EXPLAINER: UN 'house on fire' climate report key to action

A new science report from the United Nations will spell out in excruciating detail the pain of climate change to people and the planet with the idea—the hope really—that if leaders pay attention, some of the worst can be avoided or lessened. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

UN climate report: 'Atlas of human suffering' worse, bigger

Deadly with extreme weather now, climate change is about to get so much worse. It is likely going to make the world sicker, hungrier, poorer, gloomier and way more dangerous in the next 18 years with an "unavoidable" increase in risks, a new United Nations science report says. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Study provides first nationwide snapshot of NZ conservation volunteers

University of Otago research surveyed 986 conservation volunteers to get a sense of who they are, what they do, what motivates them, and their attitudes towards conservation in New Zealand. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Understanding molecular basis of lateral root development in rice

The ability of rice plants to modify their root systems to adapt to the surrounding soil water conditions is a great example of a phenomenon called phenotype plasticity. However, the exact mechanism behind this remained unknown. Now, an international collaborative team of Japanes … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Reduce. Reuse. And then, when all else fails, recycle

A municipal waste worker turns away another shipment of recycled materials littered with greasy pizza boxes and broken glass, sentencing this waste to slow death in a landfill without a second thought. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Study finds eDNA 'game-changer' to help protect native animals

Curtin University researchers have identified a "game-changing" way of protecting native animals—including pygmy possums, western bush wallabies and Australian painted-snipe birds—using sophisticated DNA technology. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Higher salaries might attract teachers but pay isn't one of the top 10 reasons for leaving

Money might at first attract us to a profession, but does it keep us in it? The report of the Quality Initial Teacher Education Review, released in recent days, found teachers in Australia reach the top pay scale after about ten years. This is well below the average for advanced … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Scientists discover new DNA modification system in animals, captured from bacteria more than 60 MYA

Your DNA holds the blueprint to build your body, but it's a living document: Adjustments to the design can be made by epigenetic marks. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

UN report to lay bare harrowing scale of climate impacts

The devastating scale of climate change impacts will be unveiled Monday in a landmark UN report expected to show that warming already threatens billions of people and crucial ecosystems. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Rooftop rescues in Australia as tens of thousands evacuated from floods

Tens of thousands of Australians were ordered to flee their homes Monday, as torrential rain sent floodwaters to record levels, leaving residents stranded on the rooftops of their homes. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Seismic study reveals key reason why Patagonia is rising as glaciers melt

The icefields that stretch for hundreds of miles atop the Andes mountain range in Chile and Argentina are melting at some of the fastest rates on the planet. The ground that was beneath this ice is also shifting and rising as these glaciers disappear. Geologists have discovered a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

WEF Young Scientists call to address Missing Link between policy and science

Scientists from the World Economic Forum's Young Scientists community want to see the social value of scientific research better recognised and acknowledged. Published today by Frontiers Policy Labs, a call has been signed by 52 scholars from some of the world's foremost academic … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Еndangered, new to science orchid discovered in Ecuador with the help of a commercial nursery

An astounding new species of orchid has been discovered in the cloud rainforest of Northern Ecuador. Scientifically named Maxillaria anacatalina-portillae, the plant—unique with its showy, intense yellow flowers—was described by Polish orchidologists in collaboration with an Ecua … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Dogs show signs of mourning after loss of canine companions

Dogs are deeply affected by the deaths of canine companions, eating and playing less and seeking attention more following a loss, a large scientific study said Thursday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Australian 'rain bomb' floods claim sixth life

Flooding on Australia's east coast claimed another life overnight, bringing the death toll from the extreme weather to six as a "rain bomb" continued to move south Sunday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Rash-causing moth spreading due to warming, scientists find

A forest pest that bedevils Maine residents and tourists with hairs that cause an itchy rash appears to be spreading due to warming temperatures, a group of scientists has found. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

UN to agree on plan for 'historic' plastics treaty

More than 100 nations convening in Nairobi next week are expected to take the first steps toward establishing a historic global treaty to tackle the plastic crisis afflicting the planet. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Major hurdle cleared in plan to demolish 4 California dams

Federal regulators on Friday issued a draft environmental impact statement saying there were significant benefits to a plan to demolish four massive dams on Northern California's Klamath River to save imperiled migratory salmon, setting the stage for the largest dam demolition pr … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Deadly rains, floods hit eastern Australia

Torrential downpours lashed eastern Australia on Saturday, raising deadly floodwaters to decades-long highs, swamping homes and sweeping away cars. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

SpaceX launches batch of Starlink satellites from California

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Friday and carried 50 more satellites into orbit for the Starlink internet constellation. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Breakthrough discovery in light interactions with nanoparticles paves the way for advances in optical computing

Computers are an indispensable part of our daily lives, and the need for ones that can work faster, solve complex problems more efficiently, and leave smaller environmental footprints by minimizing the required energy for computation is increasingly urgent. Recent progress in pho … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Graphene sensor rapidly detects opioid metabolites in wastewater

The unique properties of the atom-thick sheet of carbon, known as graphene, enabled a new penny-sized, multiplexed bio-sensor that's the first to detect opioid byproducts in wastewater, a team of researchers from Boston College, Boston University, and Giner Labs report in the lat … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Change of scenery: New research outlines how recreation will shift with climate change in the west

Change can be hard, especially when it involves soaring summer temperatures, mega-droughts, invasive species and other items from the list of unpleasant outcomes of climate change. There are innumerable economic and social implications from a changing climate—but in the Western U … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

New model may improve Bay Area seismic hazard maps

The Santa Cruz Mountains define the geography of the Bay Area south of San Francisco, protecting the peninsula from the Pacific Ocean's cold marine layer and forming the region's notorious microclimates. The range also represents the perils of living in Silicon Valley: earthquake … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Stronger materials could bloom with new images of plastic flow

Imagine dropping a tennis ball onto a bedroom mattress. The tennis ball will bend the mattress a bit, but not permanently—pick the ball back up, and the mattress returns to its original position and strength. Scientists call this an elastic state. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

A critical assessment of the 2006 Abuja Declaration for nitrogen use in Sub-Saharan Africa

In 2006, the Abuja declaration brought together states of the African Union to collectively recommend an increase in fertilizer nitrogen (N) use from 8 kg ha−1 to 50 kg ha−1 by 2015 to help enable sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to achieve food sufficiency and eradicate poverty while im … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Ultrasounds proven an effective, hands-off way to help spawn endangered abalone

The world's abalone are threatened, endangered or otherwise vulnerable in nearly every corner of the planet. While captive breeding efforts are underway for some species, these giant sea snails are notoriously difficult to spawn. If only we could wave a magic wand to know when ab … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Solving a decades-old structural mystery surrounding the birth of energy-storing lipid droplets

In humans, virtually every cell stores fat. However, patients with a rare condition called congenital lipodystrophy, which is often diagnosed in childhood, cannot properly store fat, which accumulates in the body's organs and increases the risk of early death from heart or liver … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

As drought persists in California, minimal water deliveries announced for the Central Valley Project

With California entering a third year of drought and its reservoirs at low levels, the federal government has announced plans to deliver minimal amounts of water through the Central Valley Project, putting many farmers on notice that they should prepare to receive no water from t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Scientists invent imaging method to assess quality of 3D-printed metal parts

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), have developed a fast and low-cost imaging method that can analyze the structure of 3D-printed metal parts and offer insights into the quality of the material. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Perfect photons feed new quantum processor

A quantum processor working with photons developed at the University of Twente becomes an ever stronger 'toolbox' for doing experiments. The latest version not only has more inputs and outputs, it can also be fed by a photon source that is able to produce identical photons. Physi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Wild salmon are getting smaller and it might be linked to aquaculture

Researchers from Finland used genetic methods to pinpoint how a fishery for an aquaculture fish food source and changes in salmon fishing may be linked to changes in the size of wild salmon. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

The largest population of a rare, protected orchid found in a military base in Corsica

In Corsica, away from the eyes of locals and tourists, hides a population of unprecedented proportions of a rare and protected orchid: the neglected Serapias (Serapias neglecta). In a closed military base in the east of the island, researchers discovered 155,000 individuals of th … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Safely studying dangerous infections just got a lot easier

To combat a pandemic, science needs to move quickly. With safe and effective vaccines now widely available and a handful of promising COVID-19 treatments coming soon, there's no doubt that many aspects of biological research have been successfully accelerated in the past two year … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Consumer sentiment sinks, challenges rise

Consumer sentiment fell in February to its lowest level in the past decade, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Ethers may have a more sustainable future thanks to heterogenous catalysis

Optimizing chemical processes to ensure they are environmentally friendly and sustainable is becoming increasingly important and catalysts play a key role as they can make reactions more efficient. Researchers from Osaka University have reported a zirconium oxide-supported platin … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Bird flu sweeping through poultry in eastern US

Mass cullings have been implemented as a highly contagious form of avian flu has swept across the eastern half of the United States in recent weeks, killing both farmed poultry and wild birds. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Wildfires are getting worse across the globe. How does California compare?

An alarming new United Nations report warns that the number of extreme wildfires is expected to increase 50% globally by the end of the century, and that governments are largely unprepared for the burgeoning crisis. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Using lasers and a long-term experiment to investigate how deer change a forest canopy

University of Minnesota researchers are using high-frequency lasers to learn more about how deer populations influence forest landscapes. From the far northern forests of Canada, through the temperate forests of the U.S. Midwest, to the tropical forests of Columbia, white-tailed … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

3D micromesh-based hybrid printing for microtissue engineering

Bioprinting is widely applicable to develop tissue engineering scaffolds and form tissue models in the lab. Materials scientists use this method to construct complex 3D structures based on different polymers and hydrogels; however, relatively low resolution and long fabrication t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

NASA rules out April for Artemis I launch, could target May

NASA mission managers updated Artemis I progress ahead of the March rollout of the massive Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B for what the agency calls a wet dress rehearsal. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

New state-of-the-art technology collects a unique time series from methane seeps in the Arctic

A new study published in Ocean Science conducted by CAGE Ph.D. candidate Knut Ola Dølven and co-authors presents time-series data from two methane seep sites offshore western Svalbard, in the Arctic. These unique results show high variability both on hourly and seasonal time-scal … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

New evidence proves acceleration of quasar outflows at scale of tens of parsecs

Dr. He Zhicheng and his coworkers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences created a new way to measure the physical properties of galactic ionized gas, and discovered the acceleration of quasar outflows at the scale of tens … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Higher levels of biodiversity appear to reduce extinction risk in birds

A new University of Michigan study has found that higher levels of biodiversity—the enormous variety of life on Earth and the species, traits and evolutionary history they represent—appear to reduce extinction risk in birds. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Scientists identify key regulator of malaria parasite transmission

Malaria remains one of the biggest global public health challenges. It kills a young child every two minutes, more than any other infectious disease. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Satellite-derived salinity improves Arctic marine circulation prediction

Researchers at the Barcelona Expert Center (BEC) of the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) have proved that satellite-derived salinity improves marine circulation prediction in the Arctic, which, as in the rest of the planet, is directly influenced by this and other paramete … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

Reviving a failed network through microscopic interventions

Networks are systems comprising many components that interact with one another through a collection of connections, nodes and links. In a well-functioning brain, neural networks assemble the cellular components needed for sensory, motor and cognitive functions. In an active human … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago

What brain-eating amoebae can tell us about the diversity of life on earth and evolutionary history

An international team of researchers, led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, recently announced in the journal Current Biology that an amoeba called Naegleria has evolved more distinct sets of tubulins, used for specific cellular processes, than previously thought. Their … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 years ago