Can we trust students to collect data ready to use in scientific research?

Recent efforts to improve on the openness and transparency in science have already begun paying off towards greater integrity in the way researchers do and report science. It is now common practice for scientists to pre-register their studies and to openly share their materials a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Out of the shell: Taxonomic classification of a novel snail native to Japan

In Japan, a peculiar gastropod species was discovered more than three decades ago, gaining attention upon being labeled as "vulnerable" or "near threatened" in several government and local red lists. This species, referred to as Ka-wa-tare-kawa-zanshō in Japanese, remained undesc … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Creation of a climate adapted urban oasis through the hyperlocal lens—Palm Springs Downtown Park in California, USA

Palm Springs Downtown Park is an inviting 1.5-acre urban oasis for residents and visitors to Palm Springs, a design-forward desert destination nestled along the base of the San Jacinto Mountains along the southwestern boundary of the Coachella Valley in California's Sonoran Deser … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Collaborative review unveils the potential of graphene in advancing nitride semiconductor technology

In a comprehensive review, researchers from Soochow University, Beijing Graphene Institute and Xiamen Silan Advanced Compound Semiconductor Co., Ltd. have collaborated to provide a systematic overview of the progress and potential applications of graphene as a buffer layer for ni … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Can golf courses help save the planet? Ask a herd of wild pigs

An Arizona golf course, so picture-perfect it was described as "the Imax of golf", was wantonly trashed by intruders in the autumn of 2023. But no, this was not Just Stop Oil back for another round, nor the result of a disgruntled golfer. In fact, it was the work of a squadron of … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Here, there, everywhere: Environmental DNA clues to biodiversity

Traces of life in the environment reveal ecosystem health, prompting a scientific hunt for them. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Larger and more frequent solar storms will make for potential disruptions and spectacular auroras on Earth

Bright auroras, with dancing lights in the sky, characterize the clear winter nights of northern Canada. Longer nights during the fall and winter also favor seeing more auroras, but the show is best outside of light-polluted cities. Impressive auroral events allowed bright aurora … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Global warming intensifies typhoon-induced extreme precipitation over East Asia

Last year, Typhoon Hinnamnor, which caused 36 fatalities, gained notoriety as the first super typhoon that developed at a high latitude as 25°N since Korea Meteorological Administration records began. This year in Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do, an unanticipated intense downpour caused … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

The secret world of puddles

As the new year arrived in 2016, my home city of Newcastle upon Tyne was briefly the center of global attention—for a puddle. The Drummond Puddle, as it was grandly known, was a watery hazard placed perfectly where converging footpaths funneled a daily stream of victims to their … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

I collect marsupial scat—and a crack team of volunteers across Australia helps me out

I thought convincing my husband of the merits of my returning to study just as he had retired would be a very tricky sell. So his enthusiasm for the idea caught me by surprise. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Beyond the sleigh: Reindeer and their bonds with Arctic peoples

The relationship between indigenous peoples in the Arctic region and their herds reveals a rich history and provides clues about how to protect it. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

One-pot fermentative growth of predatory bacteria

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest threats to human health and life. With the alarming rise in antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens and the decline in antibiotic development and discovery, experts predicted that ant … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Silky shark observed with regrown fin after extensive injury

A marine biologist at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, has documented a case of a silky shark with a regenerated dorsal fin, after much of it was lost due to maiming by an unknown person. In her paper published in Journal of M … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Novel toxic gas sensor improves the limit of nitrogen dioxide detection

Researchers at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science developed a toxic gas sensor with the world's highest sensitivity. This sensor can precisely monitor nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic gas in the atmosphere, at room temperature with low power consumption and ultr … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

'Ecology on steroids': How Australia's First Nations managed Australia's ecosystems

First Nations people please be advised this article speaks of racially discriminating moments in history, including the distress and death of First Nations people. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Model suggests some asteroids that come close to Earth are torn apart by its gravity

A pair of astronomers, one with Luleå University of Technology's Asteroid Engineering Laboratory, in Finland, the other with the Southwest Research Institute, in the U.S., has found via computer simulation, that some large asteroids that come close to Earth can be torn apart by i … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Scientists chart diversity, function and activity of global supraglacial DNA viruses

Supraglacial environments mainly consist of four main types of habitats for microbes and viruses, including snow, ice, meltwater and cryoconites (the granular sediment on glacier surfaces). A new paper published in Science Bulletin reveals that there were more than 10,000 viral s … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Artificial design and biosynthesis of a single-domain catenated dihydrofolate reductase

This study was led by Prof. Wen-Bin Zhang (College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University & Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence) and Dr. Jing Fang (College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University). A single-domain protein catenane refer … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Why quantum mechanics defies physics

The full, weird story of the quantum world is much too large for a single article, but the period from 1905, when Einstein first published his solution to the photoelectric puzzle, to the 1960's, when a complete, well-tested, rigorous, and insanely complicated quantum theory of t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Meet the infrared telescopes that paved the way for NASA's Webb

The Webb telescope has opened a new window onto the universe, but it builds on missions going back 40 years, including Spitzer and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Scientists study ecological response of phytoplankton to nutrient deposition of Saharan dust

A new study, published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Marine Science, reports unprecedented evidence of ecological responses by calcifying phytoplankton to the deposition of nutrients provided by the Saharan dust. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Safety of aquatic animals as human protein sources amid SARS-CoV-2 concerns

Aquatic animals have historically constituted a vital and nutritious dietary component for humans, contributing to nearly 20% of animal protein intake for approximately 3.3 billion people. Unlike terrestrial animals, there has been no evidence indicating that aquatic animals serv … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Piezoelectric-enhanced p-n junctions in photoelectrochemical systems

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a potentially feasible strategy for converting solar energy to green hydrogen. However, current PEC systems suffer from relatively low charge separation efficiency and sluggish water oxidation reaction, which prevent them from meeting … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

First release of the largest extragalactic HI catalog

The FAST All Sky HI survey (FASHI) was designed to cover the entire sky observable by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), spanning approximately 22,000 square degrees of declination between -14 deg and +66 deg, and in the frequency range of 1050–1450 … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Korean artificial sun, KSTAR, completes divertor upgrades for long pulse operations

The Korean artificial sun, KSTAR, has completed divertor upgrades, allowing it to operate for extended periods sustaining high-temperature plasma over 100 million degrees. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

In coastal communities, sea level rise may leave some isolated

Amid the threat of dramatic sea level rise, coastal communities face unprecedented dangers, but a new study reveals that as flooding intensifies, disadvantaged populations will be the ones to experience some of the most severe burdens of climate change. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

A dense quark liquid is distinct from a dense nucleon liquid

Atomic nuclei are made of nucleons (like protons and neutrons), which themselves are made of quarks. When crushed at high densities, nuclei dissolve into a liquid of nucleons and, at even higher densities, the nucleons themselves dissolve into a quark liquid. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Breakthrough in nitrile activation is promising pathway for anticancer precursor synthesis

A research team, affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a novel method to produce a selective anticancer precursor substance that targets and eliminates cancer cells. This groundbreaking method, previously existing only in theory, has now been experimentally proven for the first time … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Scientists discover new method for generating metal nanoparticles to use as catalysts

A team of researchers from the ITACA Institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Research Institute of Chemical Technology, a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the UPV, has discovered a new method for the manufacture of metal … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Permian marine mass extinction linked to volcanism-induced anoxia

Mass extinctions are rapid global decreases in Earth's biodiversity, with five key events identified over the planet's history, arguably the most famous of which occurred ~66 million years ago during the Cretaceous, which brought the rein of dinosaurs to an end. However, the larg … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Researchers find large diversity of protists in the Parabasalia phylum in both mice and humans

A team of pathologists, geneticists, immunologists and engineers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has found a previously unrecognized diversity of protists in the Parabasalia phylum in both mice and humans. In their paper published on the open-access site of the jou … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Zwicky Transient Facility detects four ultracompact binaries

By investigating dwarf novae identified by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), astronomers have discovered four binary systems. The objects turned out to be eclipsing accreting ultracompact white dwarf binaries. The finding was reported in a paper published December 15 on the pr … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Lula vetos part of Brazil's controversial pesticide bill

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday vetoed key parts of a controversial law that is set to loosen the rules around the use of pesticides in the country. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Venezuela oil giant says 80 percent of oil spill cleaned up

Venezuela's state oil company said Thursday that an oil spill at a refinery on the country's western coastline was no longer "active" and that more than 80 percent of the affected area had been cleaned up. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Bangladesh's 'tiny houses' tackle giant flood challenge

An award-winning architect in Bangladesh, one of the nations most at risk from flooding driven by climate change, has developed an ingenious two-floor housing solution to help people survive what scientists warn is a growing threat. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

NREL research quantifies losses from cardboard, paper waste

Piles of cardboard and paper littering America's landfills represent $4 billion in lost economic value, according to a new analysis by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

A carbon-lite atmosphere could be a sign of water and life on other terrestrial planets, study finds

Scientists at MIT, the University of Birmingham, and elsewhere say that astronomers' best chance of finding liquid water, and even life on other planets, is to look for the absence, rather than the presence, of a chemical feature in their atmospheres. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

New research suggests 'religiosity' can help Black teenagers avoid delinquent behavior

Black teenagers in urban environments who were more involved in religious activities were less likely to engage in alcohol and substance use and other delinquent behavior, according to two recent studies by social sciences researchers at Case Western Reserve University. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Researchers shed new light on how fog forms in mountainous areas

Of the world's various weather phenomena, fog is perhaps the most mysterious, forming and dissipating near the ground with fluctuations in air temperature and humidity interacting with the terrain itself. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

SpaceX launches secretive US military spacecraft on research mission

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket blasted back into space on Thursday night to ferry the US military's secretive X-37B drone to a research mission. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Court orders New Caledonia to stop culling sharks

A court in New Caledonia on Thursday ordered the authorities to stop hunting sharks, saying multiple culls were a "disproportionate" response to any danger to swimmers. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

As tree species face decline, 'assisted migration' gains popularity in Pacific Northwest

As native trees in the Pacific Northwest die off due to climate changes, the U.S. Forest Service, Portland, Oregon and citizen groups around Puget Sound are turning to a deceptively simple climate adaptation strategy called "assisted migration." | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Beyond boundaries: Exploring exotic nuclear landscapes and their cosmic implications

Researchers at Peking University in China have successfully observed the elusive 02+ state of 8He, revealing a novel cluster structure with two strongly correlated neutron pairs. This finding provides insights into exotic nuclear structures and their potential implications for un … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

'What's on today's menu?': Why it's important to study the trophic behavior of local predators

Trophic ecology is the study of the food chain. On Tenerife in the Canary Islands, feral cats feast chiefly on rabbits, mice, rats, and native birds and reptiles. But new research shows that since 1986, the island's wild cats have experienced a significant shift in their dietary … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

What's the truth behind the 'shoplifting epidemic'? Six key questions answered

According to media reports, in 2023 the UK experienced an unprecedented wave of shoplifting. The theory goes that the cost of living crisis and poor police responses are driving a crime wave. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

New reptile on the block: A new iguana species discovered in China

A new iguana joins Asia's rich reptile fauna, officially described as new to science in the open-access journal ZooKeys. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Indian astronomers explore open cluster NGC 6940 with AstroSat

Using the AstroSat spacecraft, astronomers from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India, have investigated a nearby open cluster NGC 6940. Results of the observational campaign, published December 21 on the pre-print server arXiv, shed more light on the pro … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Vietnam's Ha Long Bay losing its hue

Vietnam's Ha Long Bay is losing its famous turquoise hue as pollution and over-development threaten its wildlife and picture-perfect image. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago