All News
Phys.org / Climate warming can slow how tree roots feed soil microbes
A plant's roots do much of their work out of sight, pulling in water and nutrients and holding the plant in place. That makes it hard to see how plants respond when conditions underground change, and how a warming climate ...
Phys.org / Fatal Neanderthal wound may be earliest evidence of a wooden spear attack on a human ancestor
A round hole in the shoulder blade (scapula) of a Neanderthal whose partial remains were unearthed in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan may be the earliest known example of lethal interpersonal violence with a wooden spear in the ...
Phys.org / Forecasting 'tipping points' with AI climate simulation
The writer Malcolm Gladwell popularized the term "tipping points" to refer to the moment when a trend or social behavior crosses a threshold and rapidly spreads everywhere. In physics, tipping points occur when systems—say, ...
Phys.org / Adaptive molecular convergence more common than previously thought, distant jellyfish relatives reveal
A new study has found that adaptive molecular convergence—the process by which distantly related or unrelated species evolve the same genomic changes—is not as rare as previously thought.
Phys.org / Supercooled clouds over the highest mountains respond differently to climate change
Most studies of how clouds are responding to climate change focus on clouds over the oceans, rather than over mountains. Those that do focus on mountain clouds tend to explore cloud microphysics rather than long-term trends ...
Dialog / Forecasting air drag with deep learning helps predict when uncontrolled satellites and rocket stages fall to Earth
On May 10, 2025, a spacecraft built in the Soviet Union to land on Venus came home. Launched in 1972, Cosmos-482 was stranded by a failed upper stage of its rocket and circled Earth for 53 years. In its last days, several ...
Phys.org / New alloy design strategy combines strength and ductility by timing hardening mechanisms
Structural metals used in engineering projects are expected to have both high strength and high ductility: the ability to withstand heavy loads and deform before failure. Achieving both of these properties at the same time, ...
Phys.org / Belief in change matters more than political anger when it comes to voting intentions, study suggests
With the 2026 midterm elections around the corner, voters may be feeling everything from excitement to fear. But how might anger motivate political activism and, ultimately, influence who turns out to vote?
Phys.org / Winter sea ice loss may be underestimated, ancient clues from a warmer Arctic suggest
Future Arctic winter sea ice is likely to shrink by around 1 million square kilometers (386,000 square miles) more than previously thought, after researchers used clues from a warm period 6,000 years ago to improve the reliability ...
Medical Xpress / A gut microbe makes a fatty acid that cuts artery plaque in half in mice
A common gut bacterium produces a molecule that slows cholesterol production in the liver. When researchers gave the molecule to mice prone to artery disease, the animals developed roughly half as much fatty plaque as untreated ...
Phys.org / Finding their sense of direction: Cell movement helps tissues establish polarity
From the hairs on our arms to the microscopic sensory structures of the inner ear, many tissues in the body are built with a clear sense of direction. To build these structures throughout development, individual cells must ...
Phys.org / Why tightly confined water's response to electric fields depends on direction
Using an advanced new mathematical model, a pair of physicists in Belgium has revealed the origins of an unusual, direction-dependent effect found in water confined to a narrow gap between two plates. Through research published ...
