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Phys.org / Close-up images show how stars explode in real time

Astronomers have captured images of two stellar explosions—known as novae—within days of their eruption and in unprecedented detail. The breakthrough provides direct evidence that these explosions are more complex than ...

13 hours ago in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / New deep-sea species discovered during mining test

There is high global demand for critical metals, and many countries want to try extracting these sought-after metals from the seabed. An international study, which has discovered large numbers of new species at a depth of ...

14 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Alkaline-loving microbes could help safeguard nuclear waste buried deep underground for thousands of years

Billions of alkaline-loving microbes could offer a new way to protect nuclear waste buried deep underground. This approach overcomes the limitations of current cement barriers, which can crack or break down over time.

12 hours ago in Earth
Phys.org / Probing the existence of a fifth force via neutron star cooling

Neutron stars are ultra-dense star remnants made up primarily of nucleons (i.e., protons and neutrons). Over the course of millions of years, these stars progressively cool down, radiating heat into space.

16 hours ago in Physics
Medical Xpress / Gut bacteria's hidden toxin acts as DNA glue, fueling colorectal cancer risk

Colibactin is a powerful toxin produced by Escherichia coli and other bacteria living in the human gut. This highly unstable bacterial product causes mutations in DNA that have been linked to colorectal cancer. Because it ...

14 hours ago in Oncology & Cancer
Medical Xpress / Early Parkinson's predictor found in daily step count

Oxford's Big Data Institute and Nuffield Department of Population Health report that daily step counts may help identify who will later be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, with lower activity patterns acting as an early ...

Phys.org / The fossil bird that choked to death on rocks, and no one knows why

A fossil only tells part of the story. When an animal's body is preserved as a fossil, there are often pieces missing, and even a perfectly preserved body doesn't tell the whole story of how that animal behaved, how it lived, ...

17 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / AI can dramatically speed up digitizing natural history collections

A new study from UNC-Chapel Hill researchers shows that advanced artificial intelligence tools, specifically large language models (LLMs), can accurately determine the locations where plant specimens were originally collected, ...

9 hours ago in Biology
Medical Xpress / People's sniffing behaviors predict what they are smelling, study shows

Humans and other animals actively sense their surrounding environment. This entails the deliberate adjustment of motor behavior involved in sensory sampling (i.e., movements of the eyes, ears and hands) in line with the stimulus ...

16 hours ago in Neuroscience
Phys.org / Long-term study of nearby blazar reveals complex emission patterns

Using NASA's Swift and Fermi space telescopes, Indian astronomers have conducted a long-term multiwavelength study of a nearby blazar designated TXS 0518+211. Results of the study, published Nov. 26 on the arXiv pre-print ...

18 hours ago in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / New Moby Dick-like termite species discovered

In the canopies of a South American rainforest, a tiny soldier termite has stunned a team of international scientists with its whale-like features.

12 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Free radicals caught in the act with slow spectroscopy

Why does plastic turn brittle and paint fade when exposed to the sun for long periods? Scientists have long known that such organic photodegradation occurs due to the sun's energy generating free radicals: molecules that ...

12 hours ago in Chemistry