All News

Phys.org / A third of Americans cannot name the three branches of government

Over a third of U.S. adults (35%) cannot name all three branches of the government, and under half can name four of the five rights protected by the First Amendment, according to the 2026 Annenberg Constitution Day Civics ...

Sep 16, 2026
Phys.org / Virtual cells built from 4D AI models and 'digital twins' could speed up drug discovery

Mitochondria—tiny structures that convert nutrients into energy—are often depicted as discrete kidney bean-shaped objects. But in reality, they form a dynamic, interconnected network throughout the entire cell, rapidly splitting ...

Sep 20, 2026
Medical Xpress / Use of MRI before prostate biopsies increases sharply across U.S. hospitals

Using prostate MRI before a biopsy is a real advance in prostate cancer diagnosis. Multiple randomized trials have shown that imaging the prostate first and then targeting suspicious lesions finds more of the aggressive cancers ...

Sep 20, 2026
Medical Xpress / White matter 'bridge' bundles link brain hierarchy levels to broader mental functions

To enable movement, perception, memory, reasoning, emotion and various other functions, the human brain heavily relies on communication between different regions. This communication also takes place via white matter, tissue ...

Sep 19, 2026
Phys.org / The monsters that weren't: Dinosaur and tusked-beast claims in San rock art unravel

For decades, an idea has grown in paleontology that, long before scientists began digging up and reconstructing dinosaur bones, the Indigenous San and Basotho in southern Africa noticed them too, incorporating them into songs, ...

Sep 19, 2026
Phys.org / Medieval Chinese skeleton may reveal first evidence of a brutal punishment

Ancient Chinese authorities used many creative ways to punish people, often with methods designed to mark them for life. One brutal example mentioned repeatedly in historical texts is cutting off a person's nose. However, ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / Discovery of CRISPR's long lost ancestor may expand gene-editing toolkit

CRISPR may be a powerful technology for gene editing, but the system existed in bacteria long before scientists began using it. For billions of years, CRISPR has acted as a natural immune system in bacteria and other microbes, ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / North Korea's nuclear testing may have triggered hundreds of earthquakes over several years

Between 2006 and 2017, North Korea conducted six underground nuclear tests at its vast testing site at Mount Mantap in North Hamgyong province. Typically, underground explosions trigger an intense burst of minor earthquakes ...

Sep 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / Salivary cortisol patterns linked to cognitive decline over 11 years

In a study published in the journal JAMA Network Open, an irregular pattern and consistently higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva were associated with cognitive decline later in life. Black participants ...

Sep 20, 2026
Phys.org / Real-time quantum jump in sound observed for first time

A Stanford team has documented the first direct observation of quantum jumps of sound in a mechanical resonator, completing an arc of scientific exploration that started more than 100 years ago.

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / How firelight may have shaped the origins of spoken language

When asked about the greatest innovation of humans, people often say language or fire. A new paper suggests these innovations may be more interlinked than we previously assumed.

Sep 20, 2026
Phys.org / Global population dataset uses buildings to reveal people's daily movement patterns

Researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have released LandScan Mosaic, a next-generation global population distribution dataset that estimates where people are by modeling how ...

Sep 19, 2026