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Phys.org / Oldest example of preserved tube feet reveals clues about the lives of 452-million-year-old sea lilies
Echinoderms, such as starfish, sea urchins and sea lilies, use small, flexible, tubular projections called "tube feet" for locomotion, feeding, respiration and sensory perception. Crinoids, a subgroup of echinoderms, are ...
Phys.org / Why female guppies prefer rare males and how this might shape evolution
When it comes to choosing a partner, some species prefer males that stand out from the crowd. Evolutionary biologists call the resulting process negative frequency-dependent selection. It means that a male has a huge mating ...
Medical Xpress / Intracellular mechanisms promote tumor survival during hypoxia
Northwestern Medicine scientists have, for the first time, described the underlying mechanisms that regulate how cells rapidly change gene expression in response to hypoxia, a key feature of many treatment-resistant tumors, ...
Phys.org / How languages recycle parts of words to avoid confusion
Many languages recycle words, giving them different meanings. For example, in English, "run" can mean to move quickly but also to manage something, like "run a company." In Spanish, "lengua" is both the word for tongue and ...
Tech Xplore / An AI model that thinks like we do offers new ways to peer inside the black box
When a standard large language model (LLM) is confronted with a problem, it tries to solve it by matching it to similar information it has seen before, and then give an answer based on those past patterns. But how it decides ...
Phys.org / Scientists find evidence of vast hidden magma systems inside Mars
Researchers from the University of Oxford have uncovered evidence that Mars once hosted enormous, Earth-like magmatic systems deep beneath its surface—despite the planet lacking the plate tectonics long thought necessary ...
Phys.org / Novel crystal strategy delivers near-perfect zero thermal expansion from 11 K to 893 K
Almost every material expands when heated. Well-known examples include railroad tracks and concrete roadways, which feature visible expansion gaps to accommodate this effect. However, thermal expansion poses a far more acute ...
Phys.org / Semiconductor quantum dots 'reawaken' predicted Rabi oscillations, boosting quantum control
Physicists at Paderborn University have, for the first time, experimentally demonstrated the so-called "return" of Rabi oscillations in semiconductor quantum dots. The phenomenon, which was first predicted theoretically in ...
Phys.org / Broken time-reversal symmetry phase in kagome metals may establish conditions for superconductivity
Physicists have long suspected that a peculiar quantum state lurks inside a class of materials known as kagome metals, but proving its existence has been elusive. Now, a team led by Yeongkwan Kim at the Korea Advanced Institute ...
Phys.org / Artificial DNA tiles could deliver drugs and monitor neurons non-disruptively
Living cells constantly exchange ions (i.e., charged particles) via the thin barrier that surrounds their interior, known as the outer membrane. Neuroscientists and medical researchers have long been trying to devise effective ...
Phys.org / White barn owls may use moonlight to startle prey
White barn owls are effective killing machines. They fly silently through the night air and swoop down on unsuspecting prey with their sharp talons. But they have something you would think goes against being a stealth predator: ...
Phys.org / Glass cells of atoms offer a new path to smarter, cheaper sensors
More accurate navigation systems and improved wireless communications may not come from traditional electronics, but rather from atoms. Researchers at Penn State and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ...