Phys.org news
Phys.org / AI makes a major breakthrough in a math problem that had stumped experts for decades
For nearly 80 years, mathematicians have struggled to solve a classic geometry puzzle first posed by Paul Erdős in 1946: the planar unit distance problem. The question posed by the legendary Hungarian mathematician was, on ...
Phys.org / Earth's outer core beneath Pacific reversed direction in 2010, satellite data reveal
The liquid iron in Earth's outer core doesn't always behave as expected. When it changed direction in an unexplained way, ESA satellites provided data on the direction of flow, helping scientists gain better insight into ...
Phys.org / Astronomers discover a super-Earth orbiting a nearby red dwarf
Astronomers from Italy and Brazil have investigated a nearby red dwarf star known as Ross 318 and have discovered an exoplanet orbiting this star, which is at least six times more massive than Earth. The discovery is reported ...
Phys.org / Hi-res microscopes give biologists petabytes of data. Scientists are creating an AI assistant to make sense of it
In a cramped, windowless room on the University of California, Berkeley, campus, two bespoke microscopes—each a Swiss Army knife for high-resolution imaging—operate around the clock gathering data that will help train a game-changing ...
Phys.org / Nickelate reveals nodeless gap, providing key clue to high-temperature superconductivity
The mechanism of high-temperature (TC) superconductivity is a key challenge in condensed matter physics. Recently, Chinese scientists made significant progress in the study of high-TC nickelate superconductors.
Phys.org / Physicists figure out how to reduce formation of 'viscous fingers'
When they reach the bottom of a soap dispenser, frugal handwashers might try adding water to the bottle to push out the last bit of soap. But usually, the water drills right through the soap and jets out an only slightly ...
Phys.org / Some technologies use accelerated natural processes to capture carbon, but can they store it durably?
Natural geological processes have been regulating Earth's climate for millions of years. Accelerated versions of these processes are now being promoted as technologies to draw down carbon from the atmosphere—and some are ...
Phys.org / Novel porous gel changes color, shrinks and hardens when it detects target molecules
Researchers at Kyoto University and Tohoku University have developed a new porous polymer gel that selectively recognizes specific molecules (referred to as "guests" in the study) through coordination chemistry and converts ...
Phys.org / Scientists discover thriving hard-substrate fauna in Oceania's deep sea
In the crushing darkness of the hadal zone—deep ocean trenches plunging 6,000 m to nearly 11,000 m—scientists have uncovered a hidden community. A study published in Science on May 14 reports the discovery of a protist-dominated ...
Phys.org / Arctic thaw unleashes mining-like pollution across hundreds Arctic waterways
Thawing permafrost is rapidly transforming dozens of Arctic streams into acidic, metal-laden waterways, according to new research published in Science. The study shows how thawing permafrost exposes sulfide minerals that ...
Phys.org / 'Designer' superconducting diamond: Researchers uncover path to multi-modality quantum chips
Diamond is extremely valuable to science and technology not for its sparkle but for its extreme hardness, high thermal conductivity, transparency to a large fraction of the light spectrum, and a host of other exceptional ...
Phys.org / Student talent drives simpler method for programming artificial muscles in soft robots
An interdisciplinary student research team at the University of Waterloo has achieved an advance in materials science with the creation of a tissue-like hydrogel for artificial muscles to make soft robots move.
