Red deer populations in Europe more influenced by humans than by wolves or other predators, ecologists find

Alongside the occasional bison and elk, red deer are Europe's largest native wild animal. An international study led by wildlife ecologists from the University of Freiburg has now investigated the factors that affect the red deer population in a particular area. The researchers w … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

The class where video games meet history

Tore Olsson put his students in touch with American history through his popular and award-winning class "Red Dead America: Exploring America's Violent Past Through the Hit Video Games." Now this engagement has reached beyond the classroom—the American Historical Review (AHR), has … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Study finds no evidence that individual-level mental health interventions improve employees' well-being

Many businesses are making efforts to promote workers' well-being, and numerous interventions are available at the individual and organizational levels. New research published in the Industrial Relations Journal found no evidence that individual-level mental well-being interventi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Research finds microplastics affect soil fungi depending on drought conditions

Moisture levels in the soil can impact the effects that microplastic pollution has on soil fungi, according to new research published in Environmental Microbiology. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Scientists develop green method for producing bactericidal copper oxide nanoparticles from noni plant

Researchers have described a green method for obtaining copper oxide nanoparticles from the noni plant (Morinda citrifolia), common in Asia. These copper oxide nanoparticles exhibit bactericidal properties. Moreover, antibacterial activity depends on the physical properties of th … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Aircraft observations point to near neutral carbon dioxide exchange in northern tropical Africa

The forests and grasslands of northern tropical Africa take in about as much carbon dioxide in the wet season as they release in the dry season, according to a new study based on observations from aircraft. The findings contradict earlier research that relied on satellite data an … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Tibetan plateau's spring heat source exerts delayed influence on Northeast China's summer precipitation

In a recent study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, researchers from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have uncovered the impact of the spring atmospheric heat source (AHS) over the Tibetan Plateau on summer precipitation in Nort … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Anisotropic plasmon engineering unlocks multilevel polarized upconversion

National University of Singapore (NUS) researchers have introduced an upconversion plasmonphore platform to enable precise control over the polarization of isotropic upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). This is achieved by coupling upconversion activators with carefully designed a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Study shows effects of vegetation composition, warming and nitrogen deposition on peatland carbon sink function

Peatlands, which contain about one-third of the global soil carbon stock, are important carbon sinks. Their net carbon uptake is equivalent to ~1% of human fossil fuel emissions or 3%–10% of the current net sink of natural terrestrial ecosystems. However, the carbon sink function … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Plant roots mysteriously pulsate and we don't know why—but finding out could change the way we grow things

You probably don't think about plant roots all that much—they're hidden underground after all. Yet they're continually changing the shape of the world. This process happens in your garden, where plants use invisible mechanisms for their never-ending growth. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Five dead in US storms, country girds for more fierce weather

Swaths of the United States braced for more snow and punishingly low temperatures Wednesday as millions in the east dug out from a previous round of severe winter weather that left at least five people dead. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Notorious cell subpopulation key to antibiotic failure, say scientists

Antibiotic overuse can lead to antibiotic resistance, but classic antibiotic resistance might not completely explain why antibiotics sometimes fail. Sub-populations of bacteria called persister cells can survive in the presence of lethal doses of antibiotics for prolonged periods … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Study show dry-cleaning fluid holds promise for sustainable organic synthesis

The widely used dry-cleaning and degreasing solvent perc can be converted to useful chemicals by a new, clean, safe, and inexpensive procedure. The Kobe University discovery using on-demand UV activation may open the path to upcycling perc and thus contribute to a more sustainabl … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Ancient human DNA hints at why multiple sclerosis affects so many northern Europeans today

Ancient DNA helps explain why northern Europeans have a higher risk of multiple sclerosis than other ancestries: It's a genetic legacy of horseback-riding cattle herders who swept into the region about 5,000 years ago. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Scientists resolve intriguing phenomenon of superlubricity and formulate its laws

Skoltech researchers have explained why very weak friction obeys different laws than those governing regular friction as we know it from school physics. Among other unexpected and counterintuitive features, the alternative friction laws formulated by the team reveal why increasin … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Research reveals that corals are adapting to climate change in complex and varied ways

From intensifying wildfires to record-breaking floods year on year, the effects of climate change have manifested in devastating outcomes on ecosystems that threaten species worldwide. One such ecosystem in peril is coral reefs, which play a major role in sustaining biodiversity … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Study disproves assumption about perovskite solar cells, showing that shallow defects dominate in terms of efficiency

Free charge carriers in perovskite solar cells likely have a special form of protection from recombination, researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich have discovered by means of innovative photoluminescence measurements. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Most of the land humans need to thrive is unprotected, new study finds

More than 80% of global land area needed to maintain human well-being and meet biodiversity targets is at risk of conflict with human development, according to a new study led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Study on lamprey embryos sheds light on the evolutionary origin of vertebrate head

The origin of the vertebrate skull is a topic of much debate among evolutionary biologists. Some believe that the vertebrate head has developed as a result of modification of the segmental elements of the trunk, such as the vertebrae and somites. On the other hand, others believe … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

There are more than 300 ways to work flexibly—here are four tips to make it work for you

Did you know that, according to a recent study, there are more than 300 ways to work flexibly? The list of possible flexible work practices used by an increasingly diverse and aging workforce has grown significantly since many people were forced to work from home during COVID loc … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

War changes language: More Ukrainian, less Russian

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from LMU, the University of Bath, and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have analyzed changes in the use of language on social media in Ukraine before and during the Russian war of aggression. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Viruses aren't always harmful. Six ways they're used in health care and pest control

We tend to just think of viruses in terms of their damaging impacts on human health and lives. The 1918 flu pandemic killed around 50 million people. Smallpox claimed 30% of those who caught it, and survivors were often scarred and blinded. More recently, we're all too familiar w … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

A heat wave in Antarctica totally blew the minds of scientists. They set out to decipher it—and here are the results

Climate scientists don't like surprises. It means our deep understanding of how the climate works isn't quite as complete as we need. But unfortunately, as climate change worsens, surprises and unprecedented events keep happening. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Researchers call for a comprehensive view of the marine biological carbon pump and its role in climate change

The ocean plays a crucial role in the storage of carbon dioxide (CO2). The so-called marine biological carbon pump is an important research topic in this context. However, according to Dr. Ivy Frenger, climate researcher at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel, … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

From embryo to evolution: Insights from the head of lizards and snakes

The evolution of animal heads is a remarkable example of how various anatomical features co-evolved to adapt to different ecological niches, behaviors and functions. But the intricate details of why vertebrate head shapes vary so greatly have remained elusive. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

After an 80-year absence, gray wolves have returned to Colorado—how the reintroduction will affect the ecosystem

Gray wolves were reintroduced to Colorado in December 2023, the latest attempt in a decades-long effort to build up wolf populations in the Rocky Mountain states. SciLine interviewed Joanna Lambert, professor of wildlife ecology and director of the American Canid Project at the U … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Weight loss drug from highly toxic plant can now be produced in yeast

In China children are taught to steer clear of this plant. The plant, Thunder god vine (Chinese: 雷公藤), which in China has earned the nickname "Seven Steps to Death," is so poisonous that a person risks death only a few steps after consuming it. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Earth isn't the only planet with seasons, but they can look wildly different on other worlds

Spring, summer, fall and winter—the seasons on Earth change every few months, around the same time every year. It's easy to take this cycle for granted here on Earth, but not every planet has a regular change in seasons. So why does Earth have regular seasons when other planets d … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Acidity of Antarctic waters could double by century's end, threatening biodiversity, say scientists

The acidity of Antarctica's coastal waters could double by the end of the century, threatening whales, penguins and hundreds of other species that inhabit the Southern Ocean, according to new research from the Univeristy of Colorado Boulder. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

California grizzlies were smaller in size and not the livestock killers reported in historical accounts, study says

A team of biologists, historians, and Earth and environmental scientists affiliated with multiple institutions in the U.S. has found evidence that contradicts historical accounts of the size and feeding habits of the now-extinct California grizzly bear. In their project, reported … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Team develops light-powered catalyst to make hydrogen

A team from the UPC and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) has designed an efficient and stable photocatalyst capable of producing hydrogen directly using sunlight. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Study proposes general A-site alloying strategy to prepare noble metal-occupied MAX phases

Researchers led by Prof. Huang Qing from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from the Zhejiang Institute of Tianjin University and Linköping University, Sweden, have proposed a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

An 1867 Washington deluge shows the region's potential for flooding

An 1867 flood in western Washington surpassed anything that the region has seen in the last century, new University of Oregon research shows, offering a foreboding look at what storms fueled by climate change could now produce. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

How pioneer transcription factors blaze the one trail that determines cell fate

One of the important breakthroughs that made it possible to program or reprogram cell fate more efficiently and with higher fidelity in a dish was discovering how to make use of a small set of molecular cowboys called pioneer transcription factors (TFs). | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

'Giant' predator worms more than half a billion years old discovered in North Greenland

Fossils of a new group of animal predators have been located in the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet fossil locality in North Greenland. These large worms may be some of the earliest carnivorous animals to have colonized the water column more than 518 million years ago, revealing a p … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Laser scarecrows could offer a sustainable solution for protecting crops from birds

Damage to crops caused by birds costs millions of dollars each year. Now, researchers from the University of Florida and the University of Rhode Island in the US are investigating the effectiveness of laser scarecrows—a high-tech solution using light to deter birds. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

New research harnesses AI and satellite imagery to reveal the expanding footprint of human activity at sea

A new study published today in the journal Nature offers an unprecedented view of previously unmapped industrial use of the ocean and how it is changing. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

The avocado debate: A polarizing fruit and its impact on society

The avocado has soared to unprecedented heights of popularity, gracing the plates of toast enthusiasts and health-conscious individuals worldwide. But what are the overlooked consequences of our latest food obsession? | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Chance find fulfills 110-year mission to give ancient Nubians a voice

A biomedical Egyptologist from The University of Manchester has fulfilled the mission of an illustrious Manchester anatomist from 1910, having by chance found his unique anatomical record of how ancient Nubians lived—and died—in Southern Egypt. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Researchers improve seed nitrogen content by reducing plant chlorophyll levels

Chlorophyll plays a pivotal role in photosynthesis, which is why plants have evolved to have high chlorophyll levels in their leaves. However, making this pigment is expensive because plants invest a significant portion of the available nitrogen in both chlorophyll and the specia … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Exposure to cigarette smoke found to increase cancer risk in dogs

Dogs are humans' best friends. Need to quickly locate a bomb? There's a dog for that. Can't see very well? There's a dog for that. Searching for a lost hiker in the mountains or survivors in an earthquake, diagnosing illness, comforting the bereft—there are dogs for every need. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

From dusk to dawn, humans squeeze wildlife into temporal periphery

As human densities increase around the world, wildlife species are becoming more nocturnal to compensate. These adaptations allow wildlife to live in human-altered habitats but may result in unseen costs. Researchers at the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences c … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

New England stone walls deserve a science of their own

The abandoned fieldstone walls of New England are every bit as iconic to the region as lobster pots, town greens, sap buckets and fall foliage. They seem to be everywhere—a latticework of dry, lichen-crusted stone ridges separating a patchwork of otherwise moist soils. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Researchers boost signal amplification in perovskite nanosheets

Perovskite materials are still attracting a lot of interest in solar cell applications. Now, the nanostructures of perovskite materials are being considered as a new laser medium. Over the years, light amplification in perovskite quantum dots has been reported, but most of the wo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Job ads with wide pay ranges can deter applicants

As more states require employers to list compensation on job ads, a trending strategy to use very wide pay ranges could potentially harm recruitment, according to a Washington State University study. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

In a world run by catalysts, why is optimizing them still so tough?

We depend on catalysts to turn our milk into yogurt, to produce Post-It notes from paper pulp, and to unlock renewable energy sources like biofuels. Finding optimal catalyst materials for specific reactions requires laborious experiments and computationally intensive quantum chem … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

Researchers explore farmers' response to high fertilizer prices

In 2022, fertilizer prices reached record high levels due to the Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. This has created a financial strain on farmers as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium—elements found in most synthetic fertilizers—are essen … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago

After all of this time searching for aliens, are we stuck with the zoo hypothesis?

In 1950, during a lunchtime conversation with colleagues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, famed physicist Enrico Fermi asked the question that launched a hundred (or more) proposed resolutions. "Where is Everybody?" | Continue reading


@phys.org | 10 months ago