Why student experiments with generative AI matter for our collective learning

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT based on Large Language Models (LLMs) are revolutionizing the ways we think, learn and work. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Bay Area scientist with bees in his bonnet gives Gov. Newsom a buzz in his ear

Among the presidents of nations, high-profile dignitaries, and leaders of household-name companies like Visa, ExxonMobil and Microsoft who descended on San Francisco last week to speak at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation events was a Santa Cruz computer scientist who put a buzz … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Digitized records from wildlife centers show the most common ways that humans harm wild animals

At hundreds of wildlife rehabilitation centers across the U.S., people can learn about wild animals and birds at close range. These sites, which may be run by nonprofits or universities, often feature engaging exhibits, including "ambassador" animals that can't be released—an owl … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers: Health and education are closely linked—NZ needs to integrate them more in primary schools

Given the health and education challenges many New Zealand children face, it is surprising (and even depressing) how little crossover and collaboration there is between these two vital sectors. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

What is the true nature of the 'Matildas effect'? New research shows it is profound, but uneven

No event in Australian history has captured the country's imagination like the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. From coast to coast, Australians tuned in to witness the Matilda's historic tournament run, reaching the semi-finals for the first time in the team's history. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

A galaxy only 350 million years old has surprising amounts of metal

Astrophysicists working with the JWST have found a surprising amount of metal in a galaxy only 350 million years after the Big Bang. How does that fit in with our understanding of the universe? | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Bacteria found to contribute to the modulation of animal behavior

An increasingly important field of work in modern life sciences is the study of the symbiotic coexistence of animals, plants, and humans with their specific microbial populations. In recent years, researchers have gathered growing evidence that the composition and balance of the … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers: Oxygen in the St. Lawrence Estuary is decreasing and having a major impact on small animals living there

The waters of the St. Lawrence Estuary are running out of breath. The lack of oxygen in deep waters is affecting the organisms that live on the bottom of the estuary. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

'Your United States was normal': Has translation tech really made language learning redundant?

Every day, millions of people start the day by posting a greeting on social media. None of them expect to be arrested for their friendly morning ritual. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Really need those new shoes? Why you might spend up big at the Black Friday sales

If you're one of those people who line up for the Black Friday sales, jump online for Singles Day, or are thinking you'll queue outside the local department store on Boxing Day for the "real bargains," rest assured, you are not alone. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

How local communities in Indonesia's Gili islands are restoring coral ecosystems amid rising sea temperatures

This article is the second part of an in-depth science-based reporting series, supported by the Environmental Reporting from Asia-Pacific Island Countries grant by Internews' Earth Journalism Network. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

CRONT: Empowering optical tweezers with 'biometric eyes'

Optothermal nanotweezers, an innovative optical manipulation technique over the past decade, have revolutionized classical optical manipulation by efficiently capturing a broader spectrum of nanoparticles. While this technique has been primarily used for in-situ manipulation of n … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Sustainability transitions in energy, mobility, food: Research focus shifts to real-world change processes

Existing consumption and production systems, which use natural resources to meet societal needs for food, shelter, energy and health, are unsustainable. Although researchers from different disciplines have long investigated how these systems can become more sustainable, scientist … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Physicists model chromosome folding, reveal how loops affect spatial organization of the genome

Human chromosomes are long polymer chains that store genetic information. The nucleus of each cell contains the entire human genome (DNA) encoded on 46 chromosomes with a total length of about 2 meters. To fit into the microscopic cell nucleus and at the same time provide constan … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Quinoa research punctures 100-year-old theory of odd little 'water balloons'

Quinoa and many other extremely resilient plants are covered with strange balloon-like "bladders" that for 127 years were believed to be responsible for protecting them from drought and salt. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Study catalogs how dissolved inorganic carbon moves through southeast Alaska's waterways

Understanding carbon transport can offer important information about a changing climate. For instance, it can help scientists measure ocean acidification or other threats increased carbon levels pose to aquatic ecosystems. But one major, and often overlooked, source of carbon in … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Biden declares emergency over lead in water in US Virgin Islands

President Joe Biden declared an emergency over lead-in-water contamination in the U.S. Virgin Islands earlier this week after tests on St. Croix revealed levels more than 100 times the limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency—among the worst results a U.S. community has … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Team discovers rules for breaking into Pseudomonas

Researchers report in the journal Nature that they have found a way to get antibacterial drugs through the nearly impenetrable outer membrane of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that—once it infects a person—is notoriously difficult to treat. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

First experimental evidence of hopfions in crystals: Research opens up new dimension for future technology

Hopfions, magnetic spin structures predicted decades ago, have become a hot and challenging research topic in recent years. In a study published in Nature, the first experimental evidence is presented by a Swedish-German-Chinese research collaboration. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Rethinking boundaries in a warming world

These days, migration is always in the news. Around the world, people are displaced by war, political oppression, poverty and violence; every day, families risk their lives in search of better environments. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

New carbon material sets energy-storage record, likely to advance supercapacitors

Guided by machine learning, chemists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory designed a record-setting carbonaceous supercapacitor material that stores four times more energy than the best commercial material. A supercapacitor made with the new material could … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Childhood in medieval Bavaria: What teeth reveal about nutrition and migration

New research findings reveal that some children in early medieval Bavaria were breastfed for much longer periods than today. Also, many early Bavarians buried around 500 AD originate from other geographical regions where feeding practices apparently differed. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Skunks' warning stripes less prominent where predators are sparse, study finds

Striped skunks are less likely to evolve with their famous and white markings where the threat of predation from mammals is low, scientists from the University of Bristol, Montana and Long Beach, California have discovered. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

The genomic secrets to how the muskox mastered living on the edge

At the end of the last Ice Age, many iconic species became extinct—including the steppe bison, the wooly rhinoceros, the Irish elk, and the dire wolf. However, one Ice Age relict, perfectly adapted to the harsh climate of the tundra environment, has survived until the present day … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Some species of angelfish may spend their whole lives swimming upside down

A multi-institutional team of oceanographers and marine biologists has found evidence showing that some deep-sea species of angelfish spend their entire lives swimming upside down. In their paper published in the Journal of Fish Biology, the group describes their study of video c … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Testing the limits of AlphaFold2's accuracy in predicting protein structure

Proteins, the workhorses of biology, are encoded by DNA sequences and are responsible for vital functions within cells. Since the first experimental measurement of a protein structure was made by John Kendrew in the 1950s, protein's ability to fold into complex three-dimensional … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Study suggests men benefit more from being attractive in the workplace than women

A pair of sociologists, one with the University of Oslo, the other with the Polish Academy of Sciences has found that men benefit more in the workplace from being attractive than women do. In their study, reported in the journal Social Science Quarterly, Alexi Gugushvili and Grze … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Colossal Biosciences finds a home for one extinct species

After years of working on bringing back one of the most popular extinct animals—the dodo—Colossal Biosciences has found a home for its bird in Mauritius in a new partnership with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Recently discovered nova investigated by astronomers

Astronomers from the Liverpool John Moores University have performed photometric and spectroscopic observations of a recently discovered nova, known as AT 2023prq. Results of the observational campaign, published in the November issue of the Research Notes of the American Astrono … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

'Extremely venomous' green mamba loose in Netherlands

An "extremely venomous" two-meter-long green mamba snake is on the loose in the Netherlands, police said Tuesday, warning residents to stay indoors and under no circumstances attempt to ensnare the serpent. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

This sea worm's posterior swims away, and now scientists know how

A research team, led by Professor Toru Miura from the University of Tokyo, shows how the expression of developmental genes in the Japanese green syllid worms, Megasyllis nipponica, helps form their swimming reproductive unit called stolon. The work has been published in Scientifi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Sand mining in Vietnam's Mekong Delta sinks homes, livelihoods

One summer morning, Le Thi Hong Mai's home collapsed into a river in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, where shoreline erosion caused by sand mining and hydropower dams threatens hundreds of thousands of people. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Iguana invasion: Thailand rounds up rogue reptiles

Thailand has captured more than 150 rogue iguanas that were rampaging through the countryside, raiding farms and damaging the local environment, officials said. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Climate conspiracy theories flourish ahead of COP28

Climate conspiracy theories are flourishing with lifestyle influencers joining in the misinformation war and scientists hounded on social media, researchers say, as pressure rises on leaders at the COP28 summit. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Load of rubbish: litter-hunters vie for unusual world title in Tokyo

Tokyo's well-kept streets may not be the most obvious place to do it, but competitive litter-hunters on Wednesday sifted through the Japanese capital in their first world championship. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

A strong earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia with no immediate reports of casualties or damages

A strong, deep undersea earthquake shook the eastern side of Indonesia on Wednesday with no immediate reports of casualties or damages in the area. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Does spaceflight increase men's risk of erectile dysfunction?

During missions into space, astronauts are exposed to high levels of galactic cosmic radiation and weightlessness. Simulation experiments in male rats indicated that these aspects of spaceflight can negatively affect vascular tissues relevant to erectile dysfunction, even after a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

What are the effects of workforce automation across race and gender in the United States?

Advances in areas such as robotics and artificial intelligence enable the automation of a range of occupational tasks, leading to fundamental changes in the nature of work. New research published in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology indicates that the effects of job … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Chlorine disinfectant is no more effective than water at killing off hospital superbug, new study shows

One of the primary chlorine disinfectants currently being used to clean hospital scrubs and surfaces does not kill off the most common cause of antibiotic-associated sickness in health care settings globally, according to a new study. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Research challenges widespread belief that honeybees naturally insulate their colonies against cold

A Leeds researcher is keen to help beekeepers shape their practices following his study which appears to disprove the widespread belief that honeybees naturally insulate their colonies against the cold. His findings suggest that the creatures are potentially being subjected to th … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

The first eco-friendly fluorescent artificial seed for monitoring soil temperature by using drones

Researchers have invented a new kind of artificial seed to sense environmental parameters without impacting the health of the environment. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Study shows that the 'manosphere' community is misusing scientific research to support its beliefs

Members of the "manosphere" community are misusing academic research to frame and validate their beliefs about women, according to new research led by the University of Kent's School of Anthropology and Conservation. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

New fossil assemblage highlights complexity of classifying silesaurid phylogeny

A set of fossils recovered in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state, has brought an extra layer of complexity to the study of the evolutionary history of silesaurids, a family of dinosauriforms (dinosaurs and their close relatives) that lived in the Triassic period betwe … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

The bilingual brain may be better at ignoring irrelevant information

People who speak two languages may be better at shifting their attention from one thing to another compared to those who speak one, according to a study published this month in the journal Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Study finds female academics less likely to win prizes, even when the award is named after a woman

A new study shows that female academics are significantly underrepresented in winning academic prizes and having awards named after them. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Decoding anthocyanin impact: Genetic insights into plant defense and growth trade-offs

Anthocyanins are key pigments in plants for plant resistance to abiotic stress. It can provide photoprotection by potentially absorbing visible light and scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) when biotic stress occurs. However, comparative studies of anthocyanin function are c … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Unlocking citrus tolerance secrets: The Valencia sweet orange genome and the fight against HLB disease

Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L.), a hybrid fruit crop originating from mandarins (Citrus reticulata Blanco) and pummelos [Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.], exhibits complex genomic diversity due to ancient interspecific hybridization. At present, the best assembly of the sweet orang … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Study suggests present generation's negotiators ignore consequences for future generations

In a new psychology paper titled "Present generation's negotiators realize their interests at the cost of future generations," researchers from Leuphana University Lüneburg and the University of Hildesheim have uncovered critical insights into the challenges of intergenerational … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago