Phys.org news
Phys.org / Reddit field experiment examines what distinguishes lurkers from power users
Online discussions are often dominated by a small group of active users, while the majority remain silent. This imbalance can distort perceptions of public opinion and fuel polarization.
Phys.org / A new reference brain could make the clonal raider ant a go-to model species for neuroscience
Every clonal raider ant lives a nearly identical life. Each new generation of these blind, queenless ants is born at the same time, eats the same things, lives in the same environment, and—as an asexually reproducing species—has ...
Phys.org / Mitochondrial enzyme's atomic-level structure reveals how it processes RNA
Researchers at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet have captured the first detailed molecular snapshots of human polynucleotide phosphorylase (hPNPase) in action, revealing how this essential ...
Phys.org / Einstein's theory comes wrapped up with a bow: Astronomers spot star 'wobbling' around black hole
The cosmos has served up a gift for a group of scientists who have been searching for one of the most elusive phenomena in the night sky. Their study, presented in Science Advances, reports on the very first observations ...
Phys.org / Spending less can deliver more climate-friendly nutrition
Eating healthily can save money and also cause less greenhouse gas emissions than most people's current food choices, according to a new global study that examined food costs, nutrition, and climate impact around the world.
Phys.org / New circoviruses discovered in pilot whales and orcas from the North Atlantic
A collaborative team of researchers has identified two previously unknown circoviruses in short-finned pilot whales and orcas from the Caribbean region of the North Atlantic Ocean. The findings represent the first detection ...
Phys.org / Lunar soil analyses reveal how space weathering shapes the moon's ultraviolet reflectance
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists are collaborating with researchers at UT San Antonio to study how space weathering can alter the lunar surface materials to help interpret regional and global far-ultraviolet ...
Phys.org / Cats' purrs reveal who's who better than their meows
A new study by researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the University of Naples Federico II shows a domestic cat's purr reveals far more about its individual identity than its meow. While meows are highly flexible ...
Phys.org / Used cooking oil yields super strong glue and recyclable plastics
Plastics are made from crude oil and petroleum by-products, so a team of scientists decided to explore if they could turn waste cooking oil into a useful plastic material, and they succeeded.
Phys.org / Slow changes in radio scintillation can nudge pulsar timing by billionths of a second
For 10 months, a SETI Institute-led team watched pulsar PSR J0332+5434 (also called B0329+54) to study how its radio signal "twinkles" as it passes through gas between the star and Earth. The team used the Allen Telescope ...
Phys.org / Descriptions of mollusks in the Global South are still, for the most part, the result of 'parachute science'
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, when colonialism was the prevailing order, it is not surprising that scientific expeditions, specimen deposits in natural history museums, and descriptions of species from European colonies ...
Phys.org / Ancient humans mastered fire-making 400,000 years ago, study shows
Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 ...