New crystals could lead to cleaner, cheaper gas purification

A team of researchers has developed a new type of material that could make the process of separating gases cleaner and more energy-efficient. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

First complete structures of heat shock chaperone protein complex reveal handoff mechanism

The first full-length structures of two heat shock chaperone proteins in a complex reveal the key structural region regulating their function, according to a new study from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

In chromosome of key biotech bacterium, different setups bring different strengths

Depending on the setting, the ability of a crucial bacterium in biotechnology—Agrobacterium tumefaciens—to transfer its DNA to a host plant can make it either a pathogen that damages crops or a powerful method for genetically enhancing them. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Checking the quality of materials just got easier with a new AI tool

Manufacturing better batteries, faster electronics, and more effective pharmaceuticals depends on the discovery of new materials and the verification of their quality. Artificial intelligence is helping with the former, with tools that comb through catalogs of materials to quickl … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Global plants' carbon cost for nitrogen uptake surpasses forest fire emissions, study finds

A team led by Prof. Liu Xueyan from the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new plant-soil nitrogen isotope process model that quantifies the fractional contribution of three nitrogen forms (nitrate, ammonium, and dissolved organic nitroge … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Nanoparticles show potential for halting inflammation and scarring in alcohol-related liver disease

Across the world, more than 1.5 billion people suffer from chronic liver disease. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that it kills more than 52,000 people a year in the United States alone—the ninth most common cause of death in the nation. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Optimizing the recovery of lithium through pH control

Lithium is a critical mineral used in batteries for electric vehicles, grid storage, and a host of personal electronics. It is also relatively scarce, so being able to efficiently isolate it from various host minerals is very important. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Antarctic Circumpolar Current flowed three times faster 130,000 years ago, core samples reveal

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is Earth's largest oceanic current, circling around Antarctica from west to east in alignment with Earth's rotation. This cold ocean current is driven primarily by the westerly wind drift. Connecting the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Questionable lead reporting for drinking water virtually vanished after Flint water crisis, study reveals

Public water systems in the U.S. were far less likely to report suspiciously rounded lead levels after the Flint, Michigan water crisis drew national outrage and federal scrutiny, according to new research led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Europe isn't prepared for the unmanned aircraft threat. Will its 'drone wall' be enough?

As Moscow's military offensive grinds on at Europe's eastern edge, tensions are skyrocketing on the continent due to repeated, brazen violations of European airspace deliberately orchestrated by Russia. Europe has announced counter-measures, in the form of a "drone wall" to comba … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

How land restoration could address malnutrition among India's Indigenous families

When asked how she was doing during her second pregnancy, Neethu, 24, told us she felt worried and cautious. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Eight out of 10 supply chain risk categories show decline for 4th quarter

The results of the Lehigh Business Supply Chain Risk Management Index for the 4th quarter of 2025 indicate a decrease in risk, with eight out of ten risk categories showing a decline. Cybersecurity and Data Risk sits at the top of the list with a modest rise. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

US Latinos hit new population and labor force records

For the first time in history, one out of every five people in the U.S. is Latino, according to a new data analysis by the Latino GDP Project from UCLA and Cal Lutheran. Using 2024 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which was released in June, researchers discovered an increase of … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Why free speech rights got left out of the Constitution—and added in later via the First Amendment

Bipartisan agreement is rare in these politically polarized days. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Policing in a pandemic: Harlem residents speak out on safety, bias and mistrust

A new study examines how social and geographic factors shaped community perceptions toward the police amid a backdrop of public health crisis and social unrest. The study is published in PLOS One, and was led by Center for Innovation in Mental Health (CIMH) researchers Professor … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Splitting water: How order and disorder direct chemical reactivity

In nature, the behavior of systems—whether large or small—is always governed by a few fundamental principles. For instance, objects fall downward because it minimizes their energy. At the same time, order and disorder are key variables that also shape physical processes. Systems— … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Leafcutter ants have blind spots, just like truck drivers

We have all been in that situation: The moving boxes are large and heavy, but we are determined to carry them all in one trip, even if that means we can't see where we're going. In the tropics, some leafcutter ants face a similar challenge: carrying a load that is several times t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Eco-friendly technology removes toxic PFAS from water

Rice University researchers, in collaboration with international partners, have developed the first eco-friendly technology to rapidly capture and destroy toxic "forever chemicals" (PFAS) in water. The findings, recently published in Advanced Materials, mark a major step toward a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Bamboo-based plastic can be made to biodegrade quickly, but still holds up in tough conditions

A new method to produce strong, biodegradable plastic from bamboo is reported in Nature Communications this week. The bioplastic resembles oil-based plastics in strength, shapability, and thermal stability but can biodegrade in soil within 50 days, presenting a new pathway toward … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Abandoned land drives dangerous heat in Houston, researchers find

On a scorching Texas afternoon, some Houston neighborhoods heat up far faster than others. New research from Texas A&M University shows vacant and abandoned land is a big reason why. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

The world's snow leopards are very similar genetically—findings suggest that doesn't bode well for their future

There are relatively few snow leopards in the world, and it has likely been that way for a long time, a new study indicates. This situation increases their risk of extinction in a changing environment. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Internet favors the development of flexible identities among language learners

A review reveals that the interplay between technology, identity, and languages involves and encourages multiple identities, language mixing, and support for minority languages. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Sustainable consumption needs more social pressure, study says

This year, Earth Overshoot Day fell on July 24—the date when humanity exhausted all the natural resources that Earth can regenerate in a single year. This milestone highlights the unsustainable pace at which we consume resources. Numerous studies confirm the severity of the ecolo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Considering the risk of wildlife-spread diseases during ecosystem restoration

Ecosystem restoration projects aim to restore biodiversity and associated compromised ecosystem services. Evidence is persuasive of the increased risks of zoonotic diseases with degradation and disturbances. However, the scientific literature on the mitigating effects of ecosyste … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

More women to win Nobel science prizes in future: Former laureate

More women will win Nobel prizes in the science disciplines in future as their numbers in labs and research teams grow, 2023 physics prize laureate Anne L'Huillier told AFP on Tuesday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Neutron scanning of coral fossils reveals Earth's hidden climate history

A University of Sydney student has developed a completely new way to peer inside coral fossils to recover lost records of past climate change. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

AI adoption jumps to 84% among researchers as expectations undergo significant 'reality check'

Wiley today announced key findings from its second ExplanAItions study, revealing a major course correction taking place. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Tory plan to scrap net zero target puts UK climate leadership at risk

In the mid-2000s, soon after becoming Conservative leader, David Cameron hugged a husky on a trip to the Arctic, in what was widely described as an attempt to "detoxify" the Tory brand. Eighteen years later, Kemi Badenoch has promised to scrap the law that once made that rebrandi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Smartphones manipulate our emotions and trigger our reflexes. No wonder we're addicted

The frequency and length of daily phone use continues to rise, especially among young people. It's a global concern, driving recent decisions to ban phones in schools in Canada, the United States and elsewhere. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Observing quantum weirdness in our world: Nobel physics explained

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three scientists on Tuesday for discovering that a bizarre barrier-defying phenomenon in the quantum realm could be observed on an electrical circuit in our classical world. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Global biodiversity decline demands urgent, society-wide changes, experts warn

Human-caused biodiversity loss has accelerated over the past 50 years. An opinion article published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by a team of international authors, including Anne Larigauderie, former Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversit … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Gaia solves mystery of tumbling asteroids and finds new way to probe their interiors

Whether an asteroid is spinning neatly on its axis or tumbling chaotically, and how fast it is doing so, has been shown to be dependent on how frequently it has experienced collisions. The findings, presented at the recent EPSC-DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki, are based on data … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Study is first to show whether nesting heat affects sea turtle hatchling 'IQ'

As sand temperatures continue to rise, concerns about the future of sea turtles are growing. Hotter nests not only skew sex ratios—producing more females—but also reduce hatchling survival, slow growth, and increase the likelihood of physical deformities. Yet one important and of … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

High nitrate levels found in rural NZ drinking water

While publicly registered drinking water must meet government standards and regulations, people accessing private groundwater bores and springs supplying 25 or fewer people have no requirements to test their drinking water. Most of these groundwater self-supplies are found in rur … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Deep learning tool developed to unravel molecular mechanisms of convergent evolution

Convergent evolution—where distinct species independently evolve similar traits or functions, such as the wings of birds and bats—has long fascinated biologists. Now, a research team led by Prof. Zou Zhengting from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Tracking microplastics from sea to body

On the edge of California's Monterey Bay, ecologist Matthew Savoca and a team of volunteers sift through sand and seawater for microplastics, one of the planet's most pervasive forms of pollution. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Metal bends the rules by combining electrical conductivity with optical frequency-doubling properties

An international research team led by the University of Bayreuth has discovered a metal that combines electrical conductivity with internal polarity. This enables it to exhibit second harmonic generation—an optical effect typically observed only in non-metals. The finding is of p … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Inexpensive multifunctional composite could pave way to circular economy

Meeting global energy demands while mitigating environmental harm remains a major challenge, as many current solutions rely on expensive and toxic noble metals. In a recent study, researchers from Japan successfully developed a novel copper–cobalt oxide composite anchored on nitr … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

New method boosts protein production from engineered cells

University of Warwick research demonstrates how to engineer "cell factories" that last longer and produce more chemicals, without needing antibiotics or complex engineering methods, paving the way for sustainable biotech that lasts. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

AI tensor network-based computational framework cracks a 100-year-old physics challenge

Researchers from The University of New Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a novel computational framework that addresses a longstanding challenge in statistical physics. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

The Euro 'stablecoin': How this new crypto venture could threaten the Eurozone's already fragile economy

On 25 September 2025, it was announced that 9 European banks, including UniCredit, ING and CaixaBank, have launched a consortium to issue a euro stablecoin—a cryptocurrency with a value pegged to the euro. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Flexibility is function: How unstructured protein segments regulate biological functions

Researchers have discovered how unstructured segments of surface proteins regulate the biological function of a cell. Their study, published in Nature Communications, sheds new light on the interplay between G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)—located in the membranes of nearly a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Four ways virtual reality can help communities heal after disasters

When natural disasters strike, they shatter lives, disrupt routines and loosen the emotional ties people have with the places they call home. For the Italian towns of Amatrice and Accumoli, devastated by a 6.2 earthquake in 2016, the damage extended far beyond bricks and mortar. … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Physicists solve mystery of loop current switching in kagome metals

Quantum metals are metals where quantum effects—behaviors that normally only matter at atomic scales—become powerful enough to control the metal's macroscopic electrical properties. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

'Whisper networks' don't work as well online as off. Women are better able to look out for each other in person

Whisper networks are informal channels that women use to warn each other about sexual harassment, abuse or assault. The reason they work isn't because they are secret—they work because they are contextual. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Researchers document 116 gastropod species in Vietnam national park

Scientists from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, as part of an international research team, have studied the land snail and slug fauna in northern Vietnam's Cuc Phuong National Park. The now-published findings document an enormous diversity of different gastropod species, many o … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Frequent wildfires and heat intensify air quality issues in American megacities

Air quality in America's largest cities has steadily improved thanks to tighter regulations on key sources of particulate pollution. However, increased heat, wildfire smoke and other emerging global drivers of urban aerosol pollution are now combining to create a new set of chall … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Human intuition fuels AI-driven quantum materials discovery

Many properties of the world's most advanced materials are beyond the reach of quantitative modeling. Understanding them also requires a human expert's reasoning and intuition, which can't be replicated by even the most powerful artificial intelligence, mixed with fortuitous acci … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago