All News

Phys.org / Hydraulic traits reveal why some mountain trees move uphill while others shift downhill

As global temperatures rise, scientists have largely assumed that mountain tree species will move uphill in search of cooler conditions. A new study published in Nature Climate Change reveals a more complex reality: Some ...

Aug 7, 2026
Phys.org / 'Little red dots' may be pulsating monster stars that created early-universe black holes

Astronomers have speculated about the mysterious "little red dots" seen through the James Webb Space Telescope's images of the early universe: They could be galaxies, black holes, quasi-stars, starbursts ... or something ...

Aug 5, 2026
Phys.org / Turning one of the world's most difficult plastics into premium lubricant

Virginia Tech chemist and chemical engineer Guoliang "Greg" Liu and his lab have developed a process that converts the plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into polyalphaolefin, a key component in lubricants such as engine oil. ...

Aug 5, 2026
Tech Xplore / A new attack slips past the latest defenses built into your computer's processor

Chipmakers and operating system developers have spent years building defenses. A new study from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) shows that a key assumption behind many of them doesn't ...

Aug 9, 2026
Phys.org / Astronomers catch massive star's death from the first explosive moment

In March 2026, the Einstein Probe detected a brief flash of soft X-rays emitted from a galaxy about 500 million light-years away. The flash, dubbed EP260321a, immediately triggered a worldwide observing campaign. Within an ...

Aug 5, 2026
Phys.org / Antenna-like cell appendage may help turtle embryos sense sex-deciding nest temperatures

When most baby turtles hatch, their sex depends on the temperature of the sand or soil where their mother laid her eggs. Warm incubation produces females, while cool nests produce males.

Aug 7, 2026
Phys.org / From mountain peaks to microclimates, new maps bring satellite big data down to Earth

Zooming from her office, Michigan State University researcher Kelly Kapsar showed satellite images from across the United States. In some, different colors revealed the precise heights of the forested ridges in the Sierra ...

Aug 7, 2026
Phys.org / AI for homework—parents more willing to pay subscriptions for their children as peer pressure rises

Many parents have mixed feelings about the unrestricted use of artificial intelligence (AI) for schoolwork. They are concerned about the potential impact on their child's ability to learn but also don't want them to be left ...

Aug 6, 2026
Tech Xplore / Optimizing software: Computing professor's 'egg' downsizes programs to make them more nimble

Many software tools, including compilers, optimizers and synthesizers, have a common task at their core. They must transform long, complicated programs into simplified equivalents. These scaled-down programs run faster and ...

Aug 6, 2026
Tech Xplore / 'Chameleon' chip adapts to changing data speeds, cutting prediction errors by up to 40-fold

AI semiconductors are becoming more programmable. KAIST researchers have developed a device whose response characteristics can be programmed to process data that changes at different speeds. The technology reduced prediction ...

Aug 7, 2026
Phys.org / Super-Earths may be solid deep inside their mantles

Deep inside super-Earths—rocky planets with masses between 1 and 10 times that of Earth—high pressure can cause familiar minerals to take forms rarely seen on Earth. Understanding more about the temperature and pressure conditions ...

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / Fossils from Wyoming's Smiley Draw deepen understanding of early primate evolution

A new study from the University of Kansas complicates the picture of primates living in North America some 55 million years ago during the Eocene, a warm period that allowed mammals to diversify quickly.

Aug 4, 2026