Phys.org news
Phys.org / Bigger is not always better: Smaller leaves optimize light use in soybeans
In efforts to better understand how soybean plants capture and use light, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign investigated how leaf size and shape affect light distribution within the crop canopy. Using ...
Phys.org / Complex tongue bones, fleshy teeth on the roof of earliest known bird's mouth might have helped it snag food
Flying is really hard work. Compared to walking, swimming, or running, flying is the form of movement that takes the most energy and requires the most calories. That means that birds have had to evolve specialized ways to ...
Phys.org / Some tropical land may heat up nearly twice as much as oceans under climate change, sediment record suggests
Some tropical land regions may warm more dramatically than previously predicted, as climate change progresses, according to a new CU Boulder study that looks millions of years into Earth's past. Using lake sediments from ...
Phys.org / Reshaping gold leads to new electronic and optical properties
By changing the physical structure of gold at the nanoscale, researchers can drastically change how the material interacts with light—and, as a result, its electronic and optical properties. This is shown by a study from ...
Phys.org / How bacteria learned to target numerous cell types
Viruses attack nearly every living organism on Earth. To do so, they rely on highly specialized proteins that recognize and bind to receptors on the surface of target cells, a molecular arms race that drives constant evolution. ...
Phys.org / New class of catalysts could dramatically change playing field in nickel catalysis
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have reported a breakthrough in nickel catalysis that harnesses a rare oxidation state of nickel that has proved challenging to control yet is highly valued for its ...
Phys.org / Banning lead in gas worked: The proof is in our hair
Prior to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, Americans lived in communities awash with lead from industrial sources, paint, water supply pipes and, most significantly, tailpipe emissions. A dangerous ...
Phys.org / Air pollution causes social instability in ant colonies, triggering attacks on returning nest mates
A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has shown in a new study that ants returning from habitats affected by air pollution are attacked when they re-enter the colony. The cause: air pollution, ...
Phys.org / AI streamlines deluge of data from particle collisions
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-based method to dramatically tame the flood of data generated by particle detectors at ...
Phys.org / Earth's largest volcanic event reshaped an oceanic plate, seismic wave analysis reveals
A research group has revealed through seismic wave analysis that the oceanic plate beneath the Ontong Java Plateau—the world's largest oceanic plateau—was extensively altered by massive volcanic activity during its formation. ...
Phys.org / AI mapping reveals over 20,000 malaria protein interactions across parasite life cycle
An international research team headed by scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the Center for Structural Systems Biology and Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Germany has revealed ...
Phys.org / Lab-grown algae remove microplastics from water
A University of Missouri researcher is pioneering an innovative solution to remove tiny bits of plastic pollution from our water. Mizzou's Susie Dai recently applied a revolutionary strain of algae toward capturing and removing ...
