Phys.org news

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 ...

1 minute ago
Phys.org / Wildfires reverse decade of ozone cleanup in the United States, study reveals

Ozone pollution has worsened in much of the continental United States over the past decade, fueled by wildfires and the long-distance transport of unhealthy air, according to a new study titled "Fires reverse progress toward ...

1 minute ago
Phys.org / Most people cooperate—and underestimate others' willingness to cooperate, global study reveals

The study "Homo cooperans: Understanding the nature of human cooperation" arrives at a clear result: 69% of study participants chose to cooperate. At the same time, the study published in the journal Science shows that people ...

1 minute ago
Phys.org / Billions are going into fish passage projects, but planning methods can undercut results

Fish that split their lives between fresh and salt water often face obstacles getting back and forth. Dams and roads fracture river networks and interfere with traditional migratory routes, sparking concerns about fish health ...

41 minutes ago
Phys.org / Ultrathin nanotubes reach 1 nanometer, opening path to smaller electronics

Researchers in Japan have created some of the world's smallest semiconducting nanotubes, structures 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. By growing molybdenum disulfide inside protective tubes of boron nitride, the researchers, ...

1 minute ago
Phys.org / Bumble bees show spontaneous problem-solving, challenging big-brain assumptions

In a new study, bumble bees solve a completely novel object-manipulation task. What makes this behavior especially remarkable is that the bees had never been trained. The findings challenge the long-standing assumption that ...

1 minute ago
Phys.org / On-demand Arctic observations with low-cost balloon systems could sharpen local storm forecasts

Arctic communities are increasingly exposed to dangerous weather events due to climate change and rely on accurate weather forecasts. However, conditions in the lower atmosphere remain poorly observed in the Arctic because ...

21 minutes ago
Phys.org / Global mangrove forests rebound, offering hopeful sign for climate and coastal resilience

Mangrove forests, once considered one of the world's most threatened coastal ecosystems, are showing signs of recovery worldwide, according to new research from Tulane University that finds decades of losses largely offset ...

1 minute 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. ...

1 hour ago
Phys.org / Buoys track ocean waves across 14,000 km, from storms in Antarctica to ripples in Alaska

For the first time, mighty ocean waves generated in the Southern Ocean have been accurately measured all the way to the tiny ripples they form on the shores of Alaska. Professor Ian Young, from the University of Melbourne's ...

1 hour 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 ...

2 hours ago
Phys.org / DNA repair enzyme uses one-dimensional sliding to detect key sites, researchers reveal

DNA is the blueprint of the human body. However, tens of thousands of DNA lesions occur in our bodies every day. In particular, if "apurinic/apyrimidinic sites" (AP sites, damaged sites where one letter of DNA information ...

1 hour ago