All News

Phys.org / How travel and dating apps are changing relationship rules for queer men

Travel and dating apps like Grindr are reshaping how some queer men in relationships negotiate sex and intimacy—often through careful discussion and agreed boundaries rather than secrecy, challenging assumptions that such ...

18 hours ago in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Chemists synthesize first stable copper metallocene complex, closing a 70-year gap

Almost half a century ago, a remarkable molecule called metallocene took center stage in chemistry, earning Geoffrey Wilkinson and Ernst Otto Fischer the Nobel Prize. These organic compounds, made of a transition metal "sandwiched" ...

Feb 20, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / In Tampa, storm-weary residents detail the costs of extreme weather

An Ybor business owner closed her yoga studio repeatedly from worries over moldy, waterlogged walls. A Pinellas woman's home flooded in one hurricane, and a tree crushed her car in another. A Tampa student feared her insulin ...

20 hours ago in Earth
Phys.org / Proton's width measured to unparalleled precision, narrowing the path to new physics

Physicists in Germany have carried out the most accurate measurement to date of the width of the proton. By examining a previously unexplored energy-level transition in the hydrogen atom, Lothar Maisenbacher and colleagues ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Living tissues are shaped by self-propelled topological defects, biophysicists find

With a new mathematical model, a team of biophysicists has revealed fresh insights into how biological tissues are shaped by the active motion of structural imperfections known as "topological defects." Published in Physical ...

Feb 20, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / The bouba-kiki effect: Baby chicks match sounds to shapes just like humans

When we hear certain sounds, our brains often pair them with specific shapes. For example, most people will associate a sharp-sounding word with a jagged, pointed shape, while a soft, rolling word is linked to something smooth ...

Feb 20, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Widespread 'enhanced rock weathering' could slow global warming

It's one of the latest technologies for sequestering carbon: crush silicate rocks, add to crop soil, and let the rock dust naturally react with carbon dioxide. The reactions bind carbon into stable mineral forms that can ...

Feb 16, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Symbiotic bacteria in planthoppers break record for smallest non-organelle genome ever found

Many insects rely on heritable bacterial endosymbionts for essential nutrients that they cannot get through their diet. A new study, published in Nature Communications, indicates that the genomes of these symbiotic bacteria ...

Feb 20, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Can a chatbot be a co-author? AI helps crack a long-stalled gluon amplitude proof

Like many scientists, theoretical physicist Andrew Strominger was unimpressed with early attempts at probing ChatGPT, receiving clever-sounding answers that didn't stand up to scrutiny. So he was skeptical when a talented ...

Feb 20, 2026 in Physics
Medical Xpress / Two months into 2026, Maryland mumps cases already six times last year's total

Maryland has reported six times as many mumps cases in early 2026 as it did all of last year, with most infections concentrated in the Baltimore metropolitan area, state health officials said Thursday.

Phys.org / Cosmic predators: How supermassive black holes slow star growth in nearby galaxies

Intense radiation emitted by active supermassive black holes—thought to reside at the center of most, if not all, galaxies—can slow star growth not just in their host galaxy, but also in galaxies millions of light-years ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Evidence points to early goat and sheep dairy consumption in Neolithic Iran

Approximately 9,000 years ago, human communities in Southwest Asia underwent a dramatic transformation, known as the Neolithic revolution. This period was marked by pronounced changes in how they lived and sourced food, with ...

Feb 20, 2026 in Other Sciences