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Phys.org / Where did language come from? Nobody really knows, but the theories are fascinating

Humans are the only species known to use fully symbolic language: a system capable of expressing abstract ideas, imaginary worlds and endless combinations of meaning. But how did we get there?

Jun 9, 2026
Tech Xplore / Long‑term data bottleneck resolved, paving the way for faster and safer data management

Organizations today struggle to handle vast amounts of information stored across multiple databases, registers and systems. In his doctoral thesis, Romuald Esdras Wandji at the Department of Computing Science at Umeå University ...

Jun 9, 2026
Phys.org / eDNA metabarcoding evaluated for fish diversity assessment

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has emerged as a powerful tool for monitoring aquatic biodiversity, enabling researchers to identify fish species from traces of DNA found in water without using invasive techniques ...

Jun 9, 2026
Phys.org / Understanding Earth's hidden east-west symmetry could improve climate models

Earth is divided into two halves: the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Both reflect equal amounts of sunlight (albedo) even though they have different landmasses and weather patterns, especially cloud distribution. Why ...

Jun 4, 2026
Phys.org / Magnon momentum microscopy: A new window into nanoscale spin-wave physics

An international team led by the Max Born Institute has developed a new type of momentum microscopy to image magnons—the quanta of collectively excited spins—directly in two-dimensional reciprocal space using soft X-rays. ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Italian Luca Parmitano to be first European to join an Artemis mission: NASA

Luca Parmitano, an Italian astronaut, will be the pilot of NASA's Artemis 3 mission, the first European to join one of the program's missions, the U.S. space agency announced Tuesday.

Jun 9, 2026
Medical Xpress / Left-handed DNA tubes double cancer drug killing by boosting cell uptake

Researchers in the lab of Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) member Xing Wang have discovered the influential role of structural chirality, or "handedness," of a DNA nanostructure to dictate cancer cell response to targeted ...

Jun 8, 2026
Tech Xplore / Robotic arm inspired by octopus uses tactile sensors in suction cups for autonomous underwater grasping

The oceans hide some of the most sophisticated solutions nature has ever developed and are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the robotics of the future. The Bioinspired Soft Robotics research unit, coordinated by ...

Jun 8, 2026
Medical Xpress / New map reveals how antidepressants reshape the brain's serotonin system

A new study has uncovered how antidepressants affect different groups of serotonin-producing brain cells in opposite ways, offering new insights into why selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can cause unpleasant ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Firefighters face a higher risk of skin cancer, but nano fabrics with tiny, rough fibers can help keep them safer

Wildland firefighters are exposed to a mix of harmful chemicals in the smoke they breathe and the ash and soot that gets on their clothing. Over long assignments fighting fires that can last for days to weeks, those chemicals ...

Jun 9, 2026
Phys.org / Corals have a hormonal clock and it looks surprisingly like ours

A three-year study has cracked open the hidden biology behind coral reproduction, revealing hormone cycles that echo those of humans and other animals, and a new way to detect reef distress before it's too late.

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Researchers ask us to rethink the ways we see and study the Arctic

The Arctic and sub-Arctic are places where communities already live, produce knowledge and self-govern. Yet recent geopolitical and economic involvement are bringing renewed interest in the region.

Jun 9, 2026