Science News

Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.

Cortisol is a reproduction friend, not enemy
Science News

Cortisol is a reproduction friend, not enemy

A major international study of the role cortisol plays in reproduction has found it may not be the villain it has been depicted as, and it may actually promote healthy reproduction.

📅 2026-10-15 13:20:04    •    Phys.org
Finding new ways to catch a thief—via intruders' airborne eDNA
Science News

Finding new ways to catch a thief—via intruders' airborne eDNA

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is increasingly being investigated by forensic scientists as a tool to help solve criminal cases that lack biological traces—and attention is also turning to collecting trace airborne eDNA left behind by intruders in residential burglaries.

📅 2026-10-15 13:00:09    •    Phys.org
Mysterious brain activity under anesthesia challenges what we know about consciousness
Science News

Mysterious brain activity under anesthesia challenges what we know about consciousness

Even under general anesthesia, the human brain can analyze language, recognize different types of words, and predict what comes next in a story, according to a surprising discovery by Baylor researchers. The findings challenge our understanding of consciousness and suggest that the unconscious brain is far more capable than scientists previously realized.

📅 2026-10-15 12:52:05    •    ScienceDaily
Arctic sea ice hits another troubling low in 2026
Science News

Arctic sea ice hits another troubling low in 2026

Arctic sea ice is shrinking in both winter and summer, with satellite records revealing that the region's remaining ice is becoming thinner, younger, and more vulnerable to melting. Despite a recent slowdown in summer losses, scientists warn that the Arctic could experience a nearly ice-free summer before 2050.

📅 2026-10-15 12:40:44    •    ScienceDaily
Why tightly confined water's response to electric fields depends on direction
Science News

Why tightly confined water's response to electric fields depends on direction

Using an advanced new mathematical model, a pair of physicists in Belgium has revealed the origins of an unusual, direction-dependent effect found in water confined to a narrow gap between two plates. Through research published in Physical Review Letters, Mehdi Neek-Amal and Francois Peeters at the University of Antwerp showed how two drastically different dielectric responses in this water emerge from the natural bonding behavior of its molecules.

📅 2026-10-15 12:40:08    •    Phys.org
Q&A: Expanding climate models to better capture the complexities of public health
Science News

Q&A: Expanding climate models to better capture the complexities of public health

About a decade ago, a group of climate scientists described five scenarios for the future. Called the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), these scenarios suggest how socioeconomic development could evolve in worlds with differing challenges to climate adaptation and mitigation.

📅 2026-10-15 12:40:05    •    Phys.org
Eating late at night linked to up to 30% higher risk of liver disease
Science News

Eating late at night linked to up to 30% higher risk of liver disease

Eating late at night could be putting your liver at risk, according to a large study led by Oregon Health & Science University. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 200,000 people and found that those who regularly ate after dinner or around bedtime had a 20% to 30% higher risk of liver disease, including fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.

📅 2026-10-15 12:26:16    •    ScienceDaily
Turning up the heat on chickpea yield
Science News

Turning up the heat on chickpea yield

A University of Queensland study has outlined a practical pathway for accelerating the development of heat-adapted chickpeas using data from new 'omic' technologies. Ph.D. candidate Callum Jamie said the suite of technologies offered tremendous opportunities to understand how a complex trait like heat tolerance works.

📅 2026-10-15 12:00:02    •    Phys.org
A fungus is threatening the world’s food supply. Scientists just found a new defense
Science News

A fungus is threatening the world’s food supply. Scientists just found a new defense

Scientists have discovered a potential new weapon against a devastating fungus that threatens rice, wheat, and barley worldwide. By engineering a special type of plant immune receptor, researchers created defenses capable of recognizing multiple fungal threats at once. The breakthrough could eventually lead to crops with powerful, long-lasting disease resistance, helping protect a global food supply increasingly threatened by spreading infections and climate change.

📅 2026-10-15 11:45:43    •    ScienceDaily
Scientists discover a surprising danger in smaller cancer cells
Science News

Scientists discover a surprising danger in smaller cancer cells

Scientists have discovered that unusually small cancer cells carrying extra chromosomes can be far more aggressive than larger ones, growing faster, spreading more readily, and resisting common treatments. The surprising finding could help explain why some tumors are especially dangerous and provide a new way to predict cancer outcomes.

📅 2026-10-15 11:27:40    •    ScienceDaily
Early growth differences help explain which beech trees survive forest competition
Science News

Early growth differences help explain which beech trees survive forest competition

The fight for survival in the forest is fierce: light, water and nutrients are all limited. This is particularly true in "mast years"—times when trees and shrubs produce an unusually large crop of fruits, nuts or seeds. Then the race for growth is on. But can differences in height between trees in their first year of life make a difference to their future, even if these differences are just one or two centimeters (0.4 or 0.8 inches)?

📅 2026-10-15 11:20:01    •    Phys.org