Phys.org news
Phys.org / Wildfires used to 'go to sleep' at night. Climate change is turning them into prime burning hours
Burning time for North American wildfires is going into overtime. Flames are lasting later into the night and starting earlier in the morning because human-caused climate change is extending the hotter and drier conditions ...
Phys.org / Taiwan landslide's hidden motion comes into focus as fiber optics track deep slip
Placed within a borehole drilled deep through the layers of a landslide, a fiber optic cable captured tiny, periodic stick-slip events that offer a unique glimpse at the complex movements within the landslide's shear zone.
Phys.org / The Colorado River disappeared from the geological record for 5 million years: Scientists now know where it went
Geologists have solved the mystery of the disappearance from the geological record, millions of years ago, of one of North America's most important waterways: the Colorado River. A paper published in Science shows that the ...
Phys.org / Indonesia's fire crisis comes into focus as high-resolution satellite maps expose 5.62 million hectares affected
Indonesia experiences massive forest fires as the dry season approaches. They are a major environmental challenge because they damage forests and other land, endanger lives, and disrupt local economies. Using sharp, high-resolution ...
Phys.org / DNA cracks nutmeg's hidden past, revealing a South Moluccas origin and a prehuman journey north
A sprinkle of nutmeg powder on baked goodies or mashed potatoes can immediately lift the flavor with its warm and sweet aroma. Even though it is used globally, not much is known about the true origins of the nutmeg spice ...
Phys.org / First archaeological case of cleft lip identified in China reveals inclusive care in Qing dynasty community
Orofacial clefts (OC; cleft lips and/or palates) require intense care immediately after birth and can lead to lifelong difficulties with eating and speaking, leading to social marginalization, stigmatization, and exclusion. ...
Phys.org / Quantum-informed AI improves long-term turbulence forecasts while using far less memory
An AI model informed by calculations from a quantum computer can better predict the behavior of a complex physical system over the long term than current best models that use only conventional computers, according to a new ...
Phys.org / Antioxidant glutathione discovered to play a key role in proper protein folding
In the past several years, Rockefeller University's Kivanç Birsoy and his team in the Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics have revealed remarkable details about the antioxidant glutathione, which plays many essential ...
Phys.org / Parrots are not just mimicking words—they use proper names like humans to identify individuals
Like many animals, parrots make sounds that suggest they are talking with each other, maybe even calling out to a specific parrot. But do they truly have names in the same way people do? To find out, Lauryn Benedict, a biology ...
Phys.org / ALMA and JWST investigate giant disk galaxy's formation and evolution
European astronomers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe a recently discovered giant disk galaxy known as ADF22.1. Results of the new observations, published ...
Phys.org / Machine learning detects more than 60,000 earthquakes during 2025 Santorini sequence
The seismic crisis that gripped the Greek island of Santorini and its neighbors in 2025 contained more than 60,000 earthquakes, according to a unique machine learning study that identified the earthquakes as they occurred ...
Phys.org / Platinum-free catalyst splits hydrogen from water for energy, running 1,000 hours at industry standards
Using a renewable energy source has multiple benefits, including reducing harmful emissions and dependence on fossil fuels while increasing efficiency. But many renewable energy sources have a higher cost than fossil fuels ...