Neural network method can automatically identify rare heartbeat stars

Researchers from the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have unveiled a neural network-based automated method for identifying heartbeat stars—a rare type of binary star system. Their findings are published in The Astronomical Journal. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Solar fuel conundrum in iron-based systems nears solution

Solar energy stored in the form of fuel is something scientists hope could partially replace fossil fuels in the future. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden may have solved a long-standing problem that has hindered the development of sustainable solar fuels. If solar energy … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Artificial plant device purifies radioactive soil with sunlight alone

A research team successfully developed a solar-powered artificial plant device and rapidly purified soil contaminated with radioactive cesium. This device, which mimics plant transpiration, can collect cesium in leaves and purify it using sunlight alone without electric power or … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Using nanotechnology to target crop-munching pests and spare beneficial bugs

A bane of farmers' existence, it's estimated that plant-eating pests are responsible for the loss of up to 40% of pre-harvest yields globally. But a new generation of crop treatments that target only "bad" bugs could mean big gains for the Canadian agriculture sector, improving p … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Rare species can be mapped more accurately with new statistical approach

Information on Earth's biodiversity is increasingly collected using DNA-, image- and audio-based sampling. At the same time, new statistical analysis methods are being developed to make more out of the collected data, providing detailed information on Earth's biodiversity and its … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Human activity is choking Oman's fragile desert rivers, scientists warn

Ephemeral desert rivers known as wadis—lifelines for biodiversity and water in some of the world's driest landscapes—are being dangerously constricted by human activity, new research has found. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Cracking the nanoculture shell to unlock new frontiers in microbiome research

Tiny bioreactors, called nanocultures, are opening up new possibilities for microbiome research, especially in harsh and dynamic environments. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

CEOs 5 times more likely to survive fraud than a personal scandal, research finds

If the CEO of Astronomer had overseen tax fraud instead of being caught on a kiss cam cuddling his HR chief in an extramarital affair, he might still have a job. That's because, according to a new study, CEOs are five times more likely to be fired for personal misconduct than for … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Turkey facing worst drought in over 50 years

Turkey is experiencing its worst drought in over half a century, with rainfall dropping by 27% compared to the last three decades and even more in some regions, according to data published this week. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

New tensor network-based approach could advance simulation of quantum many-body systems

The quantum many body problem has been at the heart of much of theoretical and experimental physics over the past few decades. Even though we have understood the fundamental laws that govern the behavior of elementary particles for almost a century, the issue is that many interes … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Running dry: New study warns of extreme water scarcity in the coming decades

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications by researchers from the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in the Republic of Korea reveals that global warming is accelerating the risk of multi-year droughts that can lead to extreme wate … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Pianists' subtle finger movements influence variations in timbre, according to new study

While it is known that auditory characteristics like loudness and tempo are associated with the physical movements of musicians, more subtle features, like timbre (also known as the "tone color" or tonal quality), are not as well understood. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Scientists discover a new dinosaur from Argentina with a crocodile bone in its mouth

Scientists have discovered a new dinosaur from Argentina with powerful claws, feasting on an ancient crocodile bone. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Statistics don't lie—but they can be misleading

When it comes to deciding how significant a statistic is, Université de Montréal education professor Sébastien Béland is clear: "Our goal is to change practices in order to improve quality in the social sciences and humanities," he said. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Novel label-free biosensing platform advances monoclonal antibody biomanufacturing

A research team at the Terasaki Institute, led by Dr. Vadim Jucaud in collaboration with Dr. Jing Yong Ye from the University of Texas San Antonio, has developed a new microfluidic-based biosensing platform that allows monitoring cellular secretion of monoclonal antibody in real … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Looking for an environmentally friendly drinking straw? The answer may surprise you

Light as a feather and seemingly ubiquitous, plastic drinking straws tip the scales as environmental villains—clogging landfills, choking marine life and lasting for years. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Ball mill technique produces nanoscale scaffolds that filter PFAS

PFAS are fluorinated compounds found in many everyday products, such as outdoor clothing and cookware like Teflon pans. This is because PFAS are durable, heat-resistant and dirt-repellent. Their stability is precisely what leads to problems: although potentially harmful to our he … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Scientists visualize atomic structures in moiré materials

Researchers with the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have created an innovative method to visualize and analyze atomic structures within specially designed, ultrathin bilayer 2D materials. When precisely aligned at … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Climate change could erase 80% of whitebark pine's current habitat across the Rockies and Northwest

A new study, led by federal agencies in collaboration with the University of Colorado Denver, shows that the whitebark pine tree—an iconic, high-elevation tree that stretches from California's Sierra Nevada through the Cascades and Rockies and into Canada—could lose as much as 80 … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

European colonizers altered the genetic ancestry of Indigenous peoples in South Africa, study reveals

A genomic analysis of over 1,200 people from across South Africa reveals how colonial-era European, Indigenous Khoe-San peoples, and enslaved people contributed to the modern-day gene pool in South Africa. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Tracking the evolution of Taylor Swift's dialect offers a glimpse into the shifting nature of speech patterns

Taylor Swift is one of the biggest pop singers in history, influencing millions of fans with her music. Thanks to years of recorded interviews, she is also influencing how we understand the ways that people adopt accents and regional dialects. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Earth system engineering: New concept sheds light on how living organisms shape ecosystems on a global scale

University of Nebraska–Lincoln's S. Kathleen Lyons is providing a new framework—Earth system engineering—for examining how organisms, including humans, have fundamentally altered ecosystems on a global scale across hundreds, thousands or millions of years. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Gestures and intonation can boost comprehension in children with developmental language disorders

Developmental language disorder (DLD) affects around two children in each class. It hinders their acquisition and use of language, even if they do not have other auditory, intellectual or neurological problems, and are only affected in this aspect of language. A study led by rese … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Classroom support benefits found unequal as black male students show limited mental health gains

For Black boys living in the poorest neighborhoods, positive school experiences showed no significant effect on depressive symptoms, according to a Rutgers study. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Understanding the grisly group dynamics of people who hide bodies after a murder

Homicide cases where the victim's remains are hidden are particularly harmful to the victim's families and the community. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Housing stress takes a toll on mental health. Here's what we can do about it

Australia's housing crunch is no longer just an economic issue. Research clearly shows people who face housing insecurity are more likely to experience mental ill-health. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

CRISPRgenee: New method leads to a better understanding of cell functions

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for the development of CRISPR/Cas9, a method also known as "gene scissors," which enables researchers to better understand how human cells function and stay healthy. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have further developed CR … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Unbalanced partner markets linked to higher childlessness among Finnish men

Childlessness is becoming an increasingly important issue as birth trends are characterized by the postponement of starting a family and an increase in childless couples. The proportion of childless men is higher than that of women almost everywhere. In Finland, for example, the … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Fly through Gaia's 3D map of stellar nurseries

Scientists created the most accurate three-dimensional map of star-formation regions in our Milky Way galaxy, based on data from the European Space Agency's Gaia space telescope. This map will teach us more about these obscure cloudy areas, and the hot young stars that shape them … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Racism isn't innate—here are five psychological stages that may lead to it

Sadly, there are signs that racism is increasing across the world. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Monitoring sediment buildup in underwater bridge tunnels with the help of high-energy muons

Over 200 underwater bridge tunnels exist for vehicular traffic around the world, providing connectivity between cities. Once constructed, however, these tunnels are difficult to monitor and maintain, often requiring shutdowns or invasive methods that pose structural risks. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Businesses have a moral responsibility to stand up to autocrats

Aspiring autocrats are increasingly pressuring businesses to cooperate with their quest for wealth and power, such as by demanding they direct corporate funds towards their personal enrichment or fire personnel who are critical of them. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Geologists discover where energy goes during an earthquake

The ground-shaking that an earthquake generates is only a fraction of the total energy that a quake releases. A quake can also generate a flash of heat, along with a domino-like fracturing of underground rocks. But exactly how much energy goes into each of these three processes i … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Volcanoes can help us untangle the evolution of humans—here's how

How did humans become human? Understanding when, where and in what environmental conditions our early ancestors lived is central to solving the puzzle of human evolution. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

12,000-year-old smoked mummies reveal world's earliest evidence of human mummification

Smoke-drying mummification of human remains was practiced by hunter-gatherers across southern China, southeast Asia and beyond as far back as 12,000 years ago, my colleagues and I report in new research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Biologists identify plant-specific protein essential for survival

Despite their fundamental differences, plants, animals, and fungi share certain metabolic processes. Biologists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that a unique protein plays a key role in one such process—yet the protein is fo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

A wasp for the wild: Remote village discovery reveals new natural pest enemy

Meet Heinrichiellus natgeo, a newly discovered species of parasitoid wasp. The species was described by Dr. Ranjith and Dr. Gavin R. Broad (The Natural History Museum, London, UK). Genetic data helped them determine the new species' systematic placement, with the assistance of Dr … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

A rover to mine Martian volcanoes

Different parts of Mars have different advantages and disadvantages when it comes to their available resources, just like Earth. The polar caps are likely the most valuable in terms of their water content, which will be critical to any early stage crewed mission to the red planet … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Modeling violent terrorism as a tug of war between competing groups

In a world of multiple upsetting events, from natural disasters to civil wars, terrorist attacks stand out as particularly alarming. They are surprising, brutal, and generally target the seemingly innocent. Terrorist groups rely on the shock value of these attacks to gain attenti … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

'Inert' scandium unlocked as a powerful blue-light photocatalyst

Scientists at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) have revealed a new catalytic role for scandium, an element whose salts were long considered to be redox stable, i.e. not participating in redox reactions. Published in Nature Communications, their rese … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Eviction is a 'deliberate feature' of the housing system, says new book

A new book by Dr. Jessica Field from The University of Manchester has revealed that eviction is a "deliberate and enduring feature" of Britain's housing system, rather than simply being a consequence of a housing crisis. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

Ancient brown dwarf reveals cloud chemistry secrets

Deep in space, an ancient brown dwarf nicknamed "The Accident" has revealed the first-ever detection of a molecule that scientists have been searching for in planetary atmospheres for decades. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

MXene electrode material withstands seawater corrosion in hydrogen production

A research team has developed a composite catalyst using the novel material MXene that suppresses the generation of chloride ions—one of the key challenges in seawater electrolysis. This research outcome is expected to accelerate the practical application of seawater electrolysis … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 2 months ago

How tiny tweaks in music shape what we imagine

New research from the Sydney Music, Mind and Body Lab at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music has found that even the smallest of human touches in music can shape and enhance our imaginations. Mental imagery while listening to music often contains elaborate imagined narratives, sen … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 months ago

The older we get, the fewer favorite songs we have, study shows

Do you think that Spotify's suggestions for new music are getting stranger all the time? It may be because of you. In a unique study, 15 years of listening data shows that musical taste becomes more refined with age. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 months ago

'Bottlebrush' particles deliver big chemotherapy payloads directly to cancer cells

Using tiny particles shaped like bottlebrushes, MIT chemists have found a way to deliver a large range of chemotherapy drugs directly to tumor cells. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 months ago

Today more than ever, biodiversity needs single-species conservation

Through the federal Building Canada Act, "projects of national interest" are being fast-tracked while hundreds of major resource projects are already under construction or planned in the next decade. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 months ago

Enceladus's plumes: Experiment questions ocean origin of organics

Organic molecules detected in the watery plumes that spew out from cracks in the surface of Enceladus could be formed through exposure to radiation on Saturn's icy moon, rather than originating from deep within its sub-surface ocean. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 months ago