https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A study has found concerning new evidence of long-term declines in coral reef fish around highly visited inshore islands of the Great Barrier Reef. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-coral-reef-fish-recover-great.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 17:23:03 EST news650222581 New research by Flinders University researchers, conducted in partnership with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC), has documented ancient archaeological sites on the cliff-tops in the region between Morgan and Overland Corner in South Australia. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-cliff-sites-ancient-aboriginal-heritage.html Archaeology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 17:16:02 EST news650222161 Colors are widely used in communication within and among animal species. For example, peacocks proudly display their vibrant tails, adorned with iridescent eyespots, to attract peahens for courtship. This is a classic example of sexual selection using color signaling. Conspicuous colors are also displayed by toxic animal species, including many venomous snakes and the brilliantly colored poison frogs of Central and South America, as a warning to potential predators. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-vision-animals-million-year-explosion.html Evolution Ecology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 17:07:03 EST news650221621 Decades-old policies aimed at improving air quality may also be accelerating global climate change, warns a recent study published in the journal Ecology. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-air-pollution-contribute-climate-impacting.html Environment Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:49:03 EST news650220542 Blistering heat, freezing cold, and overflowing sewage water: These were the living conditions that formerly incarcerated people in Colorado said they suffered inside the state's prisons and jails. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-prisons-fall-short-incarcerated-climate.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:44:05 EST news650220241 Archaeologists documenting tens of thousands of rock art motifs in the Colombian Amazon have been consulting with Indigenous elders and ritual specialists to help interpret their meaning. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-indigenous-elders-ritual-specialists-ancient.html Archaeology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:21:04 EST news650218861 Thousands of people were urged to flee an out-of-control wildfire burning around communities near Los Angeles on Thursday, with dozens of homes already lost to the fast-moving flames. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-thousands-told-wildfire-los-angeles.html Environment Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:20:01 EST news650218245 Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have introduced an innovative model that incorporates recreational freshwater ecosystem services into water allocation decisions. The study, conducted by Aliza Fleischer, student Yadin Gindin and Yacov Tsur from the Department of Environmental Economics and Management at the Faculty of Agriculture, focuses on how recreational activities like fishing, boating, and swimming—often overlooked in water management—should play a more central role in water allocation policy. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-incorporating-cultural-recreational-ecosystem-freshwater.html Environment Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:19:03 EST news650218741 More than 40 monkeys were on the loose Thursday in a small US town after escaping a research facility, with authorities warning residents to keep their doors and windows closed. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-town-monkeys-facility.html Plants & Animals Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:10:19 EST news650218209 From time to time, when Earth's tectonic plates shift, the planet emits a long, slow belch of carbon dioxide. In a new modeling study published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, R. Dietmar Müller and colleagues show how this gas released from deep Earth may have affected the climate over the past billion years. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-advances-plate-tectonics-view-deep.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:09:30 EST news650218164 Plastics are not as safe and inert as previously thought. A new research study written by an international team of researchers uses the planetary boundaries framework to structure the rapidly mounting evidence of the effects of plastics on the environment, health and human well-being. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-plastics-pollution-worsens-impacts-planetary.html Environment Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:09:21 EST news650218156 Solar-driven photocatalytic water splitting offers a sustainable route for hydrogen production. Researchers have explored various semiconductors, but challenges like bandgap limitations and carrier recombination persist. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-green-scalable-synthesis-approach-semiconductor.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:01:03 EST news650217661 The crucian carp (Carassius auratus) is a common freshwater fish species in China, and its aquaculture mainly depends on excellent varieties through artificial breeding. The hybrid strain derived from Carassius cuvieri (♀) × C. auratus red var. (♂) (HFJ) and the new homodiploid crucian carp-like strain derived from Cyprinus carpio (♀) × Megalobrama amblycephala (♂) (NCRC) are important germplasm sources of crucian carp. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-team-population-genetic-characteristics-hybrid.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:59:03 EST news650217541 A new field study of arachnid hunting behavior has shown that spiders forage for prey rich in specific nutrients, and their preferences depend on the individual spider's species, life stage and sex. The results suggest that it may be possible to link spider predation to pest control in famers' fields if the various arachnid species can be encouraged to selectively hunt troublesome insects. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-spiders-forage-prey-rich-specific.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:39:40 EST news650216376 Earth's city lights streak by in this long-exposure photo taken by NASA astronaut Don Pettit on Oct. 24, 2024. The green glow of Earth's atmosphere is also visible on the horizon. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-image-astronaut-captures-photo-earth.html Space Exploration Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:39:28 EST news650216363 On Sept. 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene slammed into the Gulf Coast of Florida, inducing storm surges and widespread impacts on communities in its path. At the same time, NASA's Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE), recorded enormous swells in the atmosphere that the hurricane produced roughly 55 miles above the ground. Such information helps us better understand how terrestrial weather can affect space weather. This is part of the research NASA does to understand how our space environment can disrupt satellites, communication signals, and other technology. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-hurricane-helene-gravity-revealed-nasa.html Earth Sciences Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:36:34 EST news650216190 The radiation levels experienced by the frogs living in Chernobyl have not affected their age or their rate of aging. These two traits do not differ, in fact, between specimens captured in areas with high levels of radiation and those living in control areas without radiation. Nor have differences been found in the levels of corticosterone, a hormone associated with the response to stress, depending on the radiation received by these amphibians. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-chernobyl-frogs-exposed-aging-stress.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:35:17 EST news650216113 The use of nuclear weapons is a red line that most Americans never again want to see crossed, according to a new survey from the Human Security Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Eighty-three percent of Americans surveyed—both among the general population and military-trained personnel (active-duty and veterans)—say it should never be legally permissible to launch another nuclear strike against a civilian populated area. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-survey-nuclear-taboo-strong-americans.html Political science Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:28:03 EST news650215681 The largest and longest-lasting society formed by people who escaped slavery and their descendants endured for a century in northeastern Brazil, and it continues to be a potent political symbol of Black pride today. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Marc Hertzman wrote about the settlement and how memories of it survive in his book, "After Palmares: Diaspora, Inheritance, and the Afterlives of Zumbi." https://phys.org/news/2024-11-history-brazil-longest-maroon-society.html Other Political science Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:27:03 EST news650215621 What if we could keep an eye on nature 24/7 without constantly being there? Researchers at the University of Amsterdam Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) have teamed up with Waternet in a nature reserve in the Dutch coastal dunes to do just that. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-advancing-biodiversity-network-automated-wildlife.html Ecology Biotechnology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:21:03 EST news650215261 Plastic debris can break down into smaller particles due to different environmental factors, and become micro-nanoplastics (MNPs). Foliar accumulation of MNPs in leafy crops could negatively affect plant productivity and nutritional value and therefore poses a direct threat to plants. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-accumulation-polystyrene-nanoplastics-poses-threats.html Plants & Animals Agriculture Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:20:10 EST news650215201 Researchers at University of Tsukuba have demonstrated that the current accommodations for examinees with blindness for examinations such as those related to admissions are inadequate, particularly for examinations requiring the reading of complex tables. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-current-accommodations-students-fully.html Education Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:17:03 EST news650215022 When it comes to electrically conductive nanomaterials, graphene—stronger and lighter than steel and more conductive than copper—has been shown to be an excellent choice for a wide range of technologies. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-physicists-reveal-layers-impact-graphene.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:09:04 EST news650214541 The densely-populated island of Luzon is home to over half of the Philippines' population, many of whom consume shellfish on a regular basis. An international team of scientists has just confirmed the presence there of two species of Pseudo-nitzschia diatoms capable of producing a dangerous neurotoxin that can cause severe sickness and memory loss. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-amnesia-diatoms-luzon-shellfish-farms.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:58:05 EST news650213882 A Chinese rover has found new evidence to support the theory that Mars was once home to a vast ocean, including tracing some ancient coastline where water may once have lapped, a study said Thursday. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-chinese-rover-evidence-ancient-martian.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:56:32 EST news650213785 Donald Trump will return to the White House having set out his foreign policy approach for the next four years. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-china-trump-beijing-react.html Economics & Business Political science Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:51:29 EST news650213485 Mirroring the mechanisms that make human faces and bodies—and those of many multicellular organisms—symmetrical, bee colonies build symmetrical nests when they are placed on either side of a double-sided comb. The finding, published in Current Biology, extends examples of symmetry in biology to the behavior of communities and the architectural structures that they build. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-symmetry-biology-bees-mirroring-patterns.html Evolution Ecology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:51:15 EST news650213472 A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has developed an AI tool that traces back the most recent places you have been to. The tool acts like a satellite navigation system, but instead of guiding you to your hotel, it identifies the geographical source of microorganisms. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-gps-microorganisms-forensic.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:43:04 EST news650212982 Raspberry production faces many challenges, including pests. To reduce the use of chemical pesticides, it is essential to find environmentally friendly control methods. Now, researchers at NIBIO are studying how sprinkling with water can reduce the pressure from spider mites. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-sprinkling-effective-spider-mites-raspberry.html Ecology Agriculture Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:39:04 EST news650212742 The Hubble Space Telescope was carried to space inside the space shuttle Discovery and then released into low-Earth orbit. The James Webb Space Telescope was squeezed inside the nose cone of an Ariane 5 rocket and then launched. It deployed its mirror and shade on its way to its home at the sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-space-robot-giant-telescope.html Astronomy Space Exploration Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:37:04 EST news650212621