Sulfur 'spices' alien atmospheres

They say variety is the spice of life, and now new discoveries from Johns Hopkins researchers suggest that a certain elemental 'variety'—sulfur—is indeed a 'spice' that can perhaps point to signs of life. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

New therapy could combat persistent joint infections in horses

A new therapy could combat persistent joint infections in horses, potentially saving them from years of pain. Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) lysate that, when teamed with antibiotics, can … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

The Milky Way's satellites help reveal link between dark matter halos and galaxy formation

Just as the sun has planets and the planets have moons, our galaxy has satellite galaxies, and some of those might have smaller satellite galaxies of their own. To wit, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a relatively large satellite galaxy visible from the Southern Hemisphere, is … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Coffee grounds show promise as wood substitute in producing cellulose nanofibers

The world generates over six million tons of coffee grounds, according to the International Coffee Organization. The journal Agriculture and Food Chemistry reported in 2012 that over half of spent coffee grounds end up in landfills. Cellulose nanofibers are the building blocks fo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

NASA finds Tropical Storm Irondro's heavy rainfall displaced

NASA analyzed Tropical Storm Irondro's rainfall and found heaviest rainfall was being pushed far southeast of the center because of strong wind shear. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Religious believers think God values lives of out-group members more than they do

Belief in all powerful supernatural entities that police moral behavior between people has been shown to promote prosocial behavior between co-religionists. But do these effects extend to members of different religious groups? In a new paper, which will appear in print in an upco … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Older entrepreneurs as successful as their younger counterparts, study reveals

From Steve Jobs to Mark Zuckerberg, the stories of prosperous, young innovators drive the American economic narrative. However, the truth is that older business entrepreneurs may be just as well suited to success. And older women are far more successful at launching a business th … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Research finds how much CEOs matter to firm performance

"Do CEOs matter?" has been a perennial question in management discourse. But "the CEO effect" has been notoriously difficult to isolate—a moving target caught in the slipstream of dynamic forces that shape firm performance. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Efforts to control livestock disease PPRV should focus on herd management style, not age

The risk of transmitting the virus PPRV, which produces a highly infectious and often fatal disease in sheep and goats, does not appear to vary significantly by an animal's age, unlike its sibling virus measles, which is most prominent in children. Instead, animals in areas where … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

X-rays reveal in situ crystal growth of lead-free perovskite solar panel materials

Lead-based perovskites are very promising materials for the production of solar panels. They efficiently turn light into electricity but they also present some major drawbacks: the most efficient materials are not very stable, while lead is a toxic element. University of Groninge … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Invasive species with charisma have it easier

It's the outside that counts: Their charisma has an impact on the introduction and image of alien species and can even hinder their control. An international research team, led by the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

The ocean responds to a warming planet

We're familiar with how climate change is impacting the ocean's biology, from bleaching events that cause coral die-offs to algae blooms that choke coastal marine ecosystems, but it's becoming clear that a warming planet is also impacting the physics of ocean circulation. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Climate change to affect fish sizes and complex food webs

Global climate change will affect fish sizes in unpredictable ways and, consequently, impact complex food webs in our oceans, a new IMAS-led study has shown. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

The four horsemen of the COVID-19 pandemic

It is clear that we must prioritize identifying and alleviating the conditions that made the Covid-19 pandemic possible. Even as it rages, scientists are already asking if it is more than just a virus, but rather a symptom emerging from something much deeper, a nonlinear dynamica … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Researchers describe how biofuels can achieve cost parity with petroleum fuels

Biofuels are an important part of the broader strategy to replace petroleum-based gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels that we use today. However, biofuels have so far not reached cost parity with conventional petroleum fuels. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

2-D ordered organic metal chalcogenides developed with widely tunable electronic band gaps

Two-dimensional (2-D) materials, which show excellent physical and chemical properties, have received unprecedented attention and become a research hotspot in scientific fields such as physics, chemistry and materials. Organic modification onto 2-D materials by covalently bonding … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Researchers provide new clue to solar coronal heating problem

Coronal heating is a topic dedicated to explaining how the corona may be heated up to a temperature of millions of degrees, far above that of the photosphere. To transport magnetic energy into the corona, Alfvén-wave turbulence is a promising candidate. However, how the wave is g … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Researchers report new understanding of energy fluctuations in fluids

The Casimir Force is a well-known effect originating from the quantum fluctuation of electromagnetic fields in a vacuum. Now an international group of researchers have reported a counterpoint to that theory, adding to the understanding of energy fluctuations within fluids. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

A new way to deliver drugs in MOFs

Scientists from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS) in cooperation with the Faculty of Chemistry of the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) have developed a new, solvent-free method for the encapsulation of drug molecules in MOF (meta … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

March 2020 among hottest on record: EU

Temperatures last month were among the hottest on record for March, the European Union's satellite monitoring service said Monday, with particularly extreme warm weather over Russia, home to much of Earth's permafrost. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Image: Hubble captures a cannibal galaxy

This remarkable spiral galaxy, known as NGC 4651, may look serene and peaceful as it swirls in the vast, silent emptiness of space, but don't be fooled—it keeps a violent secret. It is believed that this galaxy consumed another smaller galaxy to become the large and beautiful spi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

How do biotic and abiotic factors regulate soil enzyme activities at plot and microplot scales under afforestation?

Soil carbon (C)-, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)-acquiring enzymes secreted by microorganisms can catalyze key steps in C, N and P cycling by degrading soil organic matter (SOM) and detritus into low-molecular-mass compounds for microbial assimilation, and are distributed hetero … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Choosing rocks on Mars to bring to Earth

If you could bring something back from Mars to Earth, what would you choose? This question is becoming reality, as ESA opens a call for scientists to join a NASA team working to determine which martian samples should be collected and stored by the Perseverance rover set to launch … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Nonreciprocal transport in the gate-induced strontium titanate polar superconductor

In materials science, two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) realized at the oxide surface or interface are a promising candidate to achieve novel physical properties and functionalities in a rapidly emerging quantum field. While 2-DES provides an important platform for exotic q … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Leaf economic spectrum and structural defenses are coupled in spiny species

Previous studies have shown that spines are associated with resource acquisitive life‐history strategies. However, the studies included both spiny and non‐spiny species (i.e. species that never produce spines), potentially masking subtler variation among different spiny plants in … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Study advances single-cell transcriptome profiling

With the goal of ensuring that single-cell RNA sequencing makes use of the best possible methods, an international group has benchmarked 13 methods. The group, led by Holger Heyn of the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) in Spain, found that the Quartz-seq2 method, d … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Nanopore reveals shape-shifting enzyme linked to catalysis

University of Groningen scientists have observed the characteristics of a single enzyme inside a nanopore. They learned that the enzyme can exist in four different folded states, or conformers, that play an active role in the reaction mechanism. These results will have consequenc … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Quasar IRAS F11119+3257 has a high velocity two-sided jet, study finds

Astronomers have carried out very-long-baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations of the quasar IRAS F11119+3257 using the European VLBI Network (EVN). They found that the object has a high velocity two-sided jet, a finding detailed in a paper published March 25 on the arXiv pr … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

It is necessary to worry about health, but pessimism about the economy will hurt us

During this pandemic, our twin health and economic crises require two different types of concern, and they operate differently. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Breakthrough in unlocking genetic potential of ocean microbes

Researchers have made a major breakthrough in developing gene-editing tools to improve our understanding of one of the most important ocean microbes on the planet. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Coronavirus support packages will reshape the future economy, and that presents an opportunity

Governments across the world have rolled out extensive financial packages to support individuals, businesses and large corporations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Researchers discover pressure-induced polyamorphism in dense sulfur dioxide

Some substances are known to exist in several different structurally disordered solid states, a phenomenon known as polyamorphism. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Insect wings hold antimicrobial clues for improved medical implants

Some insect wings such as cicada and dragonfly possess nanopillar structures that kill bacteria upon contact. However, to date, the precise mechanisms that cause bacterial death have been unknown. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

What is the Asian hornet invasion going to cost Europe?

Since its accidental introduction in 2003 in France, the yellow-legged Asian hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) is rapidly spreading through Europe. Both experts and citizen scientists keep on identifying the new invader spreading all over the Old Continent in the last decades. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Oil spill: Where and when will it reach the beach? Answers to prevent environmental impacts

In October 2018, the Tunisian Ro-Ro passenger ship "Ulysse" rammed into the hull of the Cyprus-flagged container ship "Virginia," which was anchored in international waters off the northern tip of Corsica, an area known for its pristine waters and beaches. Bunker fuel from Virgin … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Coronavirus crisis poses risks and opportunities for unions

The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout pose serious challenges for Canada's workers. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Buckle up, climate change deniers: Coronavirus makes the low-carbon transition more urgent

Climate deniers have been hanging out for the United Nations' next big summit to fail. In a sense, the coronavirus and its induced policy responses have more than satisfied their wildest dreams, precipitating a global recession that they no doubt hope has pushed the issue of the … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Magnetoacoustic waves: Towards a new paradigm of on-chip communication

Researchers have observed directly and for the first time magnetoacoustic waves (sound-driven spin waves), which are considered as potential information carriers for novel computation schemes. These waves have been generated and observed on hybrid magnetic/piezoelectric devices. … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Cell muscle movements visualised for first time

The movements of cell muscles in the form of tiny filaments of proteins have been visualised at unprecedented detail by University of Warwick scientists. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Remote work amid the coronavirus pandemic: 3 solutions

As part of the fight against COVID-19, Canada is urging "employees at all work sites … to work remotely whenever and wherever possible." | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Failed freeways are a road to nowhere

Freeways have failed to solve traffic congestion, but transport planners globally are hesitant to remove or rethink them, according to University of Queensland research. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Lockdown will hit Nigeria's smallscale entrepreneurs hard. What can be done

Nigeria has announced a lockdown of three major states, Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Those that will be affected the hardest will be households that rely on the day to day activities of self-employed individuals for consumption. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Making stronger concrete with 'sewage-enhanced' steel slag

Researchers have shown how a by-product of steel making can be used to both treat wastewater and make stronger concrete, in a zero-waste approach to help advance the circular economy. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Actions that are stimulus-ready after the pandemic can achieve climate pathways

The rapid progress and plummeting cost of green technology provide an unprecedented opportunity for Australia to move to a net zero emissions economy by 2050, according to a new report by ClimateWorks Australia released today. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Can COVID-19 be the 'mother of reinvention'? Making workforce transition is possible

It's a devastating figure, more than one million Australians have found themselves unemployed in the space of just a fortnight, as the impacts of COVID-19 force more business and industry closures and lay-offs. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Ghana's cocoa production relies on the environment, which needs better protection

Cocoa production has been the backbone of Ghana's economy since the 1870s. It dominates the agricultural sector and contributes about 30% of the country's export earnings. Cocoa employs about 800,000 farmers directly. It also supports the livelihoods of others in the commerce, se … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

MPs should consider online voting during COVID-19 pandemic, says researcher

Online voting is entirely possible in parliamentary settings, according to Brock University Assistant Professor of Political Science Nicole Goodman. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Nigeria's nature reserves need more help to protect biodiversity

Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Environment recently nominated Finima Nature Park in River State as a Ramsar site: a wetland of international importance. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago