Phys.org news
Phys.org / Arctic peatlands are expanding as temperatures continue to rise, new research confirms
The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet, with average temperatures increasing by about 4°C in the last four decades. A new study, led by the University of Exeter, shows peatlands have expanded since 1950, ...
Phys.org / Failed supernova provides clearest view yet of a star collapsing into a black hole
Astronomers have watched a dying star fail to explode as a supernova, instead collapsing into a black hole. The remarkable sighting is the most complete observational record ever made of a star's transformation into a black ...
Phys.org / Unique 'inside out' planetary system reveals rocky outer world
A global team of astronomers, led by the University of Warwick, have used a European Space Agency (ESA) telescope to discover a planetary system that turns our understanding of planet formation upside down, with a distant ...
Phys.org / Elephant trunk whiskers exhibit material intelligence, revealing the secret behind an amazing sense of touch
A new study from an interdisciplinary German research collaboration, led by the Haptic Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), reveals the secret to the gentle dexterity of the ...
Phys.org / Jupiter-family comet 41P/TGK slows down and reverses spin after perihelion
New analysis on 2017 Hubble images of the Jupiter-family comet, 41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresak (41P/TGK), indicates that the comet underwent a spin reversal between April and December 2017. While this behavior is not unheard ...
Phys.org / Basic research on Listeria bacteria leads to unique cancer therapy
After nearly 40 years of research on how Listeria bacteria manipulate our cells and battle our immune system to cause listeriosis, Daniel Portnoy and his colleagues have discovered a way to turn the bacteria into a potent ...
Phys.org / 100 beavers set to be reintroduced to the UK this year, with more to come
Centuries after they were wiped out, the reintroduction of beavers to the UK is gathering pace. Following a government announcement allowing beavers to be released in the wild, a flurry of reintroductions are planned for ...
Phys.org / Scientists uncover Iron Age origins of Vietnamese tooth blackening practices
Not everyone wants their teeth to be white and gleaming. Tooth blackening is a recognized part of modern Vietnamese culture, and a recent discovery hints that the roots of this practice may stretch all the way back to the ...
Phys.org / Major earthquakes are just as random as smaller ones
For obvious reasons, it would be useful to predict when an earthquake is going to occur. It has long been suspected that large quakes in the Himalayas follow a fairly predictable cycle, but nature, as it turns out, is not ...
Phys.org / Noisy classroom? Study suggests engagement matters more than eliminating background noise
How well we pay attention while learning is influenced not only by external distractions like background noise but also by internal factors such as how interesting we find the material, according to a study recently published ...
Phys.org / Cutting down on quantum-dot crosstalk: Precise measurements expose a new challenge
Devices that can confine individual electrons are potential building blocks for quantum information systems. But the electrons must be protected from external disturbances. RIKEN researchers have now shown how quantum information ...
Phys.org / Gravitational lensing technique unveils supermassive black hole pairs
Supermassive black hole binaries form naturally when galaxies merge, but scientists have only confidently observed a very few of these systems that are widely separated. Black hole binaries that closely orbit each other have ...
