Category Archives: Phys.org

Birds that live and breed in vegetated coastal areas, such as dunes and small islands, not only build nests but also—unintentionally—shape their own surroundings. This was discovered by Utrecht-based Earth scientist Floris van Rees. He studied five uninhabited islands in the Dutch Wadden Sea region, comparable to the barrier islands off North Carolina and in the Chesapeake Bay, and observed how seabirds have a major impact on plant growth. “Plant species that retain sand better benefit from the presence of bird excrement, which in turn is beneficial for dune formation.” This is particularly important now that sea level rise and coastal erosion are putting pressure on the habitats of many coastal birds.

Cosmic rays are one of the greatest challenges for space travel and pose a considerable risk to humans and materials. For the first time on European soil, an international research team in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) has succeeded in providing a simulator for galactic cosmic rays at the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility in Darmstadt, Germany. The results have been published in two articles in the journal Life Sciences in Space Research.

Astronomers have found that both the core of our Milky Way and the earliest proto-galaxies in the universe share a surprising trait: They are unusually calm and quiet in terms of harsh radiation. This tranquility is not just a cosmic curiosity; it may be essential for forming complex molecules that provide the ingredients of life.

Two powerful instruments of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope joined forces to create this scenic galaxy view. This spiral galaxy is named NGC 5134, and it is located 65 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Though 65 million light-years may seem like a huge distance—the light that Webb collected to create this image has been journeying to us from NGC 5134 since soon after Tyrannosaurus rex went extinct—NGC 5134 is fairly close by as far as galaxies go. Because of the galaxy’s relative proximity, Webb can spot incredible details in its tightly wound spiral arms.

NASA cleared its moon rocket on Thursday for an April launch with four astronauts after completing the latest round of repairs.

Imagine looking up at the night sky and seeing a star suddenly burst into a blaze of light brighter than anything nearby. A flash so bright that it briefly outshines an entire galaxy before fading forever.

With the first images from the spacecraft now in hand, the team behind NASA’s Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat, or SPARCS, is ready to begin charting the energetic lives of the galaxy’s most common stars to help answer one of humanity’s most profound questions: Which distant worlds beyond our solar system might be habitable?

A US Senate committee has directed NASA to begin work on a moon base “as soon as is practicable.” Under legislation advanced by the Senate lawmakers, the outpost would serve as a science laboratory and proving ground, where astronauts would develop the capabilities to live and work beyond Earth’s orbit.

When people think of asteroids, they tend to picture rare, civilization-ending impacts like those depicted in movies such as “Armageddon.” In reality, the asteroids most likely to affect modern society are much smaller. While kilometer-scale impacts occur only every tens of millions of years, decameter-scale (building-sized) objects strike Earth far more frequently: roughly every couple decades. As astronomers develop new ways to detect and track these smaller asteroids, planetary defense becomes increasingly relevant for protecting the space-based infrastructure that underpins modern life, from GPS navigation to global communications.

An old NASA science satellite plunged uncontrolled from orbit and reentered over the Pacific on Wednesday.

Researchers have uncovered evidence for our sun joining a mass migration of similar “twins” leaving the core regions of our galaxy, 4 to 6 billion years ago. The team created and studied an unprecedentedly accurate catalog of stars and their properties using data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite. Their discovery sheds light on the evolution of our galaxy, particularly the development of the rotating bar-like structure at its center.

A study led by William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS and published in FEMS Microbiology Ecology reveals that microbial communities growing on microplastics in the Chesapeake Bay carry the genetic potential to remove nitrogen from the water and break down petroleum-related compounds. The manuscript was selected as the journal’s best paper of 2025, which recognizes researchers who have pushed the boundaries of knowledge in the field of microbiology.

Two new studies have measured the expansion of the universe in our immediate cosmic neighborhood using a novel method that analyzes the motion of two nearby galaxy groups within their surrounding cosmic flow. The results indicate that the local universe is expanding more slowly than previously estimated, bringing measurements of nearby galaxies into close agreement with observations of the early universe. The findings also suggest that less dark matter is required to explain the dynamics of galaxies within these groups than previously assumed.

Astronomers have for the first time seen the birth of a magnetar—a highly magnetized, spinning neutron star—and confirmed that it’s the power source behind some of the brightest exploding stars in the cosmos. The finding corroborates a theory proposed by a UC Berkeley physicist 16 years ago and establishes a new phenomenon in exploding stars: supernovae with a “chirp” in their light curve that is caused by general relativity. A paper describing the phenomenon was published in the journal Nature.

It’s well known that many animals, including migratory birds, butterflies, and even fish, use the sun for navigational purposes. Nocturnal animals are dealt a more difficult hand, however, as the moon’s path is far more variable. But a new study, published in Current Biology, has shown that nocturnal bull ants (Myrmecia midas) not only use the moon as a compass, but are also capable of accounting for speed variations in its movement.

Liquid water is considered essential for life. Surprisingly, however, stable conditions that are conducive to life could exist far from any sun. A research team from the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS at LMU and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) has shown that moons around free-floating planets can keep their water oceans liquid for up to 4.3 billion years by virtue of dense hydrogen atmospheres and tidal heating—that is to say, for almost as long as Earth has existed and sufficient time for complex life to develop.

A fleet of NASA missions has likely uncovered a collision between two ultradense stars in a tiny galaxy buried in a huge stream of gas. Astronomers have never seen this type of explosive event in an environment like this before—and it may help solve two outstanding cosmic mysteries. A paper describing these results is forthcoming in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and currently available on the arXiv preprint server.

Billions of light years away in a remote part of the universe, two neutron stars—the ultradense remnants of dead stars—collided. The catastrophic cosmic event sent light and particles, including a sudden flash of gamma rays, streaming through the universe. These gamma rays traveled for 8.5 billion years before reaching Earth.

NASA’s Van Allen Probe A is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere almost 14 years after launch. From 2012 to 2019, the spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, flew through the Van Allen belts, rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field, to understand how particles were gained and lost. The belts shield Earth from cosmic radiation, solar storms, and the constantly streaming solar wind that are harmful to humans and can damage technology, so understanding them is important.

A new University of Mississippi study shows that some sound waves don’t just move forward—they also move slightly to the side. Understanding this movement could help researchers develop more precise acoustic tools. Likun Zhang, associate professor of physics and astronomy and senior scientist at the National Center for Physical Acoustics, published his team’s study on the behavior of spiral sound waves in Physical Review Letters.