Phys.org news
Phys.org / Yuletide kissers, smooch without guilt: Research suggests your mistletoe didn't harm its tree host
If mistletoe's status as a nutrient-stealing freeloader has been cooling your holiday ardor, new research led by an Oregon State University scientist may help relight the fire.
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Nice people are happier; Uranus may not be icy; SIM farm reporting
This week, researchers identified signaling pathways underpinning drug resistance in pancreatic cancer, a normally lethal diagnosis. A physicist proposed that conscious states in the brain may arise from the brain's ability ...
Phys.org / Misinformation is an inevitable biological reality across nature, researchers argue
From claims that vaccines don't work to manipulated images and deliberately misrepresenting what politicians say, social media is often rife with misinformation. But far from being a recent phenomenon, there is nothing new ...
Phys.org / Zero lasing modes are not always topological
The convergence of non-Hermitian physics and topological photonics has opened exciting research directions in recent years, particularly in the development of robust laser systems.
Dialog / Freezing salty water reveals dynamic brine migration and evolving ice patterns
Imagine holding a narrow tube filled with salty water and watching it begin to freeze from one end. You might expect the ice to advance steadily and push the salt aside in a simple and predictable way. Yet the scene that ...
Phys.org / Growth strategy enables coherent quantum transport in single-layer MoS₂ semiconductors
Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are thin materials (i.e., one-atom thick) with advantageous electronic properties. These materials have proved to be promising for the development of thinner, highly performing electronics, ...
Phys.org / Comet 3I/ATLAS displays greenish hue in new Gemini North telescope images
Gemini North captured new images of Comet 3I/ATLAS after it reemerged from behind the sun on its path out of the solar system. The data were collected during a Shadow the Scientists session—a unique outreach initiative ...
Phys.org / Earthquake rupture along Main Marmara Fault shows eastward progression towards Istanbul
In April 2025, the Main Marmara Fault below the Sea of Marmara in northwestern Türkiye experienced its largest earthquake in over 60 years. In a study published in Science, a team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Patricia ...
Phys.org / Atomic Josephson contacts: How Bose-Einstein condensates replicate Shapiro steps
The microscopic processes taking place in superconductors are difficult to observe directly. Researchers at the RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau have therefore implemented a quantum simulation of the Josephson effect: ...
Phys.org / Unique bond identified as key to viral infection speed
Viruses are typically described as tiny, perfectly geometric shells that pack genetic material with mathematical precision, but new research led by scientists at Penn State reveals a deliberate imbalance in their shape that ...
Phys.org / Smarter tools for peering into the microscopic world developed
The microscopic organisms that fill our bodies, soils, oceans and atmosphere play essential roles in human health and the planet's ecosystems. Yet even with modern DNA sequencing, figuring out what these microbes are and ...
Phys.org / A new medium for canine stem cells that doesn't contain any human components
Canine induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells possess the ability to differentiate into any type of cell, making them a useful tool for investigating common canine diseases and disease states, including those of humans.