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Phys.org / Faint far-infrared radiation drives a correlated insulator-to-metal transition in magic-angle graphene

One of the central ideas in modern physics is the phase transition—a sudden transformation of the state of a material. We encounter phase transitions throughout everyday life: water freezes into ice, wax melts in the warmth ...

Aug 31, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Organic crystal reveals how Joule heating stabilizes resistive switching

Metal-insulator transitions (MITs), in which a material changes from a metallic state with low resistivity to an insulating state because of a change in an external parameter, such as temperature, pressure or an electric ...

Aug 31, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Scientists put algae to work making fuel. AI reveals which cells are pulling their weight

Algae have a habit of turning up where they're not wanted. They coat your swimming pool in green gunk, cling to rocks at the beach and even make headlines when they take over prominent reservoirs, such as the White House ...

Aug 31, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Human-driven fires have shaped the Amazonian forest for over 10,000 years

New research is dismantling the longstanding myth of the "pristine" Amazon. A reconstruction of 10,000 years of Amazonian pyrogeography, based on 1,361 radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dates across 303 sites—including soil charcoal and ...

Aug 31, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Physicists finally put Feynman's path integral to the test

For nearly 80 years, physicists have relied on a thought experiment created by Richard Feynman to predict how quantum particles behave. For the first time, researchers in China have tested this trick directly in the lab.

Aug 31, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Light reveals internal motion in electron crystals and can trigger their melting

Electrons, particles that carry a negative electric charge, typically move through materials. At low densities and temperatures, however, the electrical repulsion between them can overpower their tendency to move, prompting ...

Aug 28, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Tiny oxygen gaps may determine whether next-generation memory films store data well

Researchers have captured in real time the "birth moment" when the performance of a next-generation memory material is determined. The key lies in controlling oxygen vacancies, microscopic defects created when oxygen atoms ...

Aug 27, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Texas fossil reveals early insects kept aquatic limbs during move onto land

The formation of complex terrestrial ecosystems was a significant innovation in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. This event signified the expansion of life beyond marine environments and marked the beginning of ...

Aug 27, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / A few minutes of freezing can change the fate of iron in nature

Just a few minutes of freezing and thawing can have a decisive impact on how ferrihydrite, the most reactive iron mineral in cold soils, permafrost and glaciers, transforms, according to researchers at Umeå University. As ...

Aug 27, 2026 in Earth
Medical Xpress / Early nicotine vapor exposure increases nicotine seeking later in life, study finds

Nicotine vaping during adolescence may leave a lasting imprint on the brain's reward system, driving nicotine-seeking behavior well into adulthood even after long stretches without any exposure, according to new research ...

Aug 26, 2026 in
Phys.org / 3D atomic imaging reveals a new pathway to crystal formation

The most common scientific approach for thinking about how condensation, freezing and other phase transitions begin is based in classical nucleation theory, which was developed about a century ago. Thousands of experiments ...

Aug 25, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Chemical physicists quantitatively model electron interactions in real quantum materials

A team of scientists from Caltech and Yale University has shown for the first time how to accurately quantify an important quantum phenomenon in metals, called the Kondo effect, for specific real materials. Unlike previous ...

Aug 25, 2026 in Physics