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Phys.org / Electron-phonon 'surfing' could help stabilize quantum hardware, nanowire tests suggest

That low-frequency fuzz that can bedevil cellphone calls has to do with how electrons move through and interact in materials at the smallest scale. The electronic flicker noise is often caused by interruptions in the flow ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Physics
Medical Xpress / Immune cells linked to Epstein-Barr virus may play a role in multiple sclerosis

Researchers at UC San Francisco have uncovered a new clue to how Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) could contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic autoimmune disease that affects nearly one million Americans. The work found ...

Phys.org / When continents try, and fail, to break apart

Great things can come from failure when it comes to geology. The Midcontinent rift formed about 1.1 billion years ago and runs smack in the middle of the United States at the Great Lakes. The rift failed to completely rupture, ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Teaching machines to design molecular switches

In biology, many RNA molecules act as sophisticated microscopic machines. Among them, riboswitches function as tiny biological sensors, changing their 3D shape upon binding to a specific metabolite. This shape-change acts ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Plastic pollution promotes hazardous water conditions, new study finds

Dangerous concentrations of algae such as "red tides" have been consistently emerging in locations around the world. A region in Southern Australia is experiencing a nine-month toxic algae bloom that spans thousands of miles ...

Feb 1, 2026 in Earth
Medical Xpress / Mutation in one Parkinson's protein eases cellular traffic jams caused by another

A hallmark of Parkinson's disease is the buildup of Lewy bodies—misfolded clumps of the protein known as alpha-synuclein. Long before Lewy bodies form, alpha-synuclein can interfere with neurons' ability to transport proteins ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Neuroscience
Phys.org / CRISPR-based biosensors enable real-time ocean health monitoring

Oceanic ecosystems are increasingly threatened by global warming, which causes coral bleaching, species migration and, through the loss of habitats and biodiversity, food web disruptions on major scales. Also, pollutants ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Medical Xpress / Immune 'hijacking' by tumors can predict cancer evolution

Predicting tumor progression is one of the major challenges in oncology. Scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have discovered that neutrophils, a type of immune cell, ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Oncology & Cancer
Tech Xplore / New design tool 3D-prints woven metamaterials that stretch and fail predictably

Metamaterials—materials whose properties are primarily dictated by their internal microstructure, and not their chemical makeup—have been redefining the engineering materials space for the last decade. To date, however, ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Engineering
Phys.org / Breathing in the past: How museums can use biomolecular archaeology to bring ancient scents to life

Recent advances in biomolecular archaeology have revealed that ancient objects can retain the molecular fingerprints of past aromatic practices. These molecules provide unprecedented insight into ancient perfumery, medicine, ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Are cats 'vegan' meat eaters? Why isotopic signatures of feline fur could trick us into thinking that way

Cats—unlike humans—are true carnivores: they must eat meat to survive because their bodies can't draw some essential nutrients from plants. By looking at tissues, researchers can get a good understanding of what foods ...

Feb 3, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / An unusual dust storm on Mars reveals how the red planet lost some of its water

The current image of Mars as an arid and hostile desert contrasts sharply with the history revealed by its surface. Channels, minerals altered by water, and other geological traces indicate that the red planet was, in its ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Astronomy & Space