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Phys.org / A 500-million-year-old clawed predator rewrites the origin of spiders and horseshoe crabs

It had been a long day of teaching for Rudy Lerosey-Aubril. As a reward, he returned to cleaning an intriguing Cambrian arthropod fossil he had recently received for review. At first, the specimen showed all the expected ...

Apr 1, 2026
Phys.org / Fins, fingers and toes: A new take on repeating body parts and how they come to be

As biologists know, nature can take its sweet time explaining itself. Andrew Gillis, associate scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), has been investigating how the paired fins of fishes evolved for nearly 20 ...

Apr 1, 2026
Phys.org / Hidden features in X-rays could radically change how we measure and understand them

Hidden features uncovered in X-ray signals are set to overturn a key scientific theory and fundamentally change how X-rays are interpreted across fields of physics, chemistry, biology and materials science, new research reveals. ...

Apr 1, 2026
Phys.org / New index reveals global water resources' growing dependence on extreme rainfall

As global temperatures climb, rainfall patterns are shifting in ways that could put water resources and agriculture under increasing strain, a new study published in Water Resources Research suggests.

Mar 31, 2026
Phys.org / Lost mosaic reveals first image of female beast-fighter from the Roman era

When you think of a fight between an animal and a human in ancient Roman sports, the mental image is usually of a big man vs. an animal in a big arena filled with cheering spectators. In a new study, Alfonso Manas, a researcher ...

Mar 31, 2026
Phys.org / Chaos shapes how meandering rivers change over time, research shows

Rivers are rarely the calm, orderly streams we imagine on maps. Over time, their winding paths—called meanders—shift, bend, and occasionally snap off in sudden "cutoff" events that shorten loops and reshape the landscape. ...

Apr 1, 2026
Phys.org / Nature's photocopiers caught 'doodling'—scientists say it could revolutionize how DNA is written

New research has discovered that the molecular machines responsible for copying our DNA have a surprising hidden talent—an ability to create entirely new and highly sophisticated DNA sequences from scratch. The study, led ...

Apr 1, 2026
Phys.org / New model shows how behavioral flexibility affects animal evolution

When the environment changes dramatically, animals from mollusks to crows can make big changes in their behavior that enable them to survive. For example, marmots and ground squirrels in California are spending more time ...

Apr 1, 2026
Phys.org / Cosmic collision of galaxies mapped by Maunakea telescope

An astronomer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is using data from the Canada–France–Hawaiʻi Telescope (CFHT) on Maunakea to help reconstruct a slow-motion cosmic collision, one that has been unfolding for hundreds of ...

Apr 1, 2026
Phys.org / Astronomers determine the fate of a double white dwarf binary

Utilizing the stellar evolution code named Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA), Chinese astronomers have investigated the evolution of a recently discovered ultra-compact double white dwarf binary system ...

Mar 31, 2026
Phys.org / Stretching metals can tune catalysis: A new method predicts energy shifts

Heterogeneous catalysis—in which catalysts and reactants are of different phases, e.g., solid and gas—is important to many industrial processes and often involves solid metal as the catalyst. Ammonia synthesis, catalytic ...

Apr 1, 2026
Medical Xpress / Alzheimer's risk reduced after high-dose influenza vaccination vs. standard dose, study finds

The risk of Alzheimer's disease significantly decreases in older adults who receive a higher dose of the influenza vaccine compared to the standard dose, according to new research led by UTHealth Houston. The findings are ...

Apr 1, 2026