Science News

Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.

Scientists identify avian cholera as major cause of penguin deaths in Antarctica
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Scientists identify avian cholera as major cause of penguin deaths in Antarctica

Thousands of AdΓ©lie penguins found dead in Antarctica in 2024 were primarily victims of avian cholera, not high pathogenicity avian influenza (H5N1) as researchers initially suspected, according to a study published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. The findings highlight an underrecognized threat to Antarctic wildlife and the importance of comprehensive disease investigations, particularly as H5N1 continues to raise concerns for seabird and marine mammal populations.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 21:10:01    β€’    Phys.org
Engineered enzyme could improve detection of HIV and other viruses
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Engineered enzyme could improve detection of HIV and other viruses

Scientists have long used a powerful gene-editing tool called CRISPR to make precise changes to DNA. But a different version of the technology, known as Cas13a, targets RNA, the genetic material found in viruses such as HIV. Now, researchers at Rice University have developed an improved version of Cas13a that could make it easier to detect HIV and other RNA viruses in blood and environmental samples. The study was published in Cell Chemical Biology.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 21:00:11    β€’    Phys.org
Firms facing tariff shocks choose collaboration over conquest
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Firms facing tariff shocks choose collaboration over conquest

New research has charted the way U.S. businesses adapted to market shocks caused by reductions in import tariffs and increased foreign competition, with greater innovation emerging as a longer-term benefit.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 21:00:01    β€’    Phys.org
International business is influenced by local political climate, study finds
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International business is influenced by local political climate, study finds

A new study co-authored by Tang Yinuo, a tenured associate professor at Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS), reveals that conservative communities in the U.S. are more likely to resist mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by Chinese companies due to perceived threats and uncertainties.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 20:40:11    β€’    Phys.org
Wide-scale cropland loss has consequences for wildfire resilience in the American West
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Wide-scale cropland loss has consequences for wildfire resilience in the American West

The western U.S. is facing parallel and escalating hazards in the form of ongoing drought and increasingly frequent wildfires. Although the region's ecosystems have evolved with wildfires, the intensity and frequency of blazes where people live and recreate remain a persistent challenge for communities.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 20:40:02    β€’    Phys.org
Chronic back pain may activate an unexpected brain network, study finds
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Chronic back pain may activate an unexpected brain network, study finds

For people with chronic back pain, everyday movements like bending down to tie their shoes or picking up a grocery bag can trigger painful flare-ups. Now, scientists have made a surprising discovery: These episodes may activate a brain network that's associated with our sense of self.In a new study, the researchers found that movement-induced chronic back pain was tied to increased activity in the brain's default mode network, a group of connected brain regions that lights up during self-reflection and mind wandering. This finding was unexpected because the network typically becomes less active during acute pain, such as transient pain triggered from touching a hot stove or banging your knee...

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 20:35:40    β€’    Live Science
Mollusk family trees play a key role in shaping microbiomes, researchers find
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Mollusk family trees play a key role in shaping microbiomes, researchers find

A mollusk's microbial community has more to do with its family tree than its address. In other words, the composition of a mollusk's microbiome depends less on the environment in which it lives and more on what species it belongs to, say University of Michigan researchers.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 20:30:14    β€’    Phys.org
Examining fraud prevention in federal relief programs
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Examining fraud prevention in federal relief programs

SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) assistant professor of accounting Dr. Katie Matt, in collaboration with Daniel Hebert of Syracuse University, recently published research examining the widespread fraud associated with the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their article, "Governance and Fraud Prevention in Federal Relief Programs: Insights from the Paycheck Protection Program," was published in the Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy in September 2026.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 20:30:09    β€’    Phys.org
New framework links magnetic phase boundaries to string-like defects in spin ice
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New framework links magnetic phase boundaries to string-like defects in spin ice

A research team led by Haruki Watanabe, a professor in the Department of Physics and the Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), in collaboration with professor Yukitoshi Motome and graduate student Sena Watanabe from the University of Tokyo, has developed a unified theory that predicts when two states of matter are genuinely distinct and when they are actually the same.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 20:20:08    β€’    Phys.org
Job loss and AI-exposed jobs: Q&A with sociology professor
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Job loss and AI-exposed jobs: Q&A with sociology professor

Jennie Brand, a UCLA professor of sociology with an appointment in statistics and data science, is an expert on the socioeconomic effects of job loss, including the long-term economic, psychological, physiological and intergenerational effects.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 20:00:24    β€’    Phys.org
Rare particle decays hint at deviations from Standard Model predictions
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Rare particle decays hint at deviations from Standard Model predictions

Studying rare processes is part and parcel of particle physics, providing stringent tests of the Standard Model. At the recent International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP), the CMS and LHCb collaborations presented their latest research into one such process: the transformation of a beauty quark into a strange quark, a muon and the oppositely charged antimuon (bβ†’sμ⁺μ⁻).

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 19:50:01    β€’    Phys.org
DNA from centuries-old skeletons buried in Montreal reveals no genetic mixing between Indigenous people and French colonists
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DNA from centuries-old skeletons buried in Montreal reveals no genetic mixing between Indigenous people and French colonists

Ancient DNA from skeletons buried in a historic cemetery in Quebec is changing people's understanding of their Indigenous ancestry. Contrary to popular belief, there may be little truth to stories of intermarriage between Indigenous and French people during the early days of colonization, according to a new archaeology study published Oct. 5 in the journal PNAS."Family stories of an Indigenous ancestor are very common" in Quebec, study first author Diane Martin-Moya, a biological anthropologist at the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières in Canada, told Live Science in an email, and "commercial genealogy and DNA tests have amplified this." But distant or claimed Indigenous identities can a...

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 19:46:12    β€’    Live Science
Sheep grazing in solar fields offers farmers economic, ecological gains
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Sheep grazing in solar fields offers farmers economic, ecological gains

Two new research papers shed light on the growing practice of grazing sheep in fields with solar arrays. One demonstrates that, in the right numbers, sheep grazing increases populations of beneficial insects like bees and lady beetles compared to mowing around solar panels. The other research describes a decision-making support tool to help farmers profitably grow their solar grazing herds.

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 19:40:07    β€’    Phys.org
Tapeworm drug could help treat endometriosis, mouse study hints
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Tapeworm drug could help treat endometriosis, mouse study hints

A modified tapeworm medication could be a promising new treatment for endometriosis, an early study in mice hints. In endometriosis, tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the organ, and these patches of tissue, called "lesions," trigger painful inflammation and heavy menstrual bleeding. In the new study, scientists fitted an anti-worm drug with nanotech armor, and it directly targeted these painful lesions in laboratory mice. The treatment reduced inflammation and slowed or prevented further spread of the lesions, researchers reported in August in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. The team is already working on bringing the new drug to clinical trials and hopes th...

πŸ“… 2026-10-14 19:34:46    β€’    Live Science