A bacterial toolkit for colonizing plants

Using a novel experimental approach, Max Planck researchers have discovered a core set of genes required by commensal bacteria to colonize their plant hosts. The findings published in Nature Communications may have broad relevance for understanding how bacteria establish successf … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Antarctic krill head south: Scientists fear the movement will have a negative impact on predators

Some populations of Antarctic krill are shifting south, closer to Antarctica, as ocean warming and sea-ice changes alter their habitat. Scientists fear the movement of krill will have a negative impact on predators like whales, seals and penguins, and alter broader ocean ecosyste … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

'X-ray vision' for investigation of mRNA nanomedicines

A new technology co-developed at EMBL Hamburg provides new insights into mRNA pharmaceuticals and other nanomedicines, which can be helpful for the development of new products | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

A new inactive form of p38α protein discovered

p38α protein, a key enzyme in the regulation of various cellular functions, plays a crucial role in some diseases, including cancer, chronic inflammation, and neurodegenerative conditions. Since the discovery of p38α, various pharmaceutical companies and numerous research groups … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

New strategy reveals 'full chemical complexity' of quantum decoherence

In quantum mechanics, particles can exist in multiple states at the same time, defying the logic of everyday experiences. This property, known as quantum superposition, is the basis for emerging quantum technologies that promise to transform computing, communication, and sensing. … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Analysis of ancient Scythian leather samples shows two were made from human skin

A multi-institutional team of anthropologists has discovered that two pieces of ancient Scythian leather excavated at sites in Ukraine were made from human skin. In their project, reported on the open-access site PLOS ONE, the group tested an account by the Greek historian Herodo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Deep-sea octopus squid give up their secrets to a healthy, varied diet

Flinders University researchers have taken a look at why the large Dana octopus squid, which can weigh up to 160kg and measure 2.3 meters long, is so popular on sperm whales' menu. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Research suggests climate change will disrupt many age-old partnerships between aspen trees and fungi

Standing in an aspen grove, surrounded by slender white trunks and a canopy of leaves that rustle in the slightest breeze, it's easy to think only of the trees. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Single-celled protists in the guts of animals thrive without mitochondria, study finds

Almost all eukaryotic organisms, from plants and animals to fungi, can't survive without mitochondria, which generate chemical energy using oxygen. However, a new study by Lukáš Novák and Vladimír Hampl of Charles University, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, finds that mul … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Scientists construct a synthetic yeast genome

Chromosomes are long DNA molecules that collectively form a genome, containing all the genetic material of an organism. Advances in technology have allowed scientists to redesign and construct different chromosomal sequences, facilitating the study of the link between gene variat … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Newly discovered hedgehog species diverged from others more than a million years ago

Researchers at Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, China, have announced the discovery of a new species within the hedgehog genus Mesechinus. The eastern China hedgehog species was found to be distinct from other regional hedgehogs across morphological and phylogenetic characteristics … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Enhanced antioxidant activities unveiled in diverse water-soluble lignin-carbohydrate complexes

A recent study delves into unlocking enhanced antioxidant potential within water-soluble lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCCs), marked by their rich polysaccharide content. This study underscores the imperative need for advancements in the antioxidant activity of water-soluble LCC … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

The eBse model: A new perspective on dark energy and inflation

A new Scientific Reports study proposes an extension of the electron Born self-energy (eBse) model, unveiling a mechanism for cosmic inflation driven by a constant potential energy density, thereby challenging the conventional cosmological paradigm. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Southern California coastal wetlands would benefit from proposed $60 million federal program

Two local nonprofit leaders are praising Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, and others in Congress for introducing a bipartisan bill that would authorize $60 million annually to protect coastal wetlands. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Washington sets aside 2,000 acres of forest for conservation, cancels timber sale near Elwha River

Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz has announced a proposal to conserve some 2,000 acres of state forest land. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Release of five wolves in the Colorado mountains begins first-of-its kind state reintroduction effort

Five wolves dashed out of crates and into the Colorado landscape on Monday, culminating three years of work to implement a first-of-its-kind reintroduction of the controversial predator to the state. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Trust or distrust? There is an alternative mindset for confronting disinformation, argues researcher

In the face of rampant disinformation, Professor Ruth Mayo from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem delivers a fresh perspective on the cognitive mindsets influencing our susceptibility to false information. Her comprehensive review challenges the prevailing belief that trust or d … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Microwaves heat the soil to eliminate pests and help farmers manage soil diseases

A research team led by Dr. Sunshin Jung at the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has developed a breakthrough technology that effectively eliminates pests without the use of pesticides and protects farms from soil diseases by using microwave heating, the core mech … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Researchers fear the British spoken 'r' is ready to roll away from the last bastion of rhoticity

How do you pronounce your "r"s towards the ends of words like Shearer, purr, nerd and pore? And what about those in car, bird and her? | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Research argues that Occam's razor is an 'essential factor that distinguishes science from superstition'

Occam's razor—the principle that when faced with competing explanations, we should choose the simplest that fits the facts—is not just a tool of science. Occam's razor is science, insists a renowned molecular geneticist from the University of Surrey. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin sets new launch attempt for Tuesday

Blue Origin said it would try again on Tuesday to launch a rocket and return to space for the first time in more than a year, after scrubbing a mission for last-minute technical reasons. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Rescue teams evacuate flood-ravaged Australian town

Rescue teams on Tuesday evacuated a flood-ravaged town in northeastern Australia, racing to airlift hundreds of people to safety before they run out of food and water. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Mapping bedbugs: S Korean blockchain engineer fights infestation with data

When news broke about a bedbug outbreak in his native South Korea, 29-year-old blockchain engineer and self-professed insectophobe Kang Jae-gu got straight to work—on the data. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

The feline frontier: NASA sends cat video from deep space

NASA on Monday announced it had used a state-of-the-art laser communication system on a spaceship 19 million miles (31 million kilometers) away from Earth—to send a high-definition cat video. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Iceland volcano erupts weeks after thousands were evacuated from a town on Reykjanes Peninsula

A volcano erupted Monday night on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula, turning the sky orange and putting the country's civil defense on high alert. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Disadvantaged children's struggles at school have 'little to do' with character, attitude or a lack of 'growth mindset'

The relative underperformance of disadvantaged students at school has little do with them lacking the "character," attitude, or mindset of their wealthier peers, despite widespread claims to the contrary, new research indicates. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Barbie should expand her range of medical and scientific professions, suggests study

Barbie should consider expanding her medical and scientific careers into areas where women and other under-represented groups remain a minority, suggests a study published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Research team discovers how to sabotage antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs'

Antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" that can defeat efforts to kill them are an urgent public health crisis, and according to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur each year. Researchers across the world are scrambling to meet t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

New study aims to reduce the time required to implement geologic sequestration sites for carbon capture

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide, is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. While CCS is an essential tool in decarbonizing th … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Special schools feel like 'bookends' to UK's national education policy, says research

New research from the University of Nottingham has found that national education policies can make special schools feel like a 'bookend." | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Recent immigrants saw biggest spike in mental distress as anti-immigrant sentiment increased, find researchers

Anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies are widely known to have harmful impacts on mental health, but a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research has revealed large disparities in rates of serious psychological distress across immigrant subgroups in Californi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Oceanography, sea floor mapping and satellite combine to map world's strongest current

From space to the sea floor, an Australian and international research voyage has mapped a highly energetic "hotspot" in the world's strongest current simultaneously by ship and satellite, and uncovered an underwater mountain range. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

International recognition played a crucial role in giving Libyan political actors sovereignty, study shows

Libya's various governments in the past decade have played a crucial role in the shaping the course of the conflict in the country, a new study shows. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Public opinion polls may not be as straightforward as you think

Public opinion polls are often considered "the will of the people" but a new study on the role of polls in South Korea shows that they may not always be that transparent. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Machine learning could help scientists understand why birds are eating plastic

Seabirds in the Pacific Ocean are eating plastic and feeding it to their chicks. But we know precious little about why the birds are doing this. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Hotter weather caused by climate change could mean more mosquitos, according to study

A warmer environment could mean more mosquitos as it becomes harder for their predators to control the population, according to a recent study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Meal sharing for a longer life? Insects may hold the secret

Insect species which are closely related and eat a similar balance of nutrients in their diet live longer than those that don't, according to new research from the University of Aberdeen. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Scientists are recommending IceCube should be eight times bigger

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, operated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-M), located at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica, is one of the most ambitious neutrino observatories in the world. Behind this observatory is the IceCube Collaboration, an int … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Giant bacterium powers itself with unique processes

Not all bacteria are created equal. Most are single-celled and tiny, a few ten-thousandths of a centimeter long. But bacteria of the Epulopiscium family are large enough to be seen with the naked eye and 1 million times the volume of their better-known cousins, E. coli. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Unleashing canine travel: Hospitality, tourism sector urged to adapt to dog-friendly travel demands

Becoming more dog-friendly could be a gold mine for the hospitality and tourism industry, according to new research from the University of Surrey. The research team has urged tourism providers to seize the opportunities offered by a thriving market, reflecting the substantial imp … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Study unveils hidden driver of economic volatility: Central bank discretion

In the last article of his prolific career, the late Marvin Goodfriend, who held the Allan H. Meltzer Professorship of Political Economy at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business and was a lifelong student of inflation and central bank policy, identified a subtle yet signifi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Research explores cell-based theory of consciousness and what it entails

Humans and other animals with brains perhaps aren't the only beings on the planet to experience consciousness, says a study in the journal EMBO Reports. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Apple tree conversion to narrow walls via hedging, root pruning

Fruit trees are pruned to maintain a desired tree shape and size to increase light penetration into the canopy, thereby enhancing fruit quality and flower bud development. Most modern apple orchards consist of high-density plantings, and they must be managed to maximize light int … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Addressing post-harvest storage issues of Shiranui mandarins

Citrus packed and marketed in the United States is generally washed and sanitized on a commercial packing line for decay control, food safety, and appearance reasons. The purpose of a new study was to evaluate the use of different coating protocols and storage temperatures suitab … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Several groups of birds and mammals avoid wind turbines, finds review

While wind power is an important part of the green transition, its downsides include the disturbances caused by wind turbines in animal habitats. According to the international review of the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), many bird and mammal groups avoid wind power. … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

America's native population arises from a single wave of Asian migration, suggest dental anthropologists

For more than 50 years, dental anthropologists have studied variation in the shape of human teeth to study the patterns of migration that people took as they populated the world. The last major continental migration event took place about 16,000 years ago, when humans first moved … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Could smart speakers protect women against intimate partner violence?

New research from Monash University examines the practical, ethical and political challenges of using smart home technologies to protect women from intimate partner violence in their own homes. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago

Study finds atmospheric pollutants in São Paulo exceeded recommended levels even at the height of the pandemic

People who live in São Paulo city in Brazil certainly recall an event that occurred on August 19, 2019, when dark clouds covered the sky and day turned into night. The phenomenon was not caused by local pollution or emissions produced in São Paulo state but by a massive influx of … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 11 months ago