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. Researchers at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) outline in a perspective paper how high-performance materials for batteries, hydrogen technologies, wind turbines, energy conversion, chemical processes and modern electronics can be designed to be more sustainable, safer and more resource-efficient in the future. This is intended to address growing dependencies on critical raw materials, limited recyclability and performance losses in practical use. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-robust-materials-ease-critical-mineral.html Materials Science Thu, 11 Jun 2026 23:00:01 EDT news700402692 Many workers fear machines will supplant them as adoption of artificial intelligence accelerates. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-skills-people-ai-workplace-experts.html Economics & Business Thu, 11 Jun 2026 22:20:01 EDT news700404192 From paints and inks to catalysts and drug-delivery materials, many advanced technologies rely on substances dispersed in organic solvents. Yet directly observing these materials in their native liquid environments has remained a major challenge, limiting scientists' ability to understand how microscopic structures and elemental distributions influence performance. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cryo-electron-microscopy.html Materials Science Thu, 11 Jun 2026 21:40:04 EDT news700389686 In the U.S., unlike elsewhere in the world, the vast majority of mergers and acquisitions are conducted by "serial acquirers"—large, publicly traded firms that regularly acquire smaller companies. Around four in five M&A deals are made by these major players, including tech titans IBM, Google and Microsoft. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-persistence-focus-tech-serial.html Economics & Business Thu, 11 Jun 2026 21:20:01 EDT news700420082 Climate change will profoundly alter the dynamics of sea and land breezes in the Barcelona metropolitan area, trapping larger amounts of air pollutants over coastal areas and increasing health risks for millions of people. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), Spain, which produced high-resolution projections of future sea and land breeze behavior and air quality under climate change scenarios for 2050 and 2100. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-climate-sea-breeze-ozone-pollution.html Environment Thu, 11 Jun 2026 21:00:03 EDT news700419781 A new study has found that plants may reveal recent PFAS contamination linked to airborne deposition that can go undetected in soil analyses. Conducted in agricultural fields near the conflict zone in southern Israel, the research showed that potato leaves contained substantially higher concentrations of certain PFAS than the surrounding soils, suggesting direct exposure from the atmosphere rather than uptake through roots alone. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-reveal-hidden-pfas-pollution-soils.html Ecology Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:40:02 EDT news700389694 The World Settlement Footprint (WSF) Tracker and its dedicated online platform have been officially released at an event at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-global-tracker-urban-growth-hazard.html Environment Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:20:02 EDT news700419121 This new international study is calling for a major rethink of how rivers are managed, arguing that fish are not just passive victims of environmental change but active participants in a feedback loop that can reshape entire river systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-rivers-isnt-fish-evolving-response.html Plants & Animals Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:00:07 EDT news700402735 Elon Musk is all about big numbers—millions, billions, even trillions—and there are plenty of them associated with SpaceX and Musk's plans to take the rocket maker public. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-spacex-ipo.html Space Exploration Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:40:04 EDT news700404214 Astronomers have discovered a huge reservoir of cold molecular gas, the direct fuel for star formation, in REBELS-25, a massive, star-forming galaxy. The team, led from Leiden University, focused on REBELS-25, seen when the universe was only about 700 million years old, around 5% of its current age. The research is published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cosmic-dawn-fuel-discovery-early.html Astronomy Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:40:01 EDT news700418701 One September day, it started to snow inside MIT's Pierce Laboratory. Researchers depressurized a tank of liquid carbon dioxide (CO2), instantly freezing it and releasing solid flakes. These were blended into cement paste and pressed into disks roughly the size of a dime, each sealed with a thin layer of vegetable oil to keep water in and air out. The team trained lasers on each one, observing for the first time the transient chemical reaction that might explain why CO2-injected cement paste gains strength faster. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-reveals-hidden-cement-chemistry-stronger.html Materials Science Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:20:05 EDT news700413588 GaN-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are promising for displays, sensing and optical communication, but improving efficiency remains challenging. Researchers have now shown that "cavity tuning," which controls resonance wavelength, strongly affects laser performance. By analyzing variations across a VCSEL wafer, the team identified optimal mirror loss conditions and extracted device parameters. Their approach achieved 26.4% wall plug efficiency, offering guidance for next-generation high-efficiency visible-light semiconductor lasers. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cavity-strategy-blue-vertical-surface.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:20:03 EDT news700418641 Can your behavior in third grade predict outcomes in high school and beyond? A new study, published in Developmental Psychology, says yes. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-grade-impulses-linked-academic-adulthood.html Education Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:00:03 EDT news700414921 Scientists analyzing 2,000-year-old grape seeds from ancient wells in Tuscany have mapped the most extensive genetic history of ancient grapevines recovered from a single site. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ancient-dna-tuscan-wells-reveals.html Archaeology Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:00:01 EDT news700385461 A research team in Bochum, Germany has unexpectedly found that light can slow down movements in the nanoworld. This is due to quantum friction, a phenomenon that has been poorly understood until now. The findings are published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-quantum-friction-nanoworld-movements.html Nanophysics Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:50:01 EDT news700419061 An international team including researchers from the University of Alicante (UA) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) has used artificial intelligence to analyze the climate commitments submitted to the United Nations by 158 countries. Their conclusion is stark: Profound inequalities persist within global climate planning. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ai-reveals-stark-inequalities-global.html Environment Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:40:03 EDT news700411981 A recent study by Ruibao Li and Jennah Dharamshi published in Nature may help us understand the beginnings of animal evolution billions of years ago. These findings are the result of a collaboration among researchers at Indiana University Bloomington, the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Spain and Uppsala University in Sweden, and were led by J. P. Gerdt and Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cells-animals-evolved.html Plants & Animals Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:40:01 EDT news700412993 In a quest to build the most accurate quantum sensors in the world, scientists are constantly improving their performance, making them more precise, more stable and more reliable. But eventually, physical constraints will prevent further improvements. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-kind-entanglement-quantum-sensors-tune.html Quantum Physics Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:30:04 EDT news700418941 Faculty and students at Georgia State University are working to integrate sustainable practices into undergraduate science education, and a new study highlights ways to advance laboratory practices and teaching strategies. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-sustainable-undergraduate-science.html Education Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:20:06 EDT news700408022 A new AI model has become so good at predicting how molecules evolve over time that, in the future, it could speed up the costly and time-consuming process of testing new drugs. In the long term, this technology could facilitate the development of medicines and new treatments, as promising drug candidates can be identified more quickly and with greater accuracy. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ai-fast-forwards-molecular-simulations.html Biotechnology Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:20:01 EDT news700410781 We may not know what dark matter is, but we keep getting whiffs of it. "We are reaching a point where the observational evidence for dark matter is simply undeniable," said Mayank Sharma, a Virginia Tech graduate student in physics. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-echoes-reveal-dark-buildup-supermassive.html Astronomy Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:10:01 EDT news700418821 Sealed within an eggshell, how can chicks prepare for the world into which they are about to hatch, with no obvious direct communication channel across the shell? Adult zebra finches produce distinctive high-pitched warning songs—known as "heat calls"—when panting during a heat wave, and experiencing the calls can leave developing chicks better prepared to cope with heat after hatching. But no one knew whether the rapidly repeating warning songs could directly change the chicks' brains. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-parents-songs-prime-zebra-finch.html Plants & Animals Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:00:03 EDT news700398062 More than 200,000 lives have been lost to the "silent killer" of heat in Europe since 2022, the World Health Organization said Thursday, after a heat wave saw some countries record their highest-ever May temperatures. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-europe.html Environment Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:00:01 EDT news700404071 Biologists have long thought that seed traits, such as the presence of wings, are the key to predicting in what way, and how far, weeds can disperse. Now, a trio of researchers has revealed that unexpected modes of seed dispersal are more important than mechanisms predicted by seed traits. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-seeds-weeds-succeed-uncover-ways.html Plants & Animals Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:40:02 EDT news700403397 An international team whose research was coordinated by Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) has reported the survival of metallic behavior in the strongly correlated molecular material ytterbium cesium fulleride (Yb₂CsC₆₀). The electrons in the newly synthesized material remained mobile and continued to conduct electricity even at the lowest temperatures studied, despite strong electron interactions that would normally be expected to drive the material into an insulating state. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-newly-fullerene-material-metallic-temperatures.html Condensed Matter Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:40:01 EDT news700410601 Climate disclosures help investors and the public understand how companies view risks such as extreme weather, carbon regulation and the transition to cleaner energy. "Because these risks are uncertain and forward-looking, company leaders have considerable influence over what is communicated and how," says Postdoctoral Researcher Javad Rajabalizadeh from the University of Turku. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-capable-ceos-communicate-climate.html Economics & Business Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:20:03 EDT news700403191 Oxygen depletion in the western Baltic Sea is not uncommon. Oxygen-poor conditions regularly occur in deeper waters, placing stress on marine ecosystems and, in extreme cases, causing fish kills. As ocean temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, the challenges may become more severe in the future. To better predict such developments, researchers rely on numerical ocean models. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-weak-ocean-valuable-environmental.html Environment Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:20:02 EDT news700409641 A review article now published in Nature Reviews Genetics brings together evolutionary theory, comparative genomics and large-scale human genetics to explain why we age and why aging rates differ among individuals and species. The two authors—from the Leibniz Institute on Aging—Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena and University College London in London—describe how, because modern humans now routinely survive into old age, we live with the late-life consequences of biological pathways that natural selection optimized for youth and of harmful mutations that act too late in life for selection to clear them efficiently. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-shadow-longer-age-disease.html Evolution Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:00:08 EDT news700409042 In a paper published in the Journal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice, JCU Ph.D. student Rebecca Ward says the core practices of the field of forensic psychology, from risk assessments to expert testimony, are compromised by structural bias and an unwarranted confidence in the neutrality of psychological expertise. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-forensic-psychology-bias-tools-courtroom.html Social Sciences Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:00:04 EDT news700403377 Planetary heating is intensifying and key climate indicators are deteriorating, top scientists said Thursday, warning that funding decisions affecting Earth observation systems in the United States and other countries threaten efforts to track global warming. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-human-driven-139c-15c.html Earth Sciences Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:40:09 EDT news700404026