Climate change pushes Italy beekeepers to the brink

Unusual weather driven by climate change is wreaking havoc on bee populations, including in northern Italy where the pollinating insects crucial to food production are struggling to survive. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

How much are you polluting your office air just by existing?

Just by breathing or wearing deodorant, you have more influence over your office space than you might think, a growing body of evidence shows. But could these basic acts of existence also be polluting the air in the office room where you work? | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

'Flash drought' worsening across 14 Southern US states

More than 45 million people across 14 Southern states are now in the midst of what's being called a "flash drought" that's cracking farm soil, drying up ponds and raising the risk of wildfires, scientists said Thursday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

World wildlife trade affects one in five species, says report

More than 5,500 species of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles are bought and sold on the worldwide animal market, a volume that is around 50 percent higher than earlier estimates, a study published in Science said Thursday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Just add water: Chemists suggest a fix for insoluble drugs

Stable metal organic frameworks are prized for their ability to capture carbon dioxide or harvest atmospheric water, but U-M researchers have developed a use for unstable metal organic frameworks: as a system for drug delivery. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Daddy daycare: Why some songbirds care for the wrong kids

Interspecific feeding—when an adult of one species feeds the young of another—is rare among songbirds, and scientists could only speculate on why it occurs, but now, Penn State researchers have new insight into this behavior. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Plants alert neighbors to threats using common 'language'

New research from Cornell University shows that plants can communicate with each other when they come under attack from pests. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Imprinting on mothers may drive new species formation in poison dart frogs

The old saying that people marry their parents may be true for poison dart frogs, and it may even lead to the formation of new species, according to a new study in Nature based on work at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

NASA finds a transitioning cyclone Mitag filling the sea of Japan

NASA's Terra satellite passed over the Sea of Japan on Oct. 3 and captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Mitag. Clouds associated with the storm blanketed the Sea of Japan and satellite imagery indicated the storm was becoming extra-tropical. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Implanted memories teach birds a song

A father holds up his newborn, their faces only inches apart, and slowly repeats the syllables "da" and "dee." After months of hearing these sounds, the baby begins to babble and gradually "da da da" is refined to the word "Daddy." | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

How the influenza virus achieves efficient viral RNA replication

New insights on how subunits of the influenza virus polymerase co-evolve to ensure efficient viral RNA replication are provided by a study published October 3 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Nadia Naffakh of the Institut Pasteur, and colleagues. As the authors note, … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Researchers outline policy approaches to transform fire management

Wildfires are natural hazards that are becoming more intense and extensive with climate change. Scientists have previously described what major transformations should take place to contend with these fires, including the need to adapt to more fire on the landscape, change the way … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Scientists discover interaction between good and bad fungi that drives forest biodiversity

Scientists have long understood that forest biodiversity is driven in part by something called rare-species advantage—that is, an individual tree has a better chance of survival if there are only a few other trees of the same species around. As a result, when the number of trees … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Massive filaments fuel the growth of galaxies and supermassive black holes

An international group of scientists led by the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research has used observations from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) at the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and the Suprime-Cam at the Subaru telescope to make detailed observations o … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Ant-plant partnerships may play unexpected role in ant evolution

Partnerships between ant and plant species appear to arise from—but not drive—rapid diversification of ants into new species. Katrina Kaur of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

How to make carbon pricing palatable to air travellers

Travellers are willing to pay a little more for flights if they know the extra money will be used to address carbon emissions, a new study from the UBC Sauder School of Business has found. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

NASA's push to save the Mars InSight lander's heat probe

NASA's InSight lander, which is on a mission to explore the deep interior of Mars, positioned its robotic arm this past weekend to assist the spacecraft's self-hammering heat probe. Known as "the mole," the probe has been unable to dig more than about 14 inches (35 centimeters) s … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Protein associated with many diseases fully visualized for first time

For the first time, researchers have observed at the molecular level how a protein associated with numerous health problems works. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

How long does memory last? For shape memory alloys, the longer the better

Known to many as muscle wire or memory metal, shape memory alloys are materials that can be bent or deformed, and then return to their original shape when heat is applied. While people are most familiar with the material in "unbreakable" eye-glass frames, these alloys are also us … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Professor investigates gender-inclusive housing and friendships

Gender-inclusive spaces may help young people develop friendships across gender identities, according to a new study by a Washington State University researcher. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

US government research in 'crisis,' warns think tank

Interference in government research by US President Donald Trump's administration has reached a "crisis point" with almost weekly violations of previously respected safeguards, a report by a think tank said Thursday, warning that ignoring science has led to ineffective and costly … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Living a long chimpanzee life

We humans may consider a long-lived life to be anywhere from 60 to 100 years, depending on where we live. But what about chimpanzees, one of our closest living relatives? | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Study finds managed forests in new hampshire rich in carbon

A Dartmouth-led study examining carbon stocks in an actively managed mixed wood forest in New Hampshire finds that places with more trees have more carbon stored in both the trees and the soil. The findings, published in Forest Ecology and Management, demonstrate the connection b … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Laser precision: NASA flights, satellite align over sea ice

The skies were clear, the winds were low, and the lasers aligned. In April, instruments aboard NASA's Operation IceBridge airborne campaign and the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 succeeded in measuring the same Arctic sea ice at the same time, a tricky feat given the s … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

NASA sees Post-tropical Cyclone Lorenzo affecting Ireland

NASA's Terra satellite passed over the eastern North Atlantic Ocean early on Oct. 3 and captured a visible image of Post-tropical Cyclone Lorenzo as it neared Ireland. Lorenzo's eastern side is already affecting Ireland, and both Ireland and the United Kingdom have posted warning … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

New 'fuzzy' dark matter research disrupts conventional thinking

New research conducted at the University of Sussex has simulated dark matter in a new way for the first time, disrupting conventional thinking about the make-up of the universe. The research, published in Physical Review Letters, was done alongside Princeton, Harvard, Cambridge a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

New ideal housewife image being created by social media influencers and bloggers

The new generation of successful female bloggers and influencers on social media are changing the identity of the stereotypical "ideal" housewife. This is according to a new study by Magdalena Petersson McIntyre, a researcher at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the Un … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Researchers find northern forests have lost crucial cold, snowy conditions

As the popular saying goes, "winter is coming," but is it? Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found clear signs of a decline in frost days, snow covered days and other indicators of winter that could have lasting impacts on ecosystems, water supplies, the economy … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

2-D topological physics from shaking a 1-D wire

Limiting quantum particles to move in one, two, or three dimensions has led to the observation of many striking phenomena. A prime example is the quantization of the Hall conductance measured in 2-D materials in a strong magnetic field. Nowadays, gases of ultracold atoms provide … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Combustion behavior of aromatics may provide keys to enhancing heavy oil extraction

The problem of petroleum depletion becomes more and pertinent every day. As deficits arise, non-traditional and heavy oils, including bitumen and shales, emerge as the focus of extensive research. Globally, they account for about 60 to 70 percent of explored reserves. For Russia, … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

How the Texas puma saved the Florida panther

Scientists have pieced together the first complete picture of the Florida panther genome—work that could serve to protect that endangered population and other endangered species going forward. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

New Australian pterosaur may have survived the longest

The discovery of a previously unknown species of pterosaur, which may have persisted as late as the Turonian period (90-93 million years ago), is reported in Scientific Reports this week. The fossil, which includes parts of the skull and five vertebrae, is the most complete ptero … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Engineered viruses could fight drug resistance

In the battle against antibiotic resistance, many scientists have been trying to deploy naturally occurring viruses called bacteriophages that can infect and kill bacteria. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Scientists discover a new mechanism for the transfer of maternal genetic material

Researchers at the Centro Nacional de Investigadores Cardiovasculares (CNIC) have established the dynamics of the transfer of mitochondrial DNA from mothers to their offspring. The study is published today in Cell Metabolism. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

New method to purify cell types to high purity

Researchers from the group of Alexander van Oudenaarden at the Hubrecht Institute (KNAW) have developed GateID, a new method that can purify a cell type of interest from a tissue without the use of antibodies or a genetic reporter. GateID allows researchers to isolate a variety o … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Cause of rare but deadly neurological disease identified

A deadly neurological disease that primarily affects infant boys is caused by increased sensitivity to iron in the brain, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the University of California-San Francisco and the University of Cambri … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Bumble bee workers sleep less while caring for young

All animals, including insects, need their sleep. Or do they? That's the question researchers reporting October 3 in the journal Current Biology are exploring in sleep studies of a surprising group of subjects: brood-tending bumble bee workers. Their studies show that worker bees … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

New study discovers the three-dimensional structure of the genome replication machine

Mount Sinai researchers have discovered how the enzyme DNA polymerase delta works to duplicate the genome that cells hand down from one generation to the next. In a study published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, the team also reported how certain mutations can modulate … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

L-chondrite breakup might have contributed to Ordovician biodiversification

About 466 Mya, a major impact event took place between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Space dust spread all across the Solar System, and some of it was found near Saint Petersburg, Russia, and in the south of Sweden. An international team of researchers investigating the outcome … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Complete genome of devastating soybean pathogen assembled

Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Promotional games at retail stores increase consumer spending

Shoppers who win retail discounts through scratch-off tickets or other games of chance are more likely to make a purchase, and spend more money, than customers offered standard discounts that apply to everyone, according to a new study led by the University of Connecticut. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Dust in ice cores leads to new knowledge on the advancement of the ice before the ice age

Researchers from the section Physics of Ice, Climate and Earth (PICE) at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, have succeeded in making a method to enlighten an otherwise dark period in climate history. Working with the ice core ReCap, drilled close to the coast in … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Climate breakdown is actually increasing the economic value of polar seas – beware the business opportunists

Our polar regions are in trouble. Sea ice is retreating, ice shelves are collapsing and the oceans are heating and acidifying. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Northern fur seals multiply on steaming Alaska volcano

Alaska's northern fur seal population for three decades has been classified as depleted, but the marine mammals are showing up in growing numbers at an unlikely location—a tiny island that forms the tip of an active undersea volcano. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Science needs myths to thrive

I can still remember the horror of discovering that everything I had worked on was wrong. I was a Ph.D. candidate just starting my second year, and my supervisor and I had developed a test for rheumatoid arthritis which seemed a revelation. We wrote a paper for a prestigious jour … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

UK particle accelerator to reveal secrets of 2,000-year-old papyrus

A leading science facility in the English countryside is helping in a bid to decipher Roman-era scrolls carbonised in the deadly eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

New England power line corridors harbor rare bees and other wild things

To many people, power line corridors are eyesores that alter wild lands and landscapes, even if they are necessary sites for transmission lines that deliver electricity. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago

Exoplanets to medical tests: Tiny frequency devices open up new applications

Accurately measuring frequencies of light is required for timekeeping. It's also a critical component in many science experiments and technologies, from military defense to detecting air pollution, tests of fundamental physics to the detection of exoplanets. "There are few human … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 4 years ago