Suppressed star formation in the early universe

Massive clusters of galaxies, some with more mass than a hundred Milky Way galaxies, have been detected from cosmic epochs as early as about three billion years after the big bang. Their ongoing star formation makes them bright enough to be detected at these distances. These kind … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Focus on nuclear waste chemistry could help federal cleanup site challenges

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Washington State University teamed up to investigate the complex dynamics of low-water liquids that challenge nuclear waste processing at federal cleanup sites. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Many cats and dogs carrying fleas with high levels of bacteria, finds Big Flea Project

As many as one in four cats and one in seven dogs are carrying fleas, and about 11 per cent of these fleas are infected with potentially pathogenic bacteria, according to a large-scale analysis of owned animals in the UK. Flea bites can be painful and can cause allergic reactions … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

The regulatory role of ethical labelling

A Victoria University of Wellington study has found ethical certification has become a 'tick in the box' exercise in some industries, and fails to address underlying sustainability and equality injustices. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Better microring sensors for optical applications

Tweaking the design of microring sensors enhances their sensitivity without adding more implementation complexity. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

What happens when a raindrop hits a puddle?

Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

A dance of two: tailoring interactions between remote fluids of excitons

Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

AI develops human-like number sense – taking us a step closer to building machines with general intelligence

Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

As Zuckerberg visits, France threatens new rules on Facebook

France welcomed Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg on Friday with a threat of sweeping new regulation. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

The revolution of plantoids

Robots are usually inspired by humans and animals. But the next frontier is plantoids, plant robots that move and explore the environment with smart sensors. Researcher Barbara Mazzolai has been developing plantoid technology. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Scientists prove gold purifying process used in medieval West Africa works

Humble fragments of clay crucibles and coin molds flecked with gold excavated by a joint team of British and Malian archaeologists in 2005 led archaeologist Sam Nixon, in consultation with Thilo Rehren, a specialist on ancient materials and technologies, to theorize how West Afri … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

White people struggle to perceive emotion on black people's faces

An international study, in which the University of Granada (UGR) participated, has found that white people have difficulty distinguishing emotions on black people's faces—a problem that does not appear to arise the other way around. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

How I stumbled on a lost plant just north of Antarctica

Sunny interludes punctuate showers of rain, hail and sleet as furious winds sweep clouds across the sky. It's a typical summer day on Macquarie Island, a sliver of ocean floor that rose more than 2.5 km from the depths of the Southern Ocean, halfway between Tasmania and Antarctic … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

How global cities are changing international trade

The geographic diversification of international trade and investment has become a public policy goal of many countries, including Canada. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Promoting smarter ways to mine within fragile forests

Many of the planet's most valuable mineral resources are to be found within and beneath forested landscapes. And our insatiable appetite for material goods and services—everything from basic essentials to the latest, must-have gadget—is driving global demand for industrial quanti … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

The grandmother effect suggests that proximity is a factor in family size

The human species is one of the very few, along with orcas and pilot whales, where females cease to be fertile after approximately 45 years of age. Since the ultimate goal of any living organism is to spread their genes, the evolution of menopause in women has been quite puzzling … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Huge growth in use of quartz for tools shows sophistication of ancient communities

A growth in the use of crystal quartz to make tools thousands of years ago shows the sophistication of ancient communities, according to new research. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Researchers suggest coal ash and tailings dam disasters could be prevented

A trio of researchers from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, the University of the Witwatersrand and Geosyntec has published a Perspectives piece in the journal Science. Carlos Santamarina, Luis Torres-Cruz and Robert Bachus note in the article that many liv … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Researchers identify rare 2-D insulator with ferromagnetic properties

Collaborating scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Princeton University have discovered a new layered ferromagnetic semiconductor, a rare type of material that holds great promise for next-generation electronic technol … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

We must rip up our environmental laws to address the extinction crisis

Humans are causing the Earth's sixth mass extinction event, with an estimated one million species at risk of extinction. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New report recommends greater transparency in research

Lorena Barba, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, recently presented a congressionally-mandated report to federal lawmakers and experts that will guide future national policy on science and engineering r … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Children are our future, and the planet's. Here's how you can teach them to take care of it

As the global climate crisis accelerates, early childhood teachers and researchers are considering whether and how to approach the issue with children. Should we talk openly about the crisis and encourage children to change their daily practices? Or is there a risk that in doing … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

A mathematical method for calculating black-hole properties from gravitational-wave data

Sean McWilliams, an assistant professor at West Virginia University, has developed a mathematical method for calculating black hole properties from gravitational wave data. He has written a paper describing his method and posted it on the arXiv preprint server. The paper has been … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Carry-over credits and carbon offsets are hot topics this election – but what do they actually mean?

Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Cancer cells can communicate over longer distances within the body

EPFL researchers have discovered that cancer cells use exosomes to communicate with each other and send information through the bloodstream. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for the use of cancer immunotherapy techniques. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New professor brings precision data to the dairy barn

The same technology that alerts a self-driving car that there's a pedestrian in the crosswalk could also warn a dairy farmer that a calf is getting sick—even if that calf is mingled among dozens of healthy ones. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Tunisia seizes illegal red coral worth two million euros

Tunisian authorities said Friday they had seized 671 kilogrammes of illegally harvested red coral worth two million euros and arrested 10 people on suspicion of trafficking. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Computing faster with quasi-particles

Majorana particles are very peculiar members of the family of elementary particles. First predicted in 1937 by the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana, these particles belong to the group of so-called fermions, a group that also includes electrons, neutrons and protons. Majorana fe … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Researchers quicken drug discovery method via zombie-like cells

Researchers are using zombie-like cells that behave normally on the outside, but are filled with magnetic particles inside, to screen potential drugs from natural products. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Technology reveals previously undetectable protein signaling activity in diabetes, cancer

Proteins are the workhorses of the cell. Their activity is often controlled by adding or removing chemicals called phosphates, like switching an electrical current on or off. Measuring how many proteins are phosphorylated, or turned on, has been a roadblock for research. Because … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Ambient plant illumination could light the way for greener buildings

Buildings of the future may be lit by collections of glowing plants and designed around an infrastructure of sunlight harvesting, water transport, and soil collecting and composting systems. That's the vision behind an interdisciplinary collaboration between an MIT architecture p … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Invasive species are Australia's number-one extinction threat

This week many people across the world stopped and stared as extreme headlines announced that one eighth of the world's species – more than a million – are threatened with extinction. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

AgriLife Extension releases new publication on mowing warm-season turfgrass

Mow high, mow low, mow often … ever wonder what the best recommendations are to ensure a beautiful lawn? Not doing it right can be detrimental to warm-season turfgrass, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Low-cost way to explore groundwater resources could be game changer

UNSW Sydney water engineers have revealed that investigating and managing groundwater resources more sustainably can be achieved at lower cost by using existing Earth and atmospheric tidal data. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

How cytoplasm separates from yolk

The segregation of yolk from the surrounding cytoplasm in the very early fish embryo is a key process for the development of fish larva. To identify its underlying mechanisms, biologists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) teamed up with their colleag … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Transmission of divine knowledge in the sapiential Thanksgiving Psalms from Qumran

A recently completed doctoral dissertation in Old Testament studies supports a notion gained through prior research, according to which scribes and wisdom teachers had a central role in transmitting divine knowledge in the Second Temple period (approximately 200 BCE-70 CE). | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Discovery of the photosensor for yellow-green light-driven photosynthesis in cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria, a type of bacteria that perform photosynthesis, utilize a photosensor that regulates green and red light-harvesting antenna proteins for photosynthesis. A joint research team from Toyohashi University of Technology, the University of Tokyo, and the National Institu … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Setting a precedent in the use of artificial intelligence

Criminal sentencing could be fairer with the help of machine learning, according to Professor Dan Hunter. The Foundation Dean of Swinburne Law School, Hunter observed that sentencing generates a vast store of data, and the process is expensive for individuals and the system, maki … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

A plant hormone that speeds root growth could be a new agricultural tool

A molecule sold as a food additive has an underground role, too: helping roots grow faster. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Flame design in space may lead to soot-free fire

For decades, scientists have been able to burn fuels in a flame without creating any soot, and they think they know why. They've crunched the numbers and run experiments in high-tech facilities, but there's only one way to be certain about the fundamental relationship between fla … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Matter around a young star helps astronomers explore stellar history

Astronomers map the substance aluminum monoxide (AlO) in a cloud around a distant young star—Origin Source I. The finding clarifies some important details about how our solar system, and ultimately we, came to be. The cloud's limited distribution suggests AlO gas rapidly condense … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Leonardo da Vinci designed an ideal city that was centuries ahead of its time

The word "genius" is universally associated with the name of Leonardo da Vinci – a true Renaissance man, he embodied scientific spirit, artistic talent and humanist sensibilities. Exactly 500 years have passed since Leonardo died in his home at Château du Clos Lucé, outside Tours … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Modern economic theory explains prehistoric Mediterranean societies

A Florida State University professor's research suggests a theory by famed economist Thomas Piketty on present-day wealth inequality actually explains a lot about how smaller-scale societies in the prehistoric Mediterranean developed. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Directed evolution opens door to new antibiotics

In the ongoing arms race with humans and their antibiotics on one side, and bacteria with their ability to evolve defenses to antibiotics on the other, humans have enlisted a new ally—other bacteria. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

28 years old and closer than ever to the solving of the mistery of the Majorana particles

Gazibegović, Ph.D. candidate in the group of prof. Erik Bakkers at the department of Applied Physics, developed a device made of ultrathin networks of nanowires in the shape of "hashtags." This device allows pairs of Majorana particles to exchange position and keep track of the c … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

How life on Earth affected its inner workings

It is well known that life on Earth and the geology of the planet are intertwined, but a new study provides fresh evidence for just how deep—literally—that connection goes. Geoscientists at Caltech and UC Berkeley have identified a chemical signature in igneous rocks recording th … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Like submicroscopic spacecrafts: Graphene flakes to control neuron activity

Like in a science fiction novel, miniscule spacecrafts able to reach a specific site of the brain and influence the operation of specific types of neurons or drug delivery: Graphene flakes, the subject matter of the new study of the group of SISSA professor Laura Ballerini, open … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Your Uber has arrived, on Wall Street

Uber's next stop is the stock market, where it hopes to pick up more investors willing to bet on a ride-hailing market brimming with potential and conspicuously lacking in profits. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago