST and Texas Tech University in the United States, has developed the Passenger Movement Estimation System (PMES). This AI-based system predicts passenger movements using CCTV footage to prevent subway door entrapment accidents before they occur. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-tech-proactively-subway-door.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 13:00:05 EDT news703855261 Webtoons are coming to life in the physical world, ushering in a new era in which comics are not merely viewed but experienced. A KAIST research team has developed the world's first next-generation extended reality (XR) comics platform that enables a wide range of readers to enjoy immersive, three-dimensional comics in physical space. By expanding webtoons beyond the screen and into the real world, the team has opened up new possibilities for the future of comics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-source-xr-webtoons-3d-comics.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:40:04 EDT news703853761 A new study found that giant sequoias were nearly four times as likely to survive extreme wildfires in forests managed with prescribed burns, which decrease tree mortality. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-mature-giant-sequoias-boost-survival.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 13:00:08 EDT news703853041 In the United States, Google's, now Alphabet's, Debug initiative has asked the federal government for permission to release up to 32 million sterilized male mosquitoes in California and Florida. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-google-million-sterile-mosquitoes-australian.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:40:01 EDT news703846561 Few human experiences are as universal—or as poorly understood—as loneliness. More than just feeling blue and the inspiration for countless songs, it's linked to poorer well-being, worse mental and physical health and a higher risk of early death. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-global-loneliness-epidemic-reveals-complex.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 13:00:01 EDT news703846622 From the Ferranti Mark I to empathetic AI, Manchester researchers are exploring how intelligent machines can understand human behavior, respond to social cues and earn trust in our workplaces, hospitals and homes. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-redesigning-relationships-humans-intelligent-machines.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:20:09 EDT news703853282 Researchers in China have unveiled a new robotic exosuit driven entirely by soft artificial muscles instead of traditional motors. This technology could make it easier for older adults, injured patients or factory workers to walk with much less effort. Current exosuits that aid walking use heavy motors, gearboxes and noisy air-pressure pumps that restrict a person's natural movement. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-soft-exosuit-motor-free-path.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:02:43 EDT news703850543 Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a novel chip architecture that enables the miniature acoustic devices inside smartphones to withstand more than 12 times higher power loads while maintaining cooler, more stable operation. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ultra-robust-acoustic-chip-power.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:06 EDT news703852801 It's 5 a.m. when we crawl out of our tents. The catbirds are calling and the night sky is fading to dawn as we prepare to head into the wilderness. We're surrounded by the towering eucalypts of southeast Queensland in search of a small, native mouse called the pookila. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveal-pookila-southeast-queensland-survey.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:20:05 EDT news703846322 Semi-transparent solar cells that could be added to windows to efficiently harvest energy from indoor light as well as the sun have been developed by an international team led by UCL researchers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-solar-windows-harvest-indoor-sunlight.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:30:01 EDT news703772363 In the current issue of the journal Nature Methods, siibra is introduced as a software suite that integrates data from different multimodal sources into a comprehensive atlas of the human brain and makes the data easily accessible—for interactive exploration and automated, reproducible data analyses, simulations and AI applications. siibra is developed by an international team of scientists led by the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1) at Forschungszentrum Jülich. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-molecules-networks-siibra-brain-atlas.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:20:01 EDT news703850660 For decades, scientists have crawled through Bobcat Cave on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, searching its dark pools and underground passages for rare life. The cave is home to the endangered Alabama cave shrimp, making it one of the most closely watched cave systems in the region. Researchers have surveyed it month after month for roughly 40 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-demon-cavefish-lineage-alabama-cave.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:40:03 EDT news703848541 Artificial intelligence is being adopted rapidly across industries, workplaces and personal use, with an estimated 1 in 4 Americans using it regularly, but there is a knowledge gap. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-awareness-nebraska-differs-age.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:40:06 EDT news703845183 Researchers at TU Wien are working with technology partners to develop a digital manufacturing process for topology-optimized reinforced concrete slabs that significantly reduce material use and carbon footprints. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-optimized-concrete-slabs-material-weakening.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:40:01 EDT news703851601 Academic achievement in high school has long been viewed as one of the strongest predictors of college success. But a new study from Penn State researchers suggests that students' emotional resources—including their motivation, persistence and perceptions of school climate—may also play an important role in shaping whether they ultimately earn a college degree. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-students-emotional-resources-high-school.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:00:01 EDT news703837622 Earth's orbit is getting crowded. About 16,000 satellites currently circle our planet, supporting everything from GPS navigation and weather forecasting to banking, emergency services and internet communications. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-satellites-earth-orbit.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:20:05 EDT news703846861 Anyone who has opened the door of a vacation rental after a long trip, only to find it hasn't been cleaned as promised, knows the burn of betrayal. That traveler is more likely to distrust the proprietor of their next vacation rental, according to new research from Annabelle Roberts, assistant professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-consumers-distrust-outweighs.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:00:02 EDT news703830481 If producing electric vehicles (EVs) were an Olympic sport, China would dominate the medal podium. China now leads the world in the sale and export of EVs, a term encompassing everything from battery-powered cars to plug-in hybrids. Chinese companies also produce the lion's share of the rechargeable batteries that keep EVs running. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-chinese-companies-ev-meteoric.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:00:07 EDT news703846742 Analysis of more than 3 million toad calls from locations across Australia gives rare insights into toad breeding behavior—and offers new hope for halting their advance. James Cook University ecology researchers discovered that the best environmental conditions for toad calling included low moonlight, low wind, high relative humidity and limited obstructions from surrounding vegetation. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-toads-reveals-expansion-secrets.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:00:04 EDT news703843683 West Virginia University researchers say driving anxiety, one of the most common phobias, is triggered by a variety of circumstances that can lead to panic attacks and avoidance of the open road during the summer travel season and at other times of the year. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-experts-stress-wheel-distract-drivers.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:20:03 EDT news703843322 Last fall, students filed into Vilas Hall for the first session of Online Communication and Personal Relationships, a class with the potential to improve their friendships and family relationships. There was even a chance it could help them meet the love of their lives while boosting their mental health and well-being, even though that is not what it's designed to do. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-upside-online-relationships.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:40:01 EDT news703841101 HateLab, led by Professor Matthew Williams of Cardiff University, has shown that spikes in online hate speech can be followed by increases in hate crime offline. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-highlights-esrc-online.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:00:18 EDT news703841461 With their ability to use tools, remember faces and even learn how to communicate with humans through sign language, nonhuman primates are considered to be among the smartest creatures on Earth. However, some concepts—geometry, for instance—have traditionally been thought of as beyond the abilities of humanity's closest cousins. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-children-monkeys-common-geometry.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:11 EDT news703766521 It is common for solar panels to be shaded by trees, clouds, birds or buildings. For thin-film solar technologies, however, such shading can cause shaded areas to develop reverse-bias stress (negative voltage), which can reduce power-generation efficiency and even damage solar cell modules. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-resistant-solar-cells-efficiency-2000hour.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:40:05 EDT news703780586 France's parliament is weighing a social media ban for users under 15, following in the footsteps of Australia and Indonesia, although enforcement authorities face a puzzle over how to manage age checks. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-french-youth-social-media-age.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 03:49:24 EDT news703824543 An aircraft powered by a megawatt-class hybrid-electric engine developed in collaboration with NASA and built by GE Aerospace, demonstrated flight of an innovation that can inform new generations of fuel-saving aircraft power systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-hybrid-electric-aircraft-feet-flights.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:00:09 EDT news703784641 Research co-authored by an Oklahoma Museum of Natural History curator, her graduate student and an international team of scientists has shed new light on the evolutionary "toolkit" animals use to survive environmental change. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancestral-variation-mutations-impact-survival.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:00:05 EDT news703780779 Early-career funding has a bigger impact on women than men when it comes to their careers in science, according to a new study from City St George's, University of London. While the study found that successful applicants in both groups secure more future research funding than unsuccessful applicants, it also found that successful female applicants receive more citations and are cited more often in their field than female applicants who did not receive funding. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-early-career-funding-scientific-citations.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:20:01 EDT news703781521 Gender pay gaps in academia are well documented. The harder question is why they persist. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences tested several leading answers to that question. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-gender-pay-gaps-academia.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:10 EDT news703767001 No wires. No actuators. Shine light on the metal surface, and it rises like a button. KAIST researchers have developed a metal structure that changes shape using light, without any light-absorbing coating. This technology could open new possibilities for tactile interfaces with physical pop-up buttons, shape displays, next-generation wearable devices and soft robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-mechanical-buttons.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:20:08 EDT news703778761 Metasurfaces are ultrathin optical components engineered with arrays of nanoscale structures that can control light in ways that are difficult for conventional optics. Unlike traditional optical components, which typically rely on their shape and thickness, metasurfaces manipulate light using carefully designed nanostructures patterned on a flat surface. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-programmable-metasurface-keyboard-dynamic-holograms.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:08 EDT news703777321 Underwater environments are among the harshest operating conditions for electronic devices. Divers and underwater robots depend on sensors to navigate, communicate and handle objects, but conventional sensors are fragile, reliant on an external power source and unable to recover when damaged. A punctured sensor underwater typically means lost functionality with little prospect of on-the-spot repair, a limitation that shortens the working life of underwater machines and raises safety concerns for divers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-electronic-skin-sensors-underwater-robots.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:40:07 EDT news703772353 Scientists have successfully edited the genome of biting midges, opening the door to new research on how these insects transmit disease. Culicoides biting midges are small blood-feeding insects responsible for spreading important vector-borne viruses such as bluetongue virus (BTV), Schmallenberg virus (SBV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV), which cause major losses to livestock production worldwide. Despite their importance as disease vectors, Culicoides are among the smallest blood-feeding insects, just 1–4 mm (0.04–0.16 inches) long, making them difficult to study in the laboratory. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-world-gene-culicoides-midges-door.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:40:12 EDT news703771621 A study of digital advertising in the International Journal of Business and Systems Research suggests that memorable visuals are more likely to encourage consumers to buy than campaigns that rely primarily on emotional impact. The findings challenge conventional wisdom about how online advertising influences behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-visuals-online-ad-emotion.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 23:20:03 EDT news703761055 McGill researchers have found that dangerous crowd conditions leading to surges and stampedes may not emerge suddenly but instead develop gradually, as repeated physical contact and pushing accumulate and become synchronized among nearby individuals. Recognizing how these conditions arise could help organizers strengthen security, site management and evacuation planning, reducing the likelihood of injuries during large-scale public events. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-event-crowd-stampedes.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:39:03 EDT news703773476 Road deaths are declining in the U.S. and worldwide, but lower-income countries aren't experiencing much of the improvement, according to a study published Monday. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-road-deaths-declined-globally-poorer.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 03:44:05 EDT news703824226 An advanced technology that could benefit farmers' bottom line and help meet the rising demand for domestic energy production borrows a key ingredient from a centuries-old practice of burning dried manure to warm homes where trees were sparse or expensive: animal waste. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-qa-anaerobic-digestion-emissions-income.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 22:00:04 EDT news703759419 A lot of high school students load up on Advanced Placement courses to strengthen their college applications. But for many California students classified as English learners, access to even the basic college-preparatory courses required for admission to the state's public universities can remain out of reach. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-decade-reshapes-multilingual-learner-policy.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 20:00:03 EDT news703759536 Portable handheld fans are now often stacked beside chewing gum and vapes at supermarket checkouts and discount stores, available for less than £10. Once mainly sold online, they're convenient, affordable and increasingly popular. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-handheld-fans-cool-planet.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:40:04 EDT news703772638 A research team has developed the world's first chip that can match the speed at which the human brain functions. The study, titled "A sub–10-millisecond neural dynamical system based on phase-change memristors," was published in Science and was led by Professor Yang Yuchao of Peking University, together with researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-tiny-memristor-chip-brain-milliseconds.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:20:01 EDT news703782781 China's leading technology companies showcased hundreds of cutting-edge products at the World AI Conference in Shanghai—from advanced robotics to artificial intelligence systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-shanghai-science-forum-photos-china.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:00:03 EDT news703824381 Every spring, millions of people around the world head outdoors to admire wildflowers. But flowering is much more than a beautiful seasonal display. It is one of the most important stages in a plant's life cycle, determining not only its ability to reproduce but also the survival of pollinators and the health of entire ecosystems. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-rainfall-reshape-entire-communities.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:40:07 EDT news703779421 The brain is the machine that perceives, analyzes, sorts, stores and prioritizes our memories. However, not all experiences and perceptions are stored in the same way, and not everything is remembered equally, especially when under pressure or emotional stress. A new research study carried out by researchers at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has found that negative emotions help cement the central information, details and key aspects of experiences but diminish recollection of the surrounding context and environment. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-virtual-reality-reveals-role-stress.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:00:01 EDT news703773571 In a world where trust in institutions is generally declining, trust in science remains relatively high. Yet belief in scientific conspiracy theories, such as hushed-up effects of vaccines or airplane "chemtrails," is also widespread. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-people-science-scientific-conspiracy-theories.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:04 EDT news703773121 The 2026 World Cup has been a real moneymaker for FIFA. Revenue from TV broadcasting rights, ticket sales and other commercial sources is projected to amount to nearly $11 billion, which would make it the most financially successful event in the international soccer governing body's history. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-world-cup-host-cities-investment.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:20:03 EDT news703773421 People pronounce the word "Appalachia" differently, and much of that contrast depends on where they live. But no matter how you say it, a Virginia Tech project shows that no one way trumps all. The differences are rooted in historical and community influences. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-wrong-appalachia.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:20:05 EDT news703772551 Green hydrogen is expected to play a major role in cutting emissions from industries such as shipping, steelmaking and aviation. But producing it efficiently remains a major hurdle. RMIT researchers and international collaborators have demonstrated a new way to significantly increase green hydrogen production using low-cost materials, offering a potential pathway to cheaper clean fuel. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-boosts-green-hydrogen-production.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:40:01 EDT news703776721 As populations grow and economies develop, the world will need more roads, railroads and other mobility infrastructure, especially in rapidly urbanizing regions. The challenge is to provide that infrastructure while minimizing resource use and carbon emissions—a goal new research suggests is well within reach. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-smarter-mobility-infrastructure-carbon-future.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:20:07 EDT news703779541 People are naturally attracted to excitement. According to new Virginia Tech research, the same is true on social media, where feeds are overrun with international travel, skydiving and other experiences that may seem out of the ordinary. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-human-bias-social-media.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:40:04 EDT news703772222 When right-wing commentator and social media influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on a university campus in September 2025, graphic videos of the assassination quickly spread online. Many of those images also appeared before teenagers worldwide. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-canadian-teens-graphic-violence-online.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:40:02 EDT news703773002 Bigamy has been a rare crime during the past 400 years—and offenders have been harshly punished. It seems likely that no more than 30,000 individuals have ever been tried for bigamy in England and Wales during this period. Most have been convicted, and possible punishment has ranged from execution, branding, whipping, transportation and imprisonment to fines and community service in more recent decades. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-people-bigamy-years-england-wales.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:40:10 EDT news703785722 Over the past decade, perovskite LEDs have become increasingly vibrant and affordable to produce. With careful tweaks to their chemical composition, these crystal-based light emitters can be tuned across the visible spectrum—matching and sometimes even beating rival LED materials for producing red and green light. However, blue light has remained a holdout, keeping full-color perovskite displays out of reach. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-fine-tuned-perovskites-blue-vibrant.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:15:58 EDT news703772133 The worry of becoming stupid isn't new; it dates back to the time of the Greek philosopher Socrates, who insisted that writing would destroy memory and weaken the mind. Then came calculators, GPS and computers, all of which again raised concerns that we might forget basic mental skills and lose the battle against cognitive offloading. Cognitive offloading is the act of reducing mental effort by using external tools or aids to handle tasks that have historically relied solely on memory or internal processing. A similar sentiment is being observed with the advent of AI. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-stupid-weaken-skills-built.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:10:01 EDT news703760650 Dragonflies are renowned for their remarkable flying abilities. Male dragonflies often compete for territory and mating opportunities, engaging in fascinating in-flight battles. Researchers at Imperial College London and Taipei Zoo recently carried out a study investigating the aerial maneuvers male dragonflies use while fighting competitors and the overall purpose of these battles. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-dragonfly-aerial-simple.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 17:00:01 EDT news703496366 Marine biologists have observed the Arctic bobtail squid in its natural habitat in the North Atlantic Ocean for the first time, including the rare discovery of a mature female with eggs. Dr Paige Maroni, from The University of Western Australia's School of Biological Sciences, is lead author of the study published in Polar Biology, which recorded the Arctic bobtail squid, Rossia moelleri, in Northeast Greenland National Park. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-rare-sighting-reveals-arctic-bobtail.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:20:03 EDT news703771202 A parasite carried by billions of people worldwide often causes harmful infections during pregnancy and in immunocompromised individuals and is a leading infectious cause of blindness in South America. Once it enters the body, it can rapidly multiply, spreading from one cell to the next. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-widespread-parasite-earth-genome.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:20:03 EDT news703756801 Space weather warnings could be received hours before Earth is hit rather than minutes with the help of a miniature UK-built instrument soon to be stationed in deep space. MAGIC (MAGnetometer from Imperial College) is part of the European Space Agency's Heliospheric Pioneer for Solar and Interplanetary Threats Defense (HENON) CubeSat mission, which is scheduled for launch in early 2027. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-deep-space-cubesat-solar-storm.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:24:32 EDT news703761842 As generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in translation, questions have been raised about whether it could eventually replace professional interpreters. A joint study led by Lingnan University found that while AI can improve translation efficiency, it is still less capable than professional interpreters at adapting language to context and preserving rhetorical and communicative effects. The researchers conclude that human judgment and oversight remain essential, particularly in politically, diplomatically and culturally sensitive settings. These findings have been published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-falls-short-context-cultural.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:20:08 EDT news703767301 A research team led by Kyunghan Lee, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University College of Engineering, has developed an artificial intelligence system, "Ouroboros," that performs vision transformer-based video analysis 2.61 times faster using 13.0% of the computation required by conventional methods on edge devices. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ouroboros-ai-edge-devices-video.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:40:06 EDT news703766042 University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have identified a widespread source of error in a popular method for studying the genome and created a machine-learning tool to correct it. The free tool could improve the reliability of both conventional and single-cell data generated using this method, giving researchers a clearer view of how gene activity is controlled in health and disease and providing stronger foundations for future diagnostic and drug-development efforts. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-machine-tool-accuracy-genomics.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:40:02 EDT news703759809 Blood transfusions are crucial in human and veterinary medicine, yet human blood reserves are in constant need of donors, while blood bank systems in veterinary care are nearly nonexistent. This leaves canine transfusions largely reliant on donations from healthy dogs, but securing compatible blood remains a major challenge because dogs also have different blood types. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-generating-red-blood-cell-cells.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 20:00:05 EDT news703496702 Mosquitoes have posed a threat to human beings since time immemorial. They not only disturb sleep by their incessant buzzing but have also been carriers of deadly diseases. In combating the transmission of diseases via mosquitoes, insect repellents play an important role. However, chemical mosquito repellents that have active substances such as DEET and allethrin may cause rashes, irritation in the eyes, and may even cause breathing problems such as asthma. https://sciencex.com/news/2026-07-citrusscented-tree-oil-mosquitoes-bay.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 10:20:01 EDT news703496671 Mass shooting incidents and car crashes may seem like two unrelated incidents, but a recent study has uncovered that there might be an unexpected link. Every year, more than a hundred mass shootings take place across the United States, many leaving behind four or more lives lost. In the aftermath, the tragedy quickly spreads across every avenue of media, from newspaper headlines and TV news to social media feeds and even online searches. This constant stream of coverage can leave people feeling anxious, distracted, and emotionally overwhelmed. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fatal-car-day-major-mass.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:20:01 EDT news703496475 What if the plants growing in a field could one day produce the same proteins that give milk its nutrition, texture and cheese-making properties? A new study brings that possibility a step closer by revealing an unexpected way plant seeds can manufacture and store one of milk's most important proteins. The discovery could help overcome a major hurdle in producing real dairy proteins without cows, paving the way for more sustainable dairy ingredients and alternative food production. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-real-dairy-protein-scientists-unexpected.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 08:00:01 EDT news703340372 Optical see-through augmented reality (AR) glasses are designed to overlay digital information onto the real world, but improving the realism of virtual objects often comes at a cost. Existing occlusion technologies physically block part of the incoming light, reducing the brightness of the real environment and making everyday tasks more challenging. Overcoming this balance between virtual realism and real-world visibility is a key hurdle for next-generation AR systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ar-display-tech-boosts-realworld.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 08:00:04 EDT news703499027 If you've driven down two-lane highways in rural parts of North Florida recently, you may have noticed a spate of new signs that designate the grassy knolls bordering the asphalt as wildflower areas. The signs likely feel redundant right about now as thousands of milkweeds produce thick umbels packed full of pentagonal buds and fully developed flowers. Many of these flowers and all the monarchs they attract have the same attention-grabbing orange color as the safety vests worn by workers who carefully planted each milkweed by hand months earlier. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-butterfly-experts-milkweed-florida-roadsides.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:30:01 EDT news703499199 Scientists have made many advances using traditional CRISPR technology, especially in medicine, but they are now seeking ways to create genuinely new gene-editing enzymes with properties that have not already evolved naturally. A new study, published in Science, describes a new AI-designed synthetic TnpB enzyme, called SynTnpBs, that has outperformed the natural reference enzyme. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-aidesigned-geneediting-enzymes-crispr-toolbox.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:59:19 EDT news703511930 St. Louis is a plant science powerhouse, but outside the neatly tended rows of crops and gleaming greenhouses sits another treasure trove of biological data: The wild plants tucked into yards, sidewalk cracks, ditches and fields have much to reveal. WashU's plant scientists are also among the most skilled in the country at teasing out their secrets. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-wild-shifting-disease-threats-conditions.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:00:02 EDT news703770002 Researchers from Manchester and Canada have shown that the claim by the authors of a study published earlier this year that most of its participants had experienced parental alienating behaviors during childhood is seriously misleading. Claims in the study that people affected by parental alienating behaviors showed greater signs of stress, PTSD and depression are also challenged by the team from The University of Manchester and the University of New Brunswick. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-evidence-high-profile-parental-alienation.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:00:03 EDT news703758181 Scientists are calling for wildlife surveys to be conducted within hours of prescribed burns after new research revealed that evidence of animal deaths can disappear in less than two weeks, significantly underestimating the true toll of fire on Australia's wildlife. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-lethal-lizards.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:40:06 EDT news703753862 Each World Cup team's passing patterns reveal distinctive "signatures" that show whether a team relies heavily on its star player or focuses its strategy on playing against an opponent's strengths, data shows. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-favorite-world-cup-team-based.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:20:05 EDT news703753682 Classrooms often fall silent when the teacher poses a question. The pause is not always due to a lack of knowledge. Students may be hesitant, unsure, shy or simply unwilling to participate, and these feelings are often shown through subtle cues such as gaze aversion, delayed responses, posture, facial expressions or quiet laughter. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-exploring-accounts-reluctant-microteaching-sessions.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:20:03 EDT news703758966 Solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy technologies are becoming increasingly widespread worldwide. Most of these technologies generate electricity from natural sources, such as sunlight and wind, which are more abundant on some days, months and seasons. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-zinc-slurry-battery-energy-longer.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 07:20:05 EDT news703406663 Tech firms are racing to roll out advanced smartphones that use artificial intelligence to do everything from ordering food to composing messages with a simple voice command. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-pocket-size-ai-powerful-star.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 04:50:02 EDT news703654773 My wife stared at me in shock as I ripped open the package. The FedEx driver hadn't even made it back to his truck as I held the item up overhead like a trophy. Fumbling for words, she asked: "Why on earth did you buy a Speedo … with dinosaur tear-away trunks?" https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ads-scrolling-social-media.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:40:03 EDT news703748941 Texas Tech University's School of Veterinary Medicine fourth-year students Kayden Tanner and Marshall Mays have both been published in international journals after putting hundreds of hours into their research papers. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fourth-year-vet-students-reveal.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:00:04 EDT news703748101 One of the biggest obstacles to wider adoption of electric vehicles (EV) is completely invisible and unquantifiable: the belief in many consumers' minds that the range limitations of EVs make them a bad option. Doubts about mobility, whether well-founded or not, can run neck and neck with curiosity in consumers' minds, keeping them from making the switch from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EVs. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ev-boost-backfire.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:20:10 EDT news703757162 In the mid-19th century, the remote island of St. Helena, located about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) off the southwestern coast of Africa, became a receiving point for thousands of enslaved Africans rescued from illegal slave ships by the British Royal Navy. Tragically, about 8,000 died shortly after arriving and were buried in unmarked graves in Rupert's Valley. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tooth-enamel-reveals-african-slaves.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:40:04 EDT news703497617 A comprehensive analysis of age assurance technologies co-authored by CISPA faculty member Dr. Wouter Lueks concludes that many currently proposed systems for protecting minors online come with significant trade-offs for privacy, security, accessibility and civil liberties. The study "Assessing Age Assurance Technologies: Effectiveness, Side-Effects, and Acceptance," conducted with colleagues from the University of Hamburg and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research, evaluates a broad range of approaches currently being debated by policymakers and platforms worldwide. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-size-age-verification-online.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:00:02 EDT news703748544 Concrete is the most widely used building material on Earth, and producing it is one of the largest single sources of carbon emissions. One promising way to reduce its environmental footprint is to 3D-print concrete, laying it down bead by bead like a giant icing-piping robot. This process eliminates the labor-intensive formwork of pouring it into molds and places the material only where a structure needs it. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-3d-bridge-greener.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:00:01 EDT news703403011 The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and related computing infrastructure has exposed the limited bandwidth of conventional electrical interconnects in integrated circuits as a major bottleneck to system performance. Silicon photonics, which transmits data using photons instead of electrons, has emerged as a promising approach for overcoming bandwidth and latency limitations. The platform is now widely used for photonic integrated circuits (PICs), particularly in telecom and datacom applications. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-highlights-micro-advanced-silicon-photonics.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:20:01 EDT news703749781 Researchers at the University of California San Diego have found that injuries involving electric bicycles, or e-bikes, have increased dramatically across California, rising from just two reported collisions in 2018 to 1,506 in 2024. The study, "An Exponential Increase in e-bike Injuries in California," published in Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open, also found that e-bike riders were more likely to experience moderate-to-severe injuries than riders of traditional bicycles, highlighting growing public health and safety concerns as e-bike use continues to expand statewide. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-analysis-reveals-exponential-bike-injuries.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:40:04 EDT news703754462 There are many types of hair—long, short, straight, curly—and today's computer animators have a good handle on many of them. But one type, highly coiled hair, continues to vex animators. With help from a mathematical tool borrowed from the cosmetics industry, Professor Theodore Kim and doctoral student Alvin Shi are changing that. They presented their results at the SIGGRAPH North America conference. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-cosmetics-field-animators-figure-math.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 06:42:04 EDT news703748507 In a new study presented at the IEEE International Conference on Communications in Glasgow, researchers from Queen Mary University of London and partners from around the world showcased the system, called Joint DAS and GNSS (JDG), which blends traditional satellite-based GPS with a lesser-known technology referred to as Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS). https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-hybrid-positioning-reliable-tracking-gps.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 04:14:19 EDT news703566836 On July 16, 2024, a daytime meteor shook New York City with a sonic boom as it passed just south of the Statue of Liberty. Now, an international team of researchers reports in the journal Science Advances that a short time later, a meteorite weighing more than 2 pounds crashed through the roof of a house in the town of Hillsborough, New Jersey. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-alien-world-chemistry-meteorite-struck.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:03 EDT news703263418 Researchers at Washington State University have discovered a molecular "winter lock" that keeps animals in a less active winter state until favorable conditions return, a discovery that could improve pest control and lead to a better understanding of seasonal health conditions in humans. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-seasonal-gene-fruit-flies-winter.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 12:00:01 EDT news703346344 An international team of researchers has built the first high-performance, commercial-size tandem solar cell that doesn't rely on the scarce and expensive metal indium. The breakthrough, published in Science, replaces indium-based oxide with abundant tin oxide, a material that costs 1% as much, without sacrificing performance. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-tin-oxide-scarce-indium-solar.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:00:06 EDT news703496983 Playing board games can be fun, challenging, infuriating and a great way to pass the time. They can also help scientists understand how we solve new problems. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-playing-board-games-reveal-tackle.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:30:03 EDT news703419803 Imagine what would happen if the source of your electricity was not the sun, wind, or water flow, but rather the moisture present in the air? The ability of moisture to provide energy has been well-known for a long time, although harnessing that invisible power for generating electricity has been a difficult task. Until recently, all of the proposed generators were either inefficient or too expensive to use in real-life settings. https://sciencex.com/news/2026-07-device-electricity-humid-air-materials.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:38:22 EDT news703402671 In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of 41 authors from around the globe argue that virtual reality has the potential to do the same for behavioral science and help solve the reproducibility crisis. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-virtual-reality-behavioral-science.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 15:00:01 EDT news703338608 "I'm looking for a book where …" has become a defining phrase of BookTok, TikTok's massive community of readers and book influencers. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-pittsburgh-romance-bookstores-happilyeverafters.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 20:30:02 EDT news703156169 A rare CO chondrite meteorite was the probable impacter that struck Earth 66 million years ago, wiping out 75% of Earth's species, including nonavian dinosaurs. These findings are published in Science Advances. Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Paris, Brussels and Vienna, used advanced nickel isotope analysis of samples to narrow down the composition of the deadly Cretaceous-Paleogene meteorite. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-class-oddball-meteorite-dinosaurs.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:11 EDT news703496174 Virtual reality and the metaverse are being discussed more and more, but for many people, these concepts still seem foreign, technical and difficult to grasp. At the same time, there is increasing experimentation with storytelling possibilities in which the viewer does not observe the story from a distance but experiences it as if they were right in the middle of the action. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cinematic-vr-immerses-viewers-narrative.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 15:00:03 EDT news703346065 Imagine reaching for a record or glancing at a map and seeing a display bloom from a small box, offering interactive guidance—and then vanishing moments later. A new device, inspired by science fiction and designed by computer scientists at the University of Chicago, lets digital displays bloom from everyday objects and surfaces. The creators hope it's a step toward creating touch interfaces only when they're needed and helping technology fade seamlessly into daily life. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-scientists-interactive-screens-demand.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:00:06 EDT news703497258 Choosing friends may involve more than clicking with others who share our interests or outlooks. According to new research, people may select friends based on traits that made them valuable survival partners in our evolutionary past. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-friends-stone-age.html Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:30:02 EDT news703250145 The state of the American social fabric—enormous, diverse and rent by stark partisan divides—is daunting enough that it can be hard to think about, let alone try to mend. At the Harvard Kennedy School, two social scientists are advancing the proposition that sports fandom, a powerful social phenomenon and force, may have a role to play in improving lives and strengthening societies. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fandom-undervalued-social-medicine-division.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 17:30:01 EDT news703420081 Just as careful blending of eye shadow can make a difference to our looks, a recent study has shown how flowers go to considerable trouble to fine-tune their shades. In the relentless competition to attract bees, a slight edge can make the difference between life and death for a gene. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-wild-snapdragons-subtle-bees.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:14 EDT news703500019 Every day, billions of people travel from their homes to work, schools, health care facilities, restaurants, public venues and other destinations. The complex patterns that shape how people move between these different locations are broadly referred to as "human mobility." https://phys.org/news/2026-07-highlights-patterns-humans.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 08:30:01 EDT news703319123 By exploiting the quirks of human vision, Northwestern University engineers have designed a drone that nearly disappears before the eyes. For years, researchers have tried to design invisible drones and robots using camouflage, transparent materials or light-bending optical systems. But the Northwestern team instead used a concept called "motion blur"—the same effect that makes fast-spinning fans and propellers seem to disappear. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-drone-plain-sight-phantom-harnesses.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:00:02 EDT news703318420 A research team led by Jun Won Choi, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University College of Engineering, has developed SafeDrive, an end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving AI model aligned with recent global trends in autonomous driving technology. The work was selected as a highlight paper at the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) 2026. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-routes-safer-clearer-decisions.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 13:40:02 EDT news703512500 When schools closed and child care disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of working parents faced the same difficult question: Whose job would have to change? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-family-collide-job-flexibility-adjusts.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:00:02 EDT news703687732 Kiran Trivedi, a University of Wollongong (UOW) academic, has developed a low-cost device that identifies disease-carrying mosquitoes by the sound of their wingbeats, offering a faster alternative to traditional surveillance methods used to track malaria and dengue. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-tiny-ai-device-world-deadliest.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:40:01 EDT news703758950 Mathematics has always been at the core of securing information. From online banking to government communications, modern society relies on cryptography, in which complex mathematical algorithms transform readable information into an unreadable form to keep it secure. But as computing power grows and quantum technology advances, these mathematical safeguards are increasingly vulnerable to being broken. That's where biology stepped in. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-dna-origami-secret-messages-nanomorse.html Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:20:07 EDT news703241682 Georgia's $41 billion forest products industry needs a transformation, and a Georgia Tech research team is reimagining how pulp mills use energy and what they can make from their byproduct streams. For nearly a decade, Sankar Nair, professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a longtime researcher with the Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI), has led a collaborative effort to develop technologies that can radically improve the efficiency and profitability of kraft pulp mills. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-pulp-mills-generation-biorefineries.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:00:13 EDT news703496845 For decades, scientists have disputed the meaning of the weapons found in the burial chambers of some ancient Egyptian princesses. Were they symbolic or practical tools? Now, a reassessment of five royal women's mummies from the Middle Kingdom has shown that some princesses buried with weapons could use them. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bones-reveal-ancient-egyptian-princesses.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:02 EDT news703402947 A follow-up national survey developed by Western researchers shows workplace harassment and violence continue to be widespread in Canada, with some signs of improvement. The second national survey on harassment and violence at work in Canada was conducted by Western's Center for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children (CREVAWC), in partnership with the Canadian Labor Congress. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-workplaces-safer-violence-persist-survey.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 10:00:01 EDT news703255503 Despite burning hundreds of miles away, Canadian wildfires have become a familiar source of disruption in New York state. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-canadian-wildfire-linked-bird-sightings.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:00:02 EDT news703497886 Hybrid work has brought many real benefits. Greater flexibility can make it easier to manage work alongside family responsibilities, personal commitments and other demands. But it has also created new challenges, particularly for professional couples trying to build two careers alongside a shared life. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hybrid-blurs-line-home-couples.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 08:30:01 EDT news703497208 Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that a joint research team led by Professor Tae-Woo Lee of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at SNU and Professor Samuel D. Stranks of the University of Cambridge has developed a vapor-deposited perovskite light-emitting diode (PeLED) with world-leading efficiency. The team achieved this by discovering a new X-type perovskite emitter capable of thermodynamically stabilizing a luminescence-favorable phase during the vacuum deposition process. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-perovskite-emitter-boosts-vapor-deposited.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703512015 An era in which robots decide "how to walk" on their own has arrived. A four-legged robot has been developed that, much like a person or an animal, autonomously chooses the appropriate gait strategy for its surroundings—changing its gait on stairs, leaping over gaps and keeping its balance on forest trails. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-robot-animal.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:50:02 EDT news703405349 As sulfur becomes increasingly scarce in soils worldwide, scientists are studying how plants decide whether to invest limited resources in growth or defense. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-dimmer-immune.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:20:01 EDT news703497759 Publishing in the journal npj Flexible Electronics, researchers from Kyushu University have developed prototype thin-film electronic modules that can automatically connect and disconnect with one another. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-prototype-thin-electronics-dock-undock.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 05:00:02 EDT news703402956 NASA researchers recently put a new wing design, long and thin with a lightweight structure, through a series of grueling tests to find its structural limits. What they found left them encouraged about the wing's potential, even when they pushed it past its intended limits. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-nasa-wing-limits.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 05:10:01 EDT news703655899 Cadmium (Cd) contamination poses a serious threat to global food safety. As a toxic and carcinogenic heavy metal, cadmium can accumulate in agricultural soils through industrialization and urbanization before entering the human food chain. Rice is especially vulnerable because it absorbs more cadmium than other major cereal crops, making it one of the largest dietary sources of cadmium exposure for nearly half the world's population. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tiny-gene-cadmium-rice-yields.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:20:03 EDT news703405327 Developing thermoelectric materials that efficiently convert waste heat into electricity remains challenging because high electrical performance and low thermal conductivity are difficult to achieve simultaneously. Researchers at Science Tokyo developed a layered crystal, TlFe1.6Se2, that embeds atomically thin iron selenide (FeSe) layers within a bulk material. The crystal combines a high thermoelectric power factor with exceptionally low thermal conductivity, demonstrating a promising strategy for designing next-generation materials for waste heat energy recovery. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-layered-crystal-embeds-atom-thin.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news703498452 Human activities are fundamentally altering the chemical makeup of coral reefs, according to a study led by the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and published in Nature Communications. The research team discovered that 25 contaminants from agricultural, industrial and pharmaceutical sources accumulated in the soft tissues of corals around Maui, Hawai'i. Additionally, in areas affected by human activities, energy and nutrient availability within coral tissue decreases, making corals significantly less resilient to environmental stressors such as warmer or more acidic waters. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-human-compromise-coral-health-resilience.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:40:04 EDT news703496762 High-frequency waves classified as terahertz occupy a relatively underused region of the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared light and microwaves. Researchers have long recognized their unique potential for applications including ultrafast wireless communication, security screening, remote sensing and medical imaging. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-powerful-terahertz-semiconductor-chip.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:35:26 EDT news703427533 The success of a promising class of next-generation batteries may hinge on something almost impossibly thin: a coating just a nanometer thick—roughly 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. In new research, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory combined computation and experiment to find candidate protective coatings for sulfide-based solid electrolytes and uncover what makes those coatings work. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-magnesium-oxide-emerges-coating-sulfide.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:20:13 EDT news703496854 In the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), scientists have identified a previously unknown species of African monkey—one of the rarest discoveries in modern primatology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-species-african-monkey-deep-congo.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:28 EDT news703317869 Studies published in prestigious academic journals receive more attention from scholars and media outlets, shaping public discourse and potentially accelerating academic careers. While the path to publication is often murky, a new analysis of more than 110,000 papers submitted to Science and Science Advances—two leading journals published by the world's largest general science association—reveals that Western scientists, larger teams, top-ranked universities and select regions have slight advantages in acceptance rates. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-editorial-trends-science-journals.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:30 EDT news703325741 A newly developed material for the electron contact improves the efficiency of single perovskite solar cells and perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. The new material is based on a carborane molecule. It offers several advantages over the standard material C60, as shown by the study led by Steve Albrecht's team. The new material has since been patented and is already commercially available. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-contact-material-efficiency-stability-perovskite.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:40:01 EDT news703427730 For more than 25 years, lab-on-a-chip technology has allowed researchers to model human organs and blood vessels using real human cells in artificial microscopic environments. These microphysiological systems (MPS) may replicate human cells and mimic organs or even full organ systems under numerous conditions. They have become key to studying everything from heart disease to the effectiveness of new drugs. However, they have been held back by one major limitation: an inability to accurately re-create the blood flow waveforms generated by the human heart. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-recreates-human-heartbeat-blood-lab.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:00:03 EDT news703410569 America's most daring, extraordinary feat—landing astronauts on the moon—remains the pinnacle of achievement by anyone anywhere. Ever. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-earth-nasa-apollo-lunar-lander.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 04:00:34 EDT news703566003 People experiencing homelessness, victims of domestic violence and economically vulnerable people are at higher risk of social exclusion. For them, pets are an important source of emotional support. A study by the Affinity Foundation Chair for Animals and Health of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the FAADA Foundation, published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal, highlights the importance of this support from a multidimensional perspective, drawing on the experiences of 100 individuals in vulnerable situations. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-importance-emotional-pets-vulnerable-people.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:00:01 EDT news703499065 Conventional computers process and store information using separate components, known as a processor and memory unit. Because transferring data from one component to the other can be energy-consuming, many electronics engineers have been trying to develop new devices that rely on a single component to store and process information. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-method-fault-tolerant-analog-memory.html Mon, 13 Jul 2026 06:45:56 EDT news703143861 Knitting has come a long way from sweaters and blankets. Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have turned everyday knitting into a powerful platform for making shape-shifting devices that can act as switches, sensors and more—paving the way for next-generation functional, programmable textiles. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-snapping-fabric.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news703340121 Social animals use a suite of preemptive behaviors in anticipation of conflict, including staying quiet, monitoring their surroundings, conducting raids and bonding through play. In a review published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution , researchers describe how environmental cues and memories of past events can trigger these behaviors. Over generations, these prewar preparations could affect sociocognitive evolution, population dynamics and community structures. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-animals-war.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:00:03 EDT news703318203 Reflect Orbital moves ahead with the company's first Eärendil launch amid concerns from the astronomical community. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fcc-space-reflector-constellation.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 23:00:01 EDT news703500899 A team of researchers from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has discovered a completely new genus and species of subterranean freshwater snail in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece. The species, Cyllena hermes, is a small, unpigmented, eyeless aquatic snail fully adapted to life underground. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cave-snail-greece-hermes-nymph.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 09:30:01 EDT news703407120 Ireland's waters continue to provide an important seasonal refuge for the endangered basking shark, according to a new study. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-century-sightings-reveals-ireland-haven.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 10:00:04 EDT news703420137 Don't underestimate the power of a yes-or-no question. Some of the toughest computing problems boil down to thousands of tiny yes-or-no decisions. Finding the best combination of answers could be the key to anything from nailing a new drug to keeping a city of commuters on the move. For example, take this scenario: https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-professor-unsolvable-problems.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:00:07 EDT news703500402 Implantable devices in the brain have been used for about 30 years to assist people with disabilities in completing motor tasks. However, the devices are simply not accessible to the vast majority of people who need help. Despite decades of work in this field, fewer than 100 people worldwide have benefited from the technology. The costs are prohibitive, and the brain surgeries are inherently risky. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-human-machine-boosts-noninvasive-brain.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:20:05 EDT news703346323 India's first privately built orbital rocket took its maiden flight Saturday, its company said, marking a significant step for the South Asian giant as it eyes a bigger slice of the global space economy. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-india-successfully-private-orbital-rocket.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:36:46 EDT news703582576 When architects create plans for a new building, they typically work with an engineer to design the structure so that the building is safely supported. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-civilbot-faster.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:52:28 EDT news703605132 A sweeping new Cal Poly study of North American birds reveals that environmental change does not affect all species equally and that a bird's traits can explain whether populations rise or fall as local conditions change. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-birds-differently-environmental-traits.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:16:25 EDT news703340160 Large seabird colonies have a surrounding boundary known as Ashmole's halo, where food sources are depleted, forcing the birds to travel farther to gather the food they need. The reason seems obvious—the more birds, the more they eat, which reduces the available prey. But that might not be the only factor at play, according to a new study of penguins and krill published July 15 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-prey-accessibility-abundance-predator-behavior.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:20:06 EDT news703329111 Using AI-driven materials design, a team of researchers at the University of Toronto Engineering has discovered a new set of metal alloys that retain their strength under extreme conditions. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-lab-3d-printable-alloys.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:01 EDT news703329492 An international research team involving the University of Bayreuth has, for the first time, analyzed the "inner workings" of AI language models when predicting political voting decisions. To do so, the researchers examined six national elections and AI-based election forecasts and developed a new method for making more precise predictions. They presented their findings at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2026) in Seoul, South Korea. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-powered-election-reveal-hidden.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:40:01 EDT news703405416 Elephants can communicate with other elephants across distances of up to five kilometers (3 miles) by producing sounds that travel through the air. However, they have a second way of sending signals: seismic waves traveling through the ground. These vibrations are transmitted from elephants' feet through their legs and ultimately through the bones of their skull directly into the inner ear. They can be perceived across distances of 10 kilometers (6 miles) or more. This is called bone-conduction hearing. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-elephants-footsteps-messages-ground-skull.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:07 EDT news703173300 Engineers have developed a new way to pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere using a process similar to charging and discharging a battery—an advance that could help address the planet's excess CO2 problem. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-battery-device-air-electricity-saltwater.html Mon, 13 Jul 2026 15:40:08 EDT news703173572 For grid-scale energy storage and national energy resilience, the U.S. needs better batteries. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are tackling that challenge in many ways, but one approach is making a significant impact: physics-informed machine learning. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-machine-embrace-atomic-scale-complexity.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:30:01 EDT news703346410 Scientists have described a new species of colobus monkey in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), report John Hart at Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation and colleagues in PLOS One. The first hint that a new primate species might be hiding in the dense forests of Lomami National Park came in 2008, when conservationists photographed an unidentified monkey during an expedition. After a second sighting in 2018, researchers embarked on a dedicated mission to find and describe the mysterious monkey. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-species-monkey-unusual-orange-lips.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:14 EDT news703314757 Emigration often means a profound life upheaval. What challenges do Polish families face after moving to Spain? A researcher from SWPS University, in collaboration with her doctoral supervisors and a researcher from the University of Almería, analyzed family dynamics between children and their parents and found that life in a foreign country is not free from intergenerational conflicts. Parents are committed to maintaining contact with their Polish roots, while young people strive to develop their autonomy, and properly nurturing biculturalism turns out to be crucial. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-families-spain-cultural-identity-generations.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 18:20:01 EDT news703427324 When the Marshall Fire tore through suburban Colorado in late 2021, residents had only hours to decide where to go. Some fled to nearby towns. Others stayed farther away for weeks or months. Now, a recent study published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications suggests those decisions were shaped not only by distance or danger but also by something more human: the pull of familiar communities and social ties. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-disaster-people-familiar.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 22:40:01 EDT news703340838 When grizzly bears clamber onto the talus slopes high in Glacier National Park, they're searching for an abundant, fatty meal: army cutworm moths. The inch-long (2.5-centimeter-long) moths hatch on the Great Plains and fly en masse to escape the heat in the stony upper reaches of the Rocky Mountains. Grizzlies hoover them up by the thousands—at about a half-calorie each—as they fatten up for winter. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-amazing-moths-insect-habitat-grizzlies.html Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:20:07 EDT news703246082 Will a warming climate and changing weather patterns lead to more grid blackouts and other energy disruptions? Answering that question requires studying both regional climate forecasts and local energy systems, including emerging renewable generation, storage, transmission lines and demand forecasts. The lack of such studies is one reason energy developers and grid operators rarely consider climate change when deciding where to build their next project. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-energy-power-reliable-grid-blackouts.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 05:00:04 EDT news703325681 Artificial intelligence isn't just capable of translating between existing languages—it can also create entirely new ones. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-tool-doesnt-languages.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:50:01 EDT news703341027 For decades, researchers have debated the subsistence strategies of precolonial societies in the Brazilian Cerrado (tropical savanna): Were they hunter-gatherers or intensive maize farmers, and in either case, how did they organize themselves and interact with the land they inhabited? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-large-precolonial-villages-brazilian-cerrado.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:05 EDT news703325677