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. People's feelings about how morally divided a society is in the lead-up to an election can cause them to have extreme reactions if the result doesn't go their way, like the 6 January 2021 attacks on the US Capitol, new research from The Australian National University (ANU) has shown. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-people-perceptions-fuel-political-unrest.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:06:03 EST news628963561 A rarely seen megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) was recently spotted in east Africa for the very first time. It was recorded in a market in Zanzibar, where it was being sold after being captured and killed. The recent sighting was only the sixth time a megamouth had ever been found off the coast of Africa. Marine biologist Rhett H. Bennett of the Wildlife Conservation Society explains the implications of the find. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-rare-megamouth-shark-east-africa.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 26 Feb 2024 12:25:51 EST news628172739 When approaching how to support the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, there is a tendency in favor of strengthening and empowering mothers, rather than fathers. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-indigenous-fathers-stronger-communities.html Social Sciences Sat, 17 Feb 2024 19:30:01 EST news627304914 The New York Bight is an important year-round habitat for endangered fin whales, according to new research examining fin whale song patterns. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-reveals-york-bight-important-year.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 15 Feb 2024 13:16:04 EST news627225361 Outdated perceptions of leadership persist across society despite being repeatedly debunked, University of Queensland research has found. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-problematic-zombie-leadership-cases.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 08 Feb 2024 15:18:11 EST news626627889 Are cultural evolution rates similar across human societies? The emerging field of Cliodynamics uses mathematical models to study history. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-typical-cultural-evolution.html Mathematics Social Sciences Wed, 07 Feb 2024 12:33:39 EST news626531618 A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist is part of a research team shedding new light on how to access the sugars locked up in plant materials in order to convert byproducts into new feedstocks for production of fuels, materials and chemicals. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-agricultural-residues-fuel-chemicals.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:34:20 EST news626027657 Nestling songbirds relocated as part of conservation programs successfully learn the song repertoires they need to communicate—and ultimately survive—in the wild, a new study has found. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-relocated-songbirds-successfully-diversity-songs.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 01 Feb 2024 09:53:03 EST news626003581 A collaborative team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which runs the world's largest field conservation program, has conducted first-of-its-kind research into how global climate change affects African elephants. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-climate-threatens-older-elephants-jeopardizing.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 31 Jan 2024 16:50:19 EST news625942211 A video showing renovation work at Egypt's Menkaure pyramid at Giza has triggered social media criticism, with one expert decrying its "absurdity". https://phys.org/news/2024-01-egypt-pyramid-renovation-debate.html Archaeology Mon, 29 Jan 2024 04:10:36 EST news625723831 The Ordos Plateau, a distinctive geomorphic entity in China, has been a cradle of human civilization since the late Paleolithic era. Its unique geographical and climatic conditions have fostered a rich tapestry of human history, reflected in the settlement patterns that have evolved over thousands of years. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-deciphering-patterns-human-settlements-ordos.html Archaeology Wed, 24 Jan 2024 16:31:49 EST news625336306 The importance of moth caterpillars for common garden birds has been revealed in a new study. Researchers have found that years when moth numbers were up resulted in increased population growth for the blue tit. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-blue-tit-population-booms-moths.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 22 Jan 2024 19:00:01 EST news625162877 Global warming continues to pose a threat to human society and ecological systems, and carbon dioxide accounts for the largest proportion of the greenhouse gases that dominate climate warming. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-high-efficiency-carbon-dioxide-electroreduction.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 22 Jan 2024 09:51:55 EST news625139512 In 1950, as part of the Group Areas Act, South Africa's apartheid government banished people of color to outlying areas, away from central business districts. The Cape Flats are one such area, sprawling to the east of central Cape Town. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-healthy-food-hard-cape-town.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Tue, 16 Jan 2024 16:50:01 EST news624631698 An experiment outlined by a UCL (University College London)-led team of scientists from the UK and India could test whether relatively large masses have a quantum nature, resolving the question of whether quantum mechanical description works at a much larger scale than that of particles and atoms. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-quantum-nature-large-masses.html Quantum Physics Tue, 16 Jan 2024 12:25:04 EST news624630301 Human activity, from burning fossil fuels and fireplaces to the contaminated dust produced by mining, alters Earth's atmosphere in countless ways. Records of these impacts over time are preserved in everlasting polar ice that serves as a sort of time capsule, allowing scientists and historians to link Earth's history with that of human societies. In a new study, ice cores from Antarctica show that lead and other toxic heavy metals linked to mining activities polluted the Southern Hemisphere as early as the 13th century. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-toxic-heavy-metal-pollution-southern.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 11 Jan 2024 15:17:05 EST news624208621 At the center of most large galaxies lives a supermassive black hole (SMBH). The Milky Way has Sagittarius A*, a mostly dormant SMBH whose mass is around 4.3 million times that of the sun. But if you look deeper into the universe, there are vastly larger SMBHs with masses that can reach up to tens of billions of times the mass of our sun. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-tidal-disruption-events-reveal-black.html Astronomy Thu, 11 Jan 2024 12:00:01 EST news624185647 Cities play a key role in climate change and biodiversity and are one of the most recognizable features of the Anthropocene. They also accelerate innovation and shape social networks, while perpetuating and intensifying inequalities. Today over half of all humanity lives in cities, a threshold which will rise to nearly 70% by the mid-21st century. Yet despite their importance for the Anthropocene, cities are not a recent phenomenon. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-ancient-cities-key-datasets-urban.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 11 Jan 2024 05:00:01 EST news624125585 The intense changes in our modern society and the associated challenges are constantly increasing, not least due to the meta-crisis of climate change. Yet our approach to cultural heritage is still strongly influenced by the narrative of preservation. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-views-city-multi-layered-cultural.html Environment Wed, 10 Jan 2024 16:03:40 EST news624125018 Agriculture is the foundation of human civilization and a prime example of our impact on Earth. Almost 40% of our planet's ice-free land surface, most of which was previously forested, is now dedicated to agriculture. As our demand for food increases, so does agricultural deforestation, which is widely viewed as one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-biodiversity-impacts-agricultural-deforestation-inherent.html Ecology Wed, 10 Jan 2024 10:30:46 EST news624105043 In a recent study published online 18 December 2023 in the journal Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, scientists from Peking University introduced a Global WWTP Microbiome-based Integrative Information Platform to address the escalating complexities of pollutants and inadequacies in traditional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). https://phys.org/news/2024-01-wastewater-treatment-intelligence.html Environment Tue, 09 Jan 2024 14:49:02 EST news624034141 Published in the journal Religion, Brain & Behavior, a study led by the D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR) evaluated and mapped the perceptions of over a thousand spectators participating in the Festival of the Nine Emperor Gods, a celebration that gathers approximately one million people in several Asian countries and has predominantly religious significance. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-extreme-rituals-social-role-violence.html Social Sciences Fri, 05 Jan 2024 14:10:41 EST news623686234 In a recent tragic incident, approximately 100 elephants in Africa perished due to inadequate access to water. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned that around 2.5 billion people worldwide could face water scarcity by 2025. In the face of water shortages affecting human society and the entire ecological community due to the climate crisis, it becomes crucial to adopt comprehensive measures for managing water quality and quantity to avert such pressing challenges. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-reservoir-uncrewed-surface-vehicle.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 05 Jan 2024 12:39:03 EST news623680741 Researchers at Case Western Reserve University are developing ways to convert waste into fuels and other products, using processes that are energy efficient and powered by renewable sources. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-aims-greenhouse-gas-valuable-products.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 04 Jan 2024 10:42:26 EST news623587343 In Hawaiʻi and across much of Oceania, Pacific Islanders celebrate the connections between their islands and the ocean that surrounds them. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-calibrating-native-hawaiians-pacific-islanders.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 03 Jan 2024 11:13:04 EST news623502781 Light pollution ruins dark skies. It's a scourge that ground-based observatories have to deal with in one form or another. Scientists used a small observatory in Japan to measure what changed when a nearby town improved its lighting practices. They also noted the challenges it still faces. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-small-town-japan-fiercely-defends.html Astronomy Tue, 02 Jan 2024 10:08:27 EST news623412497 'Tis the season for friends and family, which could be crucial for combating loneliness, but one Western researcher says we should strive to maintain social connections at all times of the year. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-qa-meaningful-social-interactions-loneliness.html Social Sciences Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:59:04 EST news622223942 A little-known dog lineage with fur so thick it was spun into blankets was selectively bred for millennia by Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest until its rapid demise following European colonization, a study in Science showed Thursday. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-shaggy-dog-yarn-unravels-history.html Archaeology Sun, 17 Dec 2023 08:10:01 EST news621843044 Drawing together an array of interdisciplinary studies across archaeology, ecology, anthropology, and evolutionary theory, Erle Ellis, professor of geography and environmental systems at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, explains the evolution of the cultural practices that have enabled societies to develop unprecedented capabilities to scale up and transform the ecological systems that sustain them. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-anthropocene-condition-evolving-socialecological.html Social Sciences Thu, 14 Dec 2023 16:25:30 EST news621793526 Environmental scientists in Canada continue to be stifled in their ability to conduct and communicate their research. Interference in science, also referred to as "muzzling," was a well-documented concern during the Conservative government of the early 2010's, when it gripped the collective consciousness of Canadian federal public sector scientists. Our research sheds light on a broader understanding of the recent interference in environmental sciences in Canada. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-canadian-scientists-muzzled-undermining-climate.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 14 Dec 2023 14:00:02 EST news621780279