{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"Phys.org news tagged with:decline","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/","language":"en-us","description":"Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine.","item":[{"title":"From deer to chickadees: How fewer social encounters could raise extinction risk","description":"Imagine an asteroid striking Earth and wiping out most of the human population. Even if some lucky people survived the impact, Homo sapiens might still face extinction, because the social networks humans rely on would collapse.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-02-deer-chickadees-social-encounters-extinction.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:00:01 EST","guid":"news689520288"},{"title":"Accurately predicting Arctic sea ice in real time","description":"Arctic sea ice has large effects on the global climate. By cooling the planet, Arctic ice impacts ocean circulation, atmospheric patterns, and extreme weather conditions, even outside the Arctic region. However, climate change has led to its rapid decline, and being able to make real-time predictions of sea ice extent (SIE)\u2014the area of water with a minimum concentration of sea ice\u2014has become crucial for monitoring sea ice health.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-02-accurately-arctic-sea-ice-real.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 03 Feb 2026 11:00:01 EST","guid":"news689243401"},{"title":"Study finds renewing city service taxes boosts commercial redevelopment in Ohio","description":"It's common to wonder as tax season ramps up: Are taxes too high? According to a new study by University of Cincinnati economics professor David Brasington, the answer is no, at least when it comes to Ohio's city service taxes. These taxes go toward local services such as funds for the fire department, road repair and park upkeep.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-01-renewing-city-taxes-boosts-commercial.html","category":"Economics & Business","pubDate":"Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:10:01 EST","guid":"news689002835"},{"title":"Freshwater browning threatens growth and populations of economically important fish, researchers say","description":"Freshwater browning is stunting fish growth of some species, shrinking populations of others and changing the composition of fish communities, McGill-led research suggests. \"Browning\" refers to freshwater bodies turning tea-colored, a phenomenon driven by higher levels of dissolved organic matter and\/or higher levels of iron in the water. Causes include changes in land use and climate, and reduced acid precipitation.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-01-freshwater-browning-threatens-growth-populations.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Mon, 19 Jan 2026 11:24:29 EST","guid":"news688044242"},{"title":"Insects are victims, not just invaders, says study","description":"Insects are often seen as invaders due to high-profile species like the yellow-legged (Asian) hornet, the harlequin ladybird and fire ant. But new research reveals insects are also major victims of invasive alien species\u2014exacerbating population declines and reducing their ability to provide vital services for biodiversity and people, from pollination to pest control.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-01-insects-victims-invaders.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 15 Jan 2026 04:00:03 EST","guid":"news687610501"},{"title":"Cracking sleep's evolutionary code: Neuron protection traced back to jellyfish and sea anemones","description":"A new study from Bar-Ilan University shows that one of sleep's core functions originated hundreds of millions of years ago in jellyfish and sea anemones, among the earliest creatures with nervous systems. By tracing this mechanism back to these ancient animals, the research demonstrates that protecting neurons from DNA damage and cellular stress is a basic, ancient function of sleep that began long before complex brains evolved.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-01-evolutionary-code-neuron-jellyfish-sea.html","category":"Evolution","pubDate":"Tue, 06 Jan 2026 14:31:26 EST","guid":"news686932261"},{"title":"Why are older adults more likely to share misinformation online?","description":"Older adults tend to do well at identifying falsehoods in experiments, but they're also likelier than younger adults to like and share misinformation online.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-01-older-adults-misinformation-online.html","category":"Social Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 06 Jan 2026 11:20:15 EST","guid":"news686920679"},{"title":"Digital innovations and cultural heritage in rural towns","description":"Population decline often goes hand-in-hand with economic stagnation in rural areas\u2014and the two reinforce each other in a cycle. Can digital technologies advance equitable innovation and, at the same time, preserve cultural heritage in shrinking regions?","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-12-digital-cultural-heritage-rural-towns.html","category":"Social Sciences","pubDate":"Wed, 17 Dec 2025 22:20:01 EST","guid":"news685210621"},{"title":"Italian bears living near villages have evolved to be smaller and less aggressive, finds study","description":"A paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution, reports that Italian bears living in areas with many villages evolved and became smaller and less aggressive.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-12-italian-villages-evolved-smaller-aggressive.html","category":"Evolution","pubDate":"Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:10:01 EST","guid":"news684756181"},{"title":"Examining trends and factors of urban shrinkage in medium-sized cities","description":"Cities do not always grow in a straight line. Like living organisms, they experience growth, maturity, and sometimes decline. This decline, known as urban shrinkage, is a natural phase in the urban life cycle. It is common in industrialized cities, marked by aging social infrastructure resulting from population decline.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-12-trends-factors-urban-shrinkage-medium.html","category":"Social Sciences","pubDate":"Thu, 11 Dec 2025 19:00:01 EST","guid":"news684673959"},{"title":"Young mountain lions face barriers from roads and development across California","description":"Previous research set off alarm bells by showing that mountain lion populations across California are more different genetically than normal for a wide-roaming predator. New findings published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment have provided an explanation.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-12-young-mountain-lions-barriers-roads.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Dec 2025 08:42:31 EST","guid":"news684060121"},{"title":"Using 1,000 butterfly and moth genomes to investigate evolution and climate change resilience","description":"A major milestone has been reached, with experts across Europe, including those at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, sequencing 1,000 species of butterflies and moths. This includes almost all UK butterflies, opening the door to help understand and protect UK biodiversity.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-11-butterfly-moth-genomes-evolution-climate.html","category":"Evolution","pubDate":"Sun, 30 Nov 2025 10:40:01 EST","guid":"news683548397"},{"title":"Speaking more than one language may help the brain stay younger","description":"Speaking more than one language can slow down the brain's aging and lower risks linked to accelerated aging.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-11-language-brain-stay-younger.html","category":"Other","pubDate":"Sat, 15 Nov 2025 08:40:01 EST","guid":"news682248819"},{"title":"Older adults share more political misinformation. Here's why.","description":"Adults aged 55 and older are significantly more likely to share political misinformation than younger social media users. And it's not because they're unable to discern fake news from real news, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-11-older-adults-political-misinformation.html","category":"Social Sciences","pubDate":"Thu, 06 Nov 2025 12:15:04 EST","guid":"news681653701"},{"title":"Rising birth rates no longer tied to economic prosperity","description":"Fertility rates began falling in most of the world starting in the last century. By the 1970s, the U.S. had dipped under the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman, a trend that has continued on a declining slope.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-10-birth-longer-economic-prosperity.html","category":"Social Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 28 Oct 2025 10:28:04 EDT","guid":"news680866081"},{"title":"Rare bumble bee's downfall began long before effects from humans, study says","description":"A rare North American bumble bee may have been on a path toward extinction long before modern human impacts, suggesting that its long-term genetic vulnerability made it especially fragile and less able to cope with both past and current environmental stresses.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-10-rare-bumble-bee-downfall-began.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:58:04 EDT","guid":"news680198281"},{"title":"What goes up must come down: The 'universal thermal performance curve' that shackles evolution","description":"Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have unearthed a universal thermal performance curve (UTPC) that seemingly applies to all species and dictates their responses to temperature change. This UTPC essentially shackles evolution as no species seem to have broken free from the constraints it imposes on how temperature affects performance.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-10-universal-thermal-shackles-evolution.html","category":"Evolution","pubDate":"Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:00:03 EDT","guid":"news680172182"},{"title":"Please explain: Why do people fall for implausible scams?","description":"We tend to assume scam victims simply \"believed the unbelievable.\" However, my research published in Social Epistemology suggests something more subtle: Many people don't fully believe the story. Instead, they bet on a fantasy\u2014one that feels close enough to reality to keep them paying to sustain it.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-10-people-fall-implausible-scams.html","category":"Social Sciences","pubDate":"Mon, 13 Oct 2025 10:35:04 EDT","guid":"news679570502"},{"title":"Why coral reefs damaged by blast fishing struggle to recover\u2014even after decades","description":"When we think about rapid decline in coral reefs, climate change is often the first culprit that comes to mind\u2014bringing heat waves, bleaching events, and intensified cyclones.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-10-coral-reefs-blast-fishing-struggle.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Fri, 03 Oct 2025 07:39:04 EDT","guid":"news678695941"},{"title":"Island ant communities show signs of 'insect apocalypse'","description":"From pollinating flowers to enabling decomposition and supporting nutrient cycles, insects' abundance and biodiversity are critical for maintaining healthy ecosystems. However, recent studies showing population declines have raised alarm about how insects are coping with the modern world. Understanding whether recent observations are part of longer timescale trends can help inform global conservation efforts, and identify the reasons behind the so-called \"insect apocalypse.\"","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-09-island-ant-communities-insect-apocalypse.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 11 Sep 2025 14:00:09 EDT","guid":"news676740001"},{"title":"Cats can get dementia too. Here are the eight signs to look out for","description":"Many cat owners don't realize that just like humans, cats can suffer from dementia. A recent paper has even found many similarities between feline and human dementia, finding that cognitive impairment may develop in similar ways.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-09-cats-dementia.html","category":"Veterinary medicine","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Sep 2025 13:20:04 EDT","guid":"news676121954"},{"title":"Zoo populations may hold key to saving Pacific pocket mouse","description":"Endangered Pacific pocket mice, native to Southern California, were once thought to be extinct until a tiny remnant population was rediscovered in the mid-1990s.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-08-zoo-populations-key-pacific-pocket.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 21 Aug 2025 14:00:18 EDT","guid":"news674998643"},{"title":"Centuries of inbreeding may have helped rare pigeons pull back from brink of extinction","description":"For many endangered species, population decline to the brink of extinction leads to inbreeding, exposing a species to deleterious recessive mutations that severely limit its potential to recover. But the red-headed wood pigeon, endemic to the Ogasawara Islands in Japan, followed a different trajectory.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-08-centuries-inbreeding-rare-pigeons-brink.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Thu, 14 Aug 2025 08:58:03 EDT","guid":"news674380681"},{"title":"AI is making reading books feel obsolete, and students have a lot to lose","description":"A perfect storm is brewing for reading.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-08-ai-obsolete-students-lot.html","category":"Education","pubDate":"Wed, 13 Aug 2025 13:07:46 EDT","guid":"news674309262"},{"title":"Surprising sex reversal discovered in Australian birds","description":"A University of the Sunshine Coast-led study has uncovered evidence that sex reversal is more common in wild birds than previously thought\u2014with potential implications for threatened species.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-08-sex-reversal-australian-birds.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Wed, 13 Aug 2025 09:25:19 EDT","guid":"news674295914"},{"title":"Atlantic bluefin tuna diets are shifting in a changing Gulf of Maine","description":"Maine's coastal communities have been hooked on the Atlantic bluefin tuna since at least the late 1880s\u2014first as bycatch, until the 1930s when the fish became a prized target in fishing tournaments. Through the subsequent decades, bluefin tuna have and continue to support working waterfronts in Maine and beyond.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-08-atlantic-bluefin-tuna-diets-shifting.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Mon, 11 Aug 2025 14:12:07 EDT","guid":"news674140321"},{"title":"Climate-fueled El Ni\u00f1o events are devastating butterflies, beetles and other tropical insects","description":"Insects are arguably the most important animals on the planet. Their variety is unparalleled in nature, and they carry out vital tasks such as pollinating plants and providing food for other animals.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-08-climate-fueled-el-nio-events.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Sun, 10 Aug 2025 10:40:01 EDT","guid":"news673781642"},{"title":"Genetic rescue of endangered species may risk bad mutations slipping through","description":"The established conservation practice of relocating animals from large, genetically diverse populations to small communities of inbred endangered species may risk introducing more damaging than beneficial gene variants into the threatened group, a new study suggests.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-08-genetic-endangered-species-bad-mutations.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Wed, 06 Aug 2025 10:26:05 EDT","guid":"news673694762"},{"title":"Satellite data uncovers urban sustainability patterns across 7,000 Belt and Road Initiative cities","description":"A recent study published in the International Journal of Digital Earth offers the first city-level analysis of urban sustainability trends across over 7,000 urban centers in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) region.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-07-satellite-uncovers-urban-sustainability-patterns.html","category":"Environment","pubDate":"Thu, 31 Jul 2025 11:28:03 EDT","guid":"news673180081"},{"title":"Fears that falling birth rates in the US could lead to population collapse are based on faulty assumptions","description":"Pronatalism\u2014the belief that low birth rates are a problem that must be reversed\u2014is having a moment in the U.S.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-07-falling-birth-population-collapse-based.html","category":"Social Sciences","pubDate":"Mon, 28 Jul 2025 12:10:08 EDT","guid":"news672923402"}]}}