Phys.org news

Phys.org / Artemis astronauts glimpse moon's 'Grand Canyon' ahead of historic lunar flyby

The Artemis astronauts have taken in sights of the moon never before seen by human eyes, crew members reported on Sunday as their spacecraft crossed the two-thirds mark on their journey to a long-anticipated lunar flyby.

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Artemis II toilet acts up again as astronauts speed toward the moon to break Apollo 13's record

Now more than halfway to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts prepared for their historic lunar fly-around to push deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts.

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Two's company: Scientists identify new class of star remnants

In about 5 to 8 billion years, our sun is expected to evolve into a white dwarf—an extremely dense, Earth-sized stellar remnant that has exhausted its fuel and shed its outer layer. But while our sun is a solitary star, research ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / New insights into hornification could strengthen the future of paper production

When paper dries and is subsequently rewetted, its properties change permanently. This phenomenon is known as hornification. New research now shows that the process is more complex than previously assumed, and that temperature, ...

23 hours ago
Phys.org / Microscopic mechanism of 'quantum collapse' in real-world environments uncovered for the first time

A research team has, for the first time in the world, elucidated the microscopic mechanism by which quantum order is lost and collapses in "open quantum environments" existing in nature. Since perfectly isolated quantum systems ...

21 hours ago
Phys.org / A simple ECG test could flag racehorses at risk of exercise arrhythmias

A quick heart trace taken during a warm-up trot could identify racehorses at risk of cardiac arrhythmias during high-intensity exercise, according to a new study led by the University of Surrey. The screening method analyzes ...

19 hours ago
Phys.org / Artemis astronauts more than halfway to Moon, putting Earth in rearview

The Artemis 2 astronauts have passed the halfway point between Earth and the moon on Saturday as they sped toward a planned lunar flyby, with NASA releasing initial images of Earth taken from inside the Orion spacecraft.

Apr 4, 2026
Phys.org / Artemis II's moonbound astronauts capture Earth's brilliant blue beauty as they leave it behind

The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet's brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon.

Apr 4, 2026
Phys.org / The most pristine star yet found in the known universe

An unusual team of astronomers used Sloan Digital Sky Survey-V (SDSS-V) data and observations on the Magellan telescopes at Carnegie Science's Las Campanas Observatory in Chile to discover the most pristine star in the known ...

Apr 3, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny African fish caught climbing to the top of a 50-foot waterfall

For over half a century, people in Central Africa have told tales of the fish seen climbing waterfalls, but these claims have never been officially confirmed. Now, these fish have finally been caught on camera, studied more ...

Apr 3, 2026
Phys.org / A tiny detector for microwave photons could advance quantum tech

Detecting a single particle of light is hard; detecting a single microwave photon is even harder. Microwave photons, the tiny packets of electromagnetic radiation used in current technologies like Wi-Fi and radar, carry far ...

Apr 3, 2026
Phys.org / The depths of Neptune and Uranus may be 'superionic'

The interiors of ice giant planets like Uranus and Neptune could be home to a previously unknown state of matter, according to new computational simulations by Carnegie's Cong Liu and Ronald Cohen. Their work, published in ...

Apr 3, 2026