How tiny water droplets form can have a big impact on climate models

Droplets and bubbles are formed nearly everywhere, from boiling our morning coffee, to complex industrial processes and even volcanic eruptions. New research from SINTEF and NTNU in Norway, improves our understanding of how these bubbles and droplets form. This could improve our … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Technique reveals how crystals form on surfaces

The process of crystallization, in which atoms or molecules line up in orderly arrays like soldiers in formation, is the basis for many of the materials that define modern life, including the silicon in microchips and solar cells. But while many useful applications for crystals i … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Image: Hypersonic surfing simulation

Simulating the test flight of a hypersonic glider, being developed through the international HEXAFLY-INT collaboration, involving partners across Europe, Russia, Australia and Brazil and supported by the European Commission and ESA. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

A map of reactions helps control molecular properties

Chemical reactions are used to produce all kinds of important molecules such as drugs, agrochemicals and materials. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Fossil skull casts doubt over modern human ancestry

Griffith University scientists have led an international team to date the skull of an early human found in Africa, potentially upending human evolution knowledge with their discovery. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Study finds no media bias when it comes to story selection

For as long as there have been news media, there have been allegations that journalists are biased and slant stories to fit their views. While many studies have explored this issue, there has been little research into how political ideology influences which stories get covered. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

The man who wanted to fly on Mars: The story of Mars Helicopter's chief engineer

The Mars Helicopter is riding to the Red Planet this summer with NASA's Perseverance rover. The helicopter's chief engineer, Bob Balaram, shares the saga of how it came into being. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Discovery of life in solid rock deep beneath sea may inspire new search for life on Mars

Newly discovered single-celled creatures living deep beneath the seafloor have given researchers clues about how they might find life on Mars. These bacteria were discovered living in tiny cracks inside volcanic rocks after researchers persisted over a decade of trial and error t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Oysters and clams can be farmed together

Eastern oysters and three species of clams can be farmed together and flourish, potentially boosting profits of shellfish growers, according to a Rutgers University-New Brunswick study. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Rodents and a rocket carried these researchers' dreams to space

The human body evolved within the constant force of Earth's gravity. To prevent bone and muscle atrophy during their stays in space, astronauts must exercise every day. For researchers studying bone or muscle loss that might be caused by diseases, aging or a sedentary lifestyle, … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Study finds fish have diverse, distinct gut microbiomes

The rich biodiversity of coral reefs even extends to microbial communities within fish, according to new research. The study in Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences reports that several important grazing fish on Caribbean coral reefs each harbor a distinct microb … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Study offers new insight into the impact of ancient migrations on the European landscape

Neolithic populations have long been credited with bringing about a revolution in farming practices across Europe. However, a new study suggests it was not until the Bronze Age several millennia later that human activity led to significant changes to the continent's landscape. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

A next-generation sensor network for tracking small animals

A newly developed wireless biologging network (WBN) enables high-resolution tracking of small animals, according to a study published April 2 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Simon Ripperger of the Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, and colleagues … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Impacts of cover crop planting dates on soil properties after 4 years

Cover crop impacts on soil properties depends on cover crop productivity. Planting cover crops early and in a diverse mix of species could be an option to boost biomass production and enhance benefits to soils. However, the impacts of early planting and species mixes on soil prop … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Study shows six decades of change in plankton communities

The UK's plankton population—microscopic algae and animals which support the entire marine food web—has undergone sweeping changes in the past six decades, according to new research published in Global Change Biology. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Vermont has conserved one third of the land needed for an ecologically functional future

For the first time in more than a century, Vermont and neighboring states are losing forestland to development at a rate of almost 1,500 acres per year. As forest fragmentation gains ground across the New England landscape, where private ownerships and small land parcels are the … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Almond orchard recycling a climate-smart strategy

Recycling trees onsite can sequester carbon, save water and increase crop yields, making it a climate-smart practice for California's irrigated almond orchards, finds a study from the University of California, Davis. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

American robins now migrate 12 days earlier than in 1994

Every spring, American robins migrate north from all over the U.S. and Mexico, flying up to 250 miles a day to reach their breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska. There, they spend the short summer in a mad rush to find a mate, build a nest, raise a family, and fatten up before th … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Modern humans, Neanderthals share a tangled genetic history, study affirms

In recent years, scientists have uncovered evidence that modern humans and Neanderthals share a tangled past. In the course of human history, these two species of hominins interbred not just once, but at multiple times, the thinking goes. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Evolutionary adaptation helped cave bears hibernate, but may have caused extinction

A study published in Science Advances on April 1 reveals a new hypothesis that may explain why European cave bears went extinct during past climate change periods. The research was motivated by controversy in the scientific literature as to what the animal (Ursus spelaeus) ate an … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Physical force alone spurs gene expression, study reveals

Cells will ramp up gene expression in response to physical forces alone, a new study finds. Gene activation, the first step of protein production, starts less than one millisecond after a cell is stretched—hundreds of times faster than chemical signals can travel, the researchers … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Skull scans reveal evolutionary secrets of fossil brains

Scientists have long been able to measure and analyze the fossil skulls of our ancient ancestors to estimate brain volume and growth. The question of how these ancient brains compare to modern human brains and the brains of our closest primate cousin, the chimpanzee, continues to … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Golden age of Hollywood was not so golden for women

The Golden Age of Hollywood is known for its glitz, glamour and classic movies. Northwestern University researchers have peeled back the gilded sheen to reveal an industry tarnished by severe gender inequity. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Homo naledi juvenile remains offers clues to how our ancestors grew up

A partial skeleton of Homo naledi represents a rare case of an immature individual, shedding light on the evolution of growth and development in human ancestry, according to a study published April 1, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Debra Bolter of Modesto Junior Coll … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

COVID-19 information overload leads to simple but unhelpful choices

That the COVID-19 situation has been accompanied by a relentless flood of information is evident from a quick examination of newspaper front pages, top stories on any news channel, or trending topics on Twitter. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Researchers test the way we understand forces in the universe

A discovery by a team of researchers led by UMass Lowell nuclear physicists could change how atoms are understood by scientists and help explain extreme phenomena in outer space. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

NASA call for astronauts draws 12,000 spaceflight hopefuls

Who wants to be an astronaut? More than 12,000 people do, resulting in NASA's second-largest group of astronaut hopefuls. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

BESSY II: Ultra-fast switching of helicity of circularly polarized light pulses

At the BESSY II storage ring, a joint team of accelerator physicists, undulator experts and experimenters has shown how the helicity of circularly polarized synchrotron radiation can be switched faster—up to a million times faster than before. They used an elliptical double-undul … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Chemistry education goes online

With colleges and universities around the world shuttered because of the COVID-19 pandemic, chemistry teachers are navigating the shift to online learning. There are several factors to consider in this effort, from technology to accessibility. Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

First complete German shepherd DNA offers new tool to fight disease

Scientists have mapped the genome of the German shepherd, one of the world's most popular canine breeds, after using a blood sample from 'Nala,' a healthy five-year-old German shepherd living in Sydney. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Tiny fly from Los Angeles has a taste for crushed invasive snails

As part of their project BioSCAN - devoted to the exploration of the unknown insect diversity in and around the city of Los Angeles—the scientists at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (USA) have already discovered numerous insects that are new to science, but they … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Possible lives for food waste from restaurants

More than a third of the food produced ends up being wasted. This situation creates environmental, ethical and financial issues, that also affect food security. Negative effects from waste management, such as bad smells or the emission of greenhouse gases, make the bioeconomy one … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Surprising hearing talents in cormorants

Many aquatic animals like frogs and turtles spend a big part of their lives under water and have adapted to this condition in various ways, one being that they have excellent hearing under water. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Stable perovskite LEDs one step closer

Researchers at Linköping University, working with colleagues in Great Britain, China and the Czech Republic, have developed a perovskite light-emitting diode (LED) with both high efficiency and long operational stability. The result has been published in Nature Communications. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Researchers develop novel corona test

As requested by the Austrian Federal Government and the WHO, a significant increase in the capacity for coronavirus testing is essential to combat the new coronavirus. The University of Innsbruck is now responding to this by immediately developing and evaluating a new high-throug … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Models explain changes in cooking meat

Meat is no ordinary solid. Made up of complex networks of moisture-saturated proteins, it displays some intriguing physical properties when it is cooked. Several studies in the past have attempted to recreate this behaviour in computer simulations, but because this demands so muc … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Elephant welfare can be assessed using two indicators

Across the world, animals are kept in captivity for various reasons: in zoos for education and research, in research facilities for testing, on farms for meat and other products, and in people's homes as pets. Maintaining good animal welfare is not only important for ethical reas … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

New 3-D cultured cells mimic the progress of NASH

A research team led by scientists from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), Japan, has successfully established 3-D cultured tissue that mimics liver fibrosis, a key characteristic of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). For making the 3-D culture, cells were c … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Coronavirus having little impact on climate: UN agency

Though factories have shut, planes have been grounded and cars left in the garage, the coronavirus pandemic is having very little impact on climate change, the World Meteorological Organization said Wednesday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

The candy-cola soda geyser experiment, at different altitudes

Dropping Mentos candies into a bottle of soda causes a foamy jet to erupt. Although science fair exhibitors can tell you that this geyser results from rapid degassing of the beverage induced by the candies, the precise means by which bubbles form hasn't been well characterized. N … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

The discovery of new compounds for acting on the circadian clock

The circadian clock controls a variety of biological phenomena that occur during the course of the day, such as sleeping and waking. Perturbation of the circadian clock has been associated with many diseases such as sleep disorders, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. The development … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Malaysia makes massive seizure of pangolin scales

Malaysian authorities seized about six tonnes of pangolin scales and smashed a smuggling syndicate, officials said Wednesday, as the country clamps down on rampant wildlife trafficking. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

The young Brazilians fighting for the Amazon

Maria dreams of being the next Greta Thunberg. Kelita is studying in the first-ever university program in the Amazon. Fabio is helping his family do its part to fight climate change through sustainable agriculture. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Natural light flicker can help prevent detection

Movement breaks camouflage, making it risky for anything trying to hide. New research, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B today has shown that dynamic features common in many natural habitats, such as moving light patterns, can reduce being located when moving. D … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

New materials: Brilliant white without pigments

Polymer foils that are extremely thin and characterized by a high light scattering rate are produced by a new process developed by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The inexpensive material may be applied industrially to various objects to give them an attractive white app … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Quantitative reconstruction of formation paleo-pressure and case studies

Formation pressure governs the generation, expulsion, migration, accumulation and preservation of petroleum. Fluid-rock interactions during diagenesis and mineralization are also affected by the formation pressure. Thus, investigating the formation paleo-pressure in sedimentary b … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Urban dogs are more fearful than their cousins from the country

Fearfulness is one of the most common behavioural disorders in dogs. As an emotion, fear is a normal and vital reaction that helps individuals survive in threatening circumstances. When the fearfulness is excessive and disturbs the dog's life, it is referred to as a behavioural p … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Scientists see energy gap modulations in a cuprate superconductor

For years physicists have been trying to decipher the electronic details of high-temperature superconductors. These materials could revolutionize energy transmission and electronics because of their ability to carry electric current with no energy loss when cooled below a certain … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago