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WorldPingPhys.org
What really drives tourists to choose a hotel? New global study reveals the answer
Why do travelers choose one hotel over another, and what makes them return?
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
Science news today
Launches, findings and climate data explained in a paragraph, with a direct route to the paper or the newsroom that covered it.
On this page: space missions and launches, climate and environment data, physics and biology research, public research funding.
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WorldPingMore science briefs
WorldPingPhys.org
Unconventional quantum materials could dramatically boost the search for dark matter
For decades, physicists have searched for dark matter, the invisible substance thought to make up roughly 85% of all matter in the universe.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
LLM use may threaten freedom of thought and equality across law, journalism and education
The Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley School of Law has released a human rights assessment of the use of large language models (LLMs) in the fields of law, journalism and education.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Tiny salt crevices could act as miniature 'Greenhouses' for Martian microbes
We've been searching for life on Mars for a long time, but so far we've come up empty. The fundamental problem is a Catch-22 involving two of the key ingredients for life.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
New insect genus and four species named for Taylor Swift and her albums
Taylor Swift is now the namesake of a genus of plant-feeding insects from Australia that were previously unknown to science.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
End impunity for targeted attacks on schools and universities, urge experts
Scholasticide—deliberate attacks on a society's education system in armed conflict—is a war crime that must be publicly condemned and its perpetrators held to account, insists an editorial published by The BMJ.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
AI ethics problem may lie with organizations, not engineers, study finds
AI engineers often recognize ethical risks associated with the systems they build, but many lack the authority, incentives and organizational support needed to act on them, according to new research from the University of Manchester.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Natural clay reveals a new way to control ion transport at the angstrom scale
Researchers at the National Graphene Institute have shown that naturally occurring channels within a common clay mineral can respond to pressure, voltage and pH, offering possibilities for controlling the movement of ions through extremely small, con…
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Molecular surface design achieves over 100 million-fold tuning of porous liquid viscosity
Porous liquids combine permanent nanoscale cavities with fluidity, making them promising for applications like carbon dioxide capture, gas separation and other chemical processes.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Africa's rocks hold ancient stories. We need better ways to document and protect them
From the Vredefort Dome in South Africa (the world's oldest and largest known meteorite impact structure) to the volcanic lakes of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, Africa's landscapes hold some of Earth's oldest stories.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
How adoption of a new crop reshaped land use in Bronze Age Europe
A new study published in Science Advances reveals how Bronze Age communities in Central Europe adapted to changing environmental and social conditions by adopting broomcorn millet, a fast-growing, climate-resilient crop.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingLive Science
'America's Nobel' prizes go to sleep and hemophilia researchers, and to Michael J. Fox for Parkinson's advocacy
The Lasker Foundation has announced the winners of its 2026 awards for basic medical research, clinical science and public service.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Live Science
WorldPingPhys.org
From drought to floods in North Africa: What could the super El Niño do next?
Morocco spent most of the last decade drying out. Between 2019 and 2024, the country recorded six consecutive years of below-average rainfall, the longest on record.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Molecular antennae make light-activated molecular switches more sensitive
From targeted cancer treatments to self-healing materials and microscopic robots, many emerging technologies depend on molecules that can be controlled with light.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Beryllium signal identifies stars that have swallowed rocky planets
An international team led by researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil has developed an innovative method to identify stars that have consumed the planets around them.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Chandra uncovers 'hypersoft X-ray sources' that may solve two astrophysical puzzles
Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have discovered a new class of objects behaving unlike any they have seen before.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
If alien civilizations use hyper-efficient computers, they will have a distinct energy signal we can detect
Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence is likely here to stay. Its ravenous need for computational power has overwhelmed chip manufacturers and power companies alike.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Terbium's elusive plus-4 form emerges under ordinary lab conditions, opening possibilities for rare-earth metals
Chemists in a new study led by the University of Iowa report they have isolated and described in detail an atypical state of the rare-earth metal terbium, an advance that could expand its use in quantum technologies, including computing and advanced sensors.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Cacao genetics could help breeders reduce heavy metal levels in cocoa beans
Cadmium is a naturally occurring, toxic heavy metal found in many soils across Latin America and the Caribbean, where cacao trees are widely cultivated.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
How seeds decide whether to wake up in salty soil
Researchers have discovered a system that helps seeds survive when there is too much salt in the soil. The system helps young germinating embryos keep the right balance of sodium and potassium as they begin to grow.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingSpace.com
This 'impossible' black hole merger may be explained by a warp in spacetime
A "forbidden" merger between two black holes may not have been quite as impossible as previously thought. New research that suggests the black holes involved were smaller than first calculated.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Space.com
WorldPingPhys.org
These bacteria can change their diet to survive inside the body
The human body fights staph infections by starving it of essential nutrients. Staph, it turns out, is remarkably good at changing what's on the menu.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Researchers chart new course for AI-powered biomedical discoveries
University of Missouri researchers are paving the way as artificial intelligence transforms biomedical research.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
American women in communities with ample broadband access lose less time waiting for services, reducing time poverty
Drawing on 14 years of data, we examined whether access to broadband internet could improve Americans' use of time and found that a 10% increase in broadband adoption across a community corresponds to a 1.19% reduction in waiting time.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Europe's forests are still standing, but many are losing the ability to recover
A forest can look intact from the roadside and still have lost much of its capacity to bounce back.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
How 'positive' stress could improve the welfare of zoo animals
Pelicans have resided in St James's Park, London, for 360 years. But the current flock has been a summer sensation because of the first chicks to hatch in the park's history.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingPhys.org
Fossil ribs reveal new secrets about ichthyosaur swimming technique
Ichthyosaurs ruled the oceans for 150 million years during the Mesozoic Era. Their fish-shaped bodies were built for high speeds. In that context, it is normally an advantage to be as light as possible.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Phys.org
WorldPingNASA
NASA Adds Relativity Space’s Terran R to Launch Services Contract
A NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract has been awarded by the agency to Relativity Space Inc., and its Terran R launch service in accordance with the contract’s on-ramp provision.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by NASA
WorldPingSpace.com
International Space Station astronaut gives out of this world tribute to honor Star Trek’s 60th anniversary
European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot paid tribute to Star Trek’s real-world contributions to science and exploration by wearing Captain Pike’s Starfleet badge aboard the International Space Station on the show’s 60th anniversary.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Space.com
WorldPingLive Science
Watch the first-ever footage of a rare deep-sea squid in the northeastern Pacific
A rare sighting of a bigfin squid near an underwater mountain off California is the first confirmed live observation of the bizarre animal in the northeastern Pacific, researchers say.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Live Science
WorldPingNew Scientist
Why our common ancestor with chimpanzees keeps getting further away
The more we learn about chimpanzees, the more they resemble us – but the further back in time our shared ancestor seems to be.Columnist Michael Marshall explores how both can be true…
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingLive Science
'Why would you ruin your career?': OpenAI claims to have cracked one of math's greatest unsolved problems, but mathematicians allege it played dirty
A breakthrough on the Navier-Stokes equations could be worth a $1 million prize, but a mathematician has serious questions about how OpenAI got there so fast.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Live Science
WorldPingSpace.com
Astronomers discover two stars that joined together to form a binary system just 60 years ago
Using ALMA, astronomers have watched as two stars come together to form a massive stellar binary, finding chaos that indicates they emerged from different backgrounds.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Space.com
WorldPingNASA
NASA’s Chandra Unveils Mysterious X-Ray Objects
Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have discovered a new class of objects behaving unlike any they have seen before.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by NASA
WorldPingLive Science
Record-breaking rain in California was caused by abnormally high temperatures on the other side of the world, study finds
Scientists have identified a "climate teleconnection" between the Rocky Mountains and the Tibetan Plateau, where warm spots left a kink in the jet stream that intensifed weather in the western U.S.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Live Science
WorldPingLive Science
World's oldest evidence of habitual drug use traced back 25,000 years to Indonesia
Hunter-gatherers from the last ice age sucked on betel nuts to soothe their toothaches, a new study reveals.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Live Science
WorldPingSpace.com
NASA's newly launched Roman Space Telescope will 'directly' image exoplanets. But what does that mean?
"When you look up at the night sky, most of those stars have planets."…
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Space.com
WorldPingNew Scientist
Bursts of ‘pink noise’ during sleep seem to help clear waste from brain
The human brain flushes out waste products while we sleep and now it seems that certain sounds might enhance the process…
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingNew Scientist
Heat spikes over Tibet may help explain severe Californian flooding
Unusually high temperatures over the mountainous region can kick-start a chain of events that ultimately leads to a severe deluge on the US West Coast, scientists say…
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingNew Scientist
Earliest evidence of habitual drug use found in teeth in Indonesia
Strange, rounded grooves in prehistoric teeth are thought to have been made by regularly sucking whole betel nuts to extract a pain-relieving compound.This marks the earliest known example of probable substance addiction…
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingLive Science
See the highest-resolution footage of a black hole jet ever taken, thanks to AI and 27 years of observations
Researchers combined 100-plus images of a single black hole into an AI-powered video to chart the activity of a mighty blazar's jet.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by Live Science
WorldPingNew Scientist
Unexpected hints of dark matter should breathe life into particle physics
With little in the way of significant discoveries since 2012, there have been mutterings that particle physics is at a dead end.However, new dark matter results suggest an exciting new way to hunt for reality's undiscovered ingredients…
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingNew Scientist
Twisteddoodles on spies through the ages
Twisteddoodles on spies through the ages — full report at New Scientist.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingNew Scientist
Tom Gauld on an introduction to basic philosophical astronomy
Tom Gauld on an introduction to basic philosophical astronomy — full report at New Scientist.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingNew Scientist
This week’s new questions
Why do people appear younger and better-looking in a mirror than in a photograph? Are humans the only animals that cry? If so, why?
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingNew Scientist
Why don’t dogs look up when a low-flying plane passes overhead? part 3
Readers continue to share stories of how their own dogs respond to aircrafts…
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingNew Scientist
What changes will occur on Earth as the moon moves further away? part 3
A reader thinks outside the box on ways to mitigate against this slow-forming issue…
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by New Scientist
WorldPingNASA
How 2 US, European Satellites Are Studying Hurricanes During El Niño
Last November, NASA and its European partners launched the Sentinel-6B satellite to improve hurricane forecasts, help protect infrastructure, and benefit commercial industries, including shipping.
Brief by WorldPing · Original reporting by NASA