Food security: Irradiation and essential oil vapors for cereal treatment

A combined treatment of irradiation and essential oil vapors could effectively destroy insects, bacteria and mold in stored grains. A team from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), led by Professor Monique Lacroix, has demonstrated the effect of this process … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

'I want to ride my bicycle!' People set to change mobility choices post-lockdown

New research suggests a significant proportion of Trinity's staff and student population that formerly relied on public transport will now choose to walk or cycle to campus when it fully re-opens after lockdown. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Tantalizing signs of phase-change 'turbulence' in RHIC collisions

Physicists studying collisions of gold ions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science user facility for nuclear physics research at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory, are embarking on a journey through the phases of nuclear ma … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Making sense of commotion under the ocean to locate tremors near deep-sea faults

Researchers from Japan and Indonesia have pioneered a new method for more accurately estimating the source of weak ground vibrations in areas where one tectonic plate is sliding under another in the sea. Applying the approach to Japan's Nankai Trough, the researchers were able to … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Ecosystem services: Species are our livelihoods

Functioning ecosystems provide the basis for security, basic material needs, health, social interaction and individual liberty. This is how the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 described it, dividing ecosystem services into the following categories: The provisioning services; … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Engineering marvel: Sixth mirror cast for Giant Magellan Telescope

The Giant Magellan Telescope announces fabrication of the sixth of seven of the world's largest monolithic mirrors. These mirrors will allow astronomers to see farther into the universe with more detail than any other optical telescope before. The sixth 8.4-meter (27.5 feet) mirr … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Life's rich pattern: Researchers use sound to shape the future of printing

Researchers in the UK have developed a way to coax microscopic particles and droplets into precise patterns by harnessing the power of sound in air. The implications for printing, especially in the fields of medicine and electronics, are far-reaching. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

What can stream quality tell us about quality of life?

As the source of most of the water we drink and a place where we often go to recreate and enjoy nature, streams represent a crucial point-of-contact between human beings and the environment. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Sports information on social networks leaves out women, disabled and minority disciplines

Researchers from the University of Seville and Pompeu Fabra University argue that sports information on social media is dominated by men and football. This leaves out women's sports, sports featuring athletes with disabilities and minority disciplines, thus repeating the reality … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Species traded legally through Hong Kong with inadequate traceability

Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, due primarily to human activity. Illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade is one of the major drivers of these declines, while much wildlife trade is legal, and the quantity of trade provides the opportunity to launder illegally … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Study finds no link between gender and physics course performance

A new data-driven study from Texas A&M University casts serious doubt on the stereotype that male students perform better than female students in science—specifically, physics. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Using a radical to break C-F bonds one at a time

A team of researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China and the University of California has found a way to use radicals to break C-F bonds one at a time when working with trifluoroacetamides and acetates. In their paper published in the journal Science, the … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Instrument at BESSY II shows how light activates molybdenum disulfide layers to become catalysts

MoS2 thin films of superposed alternating layers of molybdenum and sulfur atoms form a two-dimensional semiconducting surface. However, even a surprisingly low-intensity blue light pulse is enough to alter the properties of the surface and make it metallic. This has now been demo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

New tool finds and fingerprints previously undetected PFAS compounds in watersheds on Cape Cod

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) found large quantities of previously undetectable compounds from the family of chemicals known as PFAS in six watersheds on Cape Cod using a new method to quantify and identify PFAS com … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Light in concert with force reveals how materials become harder when illuminated

Semiconductor materials play an indispensable role in our modern information-oriented society. For reliable performance of semiconductor devices, these materials need to have superior mechanical properties: they must be strong as well as resistant to fracture, despite being rich … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Compression or strain—the material always expands

An international research team led by chemist Prof. Thomas Heine of TU Dresden has discovered a new two-dimensional material with unprecedented properties: regardless of whether it is strained or compressed, it always expands. This so-called half-auxetic behavior has not been obs … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Taking 2-D materials for a spin

Scientists from the University of Tsukuba and a scientist from the Institute of High Pressure Physics detected and mapped the electronic spins moving in a working transistor made of molybdenum disulfide. This research may lead to much faster computers that take advantage of the n … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

New study suggests humans evolved to run on less water than our closest primate relatives

When you think about what separates humans from chimpanzees and other apes, you might think of our big brains, or the fact that we get around on two legs rather than four. But we have another distinguishing feature: water efficiency. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

'Fungal ghosts' protect skin, fabric from toxins, radiation

The idea of creating selectively porous materials has captured the attention of chemists for decades. Now, new research from Northwestern University shows that fungi may have been doing exactly this for millions of years. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Study shows that the GW190521 event could be explained by primordial black holes

In September 2020, the LIGO/Virgo collaboration, a large team of scientists working at different universities worldwide, announced that they had detected most massive gravitational wave binary signal observed to date, which they called GW190521. In a paper published in Physical R … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Earth's position and orbit spurred ancient marine life extinction

Ancient rocks from Tennessee revealed the Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun controlled the timing of oceanic dead zones in a mass extinction of marine life about 370 million years ago. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

'Falling insect' season length impacts river ecosystems

Insects that fall from the surrounding forest provide seasonal food for fish in streams. Researchers at Kobe University and The University of Tokyo have shown that the lengthening of this period has a profound effect on food webs and ecosystem functions present in streams. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

BCAS3-C16orf70 complex is a new actor on the mammalian autophagic machinery

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation process of cytosolic materials and damaged organelles. Researchers at Ubiquitin Project of TMIMS have been studying the molecular mechanism of mitophagy, the selective autophagy process to eliminate damaged mitochondria. PINK1 (a serine/t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

The negative effects of powerful political connections

One of the motivations for the recently published Journal of Accounting Research paper "Politically Connected Governments" was the daily experience with the subway system in New York City. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

How would digital COVID vaccine passports work? And what's stopping people from faking them?

Although international travel restrictions for Australia have been extended to at least June, there may still be potential for a trans-Tasman bubble with New Zealand (and maybe some other countries), according to reports. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

How to build support for ambitious climate action in 4 steps

Canada and the United States are suddenly steeped in policy proposals to aggressively cut carbon emissions. In the face of a climate emergency and on the heels of numerous climate disasters, this is welcome news indeed. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Spacewalking astronauts tackle more solar panel advance work

For the second time this week, a pair of astronauts floated outside Friday to get the International Space Station ready for new solar panels. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Oocyte growth relies on physical phenomena that drive smaller cells to dump their contents into a larger cell

Egg cells are by far the largest cells produced by most organisms. In humans, they are several times larger than a typical body cell and about 10,000 times larger than sperm cells. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Greenland ice loss may have begun as early as the mid-'80s

The amount of snow falling on Greenland's glaciers may have been less than the water lost through icebergs calving and melting since at least the mid-1980s, a study of almost 40 years of satellite images has revealed. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

This tiny echidna moves 7 tons of soil a year, helping tackle climate change

After 200 years of European farming practices, Australian soils are in bad shape – depleted of nutrients and organic matter, including carbon. This is bad news for both soil health and efforts to address global warming. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals the origins of stable skyrmion lattices

RIKEN physicists have discovered how interactions between electrons can stabilize a repeating arrangement of swirling magnetic patterns known as skyrmions, which could help to further exploit these structures. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Calculus instruction methods reveal mechanisms that discourage BIPOC participation in STEM

Luis Leyva, assistant professor of mathematics education at Vanderbilt University and director of PRISM (Power, Resistance & Identity in STEM) at Peabody College, led a research team that recently identified mechanisms in undergraduate calculus instruction that contribute to the … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Planet-hunting eye of Plato

Key technology for ESA's exoplanet-hunting Plato spacecraft has passed a trial by vacuum to prove the mission will work as planned. This test replica of an 80-cm high, 12-cm aperture camera spent 17 days inside a thermal vacuum chamber. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Study finds campus housing can mirror racial denotations of larger society

A new study from the University of Kansas shows that students' experience in campus housing is often marked by racial denotations of who belongs in campus spaces and that the shifting idea of universities as businesses can push students into racially charged spaces that contradic … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Rare earth unlocks copper, gold and silver secrets

A study by Monash scientists has found that a rare earth affects the fate of a key reaction with copper, gold, silver, and uranium mineralisation. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Southwest Iceland is shaking – and may be about to erupt

More than 17,000 earthquakes have been recorded in the southwest of Iceland, in the Reykjanes Peninsula, during the past week. People living in the area have been advised to be extra careful due to dangers of landslides and rockfall. Many of the larger earthquakes have even been … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

New copolymer binder to extend the life of lithium ion batteries

Anyone who has owned a smartphone for over a year is most likely aware that its built-in lithium (Li)-ion battery does not hold as much charge as when the device was new. The degradation of Li-ion batteries is a serious issue that greatly limits the useful life of portable electr … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Particle detector at Fermilab plays crucial role in Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

A century ago, physicists didn't know about the existence of neutrinos, the most abundant, elusive and ethereal subatomic particles of matter in the universe. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Improved understanding of plasma source for synthesis of carbon nanotubes

Researchers have developed an insight that could facilitate production of microscopic carbon nanotubes, structures thousands of times thinner than a human hair used in everything from microchips to sporting goods to pharmaceutical products. The research by scientists at the U.S. … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Mining water and metal from the moon at the same time

In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is becoming an increasingly popular topic as space exploration begins to focus on landing on the surface of other bodies in the solar system. ISRU focuses on making things that are needed to support an exploration mission out of materials that … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

One starfish to rule them all

At 480 million years old, this fossil is the oldest starfish-like creature ever discovered. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Financial crashes, pandemics, Texas snow: How math could predict 'black swan' events

What if mathematicians could have seen COVID-19 coming, or could predict the next outbreak? Is it possible that numbers, manipulated by statistics, might warn of future market fluctuations and environmental disasters, or herald vast shifts in finance, trade, and employment? | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

When Facebook, Twitter flag posts as 'unverified,' readers listen

Readers pay attention when social media sites label an article as "unverified" or "suspicious," a new study suggests. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Better warnings needed about health impacts of long-range wildfire smoke

Smoke from local wildfires can affect the health of Colorado residents, in addition to smoke from fires in forests as far away as California and the Pacific Northwest. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Frog cakes and Fruchocs: Famous local foods attract valuable tourist dollars

From the mouth-watering baked goods of the Port Elliot Bakery, to the ocean freshness of Coffin Bay oysters, local foods are fast becoming a major drawcard for domestic tourists, especially amid COVID-19, where the safest and most reliable travel options are within our own State. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

Professor seeks to help adults better communicate with children

Narissra Punyanunt-Carter co-edited the book 'Communication Begins with Children,' which helps adults who have children or work with children effectively communicate with them. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

A mass exodus from California? Not exactly, says new study

New research released today by the UC Berkeley California Policy Lab finds that, contrary to some news media reports suggesting a mass exodus from California, most moves in 2020 happened within the state. Exits from California in 2020 largely mirrored historical patterns, while t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago

The story of polar aurora just got much bigger: Unknown magnetospheric mechanisms revealed

A critical ingredient for auroras exists much higher in space than previously thought, according to new research in the journal Scientific Reports. The dazzling light displays in the polar night skies require an electric accelerator to propel charged particles down through the at … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 3 years ago