Scientists develop new approach for single-shot characterization of ultrashort free-electron laser pulses

Scientists at the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (SARI) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have proposed and validated a novel approach for single-shot characterization of ultrashort free-electron laser pulses based on self-referenced spectral interferometry. Their innovati … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 minutes ago

Malfunction in spermatogenesis: Researchers uncover contribution of cylicin proteins to male fertility

For successful fertilization, sperm should move forward rapidly and be shaped correctly. The unique structure of the sperm cells forms during spermiogenesis. Now, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Transdisciplinary Research Unit Life & Health at the Univ … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 minutes ago

Next-gen computing: Hard-to-move quasiparticles glide up pyramid edges

A new kind of "wire" for moving excitons, developed at the University of Michigan, could help enable a new class of devices, perhaps including room temperature quantum computers. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 19 minutes ago

Myth of room temperature superconductivity in LK-99 is shattered

In a study published Nov. 24 in Matter, researchers led by Prof. Luo Jianlin from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have observed that Pb10-xCux(PO4)6O (0.9 | Continue reading


@phys.org | 29 minutes ago

A showdown over deep sea mining is taking place in the Pacific

Activists from Greenpeace International have boarded a ship that is conducting deep sea mining research in the Pacific Ocean, vowing to occupy the vessel until it abandons the expedition. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 hour ago

India hopes cloud seeding can wash away deadly smog

Indian scientists are preparing cloud seeding technology to clean poisonous smog in the capital with rain, but environmental critics fear it is an expensive distraction from tackling root causes. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 hours ago

Keeping fit to curb workplace deviance

If you feel that work is wearing you down, you are not alone. The economic value that modern organizations strive to create comes at a human cost to employees in terms of reduced physical fitness. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 hours ago

No easy way to communicate the impacts of climate change, says study

In a new article titled "Using virtual simulations of future extreme weather events to communicate climate change risk and published in PLOS Climate," Singapore Management University Assistant Professor of Urban Sustainability Terry van Gevelt and his research team have completed … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 hours ago

Mussel beach: Belgium's recipe to fight erosion

Belgian mussels have long satisfied hungry diners, but an experiment is now underway to see if they can also protect Belgium's North Sea coast. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 hours ago

Female toxin-producing newts are surprisingly more poisonous than males

Tetrodotoxin, the neurotoxin that makes a blue-ringed octopus deadly, also protects Taricha newts—but we don't understand how they produce it, or what purposes it serves for them. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 9 hours ago

International Criminal Court judges 'cautious' about using impact of mental health

International Criminal Court judges have taken a "cautious" attitude to considering the impact of mental health issues on witnesses and the accused, a new analysis shows. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 15 hours ago

Protected Texas songbirds show up in pet stores abroad, due to elusive trafficking industry

In 1970, there were approximately 10 billion birds in North America. Now, there are around 7 billion, representing a loss of over a quarter of the continent's birds. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 15 hours ago

Shared community spaces are key to tackling issues caused by Cornish gentrification, study says

Creating and fostering "shared spaces" can help to tackle the problems caused by gentrification and changing communities in Cornwall, a new study says. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 15 hours ago

Giant sea salt aerosols found to play major role in Hawai'i's coastal clouds, rain

Despite their tiny sizes, aerosols, such as sea salt, dust, and ash, play a giant role in shaping weather and climate. These particles scatter light, act as the starting point for cloud formation, and can even initiate or limit rainfall. A new study from atmospheric scientists at … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 15 hours ago

Study finds your profile picture plays a significant role in whether you get hired

A study has found that your online profile picture may play a key role in whether you get hired. The study also found that if your profile photo suggests you "look the part," those hiring you as an employee or freelancer may be more likely to give that more weight than lower rati … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 hours ago

Review article shows key role of Brazil in research on sugarcane for bioenergy

Publications on sugar cane have increased exponentially since 2006 worldwide, and Brazil has had more articles published on the topic than any other country in the period, according to a review in BioEnergy Research. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 hours ago

Framing nationalism in former colonies

Conquest, subjugation and plunder are words that spring to mind when we consider colonization. George Orwell, who spent time during the 1920s as a policeman for the British occupiers in what was then Burma, described colonization as a racist system of "despotism with theft as its … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 hours ago

Sensitive ecosystems at risk from mine waste, finds study

Nearly a third of the world's mine tailings are stored within or near protected conservation areas, University of Queensland research has found. A study led by UQ's Bora Aska, from the Sustainable Minerals Institute and School of the Environment, said these waste facilities pose … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 hours ago

Researchers pave the way for faster and safer T-cell therapy through novel contamination-detection method

Researchers from Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with Singapore Centre for Environmenta … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 hours ago

New research shows extra practice in blending letter sounds helps struggling readers

New research at Aston University has shown that extra practice in blending printed letter sounds can help struggling beginner readers in reception classes learn to read. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 hours ago

Calciferous organisms are a good tool in climate research, says scientist

The fossil calciferous skeletons of single-celled foraminifers are a beautiful history book with information on CO2-levels in the oceans of the distant past. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 hours ago

Smog from major Copenhagen street heads straight into living rooms

A large amount of the heavy automobile pollution from Copenhagen's Bispeengbuen thoroughfare goes straight into people's homes, according to a study by researchers at the University of Copenhagen. A sensor developed by one of the researchers can help fill in the blanks of our und … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 hours ago

Inferring causative microbial features from metagenomic data of limited samples

Increasing evidence has shown an association between gut microbiota and numerous diseases inferred by metagemomic (MWAS), indicating the microbiota as one of the most promising and effective strategies to control these diseases. However, inferring causalities and strong associati … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 16 hours ago

Recycled phosphorus fertilizer reduces nutrient leaching, maintains yield

A promising new form of ammonium phosphate fertilizer has been field-tested by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers. The fertilizer, struvite, offers a triple win for sustainability and crop production, as it recycles nutrients from wastewater streams, reduces leac … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

Owner personality and mental well-being associated with human–pet attachment

University of Helsinki researchers have collected data about the personality traits of thousands of dogs, cats and their owners to explore owner–pet attachment. The data encompass about 2,500 pet owners and 3,300 pets. The work is published in the journal iScience. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

Research links climate change to vampire bat expansion and rabies virus spillover

Vampire bats may soon take up residence in the United States and bring with them an ancient pathogen. "What we found was that the distribution of vampire bats has moved northward across time due to past climate change, which has corresponded with an increase in rabies cases in ma … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

PhD graduates with disabilities are underpaid and underrepresented in US academia: Study

New research from the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center suggests that Ph.D. graduates in science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM) in the U.S. who became disabled before age 25 earn $14,360 less per year in academia than those without disabilities. They a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

Emergence of collective phenomena in fractured rocks: Exploring the 'more is different' perspective

For many decades, the rock mechanics community has been tacitly assumed that a rock mass can be equated to the sum of fractures and intact rocks. Accordingly, the behavior of a rock mass can be understood by decomposing it into smaller pieces and characterizing these pieces compl … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

Durable, inexpensive electrocatalyst generates clean hydrogen and oxygen from water

A new electrocatalyst made of nickel (Ni), iron (Fe) and silicon (Si) that decreases the amount of energy required to synthesize H2 from water has been manufactured in a simple and cost-effective way, increasing the practicality of H2 as a clean and renewable energy of the future … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

New automatic algorithm unveils key insights into leaf orientation and plant productivity

Maize (Zea mays L.), the most globally produced cereal, owes its enhanced productivity to genetic, agronomic, and climatic factors, with cultivars adapted to higher density playing a crucial role. Recent research has focused on maize's architectural plasticity, particularly its a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

Revolutionizing plant disease diagnosis: Pre-trained models outperform traditional methods

Diagnosing plant disease is essential to meet the world's growing food demand, which is expected to increase with a population of 9.1 billion by 2050. Diseases can reduce crop yields by 20–40%, so early detection is critical. Traditional disease identification methods include exp … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

Gig workers saw greater financial hardship during COVID-19 than other workers

Many gig workers experienced financial hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic, including food insecurity and trouble paying bills, according to a recent study published in Work and Occupations. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

Using the world's three most powerful particle accelerators to reveal the space-time geometry of quark matter

Physicists from the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have been conducting research on the matter constituting the atomic nucleus utilizing the world's three most powerful particle accelerators. Their focus has been on mapping the "primordial soup" that filled the universe in the f … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

Study show extracellular vesicles can also deliver messages from non-human cells

Messenger bubbles produced by human cells can pick up bacterial products and deliver them to other cells, University of Connecticut researchers report in the Nov. 16 issue of Nature Cell Biology. The discovery may explain a key mechanism by which bacteria, whether friendly or in … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 17 hours ago

Why does puberty trigger us to stop growing?

All animals start out as a single-celled organism and then start growing. At some point, of course, they need to stop getting bigger, but the process by which this happens is poorly understood. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 18 hours ago

Orbital-angular-momentum-encoded diffractive networks for object classification tasks

Deep learning has revolutionized the way we perceive and utilize data. However, as datasets grow and computational demands increase, we need more efficient ways to handle, store, and process data. In this regard, optical computing is seen as the next frontier of computing technol … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 18 hours ago

Team discovers protein crucial for B cell differentiation and antibodies

A cell nucleus is a busy place. Cellular proteins twist and pull DNA, folding the genome into intricate 3D structures that support functioning of its coding parts. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 18 hours ago

Researchers hijack solar cell technology to develop a simple spray test for lead

AMOLF researchers have used the special properties of perovskite semiconductors to develop a simple spray test to demonstrate the presence of lead. Perovskite is a material suitable for use in LEDs and solar cells, for example. A lead-containing surface shines bright green when i … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 18 hours ago

How minimum wage rises will affect the early years education and childcare sector

The early years sector—nurseries and childminders who offer services to children under the age of five—waited expectantly for news of investment in the UK chancellor's recent autumn statement. But this was not delivered, even though Jeremy Hunt presented 110 economic measures des … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 18 hours ago

Black Friday is an environmental nightmare. The Victorians had a much more sustainable approach to fashion

Around 46 million people across the UK are expected to have visited their local high street to go shopping over the last weekend in November, encouraged by so-called Black Friday sales. The projected spend in-store and online is forecast to reach close to £9 billion. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 18 hours ago

Having a single parent doesn't determine your life chances. Data shows poverty is far more important

Numerous research studies have suggested that children from a single-parent family are worse off than those who have two parents at home. These findings chime with decades of stigma that have painted coming from a single-parent home as undesirable. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 18 hours ago

Understanding charged particles helps physicists simulate element creation in stars

New research from North Carolina State University and Michigan State University opens a new avenue for modeling low-energy nuclear reactions, which are key to the formation of elements within stars. The research lays the groundwork for calculating how nucleons interact when the p … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 18 hours ago

Gender-based violence: Teaching about its root causes is necessary to address it

In 2022, 184 women and girls were killed by violence in Canada. This number has steadily increased in each of the past three years; 148 women and girls were killed in 2019, 172 in 2020 and 177 in 2021. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 18 hours ago

Climate crisis: What to consider if you're questioning whether to have children

The warnings about the disastrous impact we are having on our planet are becoming more dire. The UN Environment Program's most recent emissions gap report, which tracks our progress in limiting global warming, revealed that the world is on course for a "hellish" 3°C of global hea … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 19 hours ago

Collaboration between women helps close the gender gap in ice core science

A Perspective article published today in Nature Geoscience tackles the longstanding issue of gender representation in science, focusing on the field of ice core science. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 19 hours ago

Q&A: 'We need to act very fast,' says sustainability researcher

The effects of climate change are increasingly tangible. Reforms at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) could serve to increase its political clout and thus advance the battle against global warming, argues sustainability researcher Bernd Siebenhüner. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 19 hours ago

Storm leaves thousands without power in Crimea

Over 400,000 people in Crimea were left without power on Monday, after hurricane force winds and heavy rains battered the Russian-annexed peninsula over the weekend. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 19 hours ago

Extreme rainfall increases exponentially with global warming: Study

State-of-the-art climate models drastically underestimate how much extreme rainfall increases under global warming, according to a study published Monday that signals a future of more frequent catastrophic floods unless humanity curbs greenhouse emissions. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 19 hours ago