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Phys.org / A waltz over evolutionary timescales: Why it's so hard for animals to invent a new mating dance

"Love makes fools of all of us," wrote 19th-century novelist William Makepeace Thackeray. A moment spent watching the pigeons at your local park suggests he was right: males with puffed-up, shimmering necks hop, pirouette, ...

6 hours ago
Tech Xplore / Tiny chip could help cameras spot hidden details

A tiny new chip could give cameras and sensing systems a far sharper view of the world, helping them detect subtle differences in materials and environments that standard color imaging systems cannot see.

6 hours ago
Medical Xpress / Crohn's atlas maps gene shifts across more than 50 gut cell types

A detailed cellular study of Crohn's disease has mapped how gene activity changes across more than 50 cell types in the gut. The study provides an open resource of the genes that characterize each cell type and those whose ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Medieval Moroccan bathhouse steps reveal rare game board

Archaeologists have discovered a game board carved into the steps of a medieval bathhouse in the Moroccan town of Walīla (the Roman city of Volubilis). The find is a rare example of a medieval game board that can be securely ...

12 hours ago
Phys.org / Thermochemical mantle plume identified as the likely origin of Earth's largest oceanic plateau

The Ontong Java Plateau in the western Pacific Ocean is the largest oceanic plateau on Earth, and its formation mechanism has not been well understood.

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Deep Earth model traces 270 million years of seamount formation across oceans

Over 40,000 seamounts—undersea mountains that don't breach the ocean's surface—are scattered across the ocean floor. Some form linear chains, while others occur as dispersed, isolated features that are not part of well-defined ...

5 hours ago
Medical Xpress / Light switch wakes lung cancer cells up from a protective dormant state

Tumor cells can lapse into a sleep-like state and thereby evade the destructive effect of cancer drugs. In some types of the disease, such as certain forms of lung cancer, this state is triggered by stress hormones in the ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Lithium spike reveals sun-like star likely swallowed its planet

A team of astronomers, led by Brooke Kotten of the University of Michigan, has shown that TOI-5882—a sunlike star located some 1,300 light-years away—has likely eaten one of its planets.

7 hours ago
Phys.org / Predators on the move may link the evolution of species thousands of kilometers apart

Can a snake in Thailand influence the evolution of a snake in the Philippines even if the two species never cross paths? According to a new study, the answer may be yes. The research suggests that migratory predators can ...

7 hours ago
Phys.org / Benzene reaction may explain how DNA and RNA building blocks formed on early Earth

Caltech researchers have identified a novel chemical reaction that could explain the formation of the building blocks of DNA and RNA, the molecules that encode all of life's functions. The work is an important step toward ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Children learn life lessons from movies like Moana

Children not only enjoy watching movies like Moana, but also learn lessons from them and apply those lessons to their own lives. That is the conclusion reached by communication scientists at Radboud University. For example, ...

2 hours ago
Phys.org / New imaging technique measures single scramblase proteins, revealing lipid transport rates

A new single-protein analysis technique gives researchers an unprecedented ability to study proteins called scramblases, which have critical roles in biology. The development of the new technique, in a study led by investigators ...

3 hours ago