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Science News

Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.

Why is Venus hotter than Mercury, when Mercury is closer to the sun?
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Why is Venus hotter than Mercury, when Mercury is closer to the sun?

Given that it's the closest planet to the sun, Mercury seems like it should be the hottest planet in our solar system.However, at a blistering 900 degrees Fahrenheit (480 degrees Celsius), Venus tops Mercury's 800 F (430 C) highest surface temperature, despite being an average of 31 million miles (50 million kilometers) farther from the sun. So how can the second planet from our star be hotter than the closest planet to it?It all comes down to reflectivity, atmospheric composition and geological history, experts told Live Science.Totally different atmospheresA planet's distance from its star is not the only factor that influences the planet's temperature."Distance tells us how much sunlight ...

📅 2026-09-12 09:00:00    •    Live Science
As antibiotic resistance grows, researchers turn to copper to fight infections
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As antibiotic resistance grows, researchers turn to copper to fight infections

When bacteria invade the urinary tract, the body has its own arsenal for fighting back. Among those weapons is an unlikely tool: copper. Researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) are investigating how the body uses the essential trace mineral to fight urinary tract infections (UTIs), how bacteria manage to survive that attack and whether those discoveries could eventually lead to new ways of treating infections that are increasingly difficult to control with antibiotics.

📅 2026-09-12 02:40:02    •    Phys.org
Scientists find a way to break pancreatic cancer’s protective shield
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Scientists find a way to break pancreatic cancer’s protective shield

Researchers found that blocking IL1RAP could disrupt a powerful inflammatory network that helps pancreatic cancer survive treatment. In preclinical experiments, the approach reduced tumor-protecting cells and fibrosis while boosting the activity of cancer-fighting T cells. That could make chemotherapy and immunotherapy more effective.

📅 2026-09-12 02:34:24    •    ScienceDaily
Nepal flood disaster exposes cascading threats in Himalayas
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Nepal flood disaster exposes cascading threats in Himalayas

A catastrophic flood in Nepal that left thousands missing began with a collapse of ice and rock high in the mountains—a warning that disaster planning must prepare for chains of hazards, not isolated events, experts say.

📅 2026-09-12 02:00:05    •    Phys.org
Mercury’s surface reveals a surprisingly fiery past
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Mercury’s surface reveals a surprisingly fiery past

Scientists have discovered that Mercury’s surface contains far less silicon dioxide than previously thought, pointing to an unexpectedly hot volcanic past. The finding suggests ancient lava may have originated from deeper, more extensively melted parts of the planet’s mantle.

📅 2026-09-12 01:28:22    •    ScienceDaily
Q&A: The origin of 'OnlyMarms' and what made it a roaring success
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Q&A: The origin of 'OnlyMarms' and what made it a roaring success

The story of Dan Blumstein's decision to share videos of marmots from the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory field study on an OnlyFans account called OnlyMarms has captured attention around the world over the past few weeks.

📅 2026-09-12 01:00:02    •    Phys.org
The secret to longer life may be hidden in bat DNA
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The secret to longer life may be hidden in bat DNA

Long-lived bats appear to combine powerful immune defenses with unusual strategies for eliminating damaged cells, potentially helping them avoid cancer and disease for decades. Researchers hope these genetic tricks could eventually reveal new ways to protect human health during aging.

📅 2026-09-12 00:25:05    •    ScienceDaily
Bridging interfacial water structure and reactivity in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution at TiO₂ interfaces
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Bridging interfacial water structure and reactivity in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution at TiO₂ interfaces

Hydrogen (H2) evolution via photocatalytic water splitting is an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology for solar-to-chemical energy conversion. Although interfacial interactions are recognized as key determinants of photocatalytic performance, systematic experimental studies explicitly targeting the structure and reactivity of the water-catalyst interface remain limited. A major challenge lies in probing the molecular structure of interfacial water, especially under hydrogen-evolving conditions.

📅 2026-09-12 00:20:01    •    Phys.org
How one RNA nucleotide switch activates fluorescent dyes
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How one RNA nucleotide switch activates fluorescent dyes

RhoBAST is a tiny RNA molecule that activates fluorescent dyes, enabling researchers to track RNA molecules in living cells with super-resolution. An international collaboration, which includes Ronald Micura and his team from the Institute of Organic Chemistry, has now shown that a small, local "nucleotide flip" within the RNA controls this fluorescence activation.

📅 2026-09-12 00:00:04    •    Phys.org
66-million-year-old feather in dinosaur poop may reveal why birds survived the asteroid
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66-million-year-old feather in dinosaur poop may reveal why birds survived the asteroid

A feather discovered inside 66-million-year-old fossilized dinosaur poop may help explain why modern birds survived the asteroid catastrophe. The extinct bird it came from had more primitive insulating feathers, suggesting superior plumage may have helped the ancestors of living birds endure the deadly impact winter.

📅 2026-09-11 23:47:16    •    ScienceDaily
How big can the universe's first starbursts get?
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How big can the universe's first starbursts get?

As our telescopes have improved and we've been able to peer farther back in time, we've begun finding more fascinating features of the universe. But one thing we haven't found for sure is Population III (Pop III) stars. These were the earliest stars in the universe, formed completely from pristine hydrogen and helium, with no "metals" (i.e., elements heavier than those two) polluting their processes.

📅 2026-09-11 23:20:01    •    Phys.org
Smart, self-healing packaging uses AI to detect food spoilage in real time
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Smart, self-healing packaging uses AI to detect food spoilage in real time

Packaging already tells us where food comes from, when it was made, what's in it and how many calories it contains. But researchers see a future where packaging can "see," in real time, what's happening inside and translate that into information that producers and consumers can act on.

📅 2026-09-11 22:20:05    •    Phys.org
Single nanostructure enables independent control of two light resonance modes
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Single nanostructure enables independent control of two light resonance modes

Metallic nanostructures are exceptionally effective at concentrating light into tiny volumes, while dielectric nanostructures excel at storing light with minimal energy loss. Combining these complementary properties has traditionally required complicated hybrid structures in which the two optical modes become mixed, making them difficult to control independently.

📅 2026-09-11 22:20:01    •    Phys.org
AI helps find hidden human proteins and reveals what they do
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AI helps find hidden human proteins and reveals what they do

New research shows how artificial intelligence, combined with advanced experimental science, can help find "hidden" and unexplored proteins in the human body and reveal what they actually do, according to a new study published in Nature.

📅 2026-09-11 21:40:05    •    Phys.org
Emerging SARS-CoV-2 sublineage RE.2.2 displays distinct structural features
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Emerging SARS-CoV-2 sublineage RE.2.2 displays distinct structural features

Researchers from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS) have characterized the structural and functional properties of the emerging SARS-CoV-2 sublineage BA.3.2.2 by studying RE.2.2, the lineage designation for the BA.3.2.2 branch gaining prevalence after prolonged low detection in European surveillance datasets.

📅 2026-09-11 21:20:01    •    Phys.org
Compost microbe yields enzyme that tackles polyurethane foam and nylon
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Compost microbe yields enzyme that tackles polyurethane foam and nylon

Researchers from Aarhus University and the Danish Technological Institute have taken a new approach in the search for enzymes capable of breaking down some of the most difficult types of plastic to recycle. They collected millions of bacteria from a landfill in Kenya, Randers Regnskov Tropical Zoo, the guts of larvae and a compost heap near Aarhus—and examined their enzymes. They found 12 that work.

📅 2026-09-11 21:00:05    •    Phys.org
Microplastics fall across rural Switzerland, adding over 200 tons yearly to land and water
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Microplastics fall across rural Switzerland, adding over 200 tons yearly to land and water

Loose fibers from functional clothing, discarded PET bottles or abandoned packaging: When such plastic materials enter the environment, they often persist there for a long time. UV radiation, precipitation and ozone cause them to become brittle—and over time, mechanical forces break them down into increasingly smaller particles. Swirled up by the wind, they are carried farther through the atmosphere. Until now, it was unclear how much microplastic ends up back in Swiss soil and water bodies through this process.

📅 2026-09-11 21:00:01    •    Phys.org
10,000 years of wheat and barley selection reveal shared climate-adaptation genes
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10,000 years of wheat and barley selection reveal shared climate-adaptation genes

Research teams from INRAE, the University of Clermont Auvergne and the CNRS have reconstructed 10 ancient genomes (paleogenomes) that are the common ancestors of 84 botanical species of agronomic interest. Their work makes it possible to identify particular genes, shared across different species of plants and retained throughout their evolutionary history, that might play a key role in adapting to environmental constraints such as drought.

📅 2026-09-11 20:40:01    •    Phys.org
New measure captures how scientists' identities shift across academic disciplines
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New measure captures how scientists' identities shift across academic disciplines

Does the academic discipline of a scientist's doctorate accurately capture their disciplinary affiliation decades later? Consider a scientist who earned a doctorate in physics 25 years ago who now studies climate change, publishes primarily in interdisciplinary journals and considers herself a climate scientist. Does "physics" still accurately describe where she fits in science?

📅 2026-09-11 20:20:04    •    Phys.org