A new way to create molecules for drug development

Chemists at The Ohio State University have developed a new and improved way to generate molecules that can enable the design of new types of synthetic drugs. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Legacy of Biosphere 2 lives on in singular research space

They lived for two years and 20 minutes under the glass of a miniature Earth, complete with an ocean, rain forest, desert, grasslands and mangroves. Their air and water were recycled, and they grew the sweet potatoes, rice and other food they needed to survive. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Leonardo da Vinci's tree rule may be explained by wind

(PhysOrg.com) -- More than 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci observed a particular relationship between the size of a tree’s trunk and the size of its branches. Specifically, the combined cross-sectional areas of a tree’s daughter branches are equal to the cross-sectio … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Measurement-device-independent quantum communication without encryption

Quantum secure direct communication transmits secret information directly without encryption. Recently, a research team led by Prof. Gui-Lu Long from Tsinghua University proposed a measurement-and-device-independent quantum secure direct communication protocol using Einstein-Podo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Clues from a Somalian cavefish about modern mammals' dark past

After millions of years living in constant darkness, a species of blind cavefish found only in Somalia has lost an ancient system of DNA repair. That DNA repair system, found in organisms including bacteria, fungi, plants, and most other animals, harnesses energy from visible lig … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Measurement of the fine-structure constant casts doubt on dark photon theories

A team of researchers from the University of California and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has conducted an ultra-precise measurement of the fine-structure constant, and in so doing, have found evidence that casts doubts on dark photon theory. In their paper published in t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Spanish consumer group to sue Facebook over data sharing

A Spanish consumer group said Wednesday it will sue Facebook over the alleged misuse of the personal data of 26 million users of the social network in Spain. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Feeding 10B people by 2050 within planetary limits may be achievable

A global shift toward healthy and more plant-based diets, halving food loss and waste, and improving farming practices and technologies are required to feed 10 billion people sustainably by 2050, a new study finds. Adopting these options reduces the risk of crossing global enviro … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

How to make fish shine

Scientists from the University of Bath have helped to figure out why shoals of fish flash silver as they twist through the water by studying how the shiny silver cells are created in zebrafish. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

AI tool automatically reveals how to write apps that drain less battery

To send a text message, there's not only "an app for that," there are dozens of apps for that. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Polar wandering on dwarf planet Ceres revealed

Dwarf planet Ceres experienced an indirect polar reorientation of approximately 36 degrees, a new paper by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Pasquale Tricarico says. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

NASA Voyager 2 could be nearing interstellar space

NASA's Voyager 2 probe, currently on a journey toward interstellar space, has detected an increase in cosmic rays that originate outside our solar system. Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 is a little less than 11 billion miles (about 17.7 billion kilometers) from Earth, or more than 1 … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Increasingly human-like robots spark fascination and fear

Sporting a trendy brown bob, a humanoid robot named Erica chats to a man in front of stunned audience members in Madrid. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Hoax articles get published in social sciences journals

Three US researchers have pulled off a sophisticated hoax by publishing fake research with ridiculous conclusions in sociology journals to expose what they see as ideological bias and a lack of rigorous vetting at these publications. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Engineers add sense of touch to prosthetic hand

Engineers at Johns Hopkins University have created an electronic skin, which when added to a prosthetic hand allows the user to feel objects as if through their own hand, including feeling pain when touching a sharp object. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

New brain-inspired architecture could improve how PCs handle data and advance AI

IBM researchers are developing a new computer architecture, better equipped to handle increased data loads from artificial intelligence. Their designs draw on concepts from the human brain and significantly outperform conventional computers in comparative studies. They report on … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Mountaintop observatory sees gamma rays from exotic Milky Way object

The night sky seems serene, but telescopes tell us that the universe is filled with collisions and explosions. Distant, violent events signal their presence by spewing light and particles in all directions. When these messengers reach Earth, scientists can use them to map out the … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Astronomers find first compelling evidence for a moon outside our solar system

A pair of Columbia University astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Kepler Space Telescope have assembled compelling evidence for the existence of a moon orbiting a gas-giant planet 8,000 light-years away. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Trio win Nobel Physics Prize for laser research

Three researchers on Tuesday shared the 2018 Nobel Physics Prize for inventions in the field of laser physics which have paved the way for advanced precision instruments used in corrective eye surgery and industry, the jury said. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

For collecting weather data, tiny satellites measure up to expensive cousins

Big storms are getting bigger. Typhoon Jebi became the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Japan in 25 years and killed at least 10 people this past summer. Hurricane Florence awed even veteran meteorologists with its powerful combination of high winds and extreme moisture when it … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

A wrench in Earth's engine

Researchers at CU Boulder report that they may have solved a geophysical mystery, pinning down the likely cause of a phenomenon that resembles a wrench in the engine of the planet. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Defects promise quantum communication through standard optical fiber

An international team of scientists led by the University of Groningen's Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials created quantum bits that emit photons that describe their state at wavelengths close to those used by telecom providers. These qubits are based on silicon carbide in … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Space-borne quantum source to secure communication

Soon, powerful quantum computers will be able to easily crack conventional mathematically encrypted codes. Entangled photons generated by a spaceborne quantum source could enable hack-proof key exchange for ultra high security applications. A Fraunhofer research team has develope … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Four newly discovered Milky Way neighbors

Ultra-faint dwarf galaxies are the smallest, most dark matter dominated, and least chemically enriched stellar systems in the universe, and are important targets for understanding dark matter and galaxy formation. They comprise by number the majority of galaxies in the universe, … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

The US push to boost quantum computing

A race by U.S. tech companies to build a new generation of powerful "quantum computers" could get a $1.3 billion boost from Congress, fueled in part by lawmakers' fear of growing competition from China. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

One black hole or two?

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), believe clouds of dust, rather than twin black holes, can explain the features found in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The team publish their results today (14 June) in a paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astrono … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Making head or tail of a galactic landscape

Astronomers have used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to capture a dramatic image of an enormous tail of hot gas stretching for more than a million light years behind a group of galaxies that is falling into the depths of an even-larger cluster of galaxies. Discoveries … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

UCF selling experimental Martian dirt–$20 a kilogram, plus shipping

The University of Central Florida is selling Martian dirt, $20 a kilogram plus shipping. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

NASA is taking a new look at searching for life beyond Earth

Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has wondered whether we are alone in the universe. As NASA has explored our solar system and beyond, it has developed increasingly sophisticated tools to address this fundamental question. Within our solar system, NASA's missions have … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Superconducting metamaterial traps quantum light

Conventional computers store information in a bit, a fundamental unit of logic that can take a value of 0 or 1. Quantum computers rely on quantum bits, also known as a "qubits," as their fundamental building blocks. Bits in traditional computers encode a single value, either a 0 … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Did key building blocks for life come from deep space?

All living beings need cells and energy to replicate. Without these fundamental building blocks, living organisms on Earth would not be able to reproduce and would simply not exist. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Spheres can make concrete leaner, greener

Rice University scientists have developed micron-sized calcium silicate spheres that could lead to stronger and greener concrete, the world's most-used synthetic material. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

First high-resolution images of molecule as it breaks and reforms chemical bonds

When Felix Fischer of the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) set out to develop nanostructures made of graphene using a new, controlled approach to chemical reactions, the first result was a surprise: spectacular images of individual … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

How leaves talk to roots

New findings show that a micro RNA from the shoot keeps legume roots susceptible to symbiotic infection by downregulating a gene that would otherwise hinder root responses to symbiotic bacteria. These findings reveal what it takes to make nitrogen-fixing symbiosis efficient, and … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Scientists discover new mechanism for information storage in one atom

Scientists at Radboud University discovered a new mechanism for magnetic storage of information in the smallest unit of matter: a single atom. While the proof of principle was demonstrated at very low temperatures, this mechanism shows promise for room temperature operation. In t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Impact of WWII bombing raids felt at edge of space

Bombing raids by Allied forces during the Second World War not only caused devastation on the ground but also sent shockwaves through Earth's atmosphere which were detected at the edge of space, according to new research. University of Reading researchers have revealed the shockw … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Tracking the interstellar object 'Oumuamua to its home

A team of astronomers led by Coryn Bailer-Jones of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy has tracked the interstellar object 'Oumuamua to several possible home stars. The object was discovered in late 2017 – this was the first time astronomers have been able to observe an astron … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Common weed killer linked to bee deaths

The world's most widely used weed killer may also be indirectly killing bees. New research from The University of Texas at Austin shows that honey bees exposed to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, lose some of the beneficial bacteria in their guts and are more suscept … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

AI creates more than 100,000 new tunes based on Irish and English folk tunes

At turns lively and yearning, the traditional folk musics of Ireland and Britain have made their mark around the world. Now these perennially popular forms of music are helping computers learn to become a new kind of partner in music creation. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Spray-on antennas could unlock potential of smart, connected technology

The promise of wearables, functional fabrics, the Internet of Things, and their "next-generation" technological cohort seems tantalizingly within reach. But researchers in the field will tell you a prime reason for their delayed "arrival" is the problem of seamlessly integrating … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Aboriginal people lived in Australia 50k years ago, earlier than first thought

New evidence shows that people have lived inland in Western Australia for more than 50,000 years. That's 10,000 years earlier than previously known for Australian deserts. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

First to red planet will become Martians: Canada astronaut

Astronauts traveling through space on the long trip to Mars will not have the usual backup from mission control on Earth and will need to think of themselves as Martians to survive, Canada's most famous spaceman half-jokingly said Friday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

New battery gobbles up carbon dioxide

A new type of battery developed by researchers at MIT could be made partly from carbon dioxide captured from power plants. Rather than attempting to convert carbon dioxide to specialized chemicals using metal catalysts, which is currently highly challenging, this battery could co … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Japan space probe drops hopping rovers towards asteroid

A Japanese space probe Friday released a pair of exploring rovers towards an egg-shaped asteroid to collect mineral samples that may shed light on the origin of the solar system. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Octopuses on 'ecstasy' reveal genetic evolution link to human social behaviors

By studying the genome of a kind of octopus not known for its friendliness toward its peers, then testing its behavioral reaction to a popular mood-altering drug called MDMA or "ecstasy," scientists say they have found preliminary evidence of an evolutionary link between the soci … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

AI could help to manage natural disasters – but only to an extent

Residents are struggling with the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, a record-breaking storm that has hit the US east coast and led to at least 32 deaths, floods and damaged homes. Meanwhile, Typhoon Mangkhut has been ravaging southern China. More than three million people were eva … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Closest planet ever discovered outside solar system may be habitable with ocean

In August of 2016, astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet around Proxima Centauri – the closest star to our solar system. In addition, they confirmed that this planet (Proxima b) orbited within its star's habitable … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago

Newly discovered planet could be Spock's home world

Among the TV series Star Trek's many charms are its rich universe of characters and planets. Now, the Dharma Planet Survey, in a new study led by University of Florida (UF) astronomer Jian Ge and team including Tennessee State University (TSU) astronomers Matthew Muterspaugh and … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 6 years ago