Time to abandon null hypothesis significance testing? Moving beyond the default approach

Researchers from Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Colorado published a new Journal of Marketing study that proposes abandoning null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) as the default approach to statistical analysis and reporting. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

A surprisingly simple expression for enzyme activity could help guide biotechnologists

A surprising relationship that governs the activity of enzymes—the molecules that catalyze almost all the chemical reactions of life—has been uncovered by three RIKEN scientists. This finding could help researchers to select and design the best enzymes for use in biotechnology ap … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Large study presents evidence for the importance of behavioral sciences in policymaking

A new global study led by Kai Ruggeri, Ph.D., at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health involving over 80 collaborators from more than 30 countries underscores the crucial role of behavioral sciences in formulating policy decisions, while also asserting the need for clear stand … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers develop a novel dry-powder inhaled vaccine platform

Researchers from the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have proposed a new "nano-micro composite" delivery concept for vaccines. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Research discovers that mice possess a natural gene therapy system

A previously mysterious small RNA molecule in mice is found to play a crucial role in gene expression, and may be the first identified member of a new class of regulatory RNAs. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Cell types in the eye have ancient evolutionary origins

Karthik Shekhar and his colleagues raised a few eyebrows as they collected cow and pig eyes from Boston butchers, but those eyes—eventually from 17 separate species, including humans—are providing insights into the evolution of the vertebrate retina and could lead to better anima … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Pacific Northwest snowpack endangered by increasing spring heat waves

Even in the precipitation-heavy Pacific Northwest, more frequent heat waves are threatening a key source of water supply. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

The myths and truths of individualism in America

In America, where "having it your way" is a major selling point for everything from fast food to home-building, and making your own way in the world is the gold standard of achievement, individualism stands as the ideal for realizing the American dream. But when and why did this … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

From wildfires to melting sea ice, the warmest summer on record had cascading impacts across the Arctic

The year 2023 shattered the record for the warmest summer in the Arctic, and people and ecosystems across the region felt the impact. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Health misinformation is rampant on social media—here's what it does, why it spreads and what people can do about it

The global anti-vaccine movement and vaccine hesitancy that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic show no signs of abating. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

A road map for the lawful use of stop-and-frisk in Philadelphia—and elsewhere

Violent crime, and how to reduce it, dominated the 2023 Philadelphia mayoral campaign. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Nonalcoholic beer: New techniques craft flavorful brews without the buzz

The holiday season for me includes socializing over drinks with friends and family. But all the celebrating tends to catch up with my waistline, and by New Year's Day, it's time to get back in shape. Besides vowing to hit the gym more, my approach involves a "Dry January." But as … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Children born or raised during lockdown are developing language skills at a slower rate

Social interactions in the first months of life are fundamental for babies to learn how to communicate and develop their language skills. Physical contact, touch, smiling and our first face-to-face "conversations" are the pillars on which we build our understanding of the social … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Study shows digital leisure reading does little to improve reading comprehension for students

For years, research showed that print reading, whether for leisure or school, improved developing readers' ability to comprehend text. However, the explosive use of digital reading devices, constant access to these devices, and new types of reading materials have introduced new r … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Investigation shows inequity in US wildfire emergency response

Recent U.S. wildfire events—including the 2023 Maui wildfire in Hawaii, the 2022 Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire in New Mexico, and the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire in Colorado—are tragic examples of how disadvantaged communities can suffer most during and after a wildfire. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Measuring 3D pores for better wound healing

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a method to identify and characterize the empty spaces between particles in any packed structure. By mapping out these empty spaces, researchers can better understand how cells and other phenomena will respond to their surrou … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Tagged turtles and 3D ocean current maps reveal loggerheads' navigation mechanisms

A study published in the Journal of The Royal Society Interface has revealed new insights into the navigational strategies of sea turtles during their pre-reproductive migration. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

How forests smell: Investigating how biodiversity affects the atmosphere

Plants emit odors for a variety of reasons, such as to communicate with one another, to deter herbivores or to respond to changing environmental conditions. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Leipzig University, the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

A sugar analysis could reveal different types of cancer

In the future, a little saliva may be enough to detect an incipient cancer. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have developed an effective way to interpret the changes in sugar molecules that occur in cancer cells. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

New study identifies the best areas for rewilding European bison

At the end of the last ice age, large herds of bison roamed across Europe. But by 1927, the European bison became extinct in the wild, with only about 60 individuals remaining in captivity. Scientists have long debated the exact causes of the grazers' near extinction, and how muc … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Spectroscopic data from atmospheric green ghost captured for the first time

A team of astronomers from Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomía, and Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya has captured spectroscopy data from a mesospheric green ghost for the first time. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers build a physical model to probe the creative destruction inside cells

Researchers at Princeton University have demonstrated the mechanics behind a key process in living cells, where liquid droplets form and carry out complex tasks within the intricate polymer scaffolds that crisscross the cells' interiors. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Revealing the secrets of the sun: How magnetic structures drive coronal rotation

Solar rotation, a fundamental characteristic of the sun, is second in importance only to the Schwabe cycle, an approximately 11-year cycle. The energy and matter of the solar atmosphere originate from the interior of the sun and drive the rotation of the solar atmosphere from the … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Physicists discover new quantum phases in low-dimensional polar systems

A new paper published in Nature Communications by a team of physicists at the U of A charted the discovery of new quantum phases in low-dimensional systems. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Unlike most other animals, Tasmanian devils only have one set of teeth

A Tasmanian devil expert has uncovered an evolutionary quirk that sets carnivorous marsupials apart from the crowd—and the secret lies behind their smiles. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers predict protein placement on atomic force microscopy substrates

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences a computational method to predict the placement of proteins on AFM substrates based on electrostatic interactions | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Global assessment of free-ranging cats shows they eat more types of creatures than previously thought

A small team of environmental and wildlife specialists from the U.S., France, Australia and New Zealand has found via study of prior research efforts that cats eat a wider variety of other creatures than previously known. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

AI method for describing soft matter opens up new chapter in density functional theory

Scientists from Bayreuth have developed a new method for studying liquid and soft matter using artificial intelligence. In a study now published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they open up a new chapter in density functional theory. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Male sea snakes may have evolved bigger eyes to help them find a mate

A trio of marine scientists from Macquarie University, working with a colleague from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, all in Australia, has found evidence suggesting that male aipysurine sea snakes have evolved to have relatively large eyes as a means to find female ma … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Twenty-year study confirms California forests are healthier when burned, or thinned

A 20-year experiment in the Sierra Nevada confirms that different forest management techniques—prescribed burning, restoration thinning or a combination of both—are effective at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire in California. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Dubai summit adopts world-first 'transition' from fossil fuels

Nearly 200 nations meeting in Dubai on Wednesday approved a first-ever call for the world to transition away from fossil fuels, the top culprit of climate change behind a planetary crisis. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Singapore bids farewell to China-bound panda cub

Singaporeans bid farewell to a two-year-old panda cub on Wednesday as authorities prepared to send him to China where he will join the country's breeding program. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Cyclone Jasper makes landfall in Australia

Tropical Cyclone Jasper hit northeast Australia Wednesday, leaving thousands of people in coastal communities without power and preparing for potentially "life-threatening" floods. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Natural gas is actually migrating under permafrost, and could see methane emissions skyrocket if it escapes

Beneath Svalbard's permafrost, millions of cubic meters of methane are trapped—and scientists have now learned that it can migrate beneath the cold seal of the permafrost and escape. A large-scale escape could create a cycle of warming that would send methane emissions skyrocketi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Attainment gap between UK white and minority ethnic medical students varies by ethnicity and medical school

The size of the gap in academic achievement between white and minority ethnic medical students in the UK varies considerably, depending on their individual ethnicity and which medical school they attended, finds the largest study of its kind, published in the open access journal … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

NASA's Perseverance rover deciphers ancient history of Martian lake

Marking its 1,000th Martian day on the Red Planet, NASA's Perseverance rover recently completed its exploration of the ancient river delta that holds evidence of a lake that filled Jezero Crater billions of years ago. The six-wheeled scientist has to date collected a total of 23 … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researcher discovers new technique for photon detection

University of Central Florida researcher Debashis Chanda, a professor at the NanoScience Technology Center, has developed a new technique to detect photons—elementary particles that span from visible light to radio frequencies and are instrumental in carrying cellular communicati … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Is age linked to the picture of the perfect partner?

How do women picture the partner of their dreams? And how does this vary between women based on their age? A team of researchers led by the University of Göttingen investigated the complex relationships between age and preferences for a partner in a large, international sample of … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Exploring how the convergence of automation and AI reshapes organic chemistry research

Recently, National Science Open magazine published online a review article led by Professor Fanyang Mo (School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University) and Professor Yuntian Chen (Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo). | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Understanding the key to predicting heat events in Central Europe

The surface temperature of the North Atlantic plays an important role in the occurrence of heat waves in Europe. However, researchers at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel have shown that it is not high water temperatures but low water temperatures that are re … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Study finds configuration of green spaces in cities determines the characteristics of their birds

An international team including researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) and the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), has studied the distribution of 115 species of birds in spring and 72 that spend the winter in nine European cities. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Images: Moon, asteroids and new rockets topped the world's space news in 2023

The moon, asteroids and brand new rockets topped the world's space news in 2023. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Q&A: Finding more sustainable ways to use plastics in agriculture

Every year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, some 12.5 million tonnes of plastic are used in agricultural production worldwide. Plastic is a boon to farmers, but leads to large quantities of macro-, micro- and nanoplastics accumulating in soils a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers review miniaturized electrochemical sensor technologies for rapid heavy metal detection

Heavy metals (HMs) are metals with high densities and atomic weights. Originating from geological processes or human activities, including mining, industrial production, and petrochemical plants, they are toxic to humans and animals and considered as common pollutants in the envi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Long dormant volcanoes can erupt rapidly and explosively, says Ciomadul study

Can a volcano erupt after tens of thousands of years of dormancy? If so, how can this be explained and what makes volcanic eruptions more dangerous? | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Long-term green manuring strengthens core microbiomes in driving multiple functions across vertical soil profiles: Study

A study published in the journal Science China Life Sciences was led by Prof. Weidong Cao (Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences) and Prof. Zongxian Che (Institute of Soil and Fertilizer and Water-saving Agriculture, G … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Encounter with humpback whales reveals potential for nonhuman intelligence communication

A team of scientists from the SETI Institute, University of California Davis and the Alaska Whale Foundation, had a close encounter with a non-human (aquatic) intelligence. The Whale-SETI team has been studying humpback whale communication systems in an effort to develop intellig … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Assessing loan applicants' credit risk via smartphone activities helps improve financial inclusion, finds study

Financial technology (FinTech)—innovation in the delivery of financial services and products—has grown in popularity, expanding access to finance for millions of people. But while promoting inclusive finance to accelerate economic growth and financial sustainability is considered … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago