Phys.org news

Phys.org / Using 1,000 butterfly and moth genomes to investigate evolution and climate change resilience

A major milestone has been reached, with experts across Europe, including those at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, sequencing 1,000 species of butterflies and moths. This includes almost all UK butterflies, ...

22 minutes ago in Biology
Phys.org / Climate action saves lives. So why do climate models ignore well-being?

Climate change is already shaping our well-being. It affects mental health, spreads infectious diseases, disrupts work, damages food supplies and forces families to leave their homes because of conflict, hunger or flooding.

4 hours ago in Earth
Phys.org / The body's molecular mail revealed: Scientists decode blood's hidden messengers

Every second, trillions of tiny parcels travel through your bloodstream—carrying vital information between your body's cells. Now, scientists at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute have opened this molecular mail for ...

21 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Rapid X-ray pulses enable 100-fold efficiency boost for photoionization

Speed matters. When an X-ray photon excites an atom or ion, making a core electron jump onto a higher energy level, a short-lived window of opportunity opens. For just a few femtoseconds, before an electron fills the void ...

23 hours ago in Physics
Phys.org / Probing the quantum nature of black holes through entropy

In a study published in Physical Review Letters, physicists have demonstrated that black holes satisfy the third law of thermodynamics, which states that entropy remains positive and vanishes at extremely low temperatures, ...

Nov 29, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Asteroid loaded with amino acids offers new clues about the origin of life on Earth

One of the most elegant theories about the origins of life on our planet is that it was kick-started by a delivery from outer space. This idea suggests that prebiotic molecules—the building blocks of life—were transported ...

Nov 29, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Humans and artificial neural networks exhibit some similar patterns during learning

Past psychology and behavioral science studies have identified various ways in which people's acquisition of new knowledge can be disrupted. One of these, known as interference, occurs when humans are learning new information ...

Nov 29, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Six strategies identified to help households cut down on food waste

Researchers from the Center for Food Policy at City St George's, University of London and Scotland's Rural College have set out six key areas for action that could help households cut down on food waste in a new comment article ...

Nov 29, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Cute squid with scary name; potential detection of dark matter; fate of the AMOC

This week, researchers reported that weight and health markers may rebound when patients stop using some of the new hormonal gastric inhibitory polypeptide drugs. A prototype device can restore lost olfactory sense. And a ...

Nov 29, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / New universal law predicts how most objects shatter, from dropped bottles to exploding bubbles

When a plate drops or a glass smashes, you're annoyed by the mess and the cost of replacing them. But for some physicists, the broken pieces are a source of fascination: Why does everything break into such a huge variety ...

Nov 28, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Africa's forests have switched from absorbing to emitting carbon, new study finds

New research warns that Africa's forests, once vital allies in the fight against climate change, have turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source.

Nov 28, 2025 in Earth
Phys.org / Stars defy black hole by showing stable orbits around Sagittarius A*

An international research team led by PD Dr. Florian Peissker at the University of Cologne has used the new observation instrument ERIS (Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) facility ...

Nov 28, 2025 in Astronomy & Space