Phys.org news

Phys.org / Stone tools suggest Neanderthals once inhabited Arabian deserts

Neanderthals are largely associated with colder climates across Eurasia. But researchers know that both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals moved through nearby Southwest Asia between about 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, and Arabia ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Scarce emergence of new species drove the decline of African megaherbivores, study suggests

A study by the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), the National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH) and the University of Alcalá offers a new explanation for the decline of African megaherbivores. These ...

1 hour ago
Phys.org / A little Big Bang: Bowling-pin-shaped nuclei shed new light on the universe's first moments

What happened in the first moments of the universe—before the building blocks of life and the world we know today came into existence? Physicists at the CERN research facility in Switzerland are trying to answer this question ...

9 hours ago
Phys.org / Thinner lenses, brighter colors: Metalens research clears two hurdles for AR and VR glasses

AR and VR glasses once seen only in science fiction may soon be realized not as bulky stacks of lenses but as a single eyeglass-like optical element. That future is now closer to reality.

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Neanderthal hips challenge long-standing hypothesis of a trade-off between childbirth and bipedal walking

The most prominent difference between human male and female skeletons is the pelvis, which anthropologists often use to determine the sex of ancient remains. Scientists have long believed the human pelvis evolved mainly as ...

9 hours ago
Phys.org / Rising carbon dioxide is supercharging grass growth in African savannas, study finds

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide is boosting grass growth in Africa's water-limited savannas, according to a new study led by the University of Sheffield.

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Dark energy and quantum gravity may be deeply intertwined

For close to a century, physicists have pursued a way to unite gravity with quantum mechanics. Known as quantum gravity, this goal has remained frustratingly out of reach so far. Similarly elusive is the force of dark energy, ...

13 hours ago
Phys.org / New measurements explain how silicon and diamond achieve extreme reversible stretching

A research team led by Yang Lu from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has uncovered the microscopic physical nature of ultralarge elasticity in covalent ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Rising ocean temperatures reduce the natural carbon storage capacity of seagrass meadows

A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment, with contributions from researchers at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), shows that higher seawater temperatures could significantly reduce ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / Hypersonic impact rapidly transforms diamond into graphite, revealing energy-absorbing mechanism

Rice University researchers have developed a way to stabilize diamond during high-temperature and low-pressure processing, creating a strong bulk composite and discovering that high-speed collisions can rapidly transform ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Alternative mRNA modification lets ribosomes move nearly twice as fast

In a new study, scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine report that an experimental mRNA-based platform has the potential to help deliver next-generation mRNA therapeutics, including vaccines to fight infectious diseases, ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / North Sea wind farm expansion may shift rain offshore, simulations suggest

Offshore wind farms are a key pillar of the energy transition. The European Union plans to expand offshore wind capacity in the North Sea by 2050. A new study by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon indicates that a very extensive ...

2 hours ago