Phys.org news

Phys.org / Hawai'i's last false killer whales threatened by nutritional stress and warming seas

A seven-year collaborative study has revealed alarming fluctuations in the health of Hawaii's endangered insular false killer whales, with some individuals losing nearly a quarter of their body weight in just a few months. ...

8 minutes ago
Phys.org / Deep-sea supergiant isopods last years without food by using a two-part survival system

The supergiant bathynomid is a deep-sea isopod famous for surviving more than five years without food. Despite residing in an extremely low-nutrient habitat, these organisms exhibit pronounced body gigantism, a trait that ...

28 minutes ago
Phys.org / How the body creates reliable antibodies out of biological chaos

A new study tracking thousands of B cells across more than 100 germinal centers in mice reveals how the system consistently produces highly effective antibodies. The findings overturn longstanding ideas about how germinal ...

28 minutes ago
Phys.org / Hidden meltwater found deep in Antarctic coastal waters reveals stronger climate impacts

Freshwater from melting Antarctic glaciers may be influencing the Southern Ocean in ways scientists have largely overlooked. New research, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, has found that glacial meltwater is not ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / 'The Heaven Sword' crowned as East Asia's tallest tree after a nearly decade-long search

Taiwan, historically known as Formosa, holds a secret deep within its rugged interior: it is one of the rare locations on Earth capable of supporting "giant" trees—specimens that tower over 80 meters in height. Since 2014, ...

11 hours ago
Phys.org / North Atlantic spring storms have grown more common since 1940, analysis reveals

Storm Dave, which swept across northern Europe over the Easter weekend, is an example of what new research from the University of Gothenburg has revealed. Spring storms forming over the North Atlantic have become more common ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Billions face growing water risk as sediment fills reservoirs faster than expected worldwide

Reservoirs around the world are losing storage capacity at an average rate of 7.3% per decade—disproportionately affecting small reservoirs, which together provide water to billions of people. The data come from a study published ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Warming boosts natural methane emissions as microbes fail to keep pace

A new study led by Professor Mark Trimmer of Queen Mary University of London, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, explains how increases in natural methane emissions will be maximized under future climate warming.

6 hours ago
Phys.org / How 'asymmetric alloying' is creating the next generation of luminescent materials

Metal cluster molecules are discrete compounds containing multiple metal atoms held together by metal–metal and metal–ligand bonding. They serve as excellent candidates for catalysts, biosensors, and even for drug development. ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / JWST 'weighs' dormant black hole 10 billion light-years away

The most distant, nearly invisible dormant black hole has been detected and "weighed" by an international team of astronomers that includes researchers from UCL. The study, published in Science, identified a dormant black ...

21 hours ago
Phys.org / Costa Rica paid landowners to restore forests and biodiversity—bioacoustics indicate that it worked

Forest restoration can help fight climate change and restore lost biodiversity, but the satellite-based techniques used to measure successful forest restoration have been less-than-helpful for measuring changes in biodiversity. ...

22 hours ago
Phys.org / Understanding Earth's hidden east-west symmetry could improve climate models

Earth is divided into two halves: the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Both reflect equal amounts of sunlight (albedo) even though they have different landmasses and weather patterns, especially cloud distribution. Why ...

23 hours ago