Phys.org news

Phys.org / SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight

SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon.

34 minutes ago
Phys.org / AI makes a major breakthrough in a math problem that had stumped experts for decades

For nearly 80 years, mathematicians have struggled to solve a classic geometry puzzle first posed by Paul Erdős in 1946: the planar unit distance problem. The question posed by the legendary Hungarian mathematician was, on ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Earth's outer core beneath Pacific reversed direction in 2010, satellite data reveal

The liquid iron in Earth's outer core doesn't always behave as expected. When it changed direction in an unexplained way, ESA satellites provided data on the direction of flow, helping scientists gain better insight into ...

19 hours ago
Phys.org / Astronomers discover a super-Earth orbiting a nearby red dwarf

Astronomers from Italy and Brazil have investigated a nearby red dwarf star known as Ross 318 and have discovered an exoplanet orbiting this star, which is at least six times more massive than Earth. The discovery is reported ...

19 hours ago
Phys.org / Hi-res microscopes give biologists petabytes of data. Scientists are creating an AI assistant to make sense of it

In a cramped, windowless room on the University of California, Berkeley, campus, two bespoke microscopes—each a Swiss Army knife for high-resolution imaging—operate around the clock gathering data that will help train a game-changing ...

18 hours ago
Phys.org / Imaging ellipsometry tracks MXene thin-film quality during fabrication without damage

A German–Israeli research team led by Dr. Andreas Furchner has demonstrated how imaging ellipsometry enables non-destructive characterization and quality control of microstructured MXene thin films during device fabrication. ...

11 hours ago
Phys.org / Physicists figure out how to reduce formation of 'viscous fingers'

When they reach the bottom of a soap dispenser, frugal handwashers might try adding water to the bottle to push out the last bit of soap. But usually, the water drills right through the soap and jets out an only slightly ...

14 hours ago
Phys.org / Nickelate reveals nodeless gap, providing key clue to high-temperature superconductivity

The mechanism of high-temperature (TC) superconductivity is a key challenge in condensed matter physics. Recently, Chinese scientists made significant progress in the study of high-TC nickelate superconductors.

13 hours ago
Phys.org / Understanding the mechanisms of collective cell movement

Like schools of fish and flocks of birds, our cells can also migrate collectively in coordination with their neighbors. This harmonious movement of cells occurs during embryonic development, wound healing, and cancer metastasis. ...

11 hours ago
Phys.org / Why we live alone—and what it means for the climate and our sense of community

Solo living in your own home places a greater strain on the planet's resources than living with others, as everyone needs their own appliances—a toaster, a washing machine and so on. The Nordic countries stand out: Almost ...

12 hours ago
Phys.org / Novel porous gel changes color, shrinks and hardens when it detects target molecules

Researchers at Kyoto University and Tohoku University have developed a new porous polymer gel that selectively recognizes specific molecules (referred to as "guests" in the study) through coordination chemistry and converts ...

12 hours ago
Phys.org / Making biomolecules glow: New dye solves imaging interference problem

Biomolecules, also known as organic molecules, include sugars, proteins and lipids and are the building blocks of all life. They play a role in the structure and metabolism of all living organisms. To make them visible under ...

12 hours ago